Toto, we are not in America anymore

To give some of you background information of why I went to Israel, I’m giving a talk on my research at the International Association of Relationships Research (IARR) conference in Herzlia. Because I LOVE traveling, and because I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to go to Israel again, I decided to spend a little more time here touring. Luckily, a fellow labmate (E) in the relationships lab I volunteer with is also giving a presentation and she, her husband, (A), and I decided to go to Israel 2 weeks before the conference and tour the sites.

Right now, we are staying in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and luckily I was able to purchase a few hours of Internet use for my laptop. Thank goodness, because not much else has been going that smoothly for me on this trip. At the same time, God has been really gracious in meeting my needs. I’ll explain:

Thursday night I drove to Hurst, which is a small city close to Fort Worth, to meet up with E and A who were staying at their friend’s house. Around 11:30pm I got lost in Hurst and it took a little over an hour to find the house. We woke up early Friday morning to get to the airport. From there, we flew 4 hours to Toronto (since we are flying Air Canada), and then another 11 hours to Tel Aviv. The flight was smooth and enjoyable. The food was decent on the flight (we were served dinner and breakfast) and I didn’t get much sleep since I was too busy catching up on movies I’d missed. On the flight, I watched one episode of 30 Rock, She’s Out of My League (hilarious!), Back-up Plan, Clash of the Titans, and Valentine’s Day.

Customs was surprisingly easy to get through. However, when we landed in Tel Aviv, my luggage got lost! I think someone took it home by accident since the only bag left on the carousel was one that looked curiously like mine. The big bag had most of my shoes, clothes and bathing suit, toiletries, and sunscreen. More urgently, it had my camera charger. I was pretty upset about my lost baggage, so I’m praying it will turn up by the time we travel back to Israel from our 3 day stint in Jordan. Luckily, I had my laptop, my USB flashdrive (with my presentation), a few days worth of clothes and toiletries, and my makeup in my carryon. I’m grateful also that I chose to wear my Chacos on the flight rather than some flimsy sandals so I’m all set on footwear.