And Here Are the Answers to the Two Big Questions

After watching this video about the volunteer ambulance corps (similar to, but not the same one that I will hopefully belong to), the BIG question was:

"Ellen, will YOU be getting a motorcycle?!"

I'll answer that with a little story: throughout the course, I took my weekly handouts to get printed at a local store (discovered the hard way that the ink we need for our purchased-in-the-US printer is not available here).  When the woman behind the counter found out that I was taking a course to be a "choveshet" her eyes got big and she almost-giggled as she asked, "Will you have a MOTORCYCLE?!"  So you can see that it's the big question on just about everyone's mind when they hear that someone is joining a volunteer ambulance corps.  (I was extremely pleased with myself that I answered her [promptly.  And in Hebrew]: "No, just my feet".

The other big question was:

"Nu, did you pass the final exam?!"

And, baruch HaShem, I am extremely thankful to share that I did!!!  ("I would like to thank my husband and kids for being so patient and emotionally sustaining me, and the pretzel industry for physically sustaining me throughout the long months....").

Which leads to the last question:

"So when do you start?"

Answer: no time soon.  Before the all-women's unit can get off the ground, each of us has to do 6 days interning with a private ambulance company and two days in the Emergency Department of a "major Israeli teaching hospital" (that lots of people reading this have likely donated to), and probably some time with the all-men's crew of the organization we'll become part of, so our unit is not going out on calls until somewhere around the end of spring/beginning of summer.....

I'll keep you all posted :).

Meanwhile, here's a link to the documentary "93Queen" which has prompted a lot of discussion about all-women's ambulance groups:
https://www.pbs.org/video/93-queen-trailer-c8vcbn/
I am beyond-thankful that there was no fighting to join the men's group here--the organization (again, different one from the one in the documentary) approached the women to start the all-female corps.

Most of the women in my course went the opening night of the Jerusalem Film Festival to see the film and hear Judge Ruchie Frier and the documentary producer speak in person.  Here's a photo of me, my course-buddy and Judge Frier:

Note:  Although I greatly admire Ruchie Frier, I am not planning to become a judge after joining the Hatzalah unit.  :)

PS: here's the link for the video

about the volunteer ambulance corps.  I highly recommend watching it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFwwaB9n_x0

What I'm Up To These Days

This is one of those "been-meaning-to-write-this-for-a-few-months-now" posts, but, yay, I'm finally writing it!  

I started (in July. Did I mention I've been meaning to write this post for a while now?!) taking a course to be a volunteer EMT.  Israel is a country FULL of volunteer EMTs.  Here's a nifty video by a popular "Israeli-Palestinian" vlogger that explains the concept:

The course I'm taking is for a local organization (ie similar to, but not the one in the video) that wants to start an all-female unit that will respond to calls where women and/or children need help.  Why is this important?  Because our little town is about 40 minutes (okay, 30 if you're in an ambulance, but it's still not close) from the nearest hospital.  And there is a very high birth rate here.  And lots of people here don't own cars.  And people tend to err on the side of waiting longer than they might to go to the hospital because they know they may/will get charged for the ambulance ride if they don't get admitted to the hospital in active labor.  

When calling for an ambulance here, there are three different all-volunteer organizations one can choose from (and there is no other option, so choose your favorite volunteer organization).  I still haven't quite figured out the differences among the three, and lots of EMTs are certified by more than one organization, so let's just say they're all good.  I feel that an all-women's unit is pretty crucial around here, given the number of women not-on-purpose giving birth either at home or in an ambulance.  BUT, until now, that meant a woman suddenly having 4 or 5 of her (usually male) neighbors who are volunteer EMTs be in attendance.  In my mind, it's one thing to have a male Ob-Gyn and quite another to have your next-door neighbor who has some medical training help you through birth.  Penina has a friend who was trained through one of the organizations (that accepts teens at age 15 (!)) and her first call was for a woman giving birth.  When she showed up, the all-male crew that was there basically pushed her forward to the woman saying, "you're female--go!".  I ran into her and her mother not long afterward and my jaw was on the floor as I said, "that's a pretty intense introduction to birth for a 15 year-old!"  

The course is all in Hebrew.  Fast, intense, hour (upon hour) of medical Hebrew.  I said I was doing this course instead of going to Jerusalem for a medical ulpan and I got more than I bargained for in terms of new terminology.  I am the most recent olah in class (the next most recent has been here 7 years, which is twice as long as we've been here) and definitely couldn't even give this a whirl without my medical background.  Seven months in and I wish I could say that I understand everything (or even most things), but I really don't. I spend hours and hours per week reviewing material and sitting with Google Translate trying to get a jump-start on the material the teacher is about to present (although I'm frequently stymied when she sends out her slides mere hours before class, when I need days of translating in order to be able to keep up in class). Frankly, it's been kind of a stinker for my self-esteem because I worked SO HARD in ulpan for three years, and now it almost feels like starting at the beginning again (although not quite, of course.  And there are moments of hope.  Like the few times that the teacher said something funny and I laughed at the same time as everyone else instead of 40 seconds later....).  

