I leave tomorrow in the pre-dawn hours for my many-legged trip to Israel. Getting there from Tennessee requires both a bus, two flights, and a shuttle between New York airports. I will be traveling (there and back) for almost as many hours as I’ll actually be there. Still, I am grateful and excited to be going. Thank you to each and every one of you who helped to make this trip possible.
I’m a little anxious, though not specifically because I’m going to Israel, but simply because I don’t usually travel internationally alone. I comfort myself with the reminder that I’m only alone until I get to JFK, at which point I’ll be sitting at the El Al gate with a bunch of other people not only bound for Israel, but bound for the exact JNF trip I’m going to be part of. This is comforting to me. I feel confident in my ability to navigate domestic travel, but I’ll be grateful to have people I can follow through the entry process in Tel Aviv.
We’re staying at the Carlton Tel Aviv, which in different times would feel like a luxurious stay at the beach. Maybe some day we’ll go back, during a time of peace, and enjoy the city as a vacation. But of course this time, I’ll be there on a volunteer trip and the hotel itself has been repurposed as housing for displaced Israelis from the south of the country. I don’t expect to do any sitting by the pool with a novel or a drink, and I wouldn’t want to.
We have our itinerary, and I’ll be doing some farm work on a kibbutz and packing aid boxes for displaced persons most of the time. We’ll visit the Kotel and the site of the Supernova Music Festival; the former I’m excited about, the latter I dread but know requires us to bear witness.
I expect to post regular photographic updates here while I’m traveling, though I’m only taking my phone so will save the writing for when I get back. (I’m the worst phone typist ever. Too many years with a Blackberry with a full keyboard, I think.) So, among other things, this post is sort of a warning: if you hate the idea of getting a post or two a day from me in your email with pictures of the trip between Sunday and Thursday, you might want to send this newsletter to your spam folder for a bit. I know it wore some folks out when I posted that frequently from Lithuania. But I also know that it delighted the people I most want to delight (Hi, Mom!) and also served to keep people worried that I might not be safe informed that I was, in fact, fine (Hi again, Mom!).
I look forward to sharing with you both the beauty and heartbreak of this trip. Thank you again for helping me get there, and for going along with me through this newsletter.
Shabbat Shalom,
Sarah
Well yes- a little worried, a little anxious….maybe more than a little. It’s somewhat like thinking that you are walking into a bullring. So even the most boring texts will prove that all is well. Be safe, use your head, stay hydrated…and stay out of trouble!!
Xox, Mom
I know that it will be a deeply meaningful journey, Sarah. I look forward to reading all about it. Shabbat shalom and safe travels!