First night in Haifa

I had hoped to blog from Israel on my trip there with a group led by my rabbi David Weiner from Knesset Israel in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  Unfortunately, we had not enough time, energy, or Internet access to make this happen.  So...I am pretending that it's happening now, starting with our departure from Pittsfield on December 3, 2011.

I was surprised at the ease of the flight from JFK to Tel Aviv.  The van ride from Pittsfield to the airport in the dark on a new beautiful rural route was an unexpected pleasure.  I also had time to finish the novel I was reading on my iPad on the way.  I had a little conversation with Bobbi Cohn sitting next to me until she was ready to nap.

All the personnel at El Al were courteous and helpful. The young woman agent asked me, "Eifo gar?". I was amazed that I knew she was asking me where I lived. This led to a series of questions about how, why, and from whom I was learning Hebrew.   How?  Rosetta Stone, 25 years in synagogue,  conversation classes.  Why?  To feel more comfortable with the language around me in Israel, reading signs, menus, to have a good base for learning more during my trip.  From whom?  My prayer book, my computer, Esther Benari-Altman, and most important, my husband Alex who is excited about my interest in speaking Hebrew, a language he spoke with fluency 50 years ago.

My friend Leslie from Chicago had been traveling all day, up at 3 in the morning, arriving at JFK about 4 in the afternoon. We were processed and inspected in no time and settled in for a long wait at the international gate. Boarding started about 11 and took over an hour to get everyone seated, not surprising since there were about 400 passengers on the 747. I didn't see the more spacious quarters in first and business classes on the upper level. Three men sitting behind us asked to move to business or first class and were told that it was full. Not a seat was empty in economy class, about 35 rows, 10 to a row.

I sat with Beth and Bernie. Leslie and I were not able to get seats together.  It was ok since I went to sleep immediately. There were three loud and talkative men behind us speaking a mixture of Russian and Hebrew and playing a loud game of cards, pounding on the table trays and shaking the seats frequently while we waiting for takeoff.  Happily they went to sleep as soon as the plane lifted off.

I walked around and up and down the aisles, stopped to chat with Leslie who was sitting with two handsome young CPAs from Israel. She pronounced them to be darling.   Then I watched a movie I had already seen and read the novel.

Easy check in and baggage retrieval, quick comfortable bus ride to Haifa, sumptuous buffet at the Dan Carmel Hotel.  View of the harbor from our window, fabulous panorama of cruise ships, city sites and gardens, stunning even in the dark.