Day One in Israel

The adventure for 2012 is slated to have a ten-day Birthright Israel trip followed by six weeks of excavation at Megiddo. I have just finished the first day of Birthright and I'm feeling very tired. The day began back in Toronto at 9:00am. After the group was all gathered we checked in, which involved a mini question series so they can make sure you're Jewish and that you're not bringing anything in that will be harmful (physical or ideological). At least four people made a misstep due to nervousness and had to do a secondary question session but they all made it through fine. By the time we get through security, we have about twenty minutes to get food or shop for last minute necessities. I buy a watch because I left my timepiece at home, and a sandwich because I missed breakfast in the rush to finish packing. The flight itself was really good - takeoff and landing are both smooth; often I have pain in my ears from pressure build-up but that was minimal this time. I actually managed to sleep about four hours, and tried to nap the rest of the tine. The meals were pretty decent. I watched a good French film called Untouchables (with subtitles); it was the only film of four that I watched. Everything gets done as a group. Upon landing in Tel Aviv, we get off the plane and meet in one spot. Then we go through customs, pick up our bags and gather once more. There was a small speech made by a representative of CIE (Canada Israel Experience, the Canadian organizer in Birthright) and then we left for the bus. The first stop was Jaffa. To be more specific, we made a small tour of the Old Port there. We ate lunch on our own (one meal per day will be paid for by ourselves, and we are restricted to a particular area) and wandered the flea markets. After that was an hour-and-a-half ride up to Haifa. We are taken to a high point called the Louis Promenade. You can see much of Haifa from up there, including Haifa Bay. The Baha'i Garden is there as well. Most of it was closed off but tourists were allowed into the first level. Then we were taken to the kibbutz where we will be sleeping for three nights. As soon as this post is published, I'm going to get ready for tomorrow and get some much-needed sleep.