I depart from Charlotte where goodbyes are always a bit difficult. Especially saying goodbye to my mom who had been with me that week and was also flying out. Of course because I was on an international flight and hers was a domestic flight our gates were on opposite ends of the airport. So we both pretended to be strong but after parting ways we both shed some tears! I made a few last minutes calls and boarded the first plane to Toronto where I would catch my connecting flight to Tel Aviv. I arrive in Toronto and figured that since I had navigated many airports before I would be able to find my next gate without too many problems. Wrong. For all my Canadian friends, sorry, but the Toronto airport is terrible! It was so confusing! I finally figured out that I had to catch a bus to a different terminal. Once arriving at the new terminal I had to go through security all over again which wouldn't have been so bad if the line wasn't a mile long, I hadn't already spent 45 minutes trying to find this place and my next flight was going to start boarding in 25 minutes. I make it through security and arrive at the gate as soon as boarding starts. About that time I hear my name being paged by the airline saying I needed to come to the desk for a message. Yeah, there was no message for me. I was greeted by the airlines security where I was then taken through what turned out to be a 45 minute security screening complete with 101 questions about why I was going, where I was staying, where I worked, how did I get my job, am I meeting someone I met online, how much money do I make, how did I come up with all the money, and on and on. Then I was asked to go into a room next to the gate where I went through a full pat down from my hair to the bottom of my feet. I was then told that I could not carry on any of my electronic items (with the exception of my iPhone and my iPod) because "electronics mess with the plane," and I would have to check those items. As annoyed as I was with being told a load of garbage I complied and remained pleasant. After holding up the plane I was finally cleared to board and escorted to the plane. What little I was allowed to carry on was in a duty free plastic bag. Gee thanks guys. I tried to settle in for the 11 hour flight to Tel Aviv.
Picture from the air
I've made the flight to Tel Aviv twice before and for some reason I don't remember it ever feeling quite as long as this one did. Perhaps because I was traveling alone, dealing with pain in my knees, couldn't sleep because of the pain in my knees and I was sitting between two men I obviously didn't know, and lastly I was trying not to stress about whether my electronics that would serve as my main form of communication would make it in one piece along with what awaited me at passport control.
Snacks :-)
At last we landed and I made a quick dash towards passport control because I was going to be catching a train within the hour. God was surely with me in Toronto so I had to trust He would be with me now that I arrived in Israel. I was asked several questions but within a couple of minutes I was cleared through passport control and it was off to collect my luggage. I met my hosts for the first part of my summer and off we were to catch the train to Haifa. As soon as I had the opportunity I made sure that all my electronic items were still functional. I could finally put my mind at ease as the stress of traveling was over. I definitely encountered some tougher security than I anticipated but I could feel everyone's prayers and I can look back and chuckle a bit... but only a bit. :-)
Welcome to Israel!
Until Part 2...
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