Backboard Tournament!

• 
  
  
  
  I forget to talk about the tournament we had with all of the different classes on Sunday.
  
  
  It all started when we were practicing how to backboard a patient. Then our instructor, Avishy, decides to make a competition within our class to see who can go faster. It was a lot of fun, and everyone in our group became much more efficient and faster after competing for an hour and a half. However, being super Israeli, Avishy decides to make it into an even larger competition and challenges two of the other three classes to have a "backboard tournament challenge".
  
  
  All three of our classes rounded up outside, and each class had four individual power teams that they chose to use. The first part of the tournament was a relay race: you must backboard then clean up and then the next team can start the back-boarding process. Long story short, my class won. Then we had 1v1v1. The best of the best of each team went head to head and whoever backboarded someone first won. I wasn't in the best team, but everyone in each class was cheering on their team to win. It was a lot of fun, but very exhausting. We won again!
  
  
  
  Then we wanted to see if the instructors could show us how fast they can backboard someone, since they have been teaching us for so long. Even though they had three people instead of four we thought that they would be faster. But they weren't! It was a really funny moment though because after they were done and realized they weren't as fast as two of the teams, Avishy, our instructor, raised his hands in victory and pretended that he won. (he's so Israeli)

Officially a first responder in israel, arrived in tel aviv, everything is going great

I know it's been a couple of days, but I have been super super busy with learning and studying for my final.

Main updates: I passed the First Responder final for my course and can now officially work with Magen David Adom.  Yesterday  (exam day) was really stressful because we had to get up early, as usual at 7:30, and then start our practical part of the exam at 9am.  There was a lot of waiting, which I usually like for tests, but for this I wanted to just get it over with.  I finished my practical (consisted of backboarding, vitals, and CPR testing) at around 11am.  We thought we were going to start the written part of the exam at 1pm, but it wasn't as organized as we thought it was going to be.  So at around 1:30 Reut told us that the test would be coming in an hour.  So we waited, came around 2:30 and said another hour.  Then another hour. Then another and so forth.  the stress and nervousness that we felt at 9am dwindled away by 4pm and we just wanted to get it over with.  We took the test at 6:30pm.  Then had to wait until 11pm for the results.  Most of us passed and we all got our MDA shirts!

This morning, everyone was pretty exhausted from last night because some went out to Jerusalem and some hung out at Bet Yehuda and had a BBQ.  We met outside and there were 4 or 5 buses going to Tel Aviv, Haifa etc. Then we were told around 30 minutes later to get on the buses, and then I realized that I won't be seeing a lot of these people very soon.  We all became very very close over the past 9 days, we were in classes together from 8:30am until 7pm, hung out together, ate together, basically did everything together.

Getting on the bus,  a lot of things went through my mind.  What will the next part of my journey hold?  What was I going to see?  What calls would I get?  Basically a mixture of emotions, but another leg of the adventure and I am extremely excited to get started.

We got into Tel Aviv at around 1pm and were taken to our guest house, and it's actually really nice.  The rooms are like dorm rooms, but with a mini kitchen and bathroom.  A couple of us walked around to get some shwarma and then walked to the beach.  We are in the PERFECT location.  About 10 minute walk to the beach, 10 minutes to the shook, 10 minutes from some other stuff (probably).  Love it.

Alright, I have to get ready to go to the Ramat Gan station and hear when my first shift is going to be!


Yalla bye

I feel like House

Even though i've been learning the first responder course for a week, I've learned A LOT.  Mostly symptoms and dangers of certain respiratory/cardiac distresses or diseases, but it's really neat.

We worked on scenarious, where our "madrich", or instructor, would bring in 2 people to the room and give them a scenario.  What is happening, what do you see, and that's pretty much about it, and we have to decide what is wrong, and what to do, what questions to ask, and how to treat them.  So, while watching, or if being the one in the scenario, I feel like Dr. House, and trying to figure out what is wrong with what you see.

