Leaving on Jet Plane

In my second full day in Israel! My arms are still tired from that flight. Haha, I'm the only one laughing.

I said good-bye to my parents and realized I didn't pack my computer battery. If that's the only thing to forget, I think I'll be okay. I'm not worried--it will be sent, and my computer will be able to do something wireless.

The flight to Istanbul wasn't too terrible. I flew Turkish Airlines, just like I did for Birthright. After speaking to a number of other students, this was a very popular company. Would I recommend them again? Absolutely! The seats were comfortable, the flight was smooth, and the various stewards were very courteous and friendly. It was 10 hours to Istanbul. I slept for about half of it and watched Avatar and an episode of "Pushing Daisies" for the rest of it. Incidentally, Avatar is about an hour too long for my taste, but an incredible movie.

For whatever reason, my two hour lay-over in Istanbul was cut short as I was rushed by the staff at Ataturk Airport right to my flight. I just decided to think I was special and deserved an escort. Anyway, another painless flight, though it was delayed in Istabul due to lots of traffic. Whatever. I fell asleep during the delay and awoke just before takeoff. I watched 127 Hours but it was hard to hear everything on my particular monitor, and the last few minutes scared me a bit too much, so I switched to a game of chess. Cool.

When I arrived in Israel, this was the beautiful sign that greeted me:

The sign says "Welcome to Israel"

I ran into a fellow HUC student, Michael Danziger while waiting for our bags.  Such a cool guy.  I can say this comfortably after meeting the interns and many of the students--they're all waaaay cooler, nicer, and every-other-possible-positive-adjective than me.  Anyway, we shared an unfortunate similar fate: one of our bags did not arrive with us.  Scatterbrained Kenny didn't put two and two together, but Mike made the friendly suggestion to report the missing bag.  OK. All was fine.  Filled out paperwork.  Not a problem.  It was actually an incredible benefit not having to schlep both bags with me, especially since I'm pretty sure they each weighed more than me.  Not a big challenge, I grant you, but ever the challenge.

I rode a bus called the sherut to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.  The fare was 70 NIS, New Israel Shekels, or "sheks" as we've started calling them.  This isn't too bad considering my bus fare to New York was $20, which is about 68 NIS.  I met a nice lady who offered me to join her for Shabbat dinner.  The bus took me right to my hostel for the night.  A+. 

(I have a picture of the sherut.  It's coming when my internet cooperates a bit more with me)

After not too much sleep for the night at a hostel, I had Israeli breakfast.  It's just amazing having so much fresh food in the morning.  It makes me realize why I used to love breakfast.  It also made me not hungry until much later in the evening.  However, I do recommend hostel stays as long as you keep your items close to you.  Not all of us has the money to spend on nights in the King David Hotel.  However, if you wish to make a donation to me to do that, I'd love your help :) No, actually don't.  I'm still the only one laughing.

I have too much excitement to share in one posting, so I decided to make the flight my first Israeli post! Yoohoo!  Expect more postings over the next week as I settle in my apartment.  Also, you'll hear about my classmates, the lovely interns, and a brief tour of the campus.  I see a multi-part blog coming up, so stay tuned!

"Leaving On a Jet Plane" is a brilliant, bittersweet song by John Denver.  Peter, Paul, and Mary's cover is probably the version of the song you've heard, but John Denver rocks as well.  Both versions can be heard at any Michaels store.  Plug.