The journey home

I was able to check in early and divest myself of those suitcases.  Got a chance to leisurely check out the duty-free stores (where I picked up action figures (their term) of Moshe Dayan, David Ben Gurion, and Golda Meir).  Those will be handy in doing Israel outreach.  They're really cool. Eventually, it was time to board, and there we had our carry-on bags hand-searched.  On my out-going flight, El Al had eliminated the lengthy interviews (I heard that on the news in March).  We're not allowed to bring filled water bottles onto the plane.  I'm not sure why, but that's what the check was mostly for.

I had a window seat.

My engineering geekness was in great form.  This was a 747, which is a big plane.  Four engines.  Big wings.  Really big control surfaces.  Wow.  I think there were about 500 passengers.  Food was good, and the usual El Al service was wonderful.

So land in JFK.  Now they have passport check-in kiosks, where you check yourself in.  I was a little over the $800 customs allowance, so I got to have extra discussions.  When I finally got to customs (for which I was fully-prepared:  checkbook, enough time, all declared things in one suitcase), the officer asked how much I had to declare:  $1050.  He asked what - he didn't ask me to put the suitcases up on the counter, and I started:  these running shoes (the ones on my feet), the phone, some fabric (which was the Damascus silk brocade), and souveniers (including $100 from duty-free).  He says that the duty-free doesn't count against my $800 limit.  He was in a good mood, I was nice. It was 0600.  He says, 'you only have to pay 3% on the overage.  3% of $100 is $3.00.  Have a nice day, lady.'  We smiled, laughed a little, and I moved on.

I got some cash (for the taxi), a taxi to La Guardia, and got checked in at Southwest.  Weird thing:  my one suitcase gained 5 lbs after leaving Tel Aviv.  I didn't add anything.  But now, I had to take stuff out and add it to my carry-on.  She agreed that 50.5 lbs was close enough.  Phew.

I walked right past the food court, I guess, which would have been my only opportunity for pretty-real NY pizza.  At 0700.  Would they even have been serving pizza at that hour?  I did not eat pizza in Israel.  Really.  I just ate Israeli food. I was hoping for NY pizza in NY, and some Chicago pizza in Chicago.  Well, I did get some competent, but not Chicago deep-dish, pizza at Midway Airport.  Did get some Dunkin Donuts coffee in NY - some consolation.  I like Dunkin Donuts.  And then I landed in Kansas City.  Home again.

I'm very grateful for.....

• Nissim's help with the apartment.  It's been great staying in his brother's apartment.
• an amazing sense of personal security.  That's what it's like in a society where women, the elderly and children are truly valued.
• not needing to use my health insurance
• getting to run in a 5K
• the Moovit app - it allowed me to go places with confidence that I never could have done with a map and compass, like downtown Tel Aviv.
• the university's help and sponsorship in renewing my visa
• the out-of-town buses stopping right by my apartment on the return to Beer Sheva.  It was nice after returning from Jerusalem, etc. to just get home.  And on those nights that I returned late (when the local buses have stopped running in Beer Sheva), it was especially wonderful.
• being able to bring a smile to about one in three bus drivers when I had the exact fare and they didn't have to make change.  It's amazing what little things like that can bring a little joy.
• my luggage scale.  I'm afraid that preparing my suitcases is too close to the 50 lb limit to guess.  Of course the Ph.D. in me is weighing them after each addition of stuff. But I don't want surprises of that type at the airport.  I'm already paying for an extra suitcase - I don't want to pay for overweight bags, too.
• the chance to have an extended visit in Israel, and be useful in unexpected ways.

Disappointments of the trip

• no seminar or trip to the Technion
• no Shabbats with the Friedmans
• no windsurfing off Tel Aviv beach
• unable to attend the bar mitzvah in Istambul because of visa complications
• I didn't find more opportunities to practice/learn conversational Hebrew
• didn't look for an Israeli folk dance group to join early in the semester

I didn't expect to....

