My heart just about dropped out of my chest just now.
Here in the middle east anything can happen in a matter of moments. What you thought was a time of relative calm can explode into a violent war with just a matter of words, stones, or the push of a button. It is this knowledge that always keeps me aware of my situation. Today that wariness became my worst nightmare come true.
While I speak decent Hebrew at this point my comprehension is still quite bad. Which is why I don’t read or watch the local news. Apparently that is something that would have been very important today.
As I sat clearing my inbox and watching internet TV as usual, I heard a horribly dreadful sound. It sounded like a Siren screaming through Hurricane force winds, muffled but very, very distinct. I knew what it was.
It’s not like I never thought about it…. what would I do if I heard the rocket alarm?… What would I grab?: phone, passport, teddy bear. But when it happened all I could think of was “Get the hell in the bomb shelter!” As I ran out of the room I saw my brother-in-law still laying on the couch watching TV. I screamed… “That’s the rocket alarm!” He smiled and said “No, no, no it’s just a test. They told us on the news this morning.”
At first I didn’t believe him but his non-reaction told me that mine was overkill. I walked back into the bedroom and collapsed on the floor… That scared the holy hell out of me! I was still sitting on the floor a minute or two later when my BiL came in to check on me. He laughed and said “you were really scared huh?”
Who the hell wouldn’t be? He said it was no big deal that unless the alarm went off a second time… we were safe.
It is a relief to know that I don’t have to spend the rest of the day in a bomb shelter, but I really wish I understood Israeli News…
