Full Moon over Jerusalem

This trip has been an experience already. My arrival at O'Hare at 7:45 pm fit well into the plan to be present two hours before departure. An irritating but problem -free check-in and security check left me with over two hours to kill. However, boarding an Airbus 330 takes a while as the plane holds over 200 people, so boarding began pretty early. Turkish Air's selection of peacock blue for its upholstery made me think of theatre seating for the sultan's harem, and the space between seats is far too short for a long trip, and the galleys are blocked so that walking around a circuit of the plane which some of us have to do to avoid insanity and permanent disabilities, is really not an option, but, on the positive side,the food was pretty good (I didn't know that there were so many ways to make and serve eggplant), the service and flight attendants were courteous and responsive, and the flight was, for all intents and purposes, turbulence free, and most importantly, one hour shorter than projected. That turned out to be a very good thing since customs/passport check etc. in Istanbul was a mess and very slow and would have caused me to miss my connecting flight to Tel Aviv if it weren't for that extra hour. I also had a pretty good seat mate, a woman from Istanbul who loves to travel and was returning from a trip to the United States (hated Los Angeles, San Francisco was cold and the food was bad, but Chinatown was amazing [she didn't ride the cable cars{?}], had a great time in Chicago) and insisted on sticking both her feet in the pocket of the seat in front of her. Strange.

There was another unforeseen event. The flight resulted in a complete time warp, which I am barely overcoming a day and a half later. Leaving at 10:20 pm was a new experience for me. I've arrived in many airports very late at night but never departed late. It took me by surprise when the flight crew handed out the menus for dinner, followed by breakfast several hours later, but it didn't seem too strange. Presumably we would all sleep during most of the flight and wake up to breakfast. It makes some kind of sense anyway. The catch is, when you have dinner at 1:00 am, and you are flying east at the rate of 400 miles per hour, the sun comes up over the Atlantic at about 3:00 am. So to maintain time continuity and the illusion of night, all the window shades are pulled down to keep the cabin dark until breakfast time, by which time it is already 3:00 pm at your departure location. We arrived in Istanbul a little after 4:00 pm local time. What is the next meal to be? Lunch/Dinner/Supper? You can imagine what it did to my medication schedule! For those transferring, it was a moot question. Turkish Air made the decision for us. It was Dinner, served at the very smart hour of 7:30 pm.

My directions for arrival in Tel Aviv were simple. After customs/passport check/baggage pickup/change money, go outside the airport and turn right. Taxis called sheruts, a kind of jitney service, will take you to Jerusalem and Saint George's College for about $16. What they didn't say is that the sherut does not leave until it is full which is ten passengers, and that your Palestinian driver may not be too sure where #31 Salahadeen Street really is so he will drop everyone else off first, getting you to your destination two and one half hours later. Twenty-two hours from the front door of the Rectory in Morrison to the front door of Saint George's. He unloaded my baggage and pointed across the street to the closed iron gate that said Saint George's College, collected his 62 shekels and departed. I walked toward the gate with dread in my heart. I squinted in the dark and saw a sign that said press button and identify yourself. I pressed the button, and behold, the gate began to slide open. I walked a few feet inside (quickly, before the gate could close again) and was met by another Palestinian who welcomed me, asked my name and intentions, grabbed my bags and told me he had a room ready and waiting for me. I have never been so grateful for a simple act of kindness, that I can recall. I collapsed into bed, exhausted at the conclusion of my 35 hour day with what may have been two hours of napping on the plane.

I awakened this morning, parched, hungry, and a little loopy from not enough sleep and dehydration (air travel is really hard on me). When I went in search of coffee, I ran into the desk attendant who told me that breakfast was being served at the guesthouse of the Cathedral since no classes were currently in session. I trudged my way over to the Cathedral Guesthouse and found some coffee, but also a schedule for services, today. I'd already missed the early one, and the Palestinian one was in progress, but there was an 11:00 am which I could easily make. A grabbed two more cups of coffee and hurried back to the dorm to shower, shave and dress, and I made it to the service with a few minutes to spare. Attached are some pictures which I took today of the College and the Cathedral. I ran into Graham Smith, formerly of St. David's Glen Ellen, and currently the Dean of the College, at church this morning. He was very surprised to see me and seemed pleased to have me here. He took me out for a typical Palestinian supper (lamb, yogurt/cucumber salad, humus and coffee) at a favorite local hotel and passed a very pleasant few hours outdoors with hibiscus flowers falling down upon us. I can't tell you much about Jerusalem yet. I spent most of the day cloistered in the Saint George's compound. Although I had an extensive, unintentional tour of the city last night, even a full moon would not permit me to see much more than a typography what would make a great setting for an epic biblical movie!