No Longer a Soldier
So that's that, I got discharged last Tuesday. I've been a civilian for nearly a week. Its been pretty fine easing into civlian life so far but maybe it just hasn't really hit yet, or maybe I'm keeping too busy to think about it. I sobbed practically non stop Monday night and Tuesday morning, took gorgeous photos of myself in uniform for the last time with my family (I even looked good and not fat - you know how hard that is for a girl in uniform??), the room that was my home for the past year and 8 months, friends etc. - and then lost the digital camera that evening in a cab. I can't begin to describe how heartbroken I was that night and how much I don't want to think about it now cause I might cry again.
All in all, I'm pretty okay. It was time, I've finished that part of my life and am happy to move on, though I would be happier if I knew better where I was going. There's all sorts of general plans - work, travel, volunteering abroad, eventually university.. but nothing is well defined yet and I don't really know what I want to do with my life. I expected it, but its still a bit agitating to think about - you reach this incredible stage, where you are the old and experienced one, everyone respects you, looks up to you, you're a source of knowledge and admiration to a certain extent, feel really confident - and the next day you realize how much all those skills you acquired in your military service, all those months and months of training, then service, are worth exactly zilch the day you get out. Or, as the saying in Hebrew goes, are "worth ass".
Celebrations were great, and went up till last night. There was a farewell evening organized by the section I served in (some 30 people), a party at a club where I got totally shit faced and can't remember patches of (gotta watch that vodka orange juice..), sleepovers, and out to dinner with various members of family twice. That about sums it up, I'll give a bit more detail later, as well as photos (those that are left).
Tomorrow I'm off to Jerusalem, so I'll try to update and note by Wednesday at the latest..
With blessings of "Wow, there went two years of my life",
All in all, I'm pretty okay. It was time, I've finished that part of my life and am happy to move on, though I would be happier if I knew better where I was going. There's all sorts of general plans - work, travel, volunteering abroad, eventually university.. but nothing is well defined yet and I don't really know what I want to do with my life. I expected it, but its still a bit agitating to think about - you reach this incredible stage, where you are the old and experienced one, everyone respects you, looks up to you, you're a source of knowledge and admiration to a certain extent, feel really confident - and the next day you realize how much all those skills you acquired in your military service, all those months and months of training, then service, are worth exactly zilch the day you get out. Or, as the saying in Hebrew goes, are "worth ass".
Celebrations were great, and went up till last night. There was a farewell evening organized by the section I served in (some 30 people), a party at a club where I got totally shit faced and can't remember patches of (gotta watch that vodka orange juice..), sleepovers, and out to dinner with various members of family twice. That about sums it up, I'll give a bit more detail later, as well as photos (those that are left).
Tomorrow I'm off to Jerusalem, so I'll try to update and note by Wednesday at the latest..
With blessings of "Wow, there went two years of my life",