I can't wait till I take the EMT- Basic course next semester at Syracuse because I will learn even more knowledge for more complicated/random cases. 


For the first time in a week we had a short day!  It was only 5 hours, not bad.  We had a midterm/exam to test how well we are doing and then after learned about burns, and then backboarding.  Then we had time off.

Time to actually go to the Jerusalem that I wanted to see!  We took a cab to the Old City then walked to the Western wall. When we got there I realized that I went to the Western Wall EXACTLY a year ago, and I wore the exact same shirt.  That was some freaky stuff, loved it though.  Then we just walked up and down the markets, until we stumbled upon an outdoor free summer concert full of Israeli's ages from around 18-22.  It was AWESOME, I wish we had more than 10 minutes to hang out there, but it was packed with around 500 Israelis.  They have these outdoor concerts every friday until august, so I will definitely be trying to come back sometime in the next 5 weeks.


The best thing about of madrich, besides the fact that he is so Israeli and is hilarious, is the stories he has being a driver for the past 16 years.  Every situation/disease that he teaches us, he has a story.  Some are funny ones, but others are serious, such as a terrorist attack.  He spoke about once walking by a cafe when a bomb went off and he had to treat seriously wounded/bleeding patients with his bare hands.  These remind you of what COULD happen, but probably, and hopefully, will not. 

I will be putting pictures up next week when I arrived in Tel Aviv because the internet will hopefully be better, but until then...

YALLA BYE.

On a side note, a fantastic actor passed away last night named named Peter Falk.  He acted in the TV show "Columbo", a show my parents and grandam would watch religiously on Friday nights on the classic TV channel.  He was a role model to me, and really sparked my interest in acting.  My parents even secretely sent my Bar Mitzvah invitation to him without me know, he declined but it was still cool to get a response.  He was 83.

More Learning! Yayyy

Awesome day. Long day. Learning day.


Couldn't fall asleep again until like 2am, which was just amazing waking up at 7:30am.  The rooms have HUGE windows and a balcony which is nice, but its perfectly located facing the East so at around 7am this huge bright orange light beeming through the room.  I loved that.

Started learning CPR this time with the equipment, which is a little different from back in Syracuse.  Theres a couple of different equipment things (will put up pictures later) that are actually really convenient.

We practiced in 3 person teams, and I thought that it would be weird using the dummies, but when we got moving everyone zoned in and focused like it was the real thing.

I love that our "drachim", or instructor, tells us a lot of stories every now and then about his crazy calls while working with Magen David Adom.  Fun fact, Israeli drivers have the right to keep a concealed weapon.  So, he told us that he once had to shoot a guy because he had a weapon, and then treated him!  He said they never know where or what they are going to encounter and he said it came in handy.  There were also a couple of stories about when he was the first responder to a terrorist attack.  Pretty shaky subject, and really brought to light how quickly my trip can change here.

After that, more learning.  We learn in a 4 hour chunk then lunch, then a 5 hour chunk then dinner.  The second part we went in depth with a lot of respiratory problems, and also subjects I've never learned how to treat (like diabetes, hyperglycemia, seizures etc.)  Some crazy stuff. 

After dinner, a bunch of people went to the Jerusalem mall.  I know it's not the most amazing and crazy thing in the world, but it was nice to get out of Bet Yehuda for an hour or two.  The walk back however, was intense.  Basically it's like walking up a never ending staircase.  After going up about 200 stairs (and these are big) you reach a street, then another flight of stairs, then another.... Really nice view though after the 20 minute venture up.

For our training, like I said before, we are split into 4 groups.  One of the groups (group 4) has a really enthusiastic Israeli MDA trainer.  There were a bunch of MDA people in the lobby and he said "Ok, everyone let's go!" And so I walked with the group on a quick little hike and then we sat down on this dirt path in the dark.  When we sat down, I realized that the group was really small and I asked "Where's everyone else?"  and the madrich turned to me and said "Oh this is only a group 4 group." *awkward silence* "But you can be an honorary member!"  Yayyy!  Anyways, we sat in a circle and each got a candle.  And we each spoke about who we are, why we are here, and why Magen David Adom.  The first person started with a lit candle, and when he was done talking, he would light the next person's candle and so forth.  So at the end it was  big circle of candles which was really neat.

