Today we left Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 8am and flew to Toronto, Canada. On the airplane, I watched Dispicable Me 2, along with some TV shows on the screen that was in front of my seat. Getting through customs in Canada was quick and easy (it only took about 3mins. for all eleven of us to get through). We had a short layover where I played hangman and tic-tac-toe on one of the airport iPads. From their, we flew to Frankfurt, Germany. It was a long flight so I tried to sleep, but after about 2hrs. I jolted wide awake. I literally jumped up and hit the tray table in front of me. We got 2 meals on that flight. A dinner which consisted of chicken covered in tomato paste, some kind of cous-cous salad, a weird other salad, a roll, and a brownie. Our "continental breakfast" was a slice of banana bread. In Germany we had to go through two security check-points (similar to the one at Sea-Tac). At the second one they patted down everyone flying to Tel Aviv. One our flight from Germany to Israel I got seated in one of the emergency exit rows, which was really nice because I got to stretch out a little bit. On that flight we got another meal which consisted of scrambled eggs (with spinach, tomato paste, and cheese), cherry yogurt, a roll with jelly, a croissant, turkey, roast beef, a tomato, and price of cilantro.
Once in Israel, we went through a passport check-point, walked right through customs, picked-up our luggage, and met our tour guide/driver/event planner/translator/well...everything. He drove us to the hostel in Jerusalem that we are staying in tonight and helped us get all checked-in before going home to his family. We got settled in our rooms, ate dinner at the hostel buffet (all the food was very spicy), and met in a conference room where Bello, Emmanuel, and I gave our presentations on the wailing wall, the dome of the rock, and the Via Dolorosa. A few of us went to the gas station store across the street just to get outside for a bit. Right now we're trying to sleep, but their is a herd of kids running up and down the hallway screaming as loud as they can (and some of them have great lungs).
Flying into Israel today was so surreal. I have always been connected to this place spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. But to physically be here now, feels like coming home for the first time since forever. Although many of the people here are somewhat hostile to us Americans, I am so glad I am here and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings as Megan and I learn how to ride bikes and we visit a few historical sites here in Jerusalem.
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