Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Yom HaZikaron תשעה/2015
Today, being the start of Yom HaZikaron, is an appropriate time to re-start this adventure-- especially since my real aliyah plan started with a program that is named in memory of someone who we remember today: Yochai Porat, z"l [may his memory be blessed].
I never met him; by the time I participated in the MDA Overseas Volunteer Program it had already been named in his memory. He was the first coordinator of the program before it was really a formal program and I've had the privilege to watch a film, Someday Soldiers, that someone I met through a Birthright Alumni event (way back when, when it was just starting up), Micah Cohler, made about Yochai as his friend and instructor. Yochai was killed by a sniper while doing reserve duty as a paramedic in the IDF.
Brings me to the next person I want to mention here: Barkai Shor. He was killed in Mivtza Tzuk Eitan (Operation Protective Edge, in English). Barkai was killed at the end of this past July, protecting Israel as part of his regular army service. I worked with him on Thursday afternoon/evening shifts out of one of the satellite MDA stations in Jerusalem. I was in the States at the time and I read the name and thought, "No, no, that's not Barkai Shor that I work with. There's got to be another medic in Jerusalem by that name." And then I saw the picture and it wasn't another medic in Jerusalem named Barkai Shor, it was the Barkai Shor that I worked with. Today we remember him as well.
So many people, so many names. 23,320 men and women killed while serving their country; 2,538 men, women, children, and babies killed in terror attacks. We will remember them all and will not forget their names, who they were, and why they were killed. May their memories be for a blessing. Amen.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
!במירון רבי שמעון, אדוננו בר יוחאי
In Israel it means medurot (bonfires) and the whole freaking country smelling like smoke. But it's fun. מדורות (bonfires), על האש (BBQs), chilling. It looks like the whole country is going up in flames, there are so many fires. I spent last Lag BaOmer at the Kaufmans; they organized a מנגל and everyone brought food (there was far too much), we played Banagrams, Elinor and Yehuda played the cello, Arie made THE tea, and we roasted marshmallows. And there were bonfires ALL OVER.
English-date wise, it was my birthday! Well, now it's still May 11 in the States, but in Israel it's already May 12. Eden and I slept over by Hannah's the night before, we broke out the cookies early, I opened on of my cards, had an interesting texting conversation with Shloime because I couldn't sleep, and then the next morning Hannah, Eden, and I went to Bayit Vagan for shlav bet. More about that tomorrow.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
So...ummm...yeah...
In short: I went back to Israel for another seven and a half weeks, and again...had an amazing time. You know, for a shock.
I'll try to summarize a few key points: I got in Wednesday night (May 7, end of Yom Hazikaron and beginning of Yom Ha'atzmaut), was home (home= Chashmoanim; when I'm in Israel, home is always Chashmonaim, until I have my own place) for a few days.
I started off by not being able to find the stroller-- turned out that it was on the "oversize luggage belt." Rita picked me up, and things hadn't even started-- it was Yom Ha'atzmaut-- Israeli Independence Day, and since things start at night and I got in at about 6 pm, I was right on time. I wish I could have been there for Yom HaZikaron, but I enjoyed Yom Ha'atzmaut.
Yom Ha'atzmaut: I went to do an avtacha with Eden. I got into Jerusalem, called Eden, and she said she was right by the bus station...I found here-- almost didn't recognize her because she lost so much weight, but that was a happy reunion. We went to the station and couldn't find our driver...so we called Boaz and we were going back and forth, etc. In the meantime, Hannah and Ryan came to say hi to us. Our driver finally showed up about 15 minutes after we were supposed to be at the avtacha, but whatever. We got to the avtacha and just hung out. We bumped into MDA 69 people and Kaufy and Elinor. The avtacha was actually cool-- it was at Muzaeon HaChaim, which is The Living Museum, so there were people dressed and acting like historical figures from Israel's creation as a Jewish state. There were also dancers and musicians-- it was like a giant street fair. We had one call there-- as Eden and I were walking around, someone flagged us down because his friend was not feeling well. I called for our driver while Eden started taking care of the person-- the madlad didn't work either. The kesher apparently wasn't working either, so I went to our ambulance and we got another. And that didn't work, so we took the Natan's. We brought our patient to the other ambulance (it was closer) and took care of him there. He declined transport, so that was that. Nothing else.
At the end there were fireworks, which were fun. We were so close-- one building away! It was cool. Kapach made coffee, which was good. Gotta love the portables.
Spent Shabbat at home and then went into Jerusalem on Sunday to got to Shearim for a day, then do the hashlamah course. Ended up being קורס נט"ן and 88-hr.
What is your job on the ambulance? Be the paramedic's bitches"-- wise words from Jaffe
Arie (Jaffe) taught the קורס נט"ן which was half-assed, but not his fault-- we didn't even have the equipment we needed...next time I vote for a road trip to the station to see a functional ambulance and equipment. 88-hr. was taught by Yehuda (Stein). There was a heavy emphasis in the one on IVs-- we got to do 4-5 each, which was cool. I would have like to learn more...don't get me wrong-- being able to do so many IVs was good, but doing all of them so quickly together doesn't always help you learn so well. But the again, we did the 2 courses in 4 days, so what was I really expecting?
Oh, the opening exam! That was a bitch; it was all in Hebrew! I struggled through it. I'm kind of proud if myself; I got about a 60, which isn't exactly a good grade, but it was pretty high, relative to what everybody else got. And we had madrichim who are fluent in Hebrew in the class too!
The first day of the course was also my birthday. Eden and I slept over at Hannah's the night before, and they made me a surprise birthday party! (Jaffe got a call and left, and we had a party-- Jungle Speed and cake and cards!).
I failed the first practical-- I forgot to check for severe bleeding in C of the primary survey, but did fine on the patient interview. So I redid the practical later that evening-- I knew it, I know I knew it, I just...didn't.
After the courses I stayed at Bayit Vagan to help with the rest of the course. I also did a couple of shifts, including one with Gal and Yoyo (who now is a driver! yay!).
