Well it’s taken a few days to sort out Internet access here in Jerusalem but I think I’ve got it. “SHALOM“….from the Shalom hotel in Jerusalem Israel!

I arrived in Tel Aviv from a much delayed flight from Newark New Jersey (Continental delayed it from 10:50 p.m. Friday June 20 till 6:00 a.m. Saturday). They put passengers up in a hotel only to have to get up at 3:00 to check in at the airport at 4:30 a.m.

The flight took us over the south of France and across the Mediterranean. It was cool at one point to look outside the plane and see Naples Italy and nearby, a dormant volcano. A young Jewish girl and her dad from Newark and I took turns pasting our faces up against the flight attendants window at the back of the plane where we could stand for a while and look down over the French then Italian countryside. Being the end of the school term many American Jewish families were headed to Israel.

After finally landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv I had hoped to see the Conference transport arrangements that would take me from there to Jerusalem but since it was after midnight they were not there. I was looking for an Anglican priest from Vancouver who was on my flight hoping to get transportation together but I was unable to find him. Looking like some dumb lost guy invites the local cab drivers to descend upon you like vultures. This offers the first and most important lesson about being in the middle east -you have to learn to be rude! In limited English he offered a taxi and I the typical friendly Canadian smiled and said “possibly, but wait until I have looked for someone from my flight”. He did wait…..2 feet from my side no matter where I went for an HOUR and continued to re-offer his services. Finally I put a stern 1:30 a.m. face on and in an un-Canadian manner told him where to go (yes along with the middle eastern dramatic arm waving).

I finally arranged a shuttle bus lift that was only $20 instead of the $80 taxi and made what should have been a 45 minute drive to Jerusalem in about 30. These people drive like you would not believe! I checked in to the Shalom, and crashed in about 8 minutes. Off to a good but very tired start.