Orientation started on July 7 but by 6:00pm on Sun. the 6th half of us had made it to the Christian Brothers Spiritual Center (CBSC) in Philly. This is a house technically located in Manayunk outside Philidelphia that serves as a resting place for various groups and volunteers. It provided a great place for all of us to get to know each other and interact with everyone. One of my first interactions with the group happened at Duff’s Steaks, a local cheesesteak shop. This happened on the 6th so there was only five people but this story has been repeated many times. I am from PA so a philly cheesesteak has never really been a special mystical thing but the two Nebraskans were great to watch. Their sandwich came with the traditional steak and cheese but also had chicken strips and french fries right on the sub. This was my first encounter of culture shock seeing someone ooh and ahh over a sandwich I take for granted. Everyone else arrived early monday morning and Hinke got us into to some intense training. She was very helpful with explaining the processes of culture shock. A highlight and emotional part of the training for everyone was watching a documentary on the life of Palestinians living in a land occupied by Israel. It gave me a new perspective on the conflict even before I arrived and showed me a much different story than what the North American news is telling us. On Monday night we were served a Mediterranean meal (made by Lebanese but consisted of Israeli food), the falafel and schwarma were not bad but several of us seriously considered if we could eat it for three weeks. Almost everyone enjoyed the Bakleva (spelled wrong I’m sure), an Israeli dessert of a pastry like crust and nuts. Tuesday was the first chance to meet Dave and we had to do it over the internet. Dave answered all our questions about customs and life in Israel and assured us that there would be very little check-kiss-greetings and there would be plenty of bathrooms. By the early afternoon everyone was very anxious to leave the country but we didn’t leave for the airport until about 2:30 and didn’t get on the plane til 6:45 and didn’t get in the air til 8:30. Most of us were able to watch an entire movie while sitting on the runway. Overall the group did well not getting sick from the travel. I’m not sure which of you guys were praying for ease getting through Tel Aviv customs but God answered the prayer. No one was asked any questions and the process was relatively quick and painless. Everyone is getting along well and we are all in good spirits.

aarin