So yesterday afternoon, after countless calls to Ofer, He told me that there's a 90% chance that I would have my Tzav Rishon today at 11 AM, and that he would call me at 9 AM to confirm it was taking place. Well, at 9:30 when the call didn't come through, I called Machal to find out my situation. Apparently nobody could help, and the office staff would try to reach Ofer who didn't show up at the office today. At 10:15 their response was still inconclusive so I decided to set out to the Lishkat Hagius (Recruitment Office) to try my luck. When I arrived outside of the Lishkah, I received call informing me that Ofer had sent out an email authorizing my Tzav Rishon.
So I went in and followed the receptionist's instructions to go to office 5. The people there informed me that my authorization didn't come through, and that I would have to come back another day. As I was leaving the office, getting ready for a shouting match on the phone with the people at Machal, The girl at the desk called me back and said that my email had just come through. From there I was sent to the fourth floor to Amos to receive a temporary ID number.
Amos sent me back down to the receptionist's desk to get a scanable bar-code sticker that would act as my ID card for today. But before the receptionist had a chance to process my bar-code, the 11 AM emergency siren went off as part of a nationwide drill. The entire building crammed into the second-floor lobby for about 15 minutes. By time everybody got back to their respective desks, a half-hour had passed. After waiting another few minutes I was given my temporary ID, and was sent to the third floor.
At the third floor, I scanned my bar-code into the yellow computer and waited until I was called in to give over my contact information, and I was administered a Hebrew language proficiency test. I did relatively well, especially considering I am American, and as I expected was exempt from a pre-army Ulpan. I was then sent back into the third-floor lobby to wait for an interview.
A while after scanning my bar-code into the red computer, I was taken into an interview room, and I we discussed real-life dilemmas that I encountered in the past, and how I resolved them. The woman covered he pad as she wrote down notes on my responses. When we finished, I was sent down to the Second floor.
I scanned my bar-code into the purple computer, and was called in to a lab and given a cup. I was instructed to go up to the third floor bathrooms and to fill the cup. Weird, since there was a bathroom right there in the lab, presumably for this purpose. None the less, I went upstairs and filled the cup. My journey downstairs of course was probably one of the most awkward experiences that I have gone through, carrying around a cup of urine for everyone to see in a packed building. I stared at the floor and got through it. In the lab I was told to test my own urine, which I did, and proceeded to another room where my weight, height, and blood pressure were measured.
From there I was sent to scan in at the blue computer, and waited for a visit with the doctor. Overall, my day had been pretty stressful. As good as my Hebrew is, the people in the offices were under a lot of pressure, dealing with frustrated crowds, and their patience was low. It was relieving when I was handed over to an American doctor who administered a physical (I'll spare you the details, but I have no clue how the procedures were related to my army service.) He explained that although I was clean medically, on the Height-to-Weight chart I was two pounds over, so my score was an 82, the second highest, therefore making me eligible for any combat unit, (Golani please!) I was told that when I lose the weight, I can come in and have my profile adjusted. Meanwhile I can go to anywhere but the air force, so I'm happy with my score.
Back up to the third floor, the turquoise computer. There I was given a computerized intelligence test. Most of the questions involved identifying patters. I finished that and was sent home 7 hours after my arrival.
Overall, a pretty stressful day, but I'm happy to know that my Tzav Gius (When I find out my unit) should be on its way!
So I went in and followed the receptionist's instructions to go to office 5. The people there informed me that my authorization didn't come through, and that I would have to come back another day. As I was leaving the office, getting ready for a shouting match on the phone with the people at Machal, The girl at the desk called me back and said that my email had just come through. From there I was sent to the fourth floor to Amos to receive a temporary ID number.
Amos sent me back down to the receptionist's desk to get a scanable bar-code sticker that would act as my ID card for today. But before the receptionist had a chance to process my bar-code, the 11 AM emergency siren went off as part of a nationwide drill. The entire building crammed into the second-floor lobby for about 15 minutes. By time everybody got back to their respective desks, a half-hour had passed. After waiting another few minutes I was given my temporary ID, and was sent to the third floor.
At the third floor, I scanned my bar-code into the yellow computer and waited until I was called in to give over my contact information, and I was administered a Hebrew language proficiency test. I did relatively well, especially considering I am American, and as I expected was exempt from a pre-army Ulpan. I was then sent back into the third-floor lobby to wait for an interview.
A while after scanning my bar-code into the red computer, I was taken into an interview room, and I we discussed real-life dilemmas that I encountered in the past, and how I resolved them. The woman covered he pad as she wrote down notes on my responses. When we finished, I was sent down to the Second floor.
I scanned my bar-code into the purple computer, and was called in to a lab and given a cup. I was instructed to go up to the third floor bathrooms and to fill the cup. Weird, since there was a bathroom right there in the lab, presumably for this purpose. None the less, I went upstairs and filled the cup. My journey downstairs of course was probably one of the most awkward experiences that I have gone through, carrying around a cup of urine for everyone to see in a packed building. I stared at the floor and got through it. In the lab I was told to test my own urine, which I did, and proceeded to another room where my weight, height, and blood pressure were measured.
From there I was sent to scan in at the blue computer, and waited for a visit with the doctor. Overall, my day had been pretty stressful. As good as my Hebrew is, the people in the offices were under a lot of pressure, dealing with frustrated crowds, and their patience was low. It was relieving when I was handed over to an American doctor who administered a physical (I'll spare you the details, but I have no clue how the procedures were related to my army service.) He explained that although I was clean medically, on the Height-to-Weight chart I was two pounds over, so my score was an 82, the second highest, therefore making me eligible for any combat unit, (Golani please!) I was told that when I lose the weight, I can come in and have my profile adjusted. Meanwhile I can go to anywhere but the air force, so I'm happy with my score.
Back up to the third floor, the turquoise computer. There I was given a computerized intelligence test. Most of the questions involved identifying patters. I finished that and was sent home 7 hours after my arrival.
Overall, a pretty stressful day, but I'm happy to know that my Tzav Gius (When I find out my unit) should be on its way!
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