We are here!

Hallelujah!

We have all arrived, along with all of our luggage. If ever a prayer of thanks was appropriate, it is today! Say it with me now: "Baruch atah Adonai, elohaienu melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem me'in ha'Samsonite!" OK, Tumi or Louis Vuitton for the fancy folks. (hello? spell check?)

After meeting our guide Israeli, who is Israeli, (no, really), and learning more on the 45 minute drive from the airport to Jerusalem than most of learned in 5+ years of Sunday school, we arrived at our hotel and chaotically checked in and made our way, bleary eyed, to our rooms. Some of us napped. Some of us showered. Some of us trolled the neighborhood for free wifi. Some of us logged into the hotel wifi from the shower. It's an OCD techie crowd.

The hotel is great, well at least for some of us. Rooms tend to be on the tiny size for most. Remind me to tell the front desk that I'm a big macher back home the next time I visit. Maybe I'll get a room where it won't be possible to take a shower without leaving the bed.

However, it is perfectly situated near the Old City and close to the German Colony, where we had a great dinner at La Guta. We heard from Rebecca Caspi from Jewish Federations of North America's Israel office while we dined on typical Israeli dinner. No, it was not just hummus and pita. No, the Zohan did not join us for dinner. Maybe breakfast?

We then walked back to the hotel where I am pretty sure everyone will sleep very well since we all got very little sleep on the plane. Blame it on Andrea and all those Russian folks songs she was singing as we crossed the Atlantic. I'm not sure how she knows those Russian folk songs, in Russian no less, but Nat seems to think it has something to do with the beverages in the Delta lounge before departure. Who's to say?

It is chilly here, with temperatures around 9C, which is around 45F, but we are all warmed by newfound friends, the warmth of a welcoming country and the excitement of the adventures in store for us on our brief, but meaningful, visit to a country that is, and will forever be, etched indelibly in our hearts.

- James

P.S. Photos are being posted to an online gallery and a link will be posted tomorrow.

P.P.S. Nat has asked me to post a disclaimer. Here goes.

1. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
2. What happens in Jerusalem stays in Jerusalem.
3. Please remember to tip your waitresses.
4. Am Yisroel Chai!
5. Stay within the lines.
6. Nat needs to go to sleep.