Welcome to Israel

Last Thursday I boarded a plane at the airport for the first time, along with Dr. Mark Schuler and Kathryn Schaefer, fellow members of the Hippos excavation team for 2005. Several hours later I found myself walking throughout the airport at Newark, New Jersey, searching for the gate for our next flight. We found the gate, as well as the rest of our team waiting for us. Our excitement was apparent as introductions were quickly made and friendships already began to form at that point. It was there that I met Mark, a student at the University of Hilo in Hawaii, and a fellow runner. It was clear from the start that we had much in common from our running backgrounds, and in fact we have been running together almost every day since we arrived in Israel, but that's another story!

So our team gathered together and waited to board the plane to Tel Aviv, Israel. However, two members of our team were not with us: Nancy from Nebraska and Mark H. from St. Paul, both of whom fell victim to schedule and cancellation decisions made by the airline company. Thankfully, they were able to make it to Israel within the next couple days. Those of us who were present boarded a Boeing 777 for a long overnight flight. I myself could not sleep at all in the positions afforded by the wonderful seats, so I simply stayed up the whole time. But, since the time zone is 8 hours later in Israel than St. Paul Minnesota, I did get to go to bed 8 hours early on Friday after staying up all Thursday night. In the end, it worked out and I was able to completely swich my sleep schedule over to Israel time within the next few days. Mark from Hawaii, however, took a little longer to adjust, since he had to change over about 12 hours!

We touched down in Tel Aviv about 9 hours later, after flying over Maine, parts of Canada, Iceland, Ireland, France, and Italy. At the airport we were able to stretch our legs a little bit by walking. All the baggage arrived, we got our tourist visas (3 months automatically), and security went well. Well, except that a guard requested that I put the duffle bag I was carrying through the x-ray machine. The bag contained a bunch of my clothes and the tripod for my surveying scope, so there was no trouble.

A very nice touring bus was waiting for us at the airport; it probably seated 40 people, but we only had 8! We drove north out of Tel Aviv instantly saw a much different landscape than we were used to: rocky and rolling hills, banana fields, and Arab villages--discernable by their high Minaret towers, from which a cryer calls the faithful Muslims to prayer. Certainly this would be a mixed culture, but think about it--this land has always had a mixed culture; even during the period of the Israelite kingdom there were numerous people groups and religions in the land.

Almost immediately our group saw the summer haze over the land, which makes for reduced visibility all summer long. Imagine a very faint fog, but one that does not burn off with the morning sun. I was also told that this haze disappears during the rainy season, which occurs at roughly the same time as the North American winter.

We arrived at Kibbutz Ein Gev on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee near evening. (A kibbutz is a communal settlement where, in theory, possessions are shared and needs are met by the kibbutz. In theory it is more like a small, closely nit village) Our rooms were very accomodating, with beds, linens, plenty of closet space, bathrooms with showers, and air conditioning. I finally got some sleep...

"Stay tuned" for more narration, stories, descriptions, etc.; including my experiences digging at the archaeological site and running in Israel!