Course Madrichim, aka The Animal Brothel
The next Monday I went back to Bayit Vagan(orrhea) with Hannah to start Course Madrichim. There were 11 of us in course, which was considered to be a lot; I understand it, but there were...whatever. Our instructor was sick for the first week, so basically anyone who was available taught...Yehuda taught a few lessons, Kaufy gave a lesson on lesson plans, Dan gave a lesson on problems in the class, somebody who has nothing to do with MDA chul until that point taught a couple days...basically, fill-ins. Which was really not good and not conducive to learning. Sharon came in on Sunday, and things started coming together. I really wish they would have extended the course so we would have had more time with a cohesive one, but that's that...it was fun sometimes. There was one point where Perle and I had it out, massively. It was bad. Anyway, so course madrichim was fun for the most part. The best part in the hostel was the mirpeset we had-- there were 9 girls, so we had 2 rooms with a huge mirpeset with doors to both rooms, so we could go back and forth (and get into the other room when the door was locked and couldn't find the key).
Then it was Shavuot; I did shift in the morning and went with Sara to MMY. I kept one day, which at first sounded weird, but...it actually wasn't at all. I had called Kaufy to find out what was going on, if there was space for me, and it didn't even register that I was calling on what should have been second day of Shavuot. It was...I was home.
The second day (or what would have been), I did morning shift in Jerusalem and left a little early, because my driver was leaving early anyway. Went up to TA with Kaufy to do erev-layla on the atan, had one call and switched to a ragil at the hospital because there was one driver who had nobody on his ambulance, and there were 2 paramedics plus Kaufy, plus me on the atan...so I switched. I worked with a guy named Barak, who was doing a hishtalmut shift later as a paramedic. We were in the Yafo station and I discovered a new TV show-- Ramzor. He was cool. It was a good shift, and I'd like to work with him again. We had one call that he said was a "TLC call." It's so important to take care of the TLC calls...yeah, they feel like a waste of time, but ironically they're the ones who need your focus the most-- your trauma patients need you to attend and focus on the treatment, but that's pure protocol. You really have to pay attention to the person, not just the patient, when you have one of those calls.
After that we went back to the TA station (late, because of the late last call at 10:30-ish). I did night shift on the atan again; just a few calls. Eden was also doing night, so we talked a little between calls and sleeping.
Again, another week off...did random things. Couple of shifts.
Teaching the course: TBC...
Friday, March 28, 2008
Final words from the January-March 2008 trip...almost
11:50 pm
In the airport. I feel like I'm not going home to stay, rather for a visit. I'm coming back in 6 weeks, which is reassuring and happy.
I just...don't want to leave. If they call.ask for people to bump-- I'll take it. I will take it.
Talked to Eden- she's doing a night shift on an ata"n; she's working with Shya, actually.
March 25, 2008
4:43 am, NYC time
It really feels like I'm just coming back to NYC for a visit.
I can't believe how much I already miss Israel. It's better knowing I'm going back in 6 weeks, but I miss it already. And MDA.
6:54 am
Plane is landing in a few. I should be more excited to be back, but really-- I just want to be back in Israel. I'm excited to see my family and friends, but I don't care about being back in NY.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Final Words From Israel, at Least Until I Get to The Airport
7:15 am
At the tachana for my last shift- unless I get a night shift.
I spent Shabbat by Eli; it was nice.
Thursday I worked a shift with Ohad, Fund, Avital, and a MDA 71 girl, Bianca. It was a day full of fainting calls. 2/3 were cancelled, and one unconscious turned out to be a fainting. Our last call was a lady who supposedly had fallen and had been lying on the ground for 2 days. I don't know how long she was actually there for, all I know is that it stank in that apt.
Thursday afternoon I went to Elkie and Yehuda's to bake. We baked some blueberry and mostly chocolate hamentaschen. Went to Yehuda's family for megillah, then went to Eli's and got there about midnight.
Shabbat was nice-- Friday night we ate at Mo's with about 15 people. Shabbat lunch was organized by Doron. I took a nap, then went to mincha, then had seudah shlishit at someone named Sarit. It was really chilled-- her, me, Eli, her roommate, and one guy who ate and ran.
Then we went to daven, made havdalah, then I came into Jerusalem. Met up with Eden at the tachana hamerkazit and we went to the SHearim Purim Shpiel; it was cute. We got there late, but saw about half of it. We slept over at Naomi, Debbie, Katie, and Leah's apt. then came to shift this morning.
I really don't want to leave. I know I'm coming back in may, but I just-- don't want to go.
I know I have to take my boards and get a job for when I get back, but I don't even know what I want to do! --cut because this is a trip journal, not a "What Kind of Job do I Want" journal-- But back to Israel-- G-d, I don't want to leave, even though I know I have to go back.
10:15 pm
Doing a night shift! Yay! And it's with Eden! We're working with 2 guys both named Shlomie. I'm so freaking tired-- I actually feel myself being clumsier and slower. But on calls I'm good-- it's the rush.
I want to take a nap, but I'm watching our stuff-- mostly the fleeces. Really, those are the things most likely to get stolen.
I can;t believe that at this time tomorrow I'll be in the airport, waiting for my flight back to NY. It doesn't seem like it's real; it'll probably only hit me when I'm on the plane or back in NYC.
10:26 pm
No call, just a conversation break.
It'll probably hit me when I see a Starbucks-- or take the subway.
Or call/text someone and hear them. Or when I look at the clock and go, "So-and-so is on shift now." Or whatever.
G-d, I'm going to miss this place.
Monday, March 24, 2008
3:30 am
Birth! I just had a birth! That makes up for the other not-so-exciting calls that we had. We also had a drunk who couldn't walk, but refused to come with us anyway, an old lay who couldn't walk and had leg pain, and a guy who had suspected recurring pneumonia.
Birth made up for these calls. She delivered within 2 minutes of getting into the ER-- a girl. It was awesome!
5:46 am
I think I just came back from my last call-- for now. Chayal, was going into a building, someone(s) thought he was a robber, shot at him and started beating him-- sof-sof, he had a couple of scratches and maybe a slight head injury. But more scared thatn anything else.
Hmmm-- skipped over yesterday; I was going to write earlier today, but it really was yesterday.
Morning shift I did with Rivchi and Shiran. It was not a normal morning-- there was no shibutz (where we pick who we're work with-- assignments)-- basically find-a-driver. There was a new MDA 71 guy there-- poor guy, it was his first day and this is what he got...But he worked with Shira and Leah, so it was a good team.
I was in the Knesset until about 11-11:30 when we got a call. We had a couple of calls-- nothing terribly exciting.
After shift I went with Eden to the Purim seudah that Kaufy and Elinor were co-hosting at their friend's apt. It was really nice-- there were about 15 people there for the meal, and then some more showed up at the end for dessert and Apples to Apples.
