As Thursday night approached the anticipation of going on an international trip alone with a 5 month old grew. The children made a little video for me, I took some pictures of all the kids, and the good night routine lasted just a little longer than usual. But at last all the kids were tucked in, my bags were packed, and it was time to get a little sleep. 4:30 am comes awfully early.
Jake was nice enough to agree to drive me to the airport with a (supposed to be) sleeping 2 year old in the back seat, at a little before 5 am. This is a huge sacrifice on his part because he still had to come home and go to work, as well as get the 5 kids up and dressed. But he did it anyway. I won't go into great detail about the waits in airports and plane rides. We've all done it and we all know its extremely dull. So, suffice it to say, I spent the next 20 hrs or so waiting. Waiting for planes to take off, waiting for them to land, and waiting in lines to get checked into countries. A long, dull day. The baby, however, was fantastic. I could not ask for a better experience with a baby.
So here is where the story gets fun. First, I must tell you some interesting things about just flying into Israel. They are so tight on security they have some laws that just seem over-the-top. One: once you are in Israeli air space you can not walk around the cabin. I understand that. They worry about people hijacking planes. We've had that happen to us (9/11). Two: when on final approach all main cabin lights must be extinguished. This one is a huh? So the lights were on, then off for 5 min, then back on once we touched the ground. Again, huh? But there must be a reason. These were 2 things I took note of and thought interesting to share. I hope I didn't just breach some security protocol. lol.
Once on the ground the airport staff were very helpful and friendly. One man went out of his way to assure I didn't miss getting the stroller off the plane. He then took me out of the passport check line and took me and another family traveling with a baby to a separate booth and we sailed through border control. If you haven't been to Israel before, be prepared to answer lots of questions. They want to know why you are there, if you know anyone, and where you are planning on visiting. They have all been trained in reading body language, so its just best to be honest. Tell the truth and you're fine. Lie and you may be turned back. Just FYI.
So we got through border control and the same man helped me get my bag, and out into Israel we went. My instructions were to find the person with a Voyager Travel sign and they would bring me to my hotel. If they weren't there, move off to the left and wait, someone will be there shortly. Well, no one was there, so I sat in some seats and waited. Now would be a good time to mention that my plane landed at midnight and it was now 12:45 am. I sat there until 2am. No one came. I had no phone number to call, and didn't know how to call Jake, so I did the only thing I could think of. I went out and got a taxi. Yes, by myself, in a foreign country.
This is when I found out that Bethlehem, where my hotel was, is in the West Bank. Did you know that? I didn't. This is also when I found out that taxis can't cross the border - either direction. No one from Bethlehem could come get me and the taxi at the airport could only take me as far as the check point. I started to cry. So the plan was, the taxi would take me to the check point and then the baby and I would walk to the other side and I would have to find another taxi to get me to my hotel. It was 3 am by the time we got there. But I received a tender mercy from the Lord. There was another woman in the taxi (really it was an airport shuttle) who was also going to Bethlehem. Her friend came to the check point and picked her up and agreed to bring the baby and me to the hotel. I was so grateful.
We arrived at the hotel and the man at the desk couldn't find my reservation. Later, come to find out, he just wasn't looking in the right place. Anyway, I begged him to find me a room. At that point I was willing to take a janitor's closet if it had a bed for me and David. He got me a nice room with a king size bed and they brought in a crib. David and I slept till 10:30. Tomorrow I will continue my adventure as I finally meet up with the tour group.
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