Arrival

The trip here was uneventful—which is exactly how you want a journey by airplane to be. The plane itself was a little old and tired-looking, and not particularly spotless-the pillow I found on my seat had someone else’s hair on it (I threw it in the overhead bin.) But the important parts of the plane, such as the engines, seemed to be working just fine.

Since we were flying on Iberia Airlines, all of the announcements the flight attendants made were in Spanish, of course, but the stuff they say in those announcements is pretty routine—where the exits are, how to fasten your seat belt, and what to do in the event of a sudden loss in cabin pressure. But it sounds so much nicer in Spanish—it’s a pretty language. The sound reminds me of the way marbles feel when you roll them around in your hand.

We had to change planes in Madrid, and when we arrived at dawn, and the first thing we saw was mountains—well, they were small mountains, but certainly not like anything we’re used to seeing in Chicago. The airport itself was also beautiful—lots of glass and sweeping curves.

The next leg of our flight was also uneventful. The only interesting thing was trying to identify one of the components of our Kosher meal. Along with the curried chicken with rice and the applesauce, there was a can, a little smaller than a typical can of tuna, and labeled in French. And in spite of having studied French for a total of seven years in high school and college, I had no idea what was in the can. After reading the ingredients, we decided it might be chopped liver, especially since there were crackers. But it also came with instructions that said it had to be heated, and included two plastic bags for double-wrapping the can. So we decided to open it.

It looked a little bit like dog food. But we never did figure out what it was. Needless to say, we didn’t eat it.
MYSTERY FOOD

We arrived on schedule in Tel Aviv at about 4 PM. On Iberia, the passengers don’t applaud when the plane touches down in Israel.

The hotel is incredibly beautiful. Everything is made from Jerusalem stone, and the bathroom has colored tile mosaics, and from our window we have a view of the Old City walls.