D-Day

Departure Day is finally HERE! Despite initial setbacks from flight cancellations, my trip to Israel finally commenced on Wednesday, December 29^th! While the closing of JFK due to blizzards in New York affected the trip departure, I was grateful to not have been stranded somewhere in the North East. I slept two extra nights in a ‘real bed’ at my aunt's house in Austin -- a welcome alternative to sleeping 36 hours on an airport floor. God is good....ALL the time!

In addition to the hassle of flight rebooking, handled wonderfully by our trip sponsor and UMHB professor, Dr. Stephen Wyrick, we experienced glitches at the Austin airport. For 5 out of our 16 Austin-group members (including myself), no re-booked tickets for the Germany to Israel flight could be located upon reaching the airport. After over an hour of tough negotiating with our airline and travel agency (www.DehoneyTravel.com), our tickets were confirmed in the nick of time and we were free to board our departure flight.

Although the weather conditions had complicated our plans in every way, I was actually excited that our new route included a stop in Europe! We flew from Austin to Dallas, then Dallas to Germany (where my Dad was born!). I took as many pictures of the snow covered surroundings as possible as we were shuffled through customs to board our flight out of Frankfurt to Israel at last!

Viewed from the airplane: My first glimpse of the Holy Land!

Landing in Tel Aviv-Yafo five hours after take-off, we navigated the large 'Ben Gurion Airport' from our terminal down to passport control. The long walk to stretch our tired legs was refreshing after nearly 15 hours on airplanes. Arriving at the passport check point, we waited in unusually long lines before receiving our visa stamps. In my own American stupidity, I *politely* looked the passport officer directly in her eyes, remaining calm and answering questions as briefly as possible. Only, I had forgotten that while making eye contact when addressing an officer in the US will prove your honesty and respect, this body language within the Middle East is interpreted aggressively. I handed over my trip itinerary when asked where I would be going, which the officer snatched and read for quite a while. Starting to worry that I might delay our group if taken aside for more questions, the woman slammed a visa stamp onto my passport after several minutes and shooed me off through the gate to claim my luggage.

Exiting the airport, our group was immediately ushered to our tour bus where we were met by our trip guide, Pitch ("Peach”), an Israeli gentleman in his 60’s. He greeted us in Hebrew and in English, remaining quite stoic as he made witty jokes: *spoken in a deep, Israeli accent* “Many of you by now have already forgotten how a bed looks like....” or "Please walk quickly, boys and girls, we have a long drive! You see....this is why it took the children of Israel 40 years in the desert."

Driving three hours from Tel Aviv to our hotel off the Sea of Galilee, Pitch managed to keep us (mostly) awake with his animated stories and commentary on the sights around us, including the traffic and roadways. Taking the toll road up to Galilee – the fastest and most direct way of travel – we were still met by thick traffic, as Thursday evening in Israel (the day before Sabbath) is like Friday in the US and is the heaviest traffic day of the week. With surprisingly westernized highway systems, Israeli vehicles travel on the right side of the road and follow traffic regulations and signs quite similar to those in America. However, the driving etiquette observed on our way from the airport served to be quite a source of entertainment.

To say the least, Israeli driving is more aggressive than anything you see in the USA. Houston rush hour traffic now appears mild. Honking constantly in mobs of thick stop-and-go is mandatory. Changing lanes occurs with no blinker or any pre-warning to the driver beside you. Cutting people off, or even ‘out’ of the road in some cases, is not rude, it’s just driving. In fact, missing your exit does not even mean you must fix your mistake by way of a looping overpass. Simply reversing back down the exit ramp, probably into oncoming traffic, will suffice. (This WAS indeed seen on many occasions, and experienced on our own bus when our driver missed a turn on a two-lane highway!) Israeli’s are quite efficient, really.

Around 8 pm -- already 3.5 hours past sunset -- we arrived at our hotel, the "Kibbutz Ginosar" on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. A three-course gourmet Israeli meal was enjoyed -- which became our routine for breakfast and dinner every day (Yes. We were spoiled.). We ate while our bags were unloaded off the bus and dropped in our rooms by the porters. Luckily, I'm a very adventurous eater, and quickly piled everything colorful and appealing on my plate to sample different tastes.

Course 2, of 4: Freshly baked pita with hummas ("HOOM-as), stuffed eggplant, 

fresh cucumber salad with dill, green salad, spicy carrots (a popular dish), 

fish from the Sea of Galilee (only yards from our hotel), chicken with sesame 

seed sauce, chicken over rice with honey sauce

Everything was delicious! In fact, there wasn't a single type of food I ate in Israel that I didn't like (including airplane meals!). I tried everything, too -- I mean, EVERYTHING. With full bellies and drooping eyelids, my roommate and I walked from the main office after dinner and straight to our room in a building across the lawn from the dining room.

Never one to hit the clean sheets without a shower, I had my first experience with Israeli plumbing the first night. Everything looked just like a normal hotel shower: white porcelain tub with white tile behind it, normal shower curtain, and waiting with a rack of clean towels. But looks can be deceiving -- or unobservant, jet lagged Americans can be stupid. I turned the water hot, and pulled the lever that released the water through the shower head. Walking outside the bathroom for less than 20 seconds, I grabbed my PJ's out of my suitcase and walked back in the bathroom to find the floor filling with water! I jerked the water off immediately and started laughing to my roommate, Jessica, to come look. (Jess, a natural blonde herself, had her first exposure to her roommate's "true blonde" roots!) We figured out that the shower head (a removable hose that pivots) was attached very loosely to the wall and didn't properly stay in position with the water on.

Israeli's, obviously, never make the mistake it did, since the tub was not outfitted with a splash guard, causing the water to spray against the back tile and gush over the back of the shower like a waterfall. I mopped up the puddle, and *carefully* proceeded with my shower, making a mental note to first examine the shower head at future hotels.

Bedtime routines safely complete, we flicked off the lights and were asleep before our heads hit our pillows. It was a good thing. We had a long day ahead of us...