... and somehow continued all the way.
we got up saturday morning to get going, and after quite an uneventful trip we arrived to tel aviv airport. last time I was there, 2 years ago, I barely got out of the plane before I heard the words "sir, can you please step aside". naturally, due to how I looked, they wanted to make sure I was not dangerous. got asked why I was there, etc. and then I also got stopped as I had gotten my luggage and was on my way out to the arrival hall. this was in addition to the passport control.
naturally, I expected something similar this time. however, that did not really happen... didn't get stopped or anything outside the airplane, passport control went smoothly, and after the luggage was picked up and we were on our way out, the only thing that happened was this slightly strange conversation:
- security girl (checking my passport): where are you born?
- me: sweden
- security girl: israel?
- me: no, sweden
- security girl (returning my passport): okay
and then we just walked out. I was expecting a whole lot more. it took us about 30 minutes from arrival until we had our luggage and were out at the entrance hall. needless to say I was surprised.
since we were out at ~15.30, and couldn't get into haifa until 21, there was some time to kill at the airport. to my great surprise, a crazy friend showed up at around that time, to keep us company. we had talked about meeting up at the airport, but due to sabbath, there were no trains coming, so we sorta blew the idea off. luckily, she got a ride with a friend who was coming to pick someone else up :)
so as we're sitting there, talking, chatting, having fun, etc, we see a couple of other half-lost people walking around, and figure out that they must also be Baha'is. talk to a few, ask where they're from and such, and suddenly the greatest coincidence ever happens. I had heard from a dutch friend who's currently in india that one of her friends who'd been serving with her there for a while was going to be in the same pilgrim group as us. she told me her name, but I had sorta forgotten about it and didn't really think I'd see her, especially not on the first day.
so what happens? this girl walks by, we ask if she's a Baha'i, we introduce ourselves, and I guess you can realize who she is... so after the usual "wow, what a surprise, how are you?" etc, she suddenly says "I have a letter here, does anyone of you happen to be borna?"
she presents me with this letter from my two friends in india that she's been carrying around with her for almost 3 months, brought to more than 10 countries (she recounted them), and now finally found the recipient for it. a great surprise to say the least. I was asked to "hide in the closet" when I was going to open and read the letter, so naturally I couldn't open it there, neither retell what was in there... :)
so at around 21.30 we got to our hotel, checked in, and took it a bit easy. we went out to check out if there were any restaurants open, found a sandwich place and had some delicious sandwiches. took a walk down to the top of the terraces, couldn't be let in since we had no pilgrimage badges, so just stood out there, took a few pictures, and talked to the security guard up there. it was a nice chat, but eventually it was time to go back to bed and get ready for the next day, the first day of pilgrimage.
- - - - -
that's the first day, and pilgrimage hasn't even started... I hope you found it interesting to read, and I'll try to keep the rest coming in steadily. now I'm off to bed!
we got up saturday morning to get going, and after quite an uneventful trip we arrived to tel aviv airport. last time I was there, 2 years ago, I barely got out of the plane before I heard the words "sir, can you please step aside". naturally, due to how I looked, they wanted to make sure I was not dangerous. got asked why I was there, etc. and then I also got stopped as I had gotten my luggage and was on my way out to the arrival hall. this was in addition to the passport control.
naturally, I expected something similar this time. however, that did not really happen... didn't get stopped or anything outside the airplane, passport control went smoothly, and after the luggage was picked up and we were on our way out, the only thing that happened was this slightly strange conversation:
- security girl (checking my passport): where are you born?
- me: sweden
- security girl: israel?
- me: no, sweden
- security girl (returning my passport): okay
and then we just walked out. I was expecting a whole lot more. it took us about 30 minutes from arrival until we had our luggage and were out at the entrance hall. needless to say I was surprised.
since we were out at ~15.30, and couldn't get into haifa until 21, there was some time to kill at the airport. to my great surprise, a crazy friend showed up at around that time, to keep us company. we had talked about meeting up at the airport, but due to sabbath, there were no trains coming, so we sorta blew the idea off. luckily, she got a ride with a friend who was coming to pick someone else up :)
so as we're sitting there, talking, chatting, having fun, etc, we see a couple of other half-lost people walking around, and figure out that they must also be Baha'is. talk to a few, ask where they're from and such, and suddenly the greatest coincidence ever happens. I had heard from a dutch friend who's currently in india that one of her friends who'd been serving with her there for a while was going to be in the same pilgrim group as us. she told me her name, but I had sorta forgotten about it and didn't really think I'd see her, especially not on the first day.
so what happens? this girl walks by, we ask if she's a Baha'i, we introduce ourselves, and I guess you can realize who she is... so after the usual "wow, what a surprise, how are you?" etc, she suddenly says "I have a letter here, does anyone of you happen to be borna?"
she presents me with this letter from my two friends in india that she's been carrying around with her for almost 3 months, brought to more than 10 countries (she recounted them), and now finally found the recipient for it. a great surprise to say the least. I was asked to "hide in the closet" when I was going to open and read the letter, so naturally I couldn't open it there, neither retell what was in there... :)
so at around 21.30 we got to our hotel, checked in, and took it a bit easy. we went out to check out if there were any restaurants open, found a sandwich place and had some delicious sandwiches. took a walk down to the top of the terraces, couldn't be let in since we had no pilgrimage badges, so just stood out there, took a few pictures, and talked to the security guard up there. it was a nice chat, but eventually it was time to go back to bed and get ready for the next day, the first day of pilgrimage.
- - - - -
that's the first day, and pilgrimage hasn't even started... I hope you found it interesting to read, and I'll try to keep the rest coming in steadily. now I'm off to bed!
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