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Summer Fun<br />
The Truth About Givat Scum<br />
Rebecca Weidner<br />
13<br />
For most of us who lived through<br />
it, the month and a half spent at<br />
Givat Ram is now just a faint<br />
memory. After long contemplation,<br />
I’ve decided that this temporary<br />
senility is due to a cranial defense<br />
mechanism to protect us from<br />
memories better left forgotten.<br />
Mention the words 'Givat Ram "to<br />
any person who spent some time<br />
living there, and the automatic response<br />
is a hysterical scream.<br />
What could elicit such a reaction?<br />
What made Givalt Ram 80 abhorrent?<br />
Decide for yourself. The following<br />
is an unbiased, factual account<br />
of life at The Elef Dorms:<br />
After making our way to the<br />
front of the dorm assignment line,<br />
our names were written in pencil,<br />
in an apparently random slot, and<br />
we were handed a key. On this key<br />
were written three numbers, such<br />
as 2-9-9, almost like a prison cell.<br />
The first number referred to the<br />
level of your building, the second to<br />
the specific building, and the third<br />
to your room number in that building.<br />
What a fascinating system.<br />
The rooms consisted of two beds, a<br />
very own family of ants. The bottom<br />
of our doors were slotted for<br />
acoustical reasons; these open<br />
ings allowed all of the noise from<br />
the hallway to slip into our room<br />
and be amplified for all to enjoy.<br />
At the end of each cell block were<br />
the bathrooms. The showers were<br />
shared among the members of the<br />
building as well as strange men<br />
who would "accidentally' wander<br />
into the stall, and a little brown<br />
dog who enjoyed drinking the soapy<br />
water out of the drain.<br />
Directly across from the showers<br />
was a room with a sink, a stove,<br />
and big silver refrigerators. Some<br />
call this a kitchen. We called it<br />
something unprintable in the yearbook.<br />
But it was hard to tell exactly<br />
what it was because it was usually<br />
overrun by cats. This really<br />
was not that unusual considering<br />
cats ran Givat Slum . After a few<br />
minutes of negotiating (i.e. stamping<br />
your feet, screaming, throwing<br />
things) the rabid beasts would normally<br />
allow you a little time to<br />
cook dinner. However, they were<br />
never very far away, usually sit<br />
their next attackFor those students<br />
fortunate enough to receive refrigerators,<br />
there was the pleasant surprise<br />
when they opened the door<br />
and found that none of their food<br />
was stolen. Actually, this was only<br />
pleasant for some, for having mango<br />
juice stolen was a better option<br />
than finding ants using the juice as<br />
a swimming pool (the refrigerators<br />
weren’t quite cold enough to diecourage<br />
the ants.)<br />
And then there was Summer<br />
Ulpan - talk about repressed memories.<br />
The best thing that can be<br />
said about those nine long weeks is<br />
that they are OVERI<br />
I cannot end this brief documentary<br />
of Givat Nam life without, at<br />
least, adding some of the perks of<br />
living there. First, it made us espedaily<br />
enjoy the weekend trips that<br />
conveniently allowed us to escape<br />
the hell of Shikunei Ha'Kelev<br />
(translation: Dorms of the Dog).<br />
Second, it Instilled in us a greater<br />
appreciation for our later dorms at<br />
Resnick and Idelson. Finally, and<br />
most important, friendships were<br />
created that will last a lifetime.
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