We Have Arrived in Israel!

We have been in transit for nearly two whole days, and it was all worth it! We have arrived in Israel!

Participants were great sports during a long day of waiting at JFK and flying out at nearly 2:30 am to Israel. Our flight was crowded with holiday travelers and several Birthright groups. We all sat in the same area of the plane. We slept, watched TV and movies, read, got to know some new friends, and enjoyed two meals--chicken and rice and tuna for dinner, and blintzes or omelettes for breakfast. Some even showed interest in putting on tefillin with a Chabad rabbi who was on our flight.

We did a careful check of our areas and proceeded off the plane--through passport control, baggage claim, and on to meet our awesome guide, Rony, and the three Israeli soldiers--Maayan, Amit and Yaara. They greeted us with singing and dancing and we were soon our way to the buses--for a light dinner, changing money in to shekels and getting phones and SIM cards. Some commented on how crazy it was that we left in the dark late Sunday and it was now dark on Monday night in Israel. We can't wait to see this amazing country by daylight.

We made the 30 minute drive to our hotel, Neve Ilan, and were greeted with a light dinner--very kind of the hotel to put out dinner at 10 pm at night. We then had a short ice breaker and orientation, reviewed the schedule, lit Chanukah candles and got our room assignments. The staff has observed emerging friendship groups and made room assignments for this first hotel accordingly. Everyone was happy to get to their rooms, settle in and best of all--shower!

Tomorrow we begin with breakfast at 7:30 and a more extensive orientation and welcome session before heading out to a packed day of activities in and around Tel Aviv including the Safari in Ramat Gan (some have already mentioned this was the part of the trip they were most looking forward to!), lunch at a nice restaurant called Canaan Bistro, various Tel Aviv adventures including a graffiti tour, art and culture tour and a culinary tour, and a visit to the Birthright Entrepreneurship Center. Given our group's interest in technology, they are sure to enjoy it!

Everyone is happy to be back on a more predictable schedule. They will experience many of the wonderful foods, sights and sounds--and even weather Israel has to offer.

It is now 2 am Israel time--our staff just finished our nightly staff meeting, and I want to share this update before getting some much needed sleep. Photos will come in next post!