Todah al savlanut lachem

Thank you for your patience, as this post is longer than I'd like, but flights are interesting opportunities to observe people and reflect on travel and its implications.

I was on the plane from Chicago for not five minutes before I saw a couple I knew--Jeff and Sherri--as well as one of my former USYers. Apparently, my Moriah roots will follow me whever I go... While it's nice to pick up a few words of German being spoken here and there (I was connecting in Frankfurt), I am mildly relieved to know that at this point in my life, my Hebrew is far better than my German. Perhaps I should also mention that I was obsessed with German while I was in high school, especially relating to dissection of the grammar. No surprise, I know.

As our plane lifted off the ground, I pulled my battered Tefillat Haderech (Traveler's Prayer) card from my pocket and recited the familiar prayer, easily gliding past the tears and creases that disguised words here and there. I then composed my own Tefillat Haderech as I set off on this journey:

May this be a positive experience.
May I learn through the texts of our tradition, and may I learn about myself through these texts.
May my greatest fears remain unfounded.
May I play an active role in making my dreams come true.
May God keep me safe in my comings and my goings.
May we arrive safely and without incident, and may we return in the same way.
May I choose wisely and sometimes spontaneously.
And please--may the airline have my kosher meals.

They didn't, but thanks to the lovely flight attendants, a meal was pulled practically out of thin air--and a first class meal at that. As it turns out, someone in first class had passed on her meal, so it ended up with me.

I saw a gorgeous sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. We spent three (well sort of five, but more on that later) hours in Germany. Upon arrival, I walked with Jeff and Sherri to find the next gate, and there I met Robin, one of my new roommates who had just flown in from Boston. No, we didn't know each other before now.

If you haven't been to the Frankfurt airport, you are not missing much. It's the most starkly bleak and bare airport I've ever seen, and although we finally found a cafe where we could sit for a moment, I think we walked halfway to Berlin to get there. This was great Breast Cancer 3-Day training. Finally, we were able to get onto the El Al plane. I love El Al. The feeling on board is euphoric. The only analogy I can make is it's like being at Wrigley when the Cubs win--everyone on this plane is overjoyed to be having this experience. It's like we're all on one team--Anglo, Mizrachi, Russian, (even German), speaking a sprinkling of languages from across the globe, frum or not, and who knows--there may even be non-Jews aboard, too.

Due to the weather, we were stuck in Germany for about two extra hours, but the mood on board was light and cheery. Even when we were part of a 60-plane line for takeoff, it didn't matter. I even heard a line rarely heard on such an aircraft, as the captain gave his update on when we might be taking off, and closed with "Todah al savlanut lachem," thank you for your patience. At last, the plane took off. To bookend the day, I watched the sun going down, and the view then was just as magnificent as the sunrise had been that morning.

Remember the good old days when the descent and landing in Israel were accompanied by Jewish folk music blaring from the speakers? Not anymore, my friend. :( The plane landed, and after three years away, I was finally home again. After a generally uneventful time at passport control and collecting luggage, Robin and I boarded a shuttle to Jerusalem. We were the last stop, and by the time we got out, I was exceptionally carsick. We had driven through (and around) many parts of Jerusalem that I don't know, and based on the pedestrians and activity in so many of these areas, it seemed as though Jerusalem, not New York, ought to be the city that never sleeps. Finally, we arrived at our apartment in Talpiot, where we met our third roommate, Lisa. We were exhausted and determined to sleep in the next day.

Ah, today...after a morning of sleeping in and such, my roommates and I synchronized our pedometers at zero and took a walk. For about seven hours. Some highlights:

*Lunch at Little Italy
*leisurely walking around Jerusalem
*Ben Yehuda (outdoor mall apparently designed for tourists)
*Machaneh Yehuda, an open-air market for produce and so much more. We bought zataar, a spice, and several mixes of nuts and dried fruits.
*We missed the Jerusalem Pride Parade but caught part of the culminating concert in Liberty Bell Garden Park.
*My beloved Shnitzi on Emek Refaim.
*grocery-shopping and making dinner together
*the arrival of our fourth and final roommate, Gwen. Now we're a full house!

Our pedometers differed significantly at the end of the day, and we determined that mine is a little hypersensitive. We did not, in fact, walk 32,000 steps, or 14 miles. I'm guessing we walked 8-10, though. Not a bad training day, and my feet are blister-free!!

Tomorrow night, we have an opening Shabbat dinner for the program. I look forward to a restful, meaningful Shabbat, and classes begin on Sunday morning.

Shabbat shalom, v'todah al savlanut lachem.

We'll talk soon...
Caroline