Travel Trials

So I have officially arrived in the Holy Land everyone! It was a harrowing journey, but the important thing is that I got here. But let me just give you an idea of what I had to endure. First, out of SLC we had to sit on the runway for at least 45 minutes, and then go back to refuel before we could take off again because we'd been idling so long. By the time we got to Chicago we were almost an hour behind schedule, as a result we had to run half way across the airport just to make our connection. When we finally got into DC we got to rest for about 30 minutes (and scarf down some exorbitantly priced airport food) before we boarded for Vienna. After a long flight of 9 hours, we arrived in Vienna Austria. Spent a little over an hour in that airport before boarding for Tel Aviv. When we arrived in Tel Aviv, I had the wonderful experience of watching the conveyor belt rotate at least 30 times before giving up hope on my luggage. Myself along with 4 others, had not gotten our luggage. So we had to go report it at lost and found where (this is just priceless) they took our information down and handed us a "survival kit" complete with a extra large white t-shirt, mini toothpaste and toothbrush, and cotton balls. Of course that made it all better. As long as I've got me some cotton balls, I can live in a foreign country without my luggage for who knows how long!!! Can you tell I'm a little bitter? Luckily, I had the sense to pack a few extra things in my carry on bag. Unfortunately, I will be living in the same pair of pants until they find my suitcase. Meh. So, for those of you keeping up with the math at home, travel to Jerusalem totalled over 24 hours straight. Not to mention I hardly slept at all on any of the plane rides. Bythe time we got to the center, I was in a zombie-like state. Today I'm now operating on 6 hours of sleep...combined with the 3 hours I got between flights...for a grand total of 9 hours sleep in 3 days. However, aside from all of this, the Holy Land was well worth the trip. Everything is beautiful, and the view of the city from the center is breathtaking. Everyone I have met has been very friendly, and the staff is great. To my great dismay, the food is rather tasty. I had hoped that I would find the food unappetizing and thus give myself a 4 month diet. But alas my plan has been foiled! So, now that I've whined for long enough to make me feel better, I'm off to take a much needed nap!