Then I went back to tachana merkazit, met Eden, and we came to the MDA station. I attempted to nap before shift-- it didn't work too well.
I ended up switching and working with Yair and Dikla (I did the avtacha at the bar mitzvah with her and Gal). I don't know why, but at least 3 out of 5 of our calls were in Pisgat Ze'ev, so Yair told the moked that after our last call we weren't going to bother coming back to the tachana, just stayin Pisgat Ze'ev as a konan (first responder).
Oh, I forgot! Shloime stopped by the tachana to say bye. Ryan was going to, but he was a little bit out of it. He might come this morning-- later today.
I'm so tired- but I don't want to go to sleep now- I have officially 45 minutes left to my shift, but the morning shift people (aka those doing sherut leumi and MDA chul) will be here in, like, 15-30 minutes.
I wish I could do an am shift, but it's just not happening. I have to go to Marzipan, get Gilah's gum if I can find it, and go home to pack.
--cut because my day planning is boring--
Boaz just got here, or at least 42 did-- think I'll go brush my teeth and then go hang out in the machsan for a bit.
10:20 am
On the bus back to Chashmonaiim. I just sent a text to Eden and Shloime-- "I'm on the bus and it just fucking hit me...I'm leaving. And I'm going to cry." More on this later when I'm not about to throw up as well.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
March 9, 2008-March 18, 2008
5:44 am
Waiting for Valerie at the trempiyada (where I get a ride from). Wonder what today will be like-- it's been very warm-to-hot the past week or so. And humid; you literally see the haze all day.
10:31 am
Today it's cooler. I definitely could have worn my fleece, because I'm wearing a t-shirt under my sweatshirt and I'm slightly cool. I'm working with Boaz and Nerya today; Benny was supposed to be with us, but he was at the tachana merkazit and Refael needed someone, so Benny went with him to do an avtacha. We might go to Bayit Vagan after--
12:32 pm
Still waiting...Boaz in in a meeting. Murgh.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
8:11 pm
Heat broke. Finally. I had my fleece today, which made me happy. I also got up at 5:15, which was exciting. Today I worked in the machsan in the morning and had 2 calls in the afternoon.
Yesterday Benny, Eden, and I went to Bayit Vagan to see MDA 71-- there's 83 of them! I'm really glad my course was small.
Reminder- have to call Coby tomorrow about Fri. am. I REALLY want to do shift with. -- ok, nm, he'll call me back.
IN other aspects of my life, I have lots of bruises on my legs and I'm not quite sure where they came from. Which is bad.
What else? Oh, tomorrow I'm doing a shuk run- want to do shopping for mishloach manot-- which means I have to make a list of who I'm giving to. Oh, and baking- I think I'm going to bake on Tuesday. Tuesday night. I'll see.
'k, off to go make my list-- oh, wait, I have to call Shloime or Ryan to find out about Purim-- but they might not know yet- well, I'll put them on a "maybe" list.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
10:00 pm
Waiting--
(note: I don't remember what I was waiting for, but it was probably laundry or something like that)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
11:50 am
Over the past few days it's not been very exciting. I've had a couple of psych pts.-- neither of which came with us.
1:10 pm
What a crazy call we just had! (translated from Hebrew) Wow, I actually have to make an effort to write in English; my first instinct is to write in Hebrew. Right, so calls-- nothing overly interesting, except the previous one, which I'll get to ina minute.
Wednesday I ended up not doing a shuk run, but just went to Bayit Vagan instead. Thursday I went to the shuk.
Wednesday I/
4:06 pm
Call. Anyway, so Wednesday I worked with Itzak and Adam. Itzak was teaching a new driver, Benny. I really like Itzak's style-- TBC...
6:16 pm
Waiting at the Old Jaffa Youth Hostel, in Yafo. By the way, this feels really sketchy-- kind of like the Bowery at night alone. Well, at night, even with people. More about this adventure later. But damn, this feels sketchy!
Anyway, so Wednesday with Itzak. He's great. He really teaches by example and direct feedback-- he says what was good, what needs to be corrected, and how to correct it. He doesn't correct you obviously in front of pts.-- he'll help you and show/guide. Or step back and let you not do it as smoothly as if you were experienced. We had a few calls that day, including one day who looked almost catatonic when we got there. He had been standing in the entrance of the yeshiva all morning. He wouldn't talk, give ID, tell us his name-- nothing. Eventually we coaxed him out towards the ambulance. He ended up just walking off.
Monday, March 17, 2008
9:06 am
At Hadassah Ein Karem. So-- what else interesting? Not too much.
I had an interesting day on Thursday. Not so much in terms of calls, but I was supposed to be with Refael/
12:07 pm
But the Boaz had no mitnadvim (volunteers) and Nerya (the bat sherut who works with him) wasn't there, so I worked with Boaz.
Yesterday I had a crazy call. First the Natan got called out. Then we got called out-- 2 girls with burns. We get there-- the Natan is parked outside already. We go in and there's a girl sitting in the office with her leg up. We get taken to another girl, who's sitting in a chair crying hysterically. Clearly not our burns girls. She's crying, her leg hurts. Get her onto a bed and extend her leg-- she has a band-aid on her knee and it's swollen and bruised. We start taking care of her; Itzak on the Natan is treating the burns girls. Balagan.
2:00 pm
By thee way, most of the time that I stop in the middle of a sentence and it's a shift, it's for a call.
Back to the balagan call-- we're treating the girl with the bruised and swollen knee, Itzak is treating the burns girls, and there's a fourth one sitting/ [insert call here] nm, mevutal-- cancelled. (continuing) in the office with I don't even know what. All 4 of the incidents happened during recess; the only ones that were related were the burns girls.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
10:00 am
Yesterday's calls weren't anything special. I had a fire in the morning. One guy had asthma and we ended up doing a transfer to a Natan. Literally the second we got back into the ambulance we got called back to the scene-- a firefighter had smoke inhalation-- because he had taken off his mask and given it to the asthma guy.
We also had an avtacha in Givat Ram. We got there-- the university knew nothing about it. Security took us to the stadium-- which was empty. Gal got in touch with the moked (dispatcher)-- the avtacha was cancelled. That was really it.
After that I got dropped off at Bayit Vagan and helped with studying until ~8, then I went home.
No one was home, so I went to the shul and was at this simchat bat thing for about an hour, then went home to get ready for the next day, then went to sleep.
