Army Testing Day

Today I had a full day of testing ahead of me - or should I say waiting. I had to go to Tel Hashomer for these tests - I was told to be there for 8AM. This meant I got to wake up at 6AM. After taking 2 buses I managed to get there just after 8. The testing involved struggling through an hour long interview about my personal information in hebrew. I had the great idea of telling the person I spoke ktzat ivrit (a little bit of hebrew) so she refused to speak to me in english. She did however make sure I understood the questions. This also included a brief oral, reading, and written hebrew test. They were asking me about my previous education all the way back to how old I was when I started grade 1. Through doing the math, I realized that I have been in school for 18 years - which is longer than the other enlistees around me have been alive! YIKES!

Throughout this week, Israel is conducting a very large home front drill. In a nutshell, this drill is to prepare the country for SIMULTANEOUS war in the north with Hizbullah, war in the south with Hamas, increased suicide bombing attempts from the West Bank, and massive protests within Israel. Today at 11AM a test siren sounded for one minute and everyone went to a designated meeting room. I had no idea what they were telling us prior to the drill, but I just followed everyone else. In the room of about 30 people, I looked around again and saw that I was probably the oldest one there by about 4 years. I have a feeling I am going to be in this situation a lot.

Following that I waited several hours to see a doctor for my physical check up. Not so surprisingly, the story of the foreign object lodged in my arm was one that this doc had never heard before. After the checkup they made me go for a lung test because of my asthma. They made me jog on a treadmill for 6 whole minutes! Afterwards I HAD to rest for 6 minutes before they took the readings. After the test I asked the soldier if I had passed. She asked why I was sent there and if I had asthma. I responded yes, and she said 'I couldn't tell' :-)

The next test was an aptitude test that was very similar to parts of an IQ test. Afterwards I felt good about myself because I thought I did quite well, then I realized the test was designed for 17 year olds. FML.

Following another interview, I was able to leave. It was 4:45! Luckily this is when the army starts to pay off. I asked them how to get to Jerusalem via public transit. I was then told that I can be reimbursed for my traveling to and from the enlistment office for the day! They gave me my money back for the bus I took to get there, and the 4 buses it took for me to get to the hostel in Jerusalem! I finally arrived at the hostel in Jerusalem at 8PM. What a long day of sitting and waiting and 6 entire minutes of jogging.