Hurry Up and Wait

Sunday January 18, 2009

I awoke this morning to news that Israel has declared a cease-fire in Gaza, and I’m taking full credit for this. The only thing I’m not sure of is whether the Israelis or the Palestinians are more afraid of the fact that I’m in the country.

I had to “report for duty” back at Ben Gurion Airport, and elected to take the train in order to avoid Sunday morning traffic. (The work week in Israel starts on Sunday, so everything is very crowded.) The train station was filled with soldiers, sailors and air force personnel, and I found a young soldier who confirmed that I was at the right place at the right time.

Once at Ben Gurion, I located the coordinator for Sar-El (the Israeli arm of Volunteers for Israel), checked in, and waited for the other volunteers to arrive. And did they ever! Within an hour, at least 100 volunteers from all over the world showed up: Americans, Dutch, British, Swiss, Scottish and South Africans, among others. Some of the volunteers were of college age, having just completed the “Taglit” program for first-time visitors to Israel (known in the U.S. as “birthright Israel”). There were many veterans of previous Volunteers programs who, like me, decided to come back during the present crisis.

After a fair amount of standing around and repeated roll calls, we were divided into groups arranged by the bases to which we were assigned. Looking around at the rest of my group, I also realized that we had been divided by age as well, since most of my colleagues were, shall we say, “of a certain age.”

Like the beginning of so many other trips to Israel, we then got on the bus. Two hours later, it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a rest area featuring classic Israeli fare: McDonalds, Sbarro and a Chinese restaurant. Instead of a grilled chicken wrap, Mickey D featured a “kebab wrap” with pickles, onions and what I guess passes for “special sauce.” Mmmm. Mmmm.

At 2 p.m. we arrived at Netafim, a logistics and supply base in the Galilee in the northern part of Israel. (For those of you with maps, draw one line west from Tiberias and a second line north from Afula. The two lines will meet at the Golani Junction, and Netafim is nearby.) The base appears to consist of a series of warehouses and storage areas. (It looks like we won’t be packing medical supplies, but I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see exactly what I’ll be doing.)

After waiting for someone to show up with a key to our barracks, we had a chance to get a close look at our “home” for the next two weeks. I was pleasantly surprised. Four people to a room, adequate bathroom and shower facilities and toilet paper! (This already represented a substantial improvement over the situation in 1991, when there was an abundant supply of … old newspapers!)

We then reported to the Quartermaster to get outfitted with pants, shirts, sweaters, coats and some of the silliest hats you’ve ever seen. If I become anywhere near as stupid as I look, I’m in serious trouble.

At 4:00 p.m. a large group of civilian workers left the warehouse buildings, got into cars and buses, and went home. We later learned that Netafim is a “9 to 5” operation (actually 7 to 4, with breaks for breakfast and lunch) and that there are relatively few soldiers here. As a result, the place is fairly deserted at night. However, the need to support the soldiers in the south of the country remains real.

And then, finally, our first assignment: Dinner at 5:00 p.m.! Again, I was pleasantly surprised by abundant amounts of salad, rice, chicken cutlets, hummus and “all the fixings.”

After another break, we reassembled for our “evening program.” Our madricha (Hebrew for a female teacher, or leader) is an impossibly cute 18-year-old named Lior whose assignment in the army is to take care of Sar-El volunteers. She clearly enjoys her job, and explained what was in store for us. Tomorrow’s schedule starts with “flag raising” at 7:10, followed by work until 8:30 and then breakfast. (That order of events freaked out several of the New Yorkers who immediately confessed that they don’t know how to start the day without having coffee first. One of the women also asked whether a bagel would be available. Oy.) The morning work session ends at noon and, after lunch, we’ll work from 1 to 4. Another “evening program” will follow dinner.

So far, pretty much like summer camp.

We then took part in several “ice-breaker” exercises which gave us an opportunity to learn about one other. Members of the group include two non-Jewish female truck drivers from Brantford, Ontario; a Russian émigré working in California as a computer specialist; a marketing manager from California; an IBM executive; an orthopedic surgeon; a judge from Phoenix; a retired couple from the Albany, NY area and a fellow from Birmingham, Alabama who, like me, spent the better part of high school at Madison Square Garden cheering for the New York Rangers. Quite a bunch.

Day One? Not entirely productive but hey, there’s a war on. Everyone feels good about being here and is looking forward to getting to work in the morning.