Day 1-3

When you've been planning something for eight years, it's hard to imagine that the reality could even come close to the expectations. But despite my daydreams for the past eight years, I never pictured anything like this. At the airport, they have a bunch of people holding signs that said "I'm making Aliyah for..." and people filled in the blank with whatever drove them to leave all but three suitcases of what they own behind. No two people wrote the same thing, but somehow everyone on this flight came to the same conclusion. We all have different reasons, but we all seem to be fulfilling the same lifelong dream.

Unfortunately, that dream included a 9 hour flight from hell. The two loudest types of people are Jews and Israelis, and this flight had a multitude of both. It was hard enough falling asleep due to nerves, but staying asleep was even harder. Of course, waking up to a beautiful sunrise over Greece and a mere 2 hours left in the air made all the lines, all the obnoxious passengers, all the inedible vegan food worth it.

As you may have seen in one of the shmillion pictures, I was the only one crying when we got off the plane. Even more incredible than the singing and celebrating before our landing was the ceremony upon our arrival. There were so many people who woke up at 4 in the morning to welcome us home. As I walked through the crowd, crying like a baby, some random Israeli girl hugged me and welcomed me home, telling me in Hebrew that everything will be ok. I was the token cryer - pictures of me in all my red, blotchy glory appeared on the channel 10 news last night. The director of Nefesh B'Nefesh gave me his phone and told me to call my אמא, which I gladly did.

After spending a lovely night in Alfei Menashe with my mom's friends, I came to the University of Tel Aviv for Garin Tzabar's opening ceremony, which lasted as long as the flight itself. But it was still amazing seeing all these kids exactly like myself. For the next 2 years and beyond, these kids will be my family. Now we're finally on our way to the kibbutz! Look for some pictures!