This post (and the following one) will be dedicated to giving you a glimpse of my first day in Israel. First I need to back up to the weeks leading up to my departure...
Some highlights of the insanity, or as we say in Israel- BALAGAN (chaos), included packing all of my belongings in the basement of my apartment in Brooklyn (thanks to roommies Juliana and Miriam for allowing me to use the basement as a storage facility) only to discover that the box spring for my bed would not fit down the stairs. The new roommate agreed to use my box spring while I was gone to save me the trouble of having to sell it or store it elsewhere, but when I was away in Florida visiting my brother, she called to say she wasn't going to use it anymore. It was frustrating at first but I worked it out via phone. Shout-out to Sharon for buying it off of me. It was a pleasure doing business with you!
The whole process of packing up my life and putting it in a basement while also taking back my ENTIRE wardrobe to NJ was much more difficult than I thought it could be. I somehow thought I would be able to carry all of my clothing and miscellaneous crap in 2 suitcases and take the subway and train back to NJ. WRONG! The day before I intended to move out, I realized this was not going to be possible because I had way more than 2 suitcases. Unfortunately, car services were waayy too expensive for someone who just quit her job and will be regularly spending money but receiving no income for the next 6 months. On the day I intended to move out, I called both of my parents and cried to them "I don't know what to do!" Luckily, my dad offered to "rescue" me, drove out to Brooklyn, and brought me (and my stuff) back to NJ. This was after he already came out to Brooklyn to visit for a day like 10 days before. Thanks Dad!
Another crisis (one of my recent Hebrew vocabulary words: mashber משבר) occurred a day after I moved myself and my clothing back to NJ. I suddenly realized I did not have my passport with me. Yes, I was traveling to Israel in 9 days and was going to be in Florida for 5 of those 9. I frantically called my roommates, one of which went down to the basement and found the passport (I knew exactly which container to check). Thanks Juliana! I went back to Brooklyn the next day en route to the Newark airport for my Florida vacation. Juliana had offered to overnight the passport to me, but I did not want to risk relying on the US postal service.
So now fast forward to Saturday September 11th. I had barely unpacked my suitcases from my Brooklyn to NJ move, and definitely hadn't begun narrowing down my wardrobe to re-pack for Israel. "Why not?" you ask? Because I absolutely hate packing and love procrastinating. Despite my mother's warning, "You'd better not come crying to me when you haven't packed and it's time to leave and then you miss your plane," I still waited till the very last minute to get my act together. I will put the blame on the fact I was busy with services and dinners on Rosh Hashana as well as the fact that my entire winter wardrobe was at my friend Fallon's house who had been kind enough to schlep my clothes home for me last time she visited me in Brooklyn. I got it back in time to pack, though. Thanks, Fallon!
So that morning, my mom and I went to Shabbat services. My Rabbi said a special prayer for me, specifically for one who is performing the mitzvah (good deed) of traveling to Israel. I also had the honor of chanting the haftorah (the book of prophets). After schmoozing and receiving everyone's well wishes, we finally went home so I could pack. The process wasn't too stressful, but as expected, I was up super late and got up super early to tie up loose ends.
I tried to sleep on the drive to the airport, but I was too excited, nervous, and worried about potential extra charges for my heavy luggage. At the airport, I waited in line for check-in while my mom parked the car. Awkwardly lugging my 2 suitcases through the line, I couldn't quite manage it all. My larger suitcase tipped over and took me down with it. A little embarrassed, I picked myself right up, laughed a bit, and acted as if nothing had happened. Then my fears about overweight luggage were confirmed. I think one weighed 54 and one was 57. I did some maneuvering which included relinquishing some items and giving them to my mom to take home. I can live without an extra book and another pair of jeans right? Little did I know, some jeans of mine would rip a few days after getting to Israel...oh well, guess I need to go shopping. Now one bag was way under 50 and the other was way over, but I couldn't really fit more in the lighter bag and one was still going to be overweight, so it was fine. Continental is now $50 richer thanks to me.
After a lovely Dunkin Donuts lunch with my mommy, we parted ways so I could go through security and make it to the gate on time. I know this was really hard for her, but I promised her the next 6 months would go by quickly and G-d willing she would be able to come to Israel at the end of my program. I was nervous to go through security because one of my carry-on bags contained about 7 pairs of shoes and probably looked extremely suspicious. Luckily there was no problem, even after the special security check at the actual gate (because El Al usually questions passengers for like 10 minutes as a safety precaution, the other airlines have an extra security check at the gate for flights to Israel). I used my Blackberry for the last time before I would suspend my account to contact Carolyn, a fellow WUJS participant who responded to my email asking if anyone from the program was arriving in Israel around the same time. Turns out Carolyn was on my flight. We met up briefly on the plane and planned to head to Jerusalem together once we arrived. I had an empty seat next to me on the flight, watched a bunch of movies and tv shows, and unfortunately only slept for a few hours on and off. I got off the plane and began the long trek through the airport to passport control and then baggage claim. Outside, I saw the beautiful garden that spells out the hebrew phrase for Welcome Home. I wish I had a good picture of it to share, but my attempts at capturing this sight through the window were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, seeing this, I immediately knew I had made the right decision and that I was right where I was supposed to be.
...to be continued in another post...
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