Day 2: Orientation

I woke up early – 5:00 AM.  The wake up knock came at 6:45. The knocker nearly broke down the door.



Israeli dig site



After a small breakfast of cookies and such, we began our walk to the site for an orientation. We walked through Kibbutz Sdot Yam and entered the site from the south.






View from the Citadel Restaurant



At 8:30, we had breakfast at the Citadel Restaurant then continued our tour. We walked all over the site (the places the tourists don’t go). Stopped for Ice Cream on the north side of the city – then continued our walk to the aqueduct north of Old Caesarea. We had about a half an hour there before the buses came to take us back. Joni and I walked down to the surf and got our feet wet.



Aqueduct



A large lunch was served at 1:00 and we had some free time. Joni, Lisa, Christine, and I went to the beach. We sat out for a while and played in the surf. At 3:00 we had a lecture in Beit Gil that lasted until 4:30 or so. At 5:00, we had a pottery orientation in front of dorm 1, after which we returned to the room for a short nap.

Temple ruins.

Dinner was at 7:00. After dinner, I exchanged some money ($100 travelers check = 240 shekels).  There was some discussion of trying to get to the convenience store, but it was too late. Joni and I returned to the room, showered, and dressed up some. We went to the Sports Centre Club for about 2 hours, where they were doing folk dancing. We came home around 11:00PM and were in bed by 11:30.

View near the dorms.



Shoreline near the dorms.



It was hard to sleep because when the dance music stopped (around 2:00AM) the kids in the next dorm began playing bongos.

Day 1 - The Long One

Leaving Sioux Falls.

I woke up late, 5:30 AM on my own. David was holding us up testing the new shower head. Johanna decided that, although she "loves me dearly and we are good friends", she didn't want to wake up and hobble me to the airport (she has a sprained ankle).
I had no trouble catching my flight in either Sioux Falls or Minneapolis. In Minneapolis, I called Anita to say goodbye (she's sick).
In Chicago, I had a 5 hour layover. I talked to a professor from Moorehead State who was also going to Brussels. Judging from his reaction to my ultimate destination, he was probably Arabic. I didn't catch his name. Sabena finally opened 45 minutes after I got to the desk.
I ate lunch alone at an airport restaurant called "Peggy Sue's". I had a cheeseburger and fries ($10.26). After salting the fries I noticed they weren't salty, but sweet. After some minor research I realized that the salt shaker had sugar in it. This minor thing became a big deal with the wait staff, but I kindly told them it didn't matter. I called home, but my parents weren't home yet. I talked briefly to Johanna.
The flight from Chicago to Brussels was a little like a flying day care center. Small children ran up and down the aisles for the entire 8 hours of the flight. A large woman was sitting next to me and her (I would guess) 12-year old  daughter kept coming up from farther forward in the plane and flopping across me.
After what seemed like forever, we landed in Brussels. The Oklahoma contingent to Caesarea (Alan, Lisa, Christine, Zac {2013 - Cooper}, and Ryan {2013- Hicks}) and I spent the 4 hour in the airport's bar, discussing nothing in particular. I drank a Becks ($4.00) and a mini-bottle of wine ($5.00).  We sat on the runway for an hour before we took off from Brussels.
When we arrived in Tel Aviv, I was approached by a young woman in sunglasses as soon as I got off the plane - before getting on the bus for the terminal.
On my way out of the airport - a man stopped me and asked me to same thing the woman in sunglasses asked me: "May I see your passport? Why are you in Israel?) {2011 note: If I recall, this was more shouted than asked}

My roommate Joni in our dorm room.

The whole group from the plane got on the bus to Caesarea. I sat next to the other girl from SD: Dawn Makes Strong Move (From Winnebago, Neb)
We arrived at the Sports Centre at about 7:00PM and got our room assignments.  I am in room 2-10 and my roommate is Joanie Something. {2011- Next day, I found out her name is Joni Jefferson. I really wish I'd stayed in touch. She was an awesome girl. 2013 - She found me! Happy to be back in touch with Joni! She also has a list of names and contact information, so I'll be able to update this journal} Very nice girl. Dinner was served at 8:00 and after dinner, I showered and went to sleep around 10PM.