The original plan was to write every day, but since I didn't start it till now I have some catch up to do and its going to be in batches.
I was very generously given a ride to JFK by Rudy for a 7pm flight. Meaning we left around 4pm. The reason it is generous (explanation for non NY area folk) is because driving to JFK during rush hour is more like the 10th or 15th circle of hell than just the 7th. The actual distance is maybe 20 miles, but because it is NY it can still take hours. Thankfully it only took an hour since I left late as is usual for me. I'm freaking about the time, and then we got there in plenty of time for me to catch a 730 plane. Sadface for me, I didnt think to check if the flight was on time so it was then an 830 flight. This is the point where I start worry about my connecting flight in London because there was only a 90 minute stopover to begin with, and Heathrow is HUGE. Clearly I wasn't all THAT worried because about 3 minutes after I got on the plane I was asleep. This was a condition that lasted for the duration of the flight.
Finally land in London at 810 local time, when the scheduled departure of my connecting flight was 855. Panic became the new condition. I RAN to my connecting flight which was fortunately not terribly far away. (Aside-why is it that I have never taken a flight to Israel that landed on time with any airline besides El Al? People get annoyed with El Al and Israelis, but I have personally never had a flight that landed late with them. Or on time with any other airline. Go figure). I had to go through a minor security check to get to my new gate and had a moment of complete and utter panic/horror when I realized I had lost my boarding card for the connecting flight. To my shock, the nice security lady printed me a new one and very calmly (with a hysterically thick Cockney accent) told me 'if you find the old one destroy it yeah?'. (Aside-the whole security experience at Heathrow was astoundingly relaxed for someone used to the idiots of the tsa. Is this normal in the uk?).
Thanks to the nice security lady, and the yet again late departure by British Airways, I got to the flight on time. I even had time to marvel at the size of the airport. The jetway alone took a couple minutes to walk to the plane. Or to the line of people waiting to board anyway. After boarding the plane the sleepy again overtook me and I was out for most of the second flight as well. During my brief periods of awake during the flights I noticed a marked difference from El Al. Although I must admit that the lack of hoards of Jews running amok and davening in the aisles was slightly disconcerting. BA sucks in terms of timeliness, but their planes are nice. Slightly bigger seats, certainly in better condition. Might have something to do with the above sentence.
When I arrived in Ben Gurion I was briefly confused at the intensity of my repeated questioning by security. Normally my coloring and obvious Americanness means that they barely give me a second look. My guess is that the enormous yeti beard I was rocking had something to do with it. My good friends Shachar and Itay met me, and I was momentarily confused by my normally non-demonstrative sabra holding roses. Until I remembered that it was his anniversary.
Originally the plan had been that we were going to Tevaria/the Kinneret for the weekend, but I found out that was not to be. Sadface. I love it up there. Shachar, like the good guy he is, blamed himself for it because he said he was cranky in the heat (I know this to me accurate, although I'm not sure how someone THAT black (half Iraqi, half Indian) can do so poorly in the heat). I found out when we got back to the house that it was because his wife Nataly wasn't feeling well as she had had a bad stomach ache since the previous evening. I very much enjoyed a quiet evening at the house watching movies with Shachar, Nataly, and Gal. Joined a bit later by Itay and Inbal.
Watching movies in Israel has not yet ceased to amuse me, because I love the Hebrew subtitles. Whether they are accurate or not has no meaning because they are awesome either way. Either I learn some more Hebrew, or I get to laugh at the absurdity of the bad translation. Win either way. As it started getting late I started making my way to bed. I took the always glorious post transatlantic travel shower and was then shown how to use the AC in my room. I declined to use it because it was an absolutely beautiful night, and after 15 years of visiting them the sound of the jackals screaming in the hills is a comforting sound to me. I finally ended up passing out at around 430am. You could say that it was jetlag, but lets be honest folks: its not jetlag if I always go to bed at that hour
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