04/09/02 Tel Aviv, Israel
Greetings all, from Israel.
I thought it good to testify of our journey here, as it seemed quite
extraordinary, and we praise HIM for His good provision. We took a train
from Bacau, Romania to Bucharest (the chief city of Romania), where
someone I had met in the states, who I met through John Dobrovot kindly
took us in for the night. He drove us to the airport the following day,
and this is where things got interesting. Maybe it is because few
Americans come to Romania, or perhaps it was all of the Almighty, but the
man at the check-in counter treated us quite kindly. He booked our trip
(From Bucharest to Athens, Greece; to Tel Aviv) all in Business class.
He gave us invitations to the "Business Lounge", which was located in a
lower level by our departure gate. We went down there to find a table
spread with snacks, free drinks, newspapers, couches, a person to wait
on us, and free internet access (upstairs it cost about $3.00 for
15min). We drank a couple of glasses of O.J., checked our email, and
grabbed some bags of peanuts for the trip. We were the only ones there, and
it felt a bit strange to be waited on like that. From there we got on
the plane, in the first seats (business/1st class) I literally had
seat 1A on that plane. We arrived shortly in Athens, Greece, where we
were scheduled to have a 12 hour layover. We had thought to just explore
a bit of the city and then sleep on the floor, but the lady at the
ticket counter said that we should go upstairs, that we might be entitled
to Hotel Vouchers. Well, sure enough, they offered to bus us to a
hotel, pay for separate rooms, our dinner, and then bus us back at the
appropriate hour! We opted for one room (which normally was around $150).
After we arrived at the hotel, we walked a couple of minutes from it to
throw some stones in the Mediteranian Sea, and returned for our
multicourse Lamb and Potatoe dinner. I don't want to glory in carnal things,
this is just to testify of the way the Almighty deemed fit that our
trip should go. We had a bit of sleep, and were picked up by the airline
to catch our plane. Again, our flight from Athens to Tel Aviv was in
Business class.
We arrived in Tel Aviv sometime around 4:15am, and were possibly the
first ones off the plane. Immediately the security took us aside and
started questioning us. We were asked our motives for coming, who we knew
there, etc. etc. They searched us, loaded us and two other men that
they had chosen into their van and took us in to the airport. There the
questioning continued, and I decided to speak to them in Hebrew for
some of the time, possibly thinking that it might help. They finally said
we could go on to the passport control, where you have to talk to a
police person. She started the questioning all over, and again I spoke to
her in Hebrew for us. She told us to wait, while she talked to others
in the Police office. They finally called me in to the office, and the
questions started again. The girl ended up telling me that they
thought it was very strange that I had never been to Israel, but spoke Hebrew
without an accent, so in the end it seemed that trying to communicate
to them in Hebrew actually hindered us in ways! She was a bit more
relaxed it seems, and I think it was her that approved our intended 3
month visas- Praise Be To Him!. We were then led here and there to
get searched more, have our bags scanned again, rubbed for explosives,
ourselves scanned again, etc. Finally we were set free to go on our
own after maybe an hour and a half or more of this type of runaround.
We took a city bus to Tel Aviv, and we have checked into a hostel here.
Steven has been looking into possible options for our stay, and we are
seeking direction. We are looking for a situation now where we might
be able to help out a hostel a bit in exchange for our stay there and
meals. We will have to see what works out, but I want you all to know
that we have arrived safe, and that we have sensed the many prayers that
have gone before us on this trip- and thanks may again be given on my
behalf for this.
Shalom Rav (much peace)
-James