I'm not sure how this will play out with actual patients in real emergency situations, but I'm hoping it will be okay because: 1) my area contains a lot of English speakers 2) many emergency situations are not so intense verbally (it's not like I'll be doing psychotherapy in Hebrew) and 3) I'm planning to only sign up for shifts that my (fully) bilingual friends sign up for ;).  I'm studying intensely for the final exam now (February 20th.  Please send good vibes) and we'll see what happens....After the exam we have several months of interning on ambulances and observing in hospitals before they send us on calls, so I've still got time for my Hebrew to improve (I can hope, can't I?!)

The other big thing in my schedule is that I went back to work!  I work part-time for a company that runs healthcare clinics in seminaries and yeshivos in the Jerusalem area.  It's really a perfect fit for my background and I'm enjoying both what I do (I love the post-high school age group), where I do it (one school is in the Old City which means twice a week I get to daven michna at the Kotel--talk about a work perk!) and the general concept of being back at work.  It's all in English, although that's a mixed blessing, since it means my Hebrew definitely won't improve during work hours.  I came home after my first day and said it had been wonderful feeling competent at something again.  I hadn't quite realized to what level I had felt incompetent in just about every area for the past 3 years.  But give me a throat to look at, some lungs sounds to listen to and, yippee, feel the confidence!

"Maoz Tzur"!

There was a FABULOUS Chanukah concert here earlier in the week with two singers who I really, really like--Ari Goldwag and Yonatan Razel.  I've just got to share this version of Maoz Tzur that was taken at the concert because I don't think "Rock of Ages" has ever sounded so jazzy :)

Happy Chanuah!

The Vagaries of Blogger.com

Sometimes, when I hit "publish" on a blog post, the post appears an hour or two later.  Sometimes, that same "publish" doesn't get around to happening until a *day* later.  This is what seems to have happened on Friday, when I published my post with the video about recycling .  Concerned it would send out on Shabbos, instead of putting into the "automatically publish" queue, I officially scheduled it to be published an hour from when I wrote it, which would be about 10:30 Friday morning.  I was not happy Saturday night to see that it finally published.....smack in the middle of Shabbos.  So in case any of you were concerned, it's just a Blogger thing.  You (and I) wouldn't understand!  (And if anyone DOES understand, please contact me!)

How to Recycle in Israel (& a View of Our Neighborhood)

My sister and I had fun making this video while she was here.  As you can see, it takes a little effort to be a good environmentalist here (although the flip side is that there are plastic and bottle recycling bins on many, many street corners, so it's easier here to recycle if you're just, say, walking down the street with a water bottle you've finished).

Auntie and Uncle Guest Post

This is our 4th visit to Ramat Beit Shemesh since Ellen, Shalom Shachne and the girls made Aliyah.  Each visit has been 1 year apart so it makes it very easy to make comparisons.  For our first visit, they had only been in Israel for 2 months.  They were very excited but still getting used to how things worked.  Ellen regaled us with stories of mistakes made while shopping and her struggles with learning Hebrew.  Ilana was already playing with the neighborhood kids.  Penina was complaining that she hated school.  We reminded her that she said the same thing while she was living in Malden--after all, she was almost 13!

When we went out onto their balcony, we looked at the hill across the street and saw a few cranes.  They explained that a new development was being built on the hill.

By our next visit, as they began their 2nd year, you could see a change.  Shalom Shachne and Ellen looked so much more relaxed than they had while living in Malden.  We could see that this is where they were meant to live.  Ilana and Penina were branching out with more after-school activities and had settled in to learning in a solely Hebrew environment. 

As I look out their balcony today, the development across the street has been finished but the cranes have moved over and are starting on another new development.  As they start their 4th year here, their personal development is mirroring the new houses across the street. I marvel when I listen to Ellen on the phone or at a store as she rattles off what she needs in Hebrew.  Both girls are getting wonderful reports from their teachers.

We had fun watching Ilana and Shalom Shachne at their horseback riding lessons.  Penina's business, PhotographyByPenina.com, is taking off.  Ellen is doing some amazing things (I'll leave it to her to update you in a future post)

May they continue to change and grow in such wonderful ways!