• consume 3 liters of olive oil
• have insider-access to the Knesset
• help my friend Anna F. be shomer-shabbas
• buy an evening gown in Beer Sheva
• not miss TV.  I didn't even watch all the DVDs that I brought.
• always have to run in sunglasses
• read 39 books
• wear out my socks.  I thought I would wear sandals most of the time, but I walk so much that I wear running shoes almost every day.
• have my laundry dry overnight inside my apartment (I don't have a balcony).  That's the desert!
• fall in love with halvah.  I had some a long time ago at college, but it must have been stale.  I eat halvah almost every day.  I think it's great survival food, so I usually have some in my purse.
• lose my Kindle at a bus stop.  Or my hat at En Avdat.  I don't usually lose things.  Don't worry, I replaced the Kindle, and hats are easy.
• need my cool travel towel on the last few days.  I brought it for the first few days, but Shlomo and Devorah had outfitted the apartment with some basic linens for my arrival.  But I want to leave everything clean, so I'm washing and drying their towels, and using my travel towel and microfiber cleaning cloths in the last days.
• have my citrus juicer needed as one of my last kitchen tools, but I never used fresh lemons so much before. 
• only know two of the four compass directions.  I live in the south (דורם), and generally go north (צפון).  I see the signs over and over.  I have only a vague remembrance of east and west, although the Kotel is הכותל המערבי, and the Middle East is המזרח התיכון.  I never see those signs, right??  Hmm.

Day zero

Well, this is the day to depart.  My last cleanup in the apartment was washing my bed sheets.  Then just do a final packing and weight check.

Two suitcases (48 lb and 46 lb), one moderate carry-on, and my computer bag.  That's a lot of stuff to wrangle.  My taxi driver gave me a good price (NIS 400) to drive me to the airport, so I took him up on it, instead of taking the #354 bus.  It was much simpler with all my stuff.  And I learned something on the ride up - what cotton looks like as it's growing.  I'd never seen it before.

However, I arrived really early, so I have plenty of time to finish this blog post, and finish my book (and start the next one!).  I was very grateful to find any seats here in the departure area.  I've got knoshables, a moderate amount of water, and a Kindle full of books.  I'm where I need to be, when it's time to get in line.

Yes, my plane looks exactly like this!

If anything interesting occurs, I'll post that as a debriefing.  See you all soon.

Almost out

So the strategy in the last few days is "pack it, throw it, give it, or consume it."  Many things have been given away, formally or informally. Of course, the trick is that I still live here, but not for long (less than 24 hours now).  Here's the state of affairs:

Only clothes for tomorrow.

Cheese, a bowl of Israeli salad, and some seltzer.  That's one empty refrigerator.

The cupboards are bare, too. The center unit is a dish drying rack.

This bookcase had books, all the Wizard of Oz/UMKC gifts, DVDs, etc.

I took the bus (on shekels - my bus pass expired on 30 June) up to a small shopping area to buy flowers as a thank-you gift to the Minas, but the flower shop (חנות פרחים) wasn't open.  I brought enough small change for a back-up plan, so I took the next bus south to the big bus station, where there's a prominent flower shop.  I said "אני צריכה פרחים שאומרים תודה" (I need flowers that say "thank-you") and gave a ballpark price.  The man pegged me as an American, and helped me pick out these roses.  I was dressed uncharacteristically in a tank top and shorts (because I am cleaning), but he was nice, and I returned to the apartment on the next bus.  I did get rid of lots of one shekel pieces and agorot on the three bus rides.  Yeah.

I believe a falafel sandwich is in order for supper.  Not much food in the house, and my neighborhood falafel stand (פלאפל הכרם) is very good, so I should have just one more of their fine sandwiches.  Which, of course, comes with pickles and french fries for only NIS15.  Yes, indeed.

Very sad day in Israel

Last night, the news broke that the three young men (Gil-Ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrah and Naftali Fraenkel) who were missing near Hevron were found dead.

Last day at BGU

This morning I dropped off a good load at the BGU thrift store, and had coffee with Prof. Nurit Ashkenasy on the main campus.

This is an olive tree on campus.  I didn't know they grew this tall, but the others I've seen were probably pruned for harvesting.

Last look at date production.  They're still more spherical than oblong, but the trees sure are productive.

Then took the #5 bus over to the Hias campus, where an end of semester/send-off lunch (lunch-like) was planned at 12:30.  I copied files from my work computer to my flash drive, printed off a couple things I might need at US Customs, and helped Ruti prep the lunch by slicing some bell peppers and carrying plates down to the conference room.

Prof. Robert Levi, the new department chair, presented me with a written greeting, a BGU pen and keychain set, a BGU coffee cup (the obligatory coffee cup), a BGU bookmark (how do I get that into my Kindle??) and a BGU blank book.

 I said my good-byes and turned in my keys.