On August 25th, with the help of my amazing family, I packed up my past 2 years in Phoenix into two cars and flew to NYC to see all my new friends I made on my Birthright trip. I wanted to fly to NYC not only because the El Al flights leave from there (haha) but because the friends that I made on this amazing trip, were the staple to the experience that made me want to come back and continue learning about this amazing country.
I spent three short days in NYC but got to see everyone that has made such an impact on me on that 21 day trip. My flight was Sunday, August 29th at noon. My cousin offered to take me instead of having me take a shuttle and that made a HUGE difference, rather than being dropped off at the airport by some stranger, to fly off into a distant land, 6,000 miles away!
Jake picked me up at 8AM and we were off to JFK. On the way there I realized that I didn't quite understand what exactly I was getting into and what to expect, so I had a mini panic attack, nothing different that what I have been experiencing for the past month of preparing for my journey. Jake, however, happened to be the best person for the job of calming me down and said all the right things and got me pumped for my adventure.
As he dropped me off at the airport, with my 120lbs of luggage, and as I went through the security interrogation of the El Al Mossad, got my boarding pass and went through security, and I as finally sat down to wait for us to board, I felt an unexpected sense of peace that I have not felt for the longest time. That feeling did not flee as the plane took off......I was going to Israel!!!!!
At JFK, I met a really cool 19-year-old girl, who also fell in love with Israel so she was coming back to do a long term program in Tzfat, in a seminary, a city on hill in North Israel where Kabballah was born. She invited me to celebrated Shabbat with her there and in the old city Jerusalem. Next to me was a beautiful Ethiopian Jew who lived in NYC for 9 years and is now back in Israel, who gave me her email and phone number and said that she will take me out in Tel Aviv and introduce me to her friends. She also works in a call center for the green card lottery......soooooo if I need a job......you never know!
Fast forward 10 hours......the pilot is now saying that we are descending into TA....and now my heart starts pounding again. Thousands of questions run through my head.....am I going to feel the same when I get there? How is it going to be seeing Ben again? What is the program going to be like? How are the people going to be? My head was spinning.......until we landed and it stopped, as if something knocked me out.....we were in Israel and everyone on board was now clapping!
Getting luggage was insane. It was a zoo but now I was finally done and Shaina (seminary friend) and I were now headed towards the area where all the people were greeting the passengers on flight #4. My heart started pounding again as I started looking for Ben.What if he overslept and didn't come? What if he didn't come because he didn't come?? But suddenly, I see him, way in the back, with a big smile on his face. He fumbles with something in his hands as he unravels a piece of paper that says ANNA BANANA! HAHAHA!!! I knew it would be ok from then on. I was ready for this!
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