Monday, March 10, 2008
March 3, 3009-March 9, 2009
10:25 am
Another dead day at the MDA station in Jerusalem. Yesterday I had, I think, 4 calls. My first day was a real teaser, because I thought my days would be more like the first one. So far I've had 3 calls this morning-- no, wait, 4-- car accident, car accident, cancelled, car accident cancelled on the way. All were canceled- ALL. Okay, call-- let's see how this one goes…
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
2:35 pm
Yeah, so I had an "eh" day yesterday, at least during shift. It was just up-and-down for the first few hours.
At my second avtacha (medical standby in case it's needed). Of the day. Ever. Today was more exciting, but I'll finish yesterday first. So the 3 canceled car accidents, a few more calls, but nothing interesting. Our last call was an emergency call to..wait for it...an 84 y/o who had stomach pans for a MONTH already, and it was an emergency. WTF?
Today was more interesting; we had lots of trauma! First call was a kid whose finger got slammed in a door and part of the pulp got amputated on one finger and the other one got slammed only and was bleeding.
Second call- a construction worker fell. Facial wound, backboarding involved. And then there were 2 more falls-- wow. 3 at once-- well, one after the other; you heard over the radio. 2 (including the one I was on) went to one hospital, the other went to another hospital. I did not see Shaarei Tzedek today-- usually I see that more often.
Third call was an old lady with thrombosis who didn't want to go to the hospital at first, but she ended up agreeing to go.
Fourth call was a teen who had a rock-- a rock!-- thrown at her and it hit her in the head, but she didn't lose consciousness or anything like that.
After that we pit-stopped at the MDA station to wash the ambulance before going to do avtacha at a race. When we were there, Coby called Benny and asked who was working today-- and then Benny gave me the phone and Coby asked if I could do avtacha at Binyanei Hauma for a bar mitzva. (Why there's a bar mitzva at 3 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, don't ask me)
6:05 pm
Back inside. I went to the ambulance for a bit-- took a nap- mmmm....Anyway, I'm doing avtacha for a bar mitzvah-- the grandson of the Belz Rav. There are so many people here-- and that's only the women! The men are at the Belz shul or something like that. There are, at least, 600 people in one hall alone, and there's at least 2 other halls, all just as large, of the women. (later addition: There were 2500 women there. And 4500 men wherever the men were) Wow.
In other news, I told Mom I want to do the madrichim course and she wants to talk about it not at 11:30 at night. [cut because no one wants to hear about school stuff] Well, she hasn't said no outright, which is good. It's not really up to her, but her not saying "I really don't want you to do this" is definitely appreciated.
Feels like 1 am, or so. I worked 14 hours-- no, 15-- 7 am-10 pm. Damn. And I'll be back here at 6:45 tomorrow. On the upside, I did get an approximately 1.5 hour nap in while hanging out on the ambulance. I'm waiting in the MDA station for Rita to come pick me up. I just came into the kitchen, went to rinse my cup mug to make a cup of Nescafe, and saw ants. The hot drinks machine is infested with them-- or at least it used to be; the sign is down now.
I'm debating coming in on the later bus tomorrow-- I think I'll see what time I get home and get to sleep.
I had something else to say...and I don't remember what...oh well.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
3:28 pm
Today was an okay day. First call was at, like, 7:05-- as in, "Who wants to go with Shalom?" Car accident, and the shibutz (schedule) hadn't been done yet. So I just jumped on. Guy got hit-- there was a konan (first responder-- in MDA there are first responders/hatzala who are on scooters and have basic first aid stuff) there, so we just backboarded and took him to the hospital.
After that, a lady who—TBC
Thursday, March 6, 2008
(continued) After that, a lady who didn't feel well, and-- not too much more excitingness.
After shift I went to town with Benny, Adam, and Ryan, and then met up with Shloime there for a bit. Then I went out with Ami, and then came home-- I actually got home earlier than previous nights.
Today I went to the Knesset-- mildly interesting overall. At first they didn't have the fax that we were going to be in the Knesset today, then we got called to a car accident-- 8 cars! No one went to the hosital, though; one person had some pressure at the back of his neck, but that was it. Originally he said yes to going to the hospital, but then changed his mind-- whatever. In the afternoon we had a suspected CVA, but when we got there it was a decline in status from yesterday so the family was concerned.
Then we came back, did a sherut run, then I went to donate blood. I'm not doing a shift tonight, by the way. Meh. Shloime's driver has someone else.
I don't know if I'm going to stay and hang out. I want to, but I have at least 2 hours, don't have what to change into, and...whatever.I think I'm going to just go home. I have to be here at 9:30 tomorrow, but I can take a bus at 7:30 and not a ride at 5:40. Yay!
Friday, March 7, 2008
2:49 pm
I stayed yesterday. I went to Benny's place (aka Tal's) and showered and changed; I left my small bag at the MDA station, because I was going to crash there anyway. Then we went to town, met Eden, and went to New Deli and met up with Josh, a kid from MDA Chul 62 or 64. We had dinner, then Josh went to find some more of his friends, and Eden, Benny, and I went to a bar. We were about to order and Josh called Benny to tell us to get the hell out of town, there was a pigua. So Eden called the girls from her program that she was with, we met them, and went to one of the girl's friend's apt. We stayed there—TBC
Motzei Shabbat, March 8, 2008
8:35 pm
(continuing) We stayed in this guy's apt. for about an hour and then Eden and her friends got in a cab back to their kibbutz and Benny and I went back to the MDA station. It was a balagan there-- there were tons of people and the ambulances were coming back in. The news was on in the kitchen, people were just sitting outside talking, smoking. Helped Shloime refill his ambulance. Then Benny and I waited at the station for Ryan and Hannah to come and we went to meet Shloime and his ambulance at Kikar Tzion. Nixed that, and the 4 of us went to Burgers Bar, then Benny went home, and Ryan, Hannah, and I went to the bus. We were waiting, and all of a sudden there was a crash-- this guy fell and was bleeding. Ryan took out gloves, I went to the ambulance across the street, then Hannah called-- the guy decided he didn't want help and stumbled off. No prob...Then Shloime called and said that if I wanted, there was room on his ambulance. So I said sure and Shloime said they'd come pick me up in a bit. Ryan's and Hannah's bus came, so I went to go hang out with the guys at the other ambulance and was chilling with them until Shloime and his driver picked me up. Had a couple of calls-- first was canceled, the second I don't remember,
11:48 pm
Then we had a 4-month-old who had difficulty breathing. Then we went back to the station and had another call-- chest pain. We got to the apt. and both the husband and wife seemed like they could have used treatment. I learned how to do a quick triage-- How are you feeling? Does your chest hurt? Does your head hurt? Any other pain? Check pulse. Then tx. It was an interesting call-- read:...interesting...