Another great thing about this was that I was able to hear and see other people who had the exact same views and reasoning for coming here.  It was an awesome time. 

Then we chilled outside and played guitar on the balcony with like 20 other volunteers, that was a blast. 

Anways, need to sleep.  Yallah bye

First day of First responder training: CPR, CPR... and more CPR

Hey everyone!

Today was my second birthday in a row in Israel (19 years)!  That went fast.  But I wasn't able to celebrate it like I did last year on birthright, but thats ok.

I left my Aunt Naomi and Uncle Irving's house in Modi'in this morning at 7:30 am to take a super taxi to jerusalem.  A super taxi is a super cheap taxi that drives around until it has 8 people in it and then drives to Jerusalem.  It's not that bad considering that the taxis was a mercedez.  I guess everything is better in Israel. 

When they said that the First Responder training course was intense, they were right.  It's exhausting.

I arrived at the Bet Yehuda guest house in the hills of Jerusalem and it is awesome, but I sat around waiting with a couple of other volunteers from 8am until 10am for when other people started to arrive.  Everyone who is volunteering, and at the moment training to be a first responder with me, is just amazing because we are all giving up our time (and summers) to volunteer with Israel's ambulance dept.  It takes a certain type of person to do that, and have found a lot of great people so far. 

The day started with an orientation of Magen David Adom, and how awesome it is, and how great it is that we are here.  Then we were split off into 4 different groups to go into 4 different classrooms with 4 different instructors.  Each instructor is a "medic" with MDA and has been training future volunteers from 2 years to 20 years.  My group instructor has worked with MDA for around 15 years and has been teaching this 10-day course for around 10 years.  He's really funny, and gloats about his ADHD a lot for some reason, but is very good at teaching and extremely specific with house he teaches us about CPR.  Even though I already know CPR (thanks SUA) it was a nice refresher and using several of the words in Hebrew (like dofek is pulse etc.)

After the CPR course, I was CPR'ed out.

We were in the class from around 12:00pm till around 6pm, then dinner, then a talk from the main supervisor and creator of the Magen David Adom Volunteer abroad program.  It was very interesting, and reminded us why we are here: to give back to Israel, and have an awesome experience.

Now we are just hanging out and relaxing on the padio. Maybe play some late-night Jew ball (basketball) and probably pass out on the course BUT it'll be fun.


Can't wait for the next 9 days.

Jet lag finally hit me, and driving to an army base

Jet lag wasn't able to hit me the past 4 days because when you hang out with Yoni Dassa, you never sleep, and never stop moving.  I got in Wednesday at 3pm and didn't go to bed until probably 5am.  There were no other options because we went to Tel Aviv, and the only way I would be able to sleep would be to pass out on the side of the street.  But considering that Tel Aviv is very sketchy at night I really didn't want to do that.
That was basically my schedule for the past 3 days though, go to bed late and sleep in late.  However, last night I tried to go to bed at midnight, but couldn't fall asleep until 5am.  It might have also been because I had to sleep on the floor.  Yoni guilt tripped me and reminded me that last summer he slept on the floor instead of me. 
We had to get up at 7am, hooray for 2 hours of sleep, to drive Yoni back to the army base.  That was a trip to see.  It was such an amazing site because as we neared the base, there were just hundreds of kids my age walking around.  They looked so brave, but just like me.  It's just a different world.  When I graduate from high school, I go to college.  When they graduate from high school, they go to the army.  It's inevitable, but just interesting to see right at that moment. 

