Honey, I'm Home!!

And so we meet again.

I have begun to appreciate some of the mysterious ways that God works. For instance: a few years back, on one of my many trips to Israel, I was officially the cheapest person ever and flew Polish Air. I sat next to a dog. They had no kosher food, so all I could eat was pudding and beer. Which might be okay on your typical 14 hour flight to Israel, but I, of course, has booked a flight with a ten hour layover in Warsaw. Oh, and it was on Christmas Eve. So I landed in Warsaw and discovered that the Polish do not believe in water fountains. I also learned that I do not know how to say "water" in Polish because I bought 3 different types of seltzer before running out of cash and giving up. And by giving up, I mean I spent 30 minutes opening, closing, shaking, opening, closing, shaking, my bottle of seltzer in an attempt to make it flat and more like water. For the record- this does not work. I then decided to take a nap and woke up in the Twilight Zone. Having forgotten that it was Christmas Eve, I was somewhat disturbed to wake up and find myself entirely alone. All the shops were closed. All the people were gone. All was quiet. I literally thought I had been trapped in an airport that I no longer believed had airplanes. I spent three hours wandering the airport looking for other life forms.I did eventually find people, and then a plane, but from that moment on I swore I would never be that cheap again.
Anyway, the point of this story, is that, had I not experienced such a terrible traveling experience, I would no doubt be much angrier about my recent flight home. Which also had no kosher food. And no beer. And my personal TV was broken. And my restless leg syndrome decided to expand to my arms (I do not even know how that is possible). And they lost my bags.

Either my Warsaw experience hardened me, or living in Israel has just left me more laid back, but once I got off the plane, I was just happy to be home. My friends picked me up at the airport bearing flowers and signs. My mostly broken telephone has been ringing with calls from friends excited to welcome me back. And my first full day back was Yom Yerushalayim- Jerusalem Day.

I had of course, fled to Efrat when I realized I had no clothing, and my adopted mother, in a misguided attempt to keep me from getting jetlag, took me to the neighborhood celebration hosted that night. Unfortunately, putting me in a dark room where I get to listen to someone speak in Hebrew is like giving me a sleeping pill and a glass of warm milk. She finally took me home when I started to drool on her shoulder. The following day-time celebrations were much more exciting. I slept late, my bags were delivered, and then I went into Jerusalem to join the thousands of people marching around the old city of Jerusalem waving Israeli flags. Jerusalem Day is the only day of the year when Jews can walk through any gate and any neighborhood in the old city. So of course, we all grab our flags and march through the Arab quarter singing and dancing. I am a little uncomfortable with this, as I understand how offensive the Arab residents find this, but at the same time, I believe in an undivided Jerusalem under Israeli rule. So though I do not sing or wave flags in their faces, I do take advantage of this opportunity to walk through a part of the city that is usually unsafe and closed off to me.

Thursday I woke up at about noon (I failed miserably in the battle against jetlag- though I partially blame the Israeli blinds that shut out all light, air, and noise) and went to the mall to get a new phone and plan. My phone itself is still suffering from a fatal attempt at swimming. And my plan is, well I don't really know what it is but it is not good. I sort of succeeded at both. I have a new phone, but no charger, and a new plan, but it does not come into effect until June 26th. Luckily, I, like my dear mother, am not much of a caller so this shouldn't have too much of an effect on my life.

Anyway I am happy to be back, settling in, and realizing all the things I need to get done in the near future. Let the adventures begin.