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My First Trip to Israel (November, 2000)

Israel

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2004-04-05 12:55:21

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I arrived in Tel Aviv at approximately 18:00 Israel time (everyone in Israel has been in the military so all time is quoted as military time). The flight was on schedule and this was Saturday the 18th of November. The trip was uneventful save for a cancellation of the first leg of the trip going from Cleveland to Toronto. This resulted in my flying nonstop from Toronto [Starting at midnight (EST)] to Tel Aviv rather than via Frankfurt. During the long delay in Cleveland there was lots of discussion with Canadians on the Presidential election (U.S., see cartoon, left). A man with a German accent yelled me for "lecturing" to the waiting passengers. The flight plan was similar regardless of the change in itinerary. I left from Toronto at midnight.

The clouds (and night) finally cleared over Turkey. Very dry land. Sparsely populated. Some mountains with what looks like snow on them. Lots of water earlier in the flight. While everyone was still sleeping I had peeked out the window over what must have been the North Atlantic (before being yelled at by another passenger that the light coming in the window was blinding). It had been very exciting to be over open water/ocean. It was now very exciting to then be almost beyond Turkey and over the Mediterranean.

We fly over Tel Aviv towards our landing. The city is bustling with skyscrapers jutting up, here and there, towards the sky. The airport is a confusing jumble of Western and what I assume to be Middle Eastern influences. My first ever passport stamping as I head towards baggage claim! Customs was almost a nonevent. I expected endless harassing but the most interesting (and, in fact, only) interaction was a question from the X-ray guy over what were those round, hand grenade-like objects in my carry-on luggage (A: tangerines). It was explained to me that I could not bring live plant material into the country.

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