Sunday, March 9, 2008
7:32 am
Waiting at the MDA station for my driver to come back. Some days you get here and shibutz doesn't happen until 7-7:15; today I got here at 7:10 and it wasn't done, but driers had already left.
Anyway, back to Friday. Got back to the station at 8:30, therefore didn't go to sleep. Found Coby and hung around until-- I don't know-- 9:45-ish (?) then we went to the momorial ceremony for Yochai Porat-- Coby drove Shloime's car with me, Shloime, and another MDA Chul person and instructor, Seri. I fell asleep for part of it, but the part I was awake for was fun. We were a bit late to the ceremony, but were there for about a 1/2 hour-20 minutes. Met Yochai's parents and sister.
After that Coby dropped me off at Bar Ilan and I went to Eli's. Shabbat was nice. I stayed at Aylana's and Chava's apt.-- and actually got to see them! Which was exciting! I fell asleep at dinner, which wasn't so exciting, but I was tired. I also slept about 12 hours Fri. night. Lunch was at Aylana' and Chava's apt., then I took a nap, then went to mincha, and had seudah shlishit at Eli's apt., followed by havdalah. After that I went back, changed, and went back to Eli's to watch Firefly. It was...interesting. Reminds me a little of Enterprise. After that I went back to the apt., chilled a bit, then went to sleep.
This morning I came in on the first bus...and that's where I'm at now. Now, reflections or thoughts or comments or...something on the pigua. It feels like it was so far away-- it was 3 nights ago, but even Friday afternoon. Maybe it's because I worked a shift after, bit-- it's not like anything STOPPED. After 9/11, things STOPPED. Here- buses were running a few hours after. Roads were closed and traffic was hell getting out of Jerusalem, but things didn't stop. People weren't out as much, for sure, but things continued. It was scary-- yes, feeling vulnerable like that, but it was also frustrating when I was in the apt. and just sitting there. Once I got back to the station and was checking an ambulance and doing something, I wasn't as frustrated. Yes, the pigua was over, but there was still what to do.
2:00 pm
Dead day. Good, but boring. 1st call was a gas leak-- cancelled-- the FD couldn't find anything wrong. 2nd call was cancelled within a few seconds. 3rd call was a transfer from a natan (intensive care ambulances)-- not even an interesting one- A-fib. And the pt. was fine in the natan; low BP and irregular pulse. That's it.
Thursday, February 29, 2009
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Yesterday and Today
Today, Wednesday, February 27, 2008
So that entry was supposed to be continued and just didn't happen. The girls are so sweet-- they'll be in Lod, so I'll go visit them. They invited me out [last night], but I had a shift this morning.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
More updates!
11:37 am
Been a few days.Technically a couple.
I passed. I'm just a nut about exams.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Friday: Nothing. Day off! I went ot the Old City in the afternoon and met the Grosses at the apt. Shabbat was nice. The apt.- not so nice. The electricity blew twice, then the Shabbos clock switched off and the neighbor found an Arab to come fix it. There was no heat (because we pulled out the heaters when we though the electricity blew and it was the Shabbos clock), but the heater in my and Sho's room didn't work anyway, there was tons of food left in the fridge, and open package of cookies left on the table, coats on the hooks-- it looked like the family just left for the weekend- which they might have done. But if you're renting out an apartment, it should look and be proper. This was not.
Monday, February 25, 2008
MDA Chul (Magen David Adom Overseas Program), Part I: The Training
12:58 pm
At the Bayit Vagan Guesthouse(/Youth Hostel). Cam in, signed in/registered, met people, went to get another person a notebook, came back, chilled, had an intro, ate lunch, and am waiting to go get introduced to my instructors and get my room key. In other news, I have to wash my splint.
6:41 pm
On a break until 7 pm. So far so good. There's a lot of 18-20-year-olds in this course. We're split into 2 classes, ~12/class. There are two full-time instructors and 1 who comes in the afternoon.
So far we've covered what we do (oxygen, bandage, vitals...), what we don't do (hit a pt., give them anything to eat/drink/smoke- except with diabetics-, talk to the media, etc.), adult and child CPR, and choking, but only conscious adults. We've got another hour or two before we finish for the night.
My biggest issues are remembering to call for an ambulance and rescue breaths-- I don't open my mouth enough (sound familiar, anyone?). I don't actually suck-- they go in, but I don't like them. Oh, and I have to tilt the head a bit farther back, I think. Again, breaths go in, I'm just not happy with. Let's see...rooms. They are, literally, a place to sleep. There's 3 beds-- 2 pushed together, and one single, a shower, a toilet, 2 nighttables, and a closet. I will be living out of my suitcase. And am debating asking Rita to send me my mattress cover, pillow cover, and duvet cover.
Day 2: Monday, February 11, 2008
3:05 pm
On break. So far I haven't flunked out-- clearly I'm very optimistic. It's okay. They're very intense days-- lots of information, but not so...it's not as bad as the first week of school. THAT was a bitch-and-a-half. It was also the 3-4 hour breaks when I was in the 2nd lab and couldn't do anything besides work in papers or my art projects.
Today we did some review, then did CPR equipment and practice with equipment. We did some special situations-- electrocution, drowning, hanging, poisoning (note: harAHlah, not harPAlah-- harpalah means abortion). And we did-- started-- vitals-- skin, resps, BP, pulse/HR. BP the way we did it in school- with stethoscope- and also the way Katie taught me at Burke, via the radial pulse-- but you only get systolic from that.
7:01 pm
Dinner was later today-- 6:30-7:30, so I've got a half-hour left, which leaves me plenty of time to write. As a side note, it's hard to write when you've got music in your ears and you're tapping your feet and moving your body to it. I'm working on it. If I just let the music play, k'ilu in the background, it's a bit better.
I really miss fw. Not the student crap, but treating patients. I miss it. It sounds funny, but I miss treating people and-- doing it and knowing what to do and making a difference. It's cheesy. But I do.
