I did it. I moved to Israel.
That was the easy part.
The hard part was packing- which of course I didn't actually do until the day/night/morning before my flight. Which ended up being delayed a ridiculous amount of time lol. I didn't mind, I actually got to know some of the other olim (people moving to Israel), we played cards, we chatted, I got distracted n wandered off, bought some chocolate, came back n shared-- nothing new in any of those things lol-- and finally after about 2 hours waiting in the gate, we finally boarded. I sat (aisle seat thank G-d!!) next to a girl I'd met in the airport and a guy I hadn't.
So the flight went well, we met Natan Sharansky in Newark after check-in--- aside: all 3 of my bags were overweight, 1 was even >20lbs over, which is supposed to be like $100 fine or something, but the lady only charged me $25 each, but I just checked my bank statement and it looks like I was only charge $25 total!!! :D --- we took pictures, blah blah blah...
My mother didn't cry, for which I am grateful, my father didn't make it to the airport, for which I was disappointed, but I saw him during the 2 hours extra I had at home and he'll be in Israel on Tuesday. Oy. To see my grandfather who's in a rehab center after having had a stroke a month or so back :( We went to see him Thursday night. It's scary to see your grandparents getting older, my other grandfather is home now from a similar place, and walking, thank G-d, but in pain all the time.
Ok, back to the flight day: umm... yeah, so good
flight, I got to watch I am Number 4 and Country Strong, two movies that I've been wanting to see, I would have watched more, but a total of 10 hours of sleep over 4 or so days does not encourage staying awake on an 11 hour flight. Food was good, had some wine- even better, had some coffee-- big mistake! DO NOT DRINK AIRPLANE COFFEE!! I knew this and I still did it. I must have forgotten...
So we get to Israel, met by Nefesh B'Nefesh people (the organization that helps people make aliyah), some of whom I recognized cuz I've only been in their office like 3 times trying to get help (the non-white coat type), went through passport control, went to the old terminal- which I didn't know how much I missed! It reminds me of my childhood :) -to the Ministry of Absorption
office where we got documents and money- yay ;) - then back to get our luggage lmao 3 huge bags and lil ol' me? it was a sight to see, and then out! into the hot humid air of Tel Aviv! but
before that, MY COUSIN CAME TO MEET ME!! a cousin I hadn't seen in like 2 or 3 years, whose husband I'd never met, with whom I am not in general contact with other that her status updates in my Facebook newsfeed! (which is how she knew I would be arriving that day!) I was
so surprised and so so so happy!
The three of us packed ourselves and my bags into a monit sherut (shared taxi van thingie... hard to translate) with an older French couple and set off to Jerusalem, where I would be (/am) staying with my brother.
Ok. That's enough for now, stay tuned for the next update of
-dum dum dum- Vered's Aliya.
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