\Th

Emily Halberg, Brooke Fellows, Nicole Kahrnoff Lindsey Fink and Erica Grushoff
outside their hotel in Jerusalem.

Even in Israel, there's nothing like a Big Mac with fries: Noam Einav, Michelle
Hutton, (standing) Achishalom Almog, John Redmond, David Brown, Zachary
Landau, Tom Kabalik and Ben Gerber.

•

a traveler understands why it was all so worthwhile.

here is perhaps
this worldmore boring _
than a 13-hour ,plane ride.
Sitting ih a small, con-
fined space, eating icic-y-food (sorry, El -
for more
Al) and watching bad
than half of-a- da.y just isn't my'idea of
fun. So when faced-with the-sad reali :
ty that my five weeks in Israel Was',
almost over, the thought' bf.that awful
'Plane ride-only made things worse.
-"Oh, it Won't be so bad,'everyone
said.,_7We'll all tallCand-havefun:since
we know each oher:now.''..W. ow :I
-love those. 13,-hoUr plane chats. Next
suggestion? please. --
I finally resolved that I , wasn'tgoirig
.
to let plane dread ruin my remaining
time in Israel. As the days whizzed
tried not to think about it whileve2
toured modern, Jerusalem andlpought
' Y-ehudali
last-minute,gifts op the Ken
pedestrianmalL.A11.' - too quickly; our
last full night in''Israel.(julY 28)
arrived, and . rt,was.time_for our bus's
"talent show."‘ Far a few hotirs,_all of
the tensions that had built Up in our
group. over the _past Weeks "disappeared
into laughter and applause as we
`"magically" saaked..our
presentedpaper plate awards -and
mock election-'results, poked fun at
each other and_remembered the suin-
mer.

-

At the end of the program, the
(slightly'damp) ma.drichini sang, ,-
"Leaving 'on an. El Al- Plane," to the
tune of "Leaving on a Jet Plane'') and
:- suddenly I remembered. - Not only was
our trip almost over, but I would
bOard the endless-plane. ride in only
'24 hours.
:rhe next "day I-shoved my belong-
ings into my suitcase in some sem-
blance of order, and 'Soon rhy rap,
mates and I Were lugging our
from the room. Our last hotel room
in Israel I Watched the. hours ship
away as we explored the Israel
Museuin and quickly changed for din-
ner --Hand the'plane,
Long lines for custorns:.and check
in at Ben-,GuriOn airport'leftlittle
time at.the gate. As we took off,: at
2:30,a.M,".the pilot announced that
the .flighrtitne, to: New York Would be
_11 and a half hours. We climbed high-
er andhigher into the clouds as Israel
j disappeared intothe 'darkness.
Right about then, a`,Strange thing
.happened: Ifell asleep; as did inany of
My fellow- passengers: I awoke, five or .
.- six-hours later to therealization that
the plane, ride that-I'd - war:lied about
for days was half over.- The-secondhalf
was over quickly as well s .an We land-
ed in New„Yotk. to the welcome news
that we'd be allowed off for a„ change
o (clothes and esriack before the. final
hour and .a half tripto Detroit.
--We could See_our parents and

-

friends standing at the airport windows
waving -as the - E1 Al plane landed at
Detroit Metro...As we-sat on thertin-
way, We spent our last moments togeth-
er screaming bus cheer's and random
inside jokes, After another long haul
through customs and baggage claim, it
was time to go back to the real - world. I
took a: eeP.breath, hoisted my bag and
walked toward the door.
I was greeted. by bright light and a
huge crowd- of people :.I could barely
manage a. "I-Ii” before "mymom
wl- appgd Me in a huge. bear hug.
Athimd me, I saw my, friends trapped
in similar ernbraces, - and I Siniledas1
said gOodbye to my Madrechirri.'
:Walking out of the airport, towards
our car, .I waved and shouted
byes to the peoplethat had shared so
much with me over thepast five
weeks. I got - into the car and Sighed,
jet-lagged arict'sad that my trip was
really over.
Somewhere in the:back of my head,
I realiied that the dreaded plane ride
hadia really-been dreadful at all. And
I realized that even though my increa;
amazing Israel adventure was .
Ovef," Was good o be 13;ack. I guess
What thek2saf is ":really true: There's no
place like home.

Caryli-Roman, an 'ilth giader at
School and a:
-member of Temple Kol Ami, was on Bus
R'=4.,.

8/7
1998

Detroit Jewish News

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