Ben Guiron airport and Reflecting in London

I am not in northern London in a hostel. I got in late last night and had an interesting time getting to my hostel. I got up early this morning and walked around. I just got back from a beautiful park nearby where I was able to walk around and think. The weather is quite lovely--actually it is warmer here than it was in Jerusalem for the most part. I am going to leave here in a second to catch my train to Manchester.

Leaving Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was quite the experience. I will have to write more fully about it later, but the abbreviated version follows. I had to go through 10 different checks at the airport for security reasons. It took me about an hour and a half to get through all of this--this is the most security checks that I have ever had to go through at an airport. It was quite unnerving. The shuttle ride to the airport was also quite interesting. Most of the people on the shuttle questioned whether I was Jewish and on a Birthright tour. I had to just tell them that I was touring around on vacation with different church people. That pretty much was my story 15 times over to the people on the shuttle and at the airport. I felt pretty sick to my stomach because of this and because of leaving.

Thanks for reading my sporatic postings. I'll continue to add more reflections if I get the chance.

shelley