Hitching a ride on a Black Hawk

19th August, 2004

It's quite a sad day today. There's no word from Angel. No news regarding the application form. My mom is abroad. I'm here in the army, all by myself, thinking about her nonstop.

I had to prepare for tomorrow's operation: A Black Hawk chopper will take us on top of a hill a couple of kilometers north of here. We'll walk down the hill to a narrow road and erect a 2-sided checkpost.

Having some free time, I watched the 2004 Olympics. It's not all that interesting, but once you have a few countries to cheer for, you can have a sit and enjoy the show for a while. I cheered for Israel, USA and Germany mostly. Sometimes for Russia, Japan and Australia, too.

5:45am - We were awoken. A "Safari" took us to a remote place. (Safari - A big, well-protected truck that the army uses to transport soldiers in the Palestinian territories, deploy soldiers in Palestinian villages and so on.) We had to cross a hill to get to the landing zone. Shortly after, a Black Hawk chopper arrived and landed there. Even though we were 15-20 meters away from the chopper, its propellers raised a heavy cloud of dust over us. We had to cover our faces as small stones were flying all over the place. I got in once it was my turn. We sat on the chopper's floor, grabbing onto anything there was in order to maintain our balance.

It was my first ride in a helicopter. It was fun, especially whenever it turned and curved and you could see the earth close in on you. The view was beautiful.

We got off 3 minutes later near Beit Ula. Next, we had to go down a very steep hill, treading cautiously, as one could easily fall down and get a serious injury, considering all the equipment we were wearing. (heavy radio MKs, vests and weapons, gallons of water, checkpost equipment , a stretcher and means of dispersing crowds) Each one of us fell down a few times. It seemed impossible not to.

After passing this densely forested hill, we've finally reached the road, sweating like pigs. I could finally drop the stretcher off my back.

We've assembled the checkpost and started checking cars. I was accompanying Or, checking the western side of the road. Our weapons were loaded and ready to fire. The Palestinians looked unhappy and mad, but as we checked more cars, they seemed nicer and nicer with time. There was a wedding couple along with their relatives. After checking their car, Or wished them a happy marriage. There was a car with a small boy in the back. He had his eye bandaged. We checked the car fast and let them go before all the other cars who were ahead in the line.

Even though the checkpost must have caused a lot of frustration among the Palestinians, we treated them nicely. They'd smile back and talk in a friendly manner. They have to understand that we do it for a reason, that it's not like we want to make their lives harder. By checking these roads, we may prevent all kinds of illegal activities. We're like the police of the Palestinian territories. Until they will have their own police strong enough to inherit the authority.

After some time we've opened the road and rested for a while. My head hurt from the pressure of the casket.

The Lieutenant wanted to make another checkpost but in some other place. We walked a short distance to the east where we had our breakfast. Then it was decided to go back and make another checkpost at the exact same place.

There was a truck that wouldn't start. We opened the checkpost, stopped one of the cars and asked the driver if he could help us push the truck. What a pleasant moment it was for the eyes - me, along with several other soldiers (or all of them?) and a Palestinian guy, pushing the truck down the road, helping the Palestinian truck driver start it. A dozen of Palestinian cars around us, waiting for the truck to move and free the road. The truck driver thanked us a lot for our help. It was one of those rare occasions that made me feel really proud of myself and my mates. Finally we did something good for both sides, right?

So it was a pleasant moment that was followed by an unpleasant one - we had to go all the way back uphill. We had to take a break for 3 times, consuming gallons of water. When we reached the top of the hill, we waited for the Black Hawk's arrival. It took us back to an open field close to Border Police's base of Tarkumiya. Then the Safari took us back.

I called my mom. She says it's really incredible there, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). So much has changed since we left it in 1991. I was 5 then. I barely remember it anyway.

Tomorrow my Angel will fly to Croatia. I didn't receive any messages from her, except an email from yesterday which I couldn't read because the file was too large for my phone. I SMSed her twice. Hopefully she'll reply.

The food's been bad for the last two days, but on Friday evenings the food is always better (a Shabbath meal)

I keep thinking about my Angel. I hope she's doing great and that I'll hear from her today.
I love her soooooooooooo much!