Still Going Strong

The Mayor's Shwarma
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Ludman.

Well after a three-day stint of guarding on my base I am now home, and still going strong. I’m a little tired, but three days of guarding instead of my usual weekend cocktail of binge drinking and sleep with a twist of synagogue, will do that to you. On my way home from base I passed by the site of last week’s bombing- “The Mayor’s Shwarma”. I was very happy to see that it too was still going strong. Not only was the scaffolding gone, but also, the place was swarming with hungry shwarma eaters- proof of Israeli society’s resilience and that no matter how many times we are hit by terrorism, we will always be strong.

Thursday evening we had a drill simulating last week’s attack. We all had to wake up, put on our equipment (i.e. vest, helmet, etc) and grab our guns and then pretend that a terrorist was heading towards the base. I usually complain when the officer in charge does long, drawn-out drills. It’s time I could be sleeping ahead of my 4-hour long guard shift in the middle of the night, but this was actually “enjoyable”.