We have arrived in Israel! Our flights were all on time. I surprised Don by having our seats in World Travller plus which is a step above economy class. The seats recline a little bit more and give us more leg room. It did help us sleep a little better but still not as comfortable as our own bed! I think I was able to get a few hrs of sleep between Vanc and London and Don thinks he was able to get a couple of hrs.
We arrived in London to a beautiful sunny day. We had 8 hrs to wait until our flight to Tel Aviv so fortunately we were able to find some benches where we were able to lie down. We managed to doze off for a little bit, walk around and look at the shops, and have a bite to eat before our flight left for Tel Aviv at 10:30 pm. Again, we had seats in World Traveller Plus and I was able to sleep for a couple of hrs but Don didn't think he was able to sleep at all. We arrived in Tel Aviv 15 minutes early at 5:15 AM.
It took us about an hr to get thru customs as they questioned us on why we were staying in Israel for so long. We had to go to the 'special room' for more questioning but eventually we were able to leave. Steve, one of the other volunteers at the Garden Tomb picked us up, we loaded up all 5 pieces of luggage plus our 4 pieces of carry on and drove to Jerusalem. It felt wierd somehow - knowing we were back in Israel but this time not with a tour but coming to stay for 3 months.
We got to the Garden Tomb about 7am, met a couple of volunteers doing their morning cleaning and got settled into our apartment. Our apartment is larger than we expected. There is a nice size sitting area (living room), a kitchen, a bedroom big enough for a queen size bed, a dresser, and a closet, then a bathroom with a tub and shower, toilet and sink. It is plenty big enough. The only heat is portable heaters which we have all turned on as it is damp and cold here. I think we feel the cold more because we are still getting over the jet lag and feel more tired so hopefully as we adjust we can turn the heat down! When we arrived we were welcomed with some basic food supplies in our fridge and cupboards. It definitely helped us get something to eat for the first couple of days until we were able to get to the markets.
We walked around the garden, went for a walk around the neighborhood to see where the best place was to buy fruit,vegetables and meat; then around 3pm thought we would rest for a couple of minutes. Well those minutes lasted until 4am the next morning - when we couldn't sleep any longer.
Sleep is calling us again but at least this time it is 8pm so I'll write more tomorrow.
Shalom,
Glenda and Don