Kfar Vitkin, Israel

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Shalom!!!

I am now in Israel at the Bar's house. The trip from Istanbul went surprisingly well. We woke up aroun 9am, went for some breakfast, hopped on the subway, and Alex, Marcel, and I parted ways at the Otogar station.

Bon voyage guys! Enjoy Sofia for one more day, and then Greece!

Just to backtrack a little, last night we ran into the Canadian couple we met from the bus from Borgas. Imagine the odds in a city of 12+ million people. We went for beers and continued our conversation from the bus ride, exchanged contact information and went our separate ways later that evening.

On the subway I met a girl from Madrid who was in Turkey visiting her friend. Naturally the topic of my upcoming trip to Spain came up, and she gave me some pointers on places to visit, places to avoid etc. Our conversation was brief but helpful - it's always nice running into an English-speaking traveller along the way.

I was very impressed when I arrived at Ataturk International Airport - the transit system and the airport are seamlessly interconnected - a sharp reminder of how crappy Toronto's public transportation infrastructure really is when compared to today's major metropolises.

The flight here was irritating - I was seated next to a Chabadnik who tried to convince me for over an hour to put on Tfillin on the plane. We eventually got into a discussion about the nature of G-d, the Mashiach, and such... this is something that bothers me. My belief of and relationship towards God is of a personal nature - I completely disagree with anyone who tries to impose his or her belief upon me, and I really don't see how me putting on tfillin will result in a Mitzvah for everyone else. Call me ignorant or misguided, but that is where I stand. On top of this, his daughter wanted to switch seats with me so that she could look out the window. She was young and cute, so I obliged and toook the middle seat (only a 1.5h flight... no big deal I figured), but within 5 minutes of takeoff she was bored, and jumping up and down on the seat turning my light & AC on and off (while the seatbelt sign was on, and he was too busy reading something to attend to her) I eventually we switched back, which was good, because I really wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery myself. End of rant.

I really enjoy flying (just the act of being airbourne, not all the perks that come with it such as breathing recirculated farts and bacteria, and eating freeze-dried vegetables), I love watching the world below come to a standstill, and to simply be an observer, if only for a brief time.

ARRIVAL IN ISRAEL:

As it turns out, Noah and Josh's flight from Toronto was slightly delayed, so we ended up arriving at exactly the same time, and our baggage carousels were side by side! We met at the baggage claim, and then ventured out to meet uncle Yos, who was waiting for us. I also ran into an old friend from camp who had arrived from Toronto. We talked only briefly though, as I had to grab my bags.

After meeting Yos, the first thing I did was pick up a new SIM card for the phone that I bought in Sofia, and put some $ on it - the wonders of modern technology.

We drove through afternoon traffic in Tel Aviv up to Kfar Vitkin, talked to Ilan on the phone, met Auntie Cecie, Ori & Rivka and the kids, and settled down. We've just finished dinner, and I'm backing up pictures right now, and will post them now.

Shalom for now!

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