Wed 9. Feb

Flag raising was amusing today. This nice lady was raising the flag but unfortunately half way there her hat drop off. Flag was in half pole - she did stop raising the flag - and bend down to get her hat. Lady was concentrated getting her hat back on and in the mean time soldier next to her finished the job. It was absurd. Slow motion and silent comedy.

On morning briefing we heard about rockets from Gaza and Israeli air strike.

Working with big medical bags as usual. If my boss has to go somewhere, she locks up the doors. So lots of free time today.

Here is our dirty toilet:

And shower:
Never seen this dirty and messy coffee room. Who does this? If you leave food or sugar on the table there will be mice and ants. If you use a cup, is it so hard to wash it afterwards?
Our long term volunteer's room:
I feel good. Other volunteers are really nice and the sun is shining. Happiness!!! There is Israeli news in English on TV every day at five pm. I went to tv-room and four people were sleeping the news. Army life is hard. I almost fell asleep during the dinner.

First week is almost finished. At the beginning everyone get along just fine. People are polite and smile a lot, getting to know each other. After few days little groups are formed, by the rooms, by the working stations, or by the personal interests. I hear secret talks behind people's back and try not to involve. Humor and tolerance is what you need here. Try not to judge if you dont know all the facts.
Evening sessions were about Israeli inventions like instant message technique, memory stick, cherry tomato, epilator hair remover, uzi machine pistol, pill camera, water dripper and stories behind these inventions. Here one volunteer stands for Israel and girls, madrichot, tell about Israel's water situation.
One volunteer has been in Sar-El for seven weeks, we made little collection and gave him a going away presents. He also got his Sar-El pin and diploma. He was a happy camper.
Later we did some cleaning and packing, weekend will start tomorrow.