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July 3, 2003
Saturday, June 21, 2003
My normal waking time for a Saturday is between 10 and 11am, but this day
was very different. My eyes popped open at about 8:45am and my thoughts
overwhelmed me. I had SO much to do to prepare for the flight that would
take me home to Israel. I was due to arrive in Tel Aviv the very next
evening, but it just wasn't soon enough for me. Neither for my parents. My
dad and mom called me on my cell phone as I was rushing around getting the
last minute items packed such as my toothbrush and jewelry. We chatted
excitedly for a few minutes. It was amazing. I would be home in less than
24 hours!!! Andrew drove me to the airport making sure that I had plenty of
time before my flight left. This would be the first time I would fly since
9/11 and I was not sure how tight security would be. I was a little nervous
but not scared. (I have never had reason to be afraid of flying.) It
turned out that I had plenty of time to get through security and have my
bags searched. After this took place, Andrew and I and the boys sat down to
talk for a bit before I left them to go to my gate, alone. Poor guys. I
knew they would miss me, but I SO needed this vacation!!!
My flight from Chicago to Germany was fun. I had a great seatmate who had a
lot of things in common with myself. We talked quite a bit. It made the
long, 9-hour flight much less grueling. We both had a layover in Germany so
we both had to get through security together. As we approached the security
check, I noticed this blonde, German security agent was getting pretty rough
with the passengers. She caught me off guard when it was my turn to step up
and she roughly began grabbing my boobs and squeezing in every direction to
see if I had any type of underwire on. Why couldn't she have just asked
me???? I had tall, black boots on with buckles which I was already aware
would set off any security alarm. I told the blond brute of a security
agent that I would just remove them to make it easier on her and I. She
told me, very sternly, that I would leave my shoes on! Sure enough, when
her "magic wand", that she was waving over my whole body, began beeping, she
asked me to remove my shoes. I rolled my eyes, removed my boots, wincing at
my stinging boobs, and was passed through the security check.
It came time for Cisco, my seat-mate's security check. He had pretty full
pockets since he did not bring a carry-on, but when it was his turn, he only
took out his change. The same brute gruffly states "Pockets!" while
pointing her fingers at his pants. Very nicely, he says, "Oh do I need to
take out everything?" The security agent barks at him "We check
EVERYZING!!!!" Let's just say that we could NOT stop laughing for about an
hour and a half. (I was not very impressed with Frankfurt to say the least.
I think I will route myself a different way the next time I visit.)
Sunday, June 22, 2003
My flight to Tel-Aviv was uneventful and the sounds of German replaced with
the familiar sounds of Hebrew was such a beautiful relief. I was almost
home. To most Americans' surprise, each and every passenger on board an
El-Al flight claps upon landing in Tel-Aviv. It is what I would describe as
a sign of reverence for their land, as trivial as that may sound. I had
mixed emotions getting off that plane. Should I kiss the ground, cry,
laugh, or just joyfully tell everyone around me that I was home again? I
did neither of those things and just kept my joy to myself but I am sure it
was evident to everyone around me. My bags came quickly and I had nothing
to declare so I moved through the line (line? what line??? more like a mass
of people) to get outside and meet my family. My sister, Dad, and Mom were
all waiting for me with flowers in the color of my sister's wedding to be.
My sister hugged me and didn't let go. I couldn't stop smiling.
I arrived early enough in the evening for us to get something to eat. We
were all chatting so much and so loudly that I think the owner of the kiosk
stand at the airport was quite annoyed. Later on that evening, I was told,
by a cell phone call from my brother, that they had kidnapped my sister's
fiancee, Sic, for his bachelor party, taken him to a remote field in
Jerusalem, interrogated him about my sister, and then beat him with socks
full of flour if an incorrect answer was given. My brother sounded oddly
excited about the fact that he had organized this torturous bachelor party.
They really did have a good time and he wasn't beaten too badly, Sic told us
later. (Ha! Ha!)
After arriving at my parent's home in Jerusalem, I realized that I was not
that tired. So I opened my suitcases and showed everyone the dresses for
the wedding, the ring pillow, the flower girl basket/head piece, etc. They
all oohed and ahhed. A lot of it was handmade by myself and Christa so it
was wonderful to see their reactions. Priceless actually. I could just see
it as a Mastercard commercial. "Price of airline ticket: $1300. Price of
coke in the airport: $5.00. Look on sister's face when she sees her
bridesmaids' dresses for the first time: Priceless."
My sister and I headed downtown soon afterwards and gathered all the rest of
her belongings from her apartment for her honeymoon. She and I (and her new
puppy) were sharing a room at our parent's house until the wedding. (What
fun!) At this point, I still had never met Sic at all. I was anxious to
see who he was and what kind of person my sister was so drawn to. She
assured me that I would meet him soon.
Stay tuned for the next installment of my trip!!!
Heather
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