College And Other Drama

Part 1

Photo above is of Sapir Cahana.

"Mazal tov vibihatzlacha!" (congratulations and good luck) was the resounding cheer by all her friends and commanders as Sapir laid down the scissors and looked down at her newly cut-in-half army I.D. that she would never need again. She grinned a bit uncertainly, embarrassed by all the fanfare for something that wasn't such a big deal. Today was technically her date of discharge but she'd been released for almost a month now. She'd gotten used to having to pick out clothing that matched every morning now that she no longer wore the grey uniform of Mag"av. Her feet were encased in a comfortable pair or Blundstones and she'd chucked her painful yet worn out combat boots that had served her faithfully for the past 2.8 years in the back of her closet. She'd ignore them until she was called up to reservists duty- not that she would be for the foreseeable future. She had been accepted and would be beginning her undergraduate degree as a foreign student at UMass in September. Sapir Cahana was going to make something of herself and nothing was going to get in her way. 

She went to the airport alone, despite her Moroccan mother's protests. "I can see myself off, Ima. I'm a big girl now." Her mother started crying and Sapir made her great escape to the 485 bus to Ben Gurion Airport. Her father would take care of her mother's overemotional outburst as he always did. 

She boarded an AirFrance  Paris-bound flight before switching to a Delta flight making it's way to Boston's Logan Airport. She'd never been to the United States but had American citizenship due to her father being born there. Her grandparents were supposed to pick her up from the airport. It was just as well. She'd been able to hold her own against snipers firing at her in Area C, but she was afraid of being alone in a country where she felt uncertain in the national language. 

They were late. Or maybe she was early. She checked her watch again. 15:06. No, they were definitely late. Her flight had even been delayed by an hour so she'd assumed they'd be calling her nonstop. She was starting to worry that something had happened. Or maybe they'd just forgotten about her. She unlocked her phone and dialed a number. It was only 10 PM in Israel. Her father would still be up. It rang twice before she heard the click signalling someone had answered the phone. 

"Aba?" She asked, hating how small her voice came out. 

"Yes, my precious daughter," the deep tones of the one man Sapir trusted in the world answered, assuaging her fears. Aba was here. He would know what to do. 

She quickly explained the situation to him, aware of all the eyes on her now that all the strangers at the airport realized she was a foreigner of Middle Eastern heritage speaking a strange language. She avoided their looks. She was of no threat and there was no reason to be ashamed of who she was. Curly dark hair, olive toned skin and piercing green eyes had never stood out in Israel but here it would and it was just another cultural difference she'd have to get used to. It was more important to focus on the task at hand which involved finding her way out of this confusing airport and into a cab heading towards her grandparent's house.

Stressed out and wiped out, she finally arrived on their doorstep and rang the bell. No one answered. She sighed and sat down. She'd wait. She'd been through much worse situations. At least there were no enemies with weapons loaded to kill her hiding in the bushes. Here, in a small town in Massachusetts, she was safe. And with that thought in mind, she leaned her head against the steps and fell asleep.