Typical Duties of the Queen of Logistics

We've only been in Israel 5 days, and it's been never a dull moment for me, Regina Logistica! The craziness started even before we left Minneapolis. The "Group of Eight" (as I dubbed those leaving together on Thursday morning) were to meet at 7:00 am inside Door 3 at the Twin Cities airport. Seven of us were there, together with some parents seeing children off, but there was no sign of Kristina, who lives in Wisconsin, a 2 1/2 hour drive from the Twin Cities. By 7:30 we were getting worried. Mark suggested we phone. I, Regina Logistica, whipped out the file of application forms with phone numbers from my carry on luggage (so organized!). Mark called and asked for Kristina. Her mother said, "She's right here," and handed off the phone. Mark said, "Are you on your way to the airport?" No, she wasn't; Kristina had confused are arrival date in Israel (June 30) with our departure date (June 29). Fortunately she was all packed. Her mother and sister drove her to the airport while papa stayed home on the phone with the airlines and got her booked on a later flight to Newark. It was a close connection, but she made it, and all 18 of us who meet up in Newark made our connection to Tel Aviv.

Everything seemed to be smooth sailing at Tev Aviv. We had no trouble connecting with Lyle and Tim, 2 Americans working with the University of Haifa team on Hippos who hitched a ride with us to Kibbutz Ein Gev on the east side of the Sea of Galilee where we're staying. A minor glitch came with the delay of the flight from Toronto bringing the 4 Canadians on our team, but that turned out fine. Just as I was relaxing on the bus to Ein Gev, one of the Canadians, Steve, came to our seat and reported his passport was missing. It's still an ongoing saga; a full report later! Steve's luck has been bad most of our five days. Last night I assisted at the surgery to remove the tick from his calf (we're happy to report it was a complete success).

Wish I had time and energy to write something about our 2 days of digging, but today I had to host a trip to Tiberias by public bus for a few people; it was essential for Jay, whose boots gave out today on the dig. I'm happy to report the trip was a success, and I ended my duties as the Queen of Logistics by finding and returning Nancy's sun glasses.

Past bed time here! More before we head to Jerusalem on Thursday, I hope!