So far, still no roommate. Not that I'm complaining, just saying. It's-- you miss out on the whole roommate-bonding thing, but I get all the towels I want. Which is a bonus, and I can use the shower and bathroom whenever I want. And don't have to worry about waking anyone up.
All right, time to put this away-- oh, wait, it's "Accidentally in Love." Okay, I'll put this away, finish the song, then be social.
Day 3: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
6:25 pm
So far no roommate-- don't think I'm getting one, seeing as it's already 3 days in...Today we did...something in the morning. I don't remember what, but it's on the midterm tomorrow, which goes from the first day until this morning. Felt like crap, actually, this morning. Feeling a bit better, but still with a headache. I don't have time for this, I've got stuff to do. Lots of studying.
It feels like the older I get, the more I get sick. Maybe it's because I'm pushing my body too hard-- or harder than I used to? Either way, I don't have time for this.
Day 4: Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Translations: ABC-O2 means "check the person's airway, breathing, circulation, and act appropriately, and give oxygen"
PHTLS means "Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support" and there's a checklist of things to do when someone has had trauma.
9:05 am
Exam's over. Went okay, I think. I'll find out later when I get the results-- hopefully later today. There were a few questions I was kind of -ish on, mostly the one about drowning. The question was, "What is the correct treatment for drowning?" Answers were (a) remove person from water (b) ABC-O2 (c) Remove H2O from lungs. First I chose (a), but then realized the person might not be in the water, nor might I be able to remove them. And I knew (c) was wrong, so that left (b). But especially if it's shallow water, you're supposed to do PHTLS. So I don't know. Whatever, I can get one wrong.
6:19 pm
Finished dinner-- good L-rd, I eat fast. I really need to learn to slow it down a bit. A lot.
We went over the exam-- we didn't get them back, but Yehuda went over the questions. I know that I got the one on MI wrong, and I didn't write to call the Natan (ICU ambulance) fora few of them. Now I know what to work on. I think I want to start studying NOW for the final. ...See how far I get with that.
Let's just discuss the class for a minute. There are 3 instructors for my class-- Yehuda, Shloime, and Dan. Dan is by far the funniest, as in belly-laugh. Shloime is randomly amusing-- he draws on the board and...has random British humor moments that the Brits get. Yehuda has more intellectual humor.
Anyway, class is definitely NOT boring, and...it feels...I don't even know. Like a locker room-- 90% of the humor is sexual jokes, innuendos, etc. The most popular phrase (at least on Dan's part) is Swedish; I can't pronounce it, but I can translate it. I swear, this is definitely up there with OT375, or whatever Dr. Wood's theory class was.
I did okay on the midterm, I just hope I do as well (preferably better) on the final.
10:53 pm
Got a 92 on the midterm. I got the MI question wrong, missed one on heart attack s&s (signs and symptoms), and on PE, I didn't sit her up. But my Hebrew was all good. So apparently I'm not doing too bad. I asked SHloime about his offer of a mock practical-- if he was serious. He said he didn't remember, but he said he would. I'll see. I want it, but I'll see.
In other news, guess who's dehydrated again? It's in between, "Wow, I really need a drink," which isn't anything big, and the TKD bit when I'm seeing spots/floaters and the colors are all getting brighter. I also really need to be in the fresh air, but it's wet outside. I'll go study out there. I need air and H2O.
Day 5: Thursday, February 14, 2008
11:00 pm
We actually finished early-- very early-- today, as in 6-- before dinner. I ate, discovered I wasn't the only one who got sick from the food, and went back to practice. I finally got to backboard, and learned what was a key thing I was missing-- I wasn't moving a hand, when I was at the top, and I have to. I still have to practice backboarding-- A LOT--but now I know what to do and understand what I was doing wrong. Aside from that, today was a lighter day. We had a Great Debate about t-shirts and sweatshirts, followed by practice. Then we all went to Har Hertzel and on the way back it started mamash pouring and hailing HARD on us. Not fun. By the way, hail hurts- it feels like lots of needles being repeatedly poked into you, especially when it's being blown around by the wind. After that we came back, had lunch, I took a nice HOT shower and felt better. Went back to class, had practice followed by lecture, then we closed for the day.
Really the biggest things I need to practice are PHTLS and backboarding. PHTLS is really pure memorization, and backboarding I need three others for. Bandaging I can do, I'd like to practice jaw bandaging a couple more times, but the others I can do. CPR, I'll review, especially with equipment.
Tomorrow we have class until 12, then we get ready for Shabbat. Yay! We'll also get the schedule for Shabbat, so I'll talk to Moshe and maybe hang out with him. Bedtime!
Day 6: Friday, February 15, 2008
3:17 pm
Few minutes before I jump into the shower (by the way, very good shower-- pressure, HOT water).
Today was, again, much more laid-back. We had both classes together at the beginning of the day, and we learned to prepare and IV, I punctured the part where you stick in the IV tubing, and then my finger-- but only a little bit. I felt a bit stupid, but then Elkie said she did the same thing, so I don't feel as bad. I tried it again, and this time I got it in straight. Going to shower so my hair will dry a bit before Shabbat.
4:17 pm
Showered, half-dressed, and not make-up-ified, and have not yet poked my eyes out. Finish this up, do that, call Bubby and Zaidy, then get Cassie and light with her. So-- today. IVs, practice, split up, practice, lecture on burns, practice, finish off the day, Had lunch-- falafel-- then went to get Shabbos treats! Spent, like, $12 on that-- but it's for Shabbat. Came back, checked my email., hung out with Eden and Benny, then came up to get ready.
I'm really nervous for the final. Theres a lot on the written, and I don't know most of it. The practical-- if you do something like step over your patient, you fail. I'm worried that I'll do something "little" that I'm not supposed to do, and I'll fail because of that, not because I don't know my stuff. We shall see...and on that note, I'm going to make-up-ify and poke my eyes out. And finish getting dressed.
Day 8: Sunday, February 17, 2008
12:39 pm
The good news is, I don't suck at PHTLS. I did a scenario with 2 others...and I am now supposed to stick to the head because I had C, D, and had started E before the person who wasn't holding the head had finished B. The only thing is, I did the tourniquet and forgot to write the time on the person's head. Cannot forget that. That is important. But overall we worked well for backboarding-- got the pt. on, did the rolling well.
