What a flight. It was quite interesting, though. The flight from SFO to Philadelphia was uneventful except that I had to pay for lunch. While in Philadelphia airport awaiting the boarding of the flight to Tel Aviv, some of the Jewish men gathered together for prayer.
They faced a wall (the direction of the Holy City??) and read from a prayer book. Some rocked back and forth while praying (especially the Orthodox Jews). While in flight the Jewish man I sat next to got out his phylacteries and prayed. All quite interesting!
The food was good and free on the overseas flight.
I had no trouble in customs and Aaron and Brenda picked me up at the airport and we drove to Bethlehem. There was a sand storm so the air was dusty and, quite frankly, the landscape looked dry and barren even though there was vegetation. Tomorrow we will go to Jerusalem–I hope the air is clearer!
Falafals for dinner were very good.
Well, I’m pooped! got about 3 hours sleep (maybe). Thank you for your prayers.