Welcome in Israel

We left for Tel Aviv, Israel early one morning.  Our flight was at noon.

Right before we checked in our baggage and got our boarding passes, a representative from the ElעלAlאל Airlines (Israeli) asked us a few questions about where we were going in Israel, why we were going, what we'd do, where we'd stay, etc. and about our check-in baggage.  After the bags were packed had they passed through hands other than ours?  Had anyone asked us to deliver/take something to Israel for them?  Were there any weapons in our belongings?

After we answered these questions the representative took a piece of paper from a stack, wrote something on it, and circled one of the four letters printed on the top of the paper.  We wondered what it meant.

As we waited to board the plane we saw two men putting on their tefillin and praying towards Jerusalem.  We also saw a couple Orthodox Jews.  Almost all of them wore different hats (some wore kippahs; others larger hats), depending on what type of Jew they were.

Shortly after takeoff we were served this delicious meal:

Kosher-certified:

After the meal the cabin lights dimmed and we tried to get some sleep (not very successfully, though).  I woke up very thirsty after three hours and asked a flight attendant, "Efshar bevakasha lekabel mayim?", meaning, "Can I please have some water?"  Unfortunately, I did not get any more sleep after that.

We flew over most of the continental US, up over Quebec, across the Atlantic, straight through France, over Italy, Greece, the Mediterranean Sea, and finally landed in Tel Aviv Yafo Ben Gurion International Airport.

Jews pray toward Jerusalem.  This slide shows where Jerusalem is in relation to the plane.  It is updated every 2 minutes.

We rode a shuttle to our Airbnb apartment in Jerusalem, ten minutes away from the Old City [of Jerusalem].  Almost all the road signs in Israel are written in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, so speakers of all three languages are able to navigate through traffic safely.

Exploring the apartment:

After somewhat settling in we walked to the market to buy some groceries.  All around us people were speaking in Hebrew, and I became frustrated since I couldn't understand half of what they said.  I told myself that I'd better work harder on my Hebrew.

Most Israelis can speak English, and if they realize you can speak it, they will speak it to you.  However, it is helpful to keep a vocabulary of Hebrew words and phrases in your mind in case whomever you are speaking to cannot understand English.

"Kama ze oleh?" we asked at the market stalls.  We bought some vegetables, fruit, and figs!  Israeli figs are the best in the world--even the sourest is sweeter than the sweetest one I've ever tasted!

We went to bed that night happy, content, and glad to be safe in our apartment.  Shalom, Yisrael!