DAY ONE

Travel: Signs of Divinity

Have not yet lost my passport

No missed connections

No luggage overweight fees: Managed to heave 10 ton suitcase on ticket counter scale -- weighed in at precisely 50 pounds

Showed up at Boise airport and my confirmed aisle seat was no longer in the system - Boise ticket personnel couldn't give me a new one - in Atlanta, waited about 90 minutes with approximately 175 other kvetchy Jewish passengers for seat assignments - got window seat - threw fit - staff completely unimpressed with fit - complained by phone to boyfriend and mother - got on board - someone asked me to switch to the aisle so he could be next to his wife, leaving me, in the end, a happy traveler!!! :-)

Compression socks kept legs compressed

Wide array of entertainment options on personal screen: (thank God, as flight was 13 hours long) -- couldn't get any sleep so at least was productive --

• Frost/Nixon, Japanese subtitles (liked)
• Revolutionary Road, Arabic subtitles (liked)(wondered which Arab country would possibly not make viewing this movie a capital offense)
• The Office (episode where Jim and Pam talk whole time through tiny Japanese bluetooth devices)
• Everybody Hates Chris
• House
• A quarter of a very cheesy Asian film starring the Korean Hilary Duff
• Bejewelled (video game, untimed beginner version)
• The New Adventures of Old Christine

Travel: Miscellaneous Items of Note

Passenger two rows behind me had some kind of medical incident that required 3 flight attendants to hover over him murmuring for about 25 minutes with blood pressure cuff, oxygen mask and probably a tourniquet and boiled water -- luckily, they didn't kill him.

Watched some TV shows, dozed for a little while -- thought, "I bet we're mostly there by now!" Looked on flight path channel -- plane off coast of Canada. Damn!

Tradition has it that when your plane touches down in Israel (obviously a post-Talmudic tradition) you are to break into applause. I'm not sure if this took place as I was too focused on The New Adventures of Old Christine to notice. Hey- priorities.

As is my personal tradition when first arriving in the land - ripped off by sherut (shared van) driver. Ah - home again.