Army Uniform

Yoni, my cousin in the IDF, let me put on his uniform, backpack (with 8 clips and extra weighted stuff, and m16) on and let me tell you it is hot! Even though I was inside with air conditioning I was burning up.  I can't even imagine having to wear that outside in the Israel heat.  
He told me that during his training he had to wear all of that, plus the gas mask, and run ~ 3 miles and then have to shoot at a target.  If you missed the shot, you had to run it all over again.  He said everyone had to do it at least 3 times because when you got to the target they were so exhausted it was impossible to aim. 

I love Israel!

Before I start this post, the format is going to funky because the wifi doesnt work with my computer, so i have to use my cousins' computer (which is in Hebrew).  So basically everything is backwards even when i am typing in english.
Yallah (let's go) I love Israel, everything about it.  I am feeling the rush of excitement and "coming homefeeling that I felt the first time I came here last year on Birthright.  It's also wonderful being able to understand Hebrew, and speak it as well.  Even though I don't understand like 80% of what Israelis are saying, there is that 20% that makes everything worth while. My hebrew is also getting better each day, ecause there a lot of words that I forgot that I learned and when I hear it I say "Oh yea I know that word!"  Im also starting to think in Hebrew.  They are short little phrases but it's pretty cool.  Its also weird/cool that I am having dreams in Hebrew.
The past couple of days here have been a lot of fun, from going out in Tel Aviv with my cousin Yoni, or just hanging out at my aunt and uncle's house, its just a blast.

Made it to Israel

When I first heard that I was going to be taking US Airways, instead of El Al and that I had to transfer in Philadelphia, I was not very happy because I heard that US Airways is the worst airlines.  However, besides one nasty flight attendant on the way to Israel, it was pretty much perfect.
I told myself that when I got into the terminal to go to Israel that I would only speak in Hebrew from then on.  It wasn't really possible though because of this wonderful Israeli guy who sat next to me, because he didn't understand that I wanted to practice my Hebrew until like 5 hours into the flight! Oh well, but I did start to speak with various other people n the plane (like small talk) but in Hebrew so it got my mind working in Hebrew at bit.
It's amazing that the Hebrew I learned in the last two semesters helped so much, and when someone brings up a word I forgot that I knew, it goes right into my vocabulary again.
I arrived in Tel Aviv at 3pm and was greeted by my Aunt Naomi and cousin Nimrod.  I was scared that I wasn't going to find them because my phone wasn't working in Israel, so I thought to myself that I was going to be on my own but a lovely Israeli family that I met in Los Angeles let me use their phone.

We waited for  the train and during that time I really started speaking Hebrew, but understand about 10% of everything, which is fine because I knew I wouldn't know a lot.  When the train got here, it was packed but there were several seats open when we walked through the train, but my cousin Nimrod kept walking and I was thinking "Why are we walking so far I just want to sit" but when we got to the last car Nimrod sat down at the table when a soldier was, until I realized that that soldier was my cousin Yoni! It was such an awesome surprise (I'll put a picture of him up here later, even though he doesn't want me to(
When I came to Israel last year, I hung out with Yoni every day and would go out with him to Tel Aviv every night.  He's really big into music and shows etc. so I was able to see a lot of the nightlife just hanging out with him for two weeks.  It's really wonderful now though being able to speak Hebrew!  I love it.  Ive been here for about 24 hours now and my mind is thinking in Hebrew.
Like, writing this now some of the words I think first in Hebrew then put it down in English which is aweeesommme.  I can't wait for the next 7 weeks, and cannot imagine how much I am going to learn and see throughout my trip.
Yalla bye

Beginning

    Hi, my name is Aaron Frank and I am studying TV, Radio, and Film at Syracuse University. At the beginning of my freshman year, I stumbled upon the Syracuse University Ambulance Dept., a student-run organization that provides Basic Medical Support to the students and faculty around SU.  I have found a new appreciation and desire to participate in this exciting service-oriented program.
This led to my acceptance to volunteer with Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli Ambulance Dept. this summer!
    Not only will volunteering with MDA be an extraordinary experience, I will be filming/photographing/documenting my trip through a blog on the internet.  This will allow me to bring back and show friends and family back home a different and unseen life in Israel