I have to practice the secondary survey. A- Recheck AW, check for and tx skull fx. B- Check and assess breathing (30 sec.), change O2 in ambulance. C- Check pulse, BP, wounds-minor hemorrhages, IV. D- Dressing- wounds, fx, burns. E-Evac, if haven't done so already.
Moving right along, Shabbat. It was nice. There are a bunch of people from a youth group called Netzer who weren't here because they had a group Shabbat. But there was about 3/4 of the whole group in. We had davening with a Belgian school group...because neither of us had a minyan independently. There were 3 others besides me (from the girls) at kabbalat Shabbat, then more people came for dinner. Te oneg was after that-- also chilled. Then I hung out after pople left to go out...because I wasn't going out on Fri. night... and played Jungle Speed with Arie, Aryeh Kaufman, and a/
6:30 pm
doctor, Baruch, who was with us over Shabbat. (He gave a lecture on medical ethics and halacha on Shabbat afternoon.) Then they all left to take care of someone and Moshe came by. Then Arie, Aryeh, and Baruch came back an we all played Jungle Speed, and then Moshe and I went for a walk (no comments about Shabbos walks-- it wasn't a date, and if it had been, he would have been 2-3 hours late). Then we came back, chilled with the others, then Moshe left, and the four of us were talking. And then it was midnight and the lights shut off, and we wrapped up and went to sleep.
Shabbat morning we had davening, lunch, the lecture, then some people went to practice more and I took a nap until seudah shlishit, woke up, ate, then we made Havdalah. There was sort of a kumsitz which basically involved Aryeh bringing his guitar and hima nd Arie playing and singing. Everyone else was studying.
Aryeh left and brought back some movies. I watched half of "Knocked Up," then went to go to sleep but got distracted by people talking about the test, so I stopped t talk, too, and eventually went to bed.
Today we had a lecture on Mass Casualty Incidents-- Ara"n-- and the rest of the day was practice.
Shloime asked Rebecca and I to help some of the weaker students, which I'm okay with. And then hen I was doing a PHTLS scenario with Danielle and Michael, Yuda told me to stick to the head and let the others do the rest of the assessment. On one hand, that's really positive, but on the other hand, it's like-- I hope I do as well on the test. I'm mostly worried about the backboarding and the second survey. Backboarding is dependent on who you're working with. But they said they're grading us individually. Secondary survey- let's go through that again- A- check consciousness, AW, skull fx. B- Assess breathing, hook up pt. to O2 tank in ambulance. C- check pulse, BP, minor hemorrhages, IV, D- Dressing- fx, burns, wounds, E- Evacuate, if haven't done so.
PHTLS itself is SSS- Check scene safety, stop and major bleeds- write time on forehead if applying tourniquet. A- Check consciousness, AW, c-spine. B- Expose chest, check breathing, apply Asherman on open chest wound(s), C- Check for any major hemorrhages, check skin, check pulse and capillary refill, check abdomen. D- PAL- Pupils Equal And Reactive to Light, Limbs- move them, feel, AVPU again, E- Expose body, full body check-- ignore burns, scrapes, bruises, fx, Recover. TNT-- Treat or Transport. Second Survey: A- AVPU, AW, B- Assess breathing, switch O2, C- Circulation- stop minor bleeds, assess pluse, BP, IV. D- Dressing- bandage small wounds, fx, burns, E- Evacuate (if haven't done so already). Okay, I know this mostly. I need to study diseases and s&s.
Oh-- Shock- BP down, HR up, Resps. up.
Head injury-- BP up, HR down, Resps. down.
Day 9: Monday, February 18, 2008
12:29 pm
Oh, double f. I forgot to write the time I tourniqueted Sharon's arm. I also forgot to feel her abdomen. F.
The written was okay-- I messed up ont he math-- I added in an extra zero and-- ugh! I know I did all right on the Ivrit-- damn, it's cold out here!
All right, this is-- oh, and at first I screwed up Sharon's BP. I just get so nervous on exams!
All right, it's over and done with, and there's nothign more I can do. I'm going to go upstairs, finish packing, shower-- or reverse those two-- and be back down in 3 hours. Maybe I'll read a bit as well.
Or just pack and read. I'm stressed.
*Sara's comment: midterm
I can't believe I didn't get a mention here when I used daytime minutes to call you and comfort you, like I do before EVERY test. I'm just saying. :) Glad you did well, though- not at all surprised, but still glad. (yes, I realize this comment is delayed, I just wanted to make my annoyance public and maybe earn a mention in a later post)*
Sunday, February 10, 2008
February 8, 2008
Wow! I'm actually ready for Shabbat early! I still have to call Bubby and Zaidy and Imma's cell phone to leave a voicemail for Grandpa. I really do have to remember to call him Thursday night.
In other news, yesterday I went to breakfast with Avigayil, Basi, and Moti; we went to a place called Angelo's, aka "Blondie's." It was late for breakfast-- like 10:30, but whatever. I had a sandwich and cocoa, both very good. After that we went to "The American Store," which had frozen J2 pizza! (among other things, but that stuck out at me) After that I took a bus to Eli's and we watched House and Juno, then he made a really good stir-fry for dinner, and then we went with the Agudah (Agudat HaStudentim) to Ikea. Ikea is fun.
We went on a scavenger hunt and spent a really long time looking for boots with green polka dots-- only to learnt hat the polka dots were stickers and someone took off the stickers! That's always fun.
There was alsoa restaurant-fast food place and I split a chocolate cakey thing with Eli-- it was good, but a little very sweet.
We wandered around Ikea a little more, he got some stuff for his apt., including a 29-shekel wok! It was awesome. Then we went back on the bus and came back to Bar Ilan and I slept over at Ilana's.
Today I came back, relaxed, took a nap, got up and got ready for Shabbat. And wrote this.
Tomorrow night I have to do laundry, do the cuffs on my pants, and pack for the MDA course. I hope I pass! Not that I'm planning on not passing, but it's a very intense 9 days.
February 8, 2008
Wow! I'm actually ready for Shabbat early! I still have to call Bubby and Zaidy and Imma's cell phone to leave a voicemail for Grandpa. I really do have to remember to call him Thursday night.
In other news, yesterday I went to breakfast with Avigayil, Basi, and Moti; we went to a place called Angelo's, aka "Blondie's." It was late for breakfast-- like 10:30, but whatever. I had a sandwich and cocoa, both very good. After that we went to "The American Store," which had frozen J2 pizza! (among other things, but that stuck out at me) After that I took a bus to Eli's and we watched House and Juno, then he made a really good stir-fry for dinner, and then we went with the Agudah (Agudat HaStudentim) to Ikea. Ikea is fun.
