Shalom from Israel!

Well, we finally made it!

Mom and Dad Hertzman (aka Marc and Rebecca), shown here (at left) in their opera finery, took us to BWI before they headed to the Kennedy Center. From BWI we flew to Gatwick and then to Tel Aviv, but not before finding some other travellers who also had a Mavica, and who kindly agreed to take our first travel pictures (below).

The flight was fine, though it was difficult to sleep, despite the masks that British Airways provides; next time at least I will remember also to wear the earplugs they provide. It's not fun to wake up after an hour to hear the three-year-old two rows up wanting to play games with her (obviously tired) mom.

On our arrival in London, therefore, Adam took a nap, but not before we met yet another traveler--this time, an American who had just finished a church mission to Africa--who also had a Mavica. They (Mavicas, that is) are everywhere! (You can tell from the photo below that Adam was a bit more tired by this point!)

I mention the ubiquitousness (ubiquity?) of Mavicas only because the cameras really attracted attention, sort of like PalmPilots used to when they first came on the market, and because wannabe technogeeks like Adam and I tend to notice a camaraderie with other wannabe technogeeks, which made the early part of our trip quite amusing.

But of course we realize that you want to know about Tel Aviv, not about the flight or the cameras (though one interesting thing, to me, was the number of Christians on the flight--many of whom talked of their pending trip as a pilgrimage).

I guess something about the fact that my job focuses so much on the Arab-Israeli issue, and to some extent on Jewish-Muslim issues, often makes me forget that Jerusalem is also spiritual home to a third (and indeed the world's most populous) religion. Silly me!

(OK, real-time comment from the trip: I'm sorry, I now have to interject that I am sitting here, in Tel Aviv's Cafe InBar, a great cybercafe, listening to "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Lion Sleeps Tonight." It's kind of incongruous, but fun.)

Anyway, the picture to the right is us at Ben Gurion airport; landing was nothing short of amazing. All the passengers broke out in spontaneous applause, and I almost started crying. It was such a powerful moment, but in an entirely inexplicable way.

It took forever to get through customs; a Dutch man behind us commented that it shouldn't take this long. I said, "Well, I guess it's better, for security and all that." His comment was that everyone blames delays on the need for security, so nothing is ever fixed--the delays persist. I can only imagine how much of a delay there is at the Palestinian checkpoints, if Ben Gurion's passport control takes that long.

We finally got through and got a taxi to Tel Aviv, and we checked in to our hotel (the Hotel Ami, on Hayarkon) just in time to clean up a bit and head across the street to watch the sunset on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful, and this picture doesn't do it justice. But in actuality, it captures the light much better than either of my regular pictures; something about the way the light comes from the screen rather than is reflected off the photo print, I guess.

We then ate what we thought would be a small snack, but what turned out to be a huge meal, of turkey kebabs and hummous, at a small grill near the Hilton, just off the beach. We couldn't even finish the dishes we had, it was so much food. So after awhile we just sat there, digesting the food and watching funny old videos on VH-1, like Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical" and a version of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in which all the girls were men in drag! Then the old chef/owner came over and asked if we wanted the kebabs in pita, and he commented on the fact that they were turkey meat kebabs--"so much more healthy. good for you." We had to suppress our laughter. He gave us such a look of disdain when we said we were full. It was almost like he wanted to say, "Nu, ess, ess. What? You don't like my cooking? Look at you--skin and bones!" A perfect Israeli moment!

And so ended Day 1 (March 14).

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Last updated on July 2, 1999.