6:00 AM Wake up.
6:45 AM Get on bus to Yerushalayim.
7:30 AM Get off bus, walk to Rabbinical Court.
7:40 AM Attempt to go into the court, get told by the guards that it opens at 8:30. Get asked by a man who's waiting outside if I want to join a list of people waiting for the court. I sign (#2 on the list) but don't really believe people will follow it. I've heard the court can get very crowded and the wait can be very long.
8:30 AM Enter the court which is still pretty empty, go through security. I sit down at a desk almost immediately. The clerk asks for my ID and the 39 shekels I owe her. I take out my wallet and ask her if she has change for 100 shekels. She doesn't. I ask people in the building if they have change and they don't. I leave the building and start going to the stores. Nobody has change because it's too early in the morning.
8:45 AM Find a change machine nearby, insert the 100 and get a downpour of coins. Hurry back to the court, hope the crowds haven't come yet. They haven't. Wait a bit for the clerk to come back, pay her, get the forms I need and directions to the rabbis I need to see. Go upstairs and wait.
8:55 AM Get in to the court. Give rabbi ID and papers. Rabbi looks at papers.
Rabbi: Are you Shomer Shabbat?
Me: Yes.
Rabbi: Do you keep Kosher?
Me: Yes. Rabbi signs papers and tells me to sign one of them. I sign. I go downstairs and wait a little longer.
9:10 AM Go back to clerk. She takes two of my papers and gives me the other. I am now officially exempt from going to the Israeli Army because I'm religious. I'm also thrilled to be done with it and to be able to get back to school in time for my math test.
9:30 AM Find stop for bus to school. Bus comes, and I realize I was waiting on the wrong side. I cross over and wait some more.
9:42 AM Recieve text message from Abba who's on business in England: "I'm glad my daughter is officially reliegious."
9:45 AM Get on bus.
10:04 AM Get off bus. Go into school, into classroom.
10:35 AM Test in 75 minutes. Everyone but me is stressed and doing last minute studying. I gave that up last night. I can't study anymore. I'm sick of math.
11:50 AM Test starts.
12:35 PM Test is going too well. I'm a bit worried, because this is the highest math level and this teacher usually gives killer tests. The questions are too easy.
12:50 PM I'm done with test and going over it. Nobody else is done. I don't want to hand test in yet.
1:oo PM Give up waiting and hand in test. Teacher looks it over and says it looks good. I'm still a bit scared because nobody else is showing signs of finishing.
1:05 PM Call the IDF Recruitment Office. Line is busy.
1:15 PM I'm really worried, because nobody from my math class has left the classroom yet. Other people are leaving other classrooms and complaining about what hard tests they had.
1:30 PM Test is officially over, and my classmates are leaving and of course discussing the test. Most of them seem to have had a hard time. That doesn't make me feel better.
1:50 PM Literature teacher is trying to teach us, or rather trying to have a discussion with us about a book we just read. Most of us can't stand that subject and we've just been through a math test. We're not having a good time right now.
2:45 PM We're about to start 3 hours of chemistry. Now I really love chiemistry, considering that I'm majoring in it, but we're learning some really tedious stuff right now and 3 classes straight at the end of the day is not a good thing.
2:50 PM My cell phone dies.
4:15 PM Trade SIM cards with someone to make some phone calls. I call the IDF again and get their answering machine which says their phone is only available until 5. Based on the booklet they sent me, I think the office is open until 7. I call home and tell Imma I'm going to go to the office after school to complete my exemption from the army, and that she shouldn't call me because my phone is dead.
5:10 PM School is over, finally. I have a ride home but I'm not taking it. I get on the bus and figure out how to get to the Recruitment Office.
5:30 PM Get off the bus and start walking toward the office. When I get closer I see a sign that's not really clear. Then I see some soldiers and ask them where it is. They tell me... it's closed. It's open from 7:30 to 5:00. I am annoyed, and I go back to the bus station.
6:00 PM Get on the bus to Efrat after almost missing it. I'm tired so I don't do anything on the bus but eat some cookies I have in my bag and listen to my iPod.
7:00 PM Get off bus. Go home and crash.
Lesson of the day: Trust your instincts. My instincts told me the office would be closed.
Complaint of the day: IDF: update your booklets!
Quote of the day: Sleep is the best coffee.
Anyway, now tomorrow I need to get up really early again and go to the office...