We went on a scavenger hunt and spent a really long time looking for boots with green polka dots-- only to learnt hat the polka dots were stickers and someone took off the stickers! That's always fun.
There was alsoa restaurant-fast food place and I split a chocolate cakey thing with Eli-- it was good, but a little very sweet.
We wandered around Ikea a little more, he got some stuff for his apt., including a 29-shekel wok! It was awesome. Then we went back on the bus and came back to Bar Ilan and I slept over at Ilana's.
Today I came back, relaxed, took a nap, got up and got ready for Shabbat. And wrote this.
Tomorrow night I have to do laundry, do the cuffs on my pants, and pack for the MDA course. I hope I pass! Not that I'm planning on not passing, but it's a very intense 9 days.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
12:58 am
I've actually got a lot to say, but it's 1 am and I've got to be up in 6 1/2 hours. So I'm going to make bullet points so I remember. In no specific order:
-Getting out early
-Dinner
-Dessert
-Moshe calling
-Snow maybe
-4-6 hours of hear
-Laundry
-MDA resolution
-Chani and Oren getting engaged
-Geula
-Plans for tomorrow (aka "later today, seeing as it's already tomorrow")
9:05 am
First last night overnight, followed by the bullet points. Last night was very windy. I kept getting woen up by my door banging-- it wiggles about 1/8"-1/4"-- and it is really annoying. You'd be surprised at how loud a bang from that small a distance can be.
OKay, so bullet points:
(1) Getting out early: Yesterday Rabbi Nossel didn't come because he wasn't feeling well. So we got out early. Yay!
(2) Dinner-- Went to a place off of Ben Yehuda with Rachel, Zoe, Bina, and Penina. Made a brief pit stop to find cargos-- aka "dagmach"-- and foinf out that there's a store in Binyan Klal called "Walker" that has them. So tomorrow-- today-- I'm going to try to get there.
10:28 pm
Back in my dorm sweet dorm. Back to the bullets, followed by my day today.
(3) dessert. Went to cafe Rimon with the same people as dinner, and met about 8 other girls from school there. I think we drove the waiter nute. We left late-- by the time we got back it was, like, after midnight, I think. Or just around. So I didn't do laundry.
(4) Moshe called. He's the one I met at the sheva brachot who also didn't know anyone. Yay for bonding over not knowing people!
(5) Snow maybe. There was supposed to be snow today. It snowed for maybe a minute- the rest was rain and a teeny bit of hail.
(6) 4-6 hours of heat. School gives a certain amount of heat per day-- 2 hrs. minimum, more depending on the weather. So yesterday was 4 hours, today was supposed to be 6, but they made it 7-8. Yay! But I do think it's kind of pathetic to get excited about the extra hours of heat. Tomorrow (Wed.) and Thursday we also have 7-8 hours.
(7) Laundry. Didn't do it yesterday. Doing it now. By the way, in case you were hungry, our laundry detergent is certified kosher under the Rabanut. Just so you know.
(8) MDA resolution. I spoke to the coordinator and she placed me in Petach Tikva, which according to Rita is fine. So I'm going there. Rita said a lot of guys from her yishuv volunteered/worked there, so it can't be too far.
(9) Chani and Oren getting engaged! They're engaged! Mazel tov! Yay! Doink-doink!
--brief pause while I go retrieve and hang up laundry--
(10) Geula. Went and got Dassa's siddurs for her. There was a group of girls and their madricha there-- they were just...all over the place, interrupting the cashier-- there were 3 people ahead of me, including the person currently being rung up, and I was in line for 30 minutes almost. Rediculous! Anyway, so that was Geula.
11) Plans for tomorrow. That will go under "Today."
Today: 1/2 day because it's Tuesday. Penina, Rachel, and I went to the Kotel then to wander the Old CIty. I picked up my check, then met up with Rachel and Penina again. We wandered a bit more, then went to town. They went to get something to eat, and I went to find pants. Which I did! Yay! (side note, not in my journal: I seem to be saying "yay!" a lot...I think I'm going to try to cut down on that, or use another word) The store is called "Worker" actually (not "Walker"), and it's in Binyan Klal, if anyone is interested. The pants were about $23 each, which is just over half the cost of the pants I got in Bklyn, but those are also double the quality and double the pockets.
Then I met up with Rachel and Penina again, went to Rimon (meat), then came home (another side note, also not in my journal: I seem to say "then" a lot also).
Now I'm ready to go to sleep.
January 28, 2008
8:48 am
In the Navi shiur-- Rabbi Pavlov is teaching, because Rebbetzin Pavlov is in England.
So I just got an email from the MDA coordinator that I will not be placed in Modiin or Chashmonaiim because they're not placing people there. Shit. I specifically asked in America, and they (my interviewer) said that it wouldn't be a problem because I had a place to stay. I'm going to have to call Rita and find out where I can get to from her. Maybe I'll do Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Only thing is, they're both really big stations and and I don't want to get lost in them...
9:00 am
Damndamndamndamndamndamndamn. Okay, when this shiur is over I have to check the list of cities, call Rita, then call MDA-- Shirel. I am so frustrated now. If they had said that I might not be in Modiin or Chashmonaiim, I would have been more on top of it. But I'm going to call Shirel right after RIta.
I also have to speak to the educational director about my scheudle, but that's at 10:15.
10:31 am
Slightly calmer. Still jumpy as anything and can't focus inc lass, but I don't feel so bad that I'm so ADD and can't focus, because most of the class is a bit-- a lot-- jumpy today. To quote Melissa, "It's in the air." I just want to get this sorted out! I spoke to Rita-- wait. First I called MDA and got a fax number. Then I called a wong number. Then I caled MDA, got transferred to the Jerusalem office and left a message on a general answering machine for Shirel-- I think I'll call her once I can check my email. I am going to have a really hard time concentratin until I can get Shirel's number.
Oh, I spoke to Rebbetzin Kaganoff, the educational director. I'm going to try a chavruta with a girl who she thinks is on my level, so we'll see. If not, I might tutor. She was trying to find a time when I could tutor someone in halacha, but she already has a halacha class at the time I can tutor her. So Rebbetzin Kaganoff is going to try to find me someone to tutor during Parsha. We shall see.