We headed to the Tel Aviv airport during the evening of Wednesday, February 12th, 2020. Our flight would depart after midnight.
We spent a LONG time waiting for one of 2-3 ticket agent stations to open up. We were told to go to a certain area, but no one was there. We were among the first people for the flight, and we wondered if we were really in the right spot. We were. It didn't seem like a good way to handle things. Someone in the group also had to answer the questions of security, and another person had to provide similar answers. It was simple, since we were just there on pilgrimage.
We boarded the aircraft. We couldn't get out of our seats once we were in the air for at least the first half-hour, due to the airspace restrictions in Israel airspace. We would fly to Paris, France. I had never been there before. But I was only going to be in their airport. Some people took a flight at least a day earlier to go to the optional add-on to the trip to Italy for a few days.
I didn't think I would want to take even more time off of work. Little would I realize that the year would have such disease-based restrictions that I would have enjoyed getting more travel in earlier in the year. I may have missed a few good sites in Jerusalem, though. Also, it was just weeks later that reports of widespread cases of COVID-19 would cause concerns with international travel, and Italy was a hotspot.
So I was glad we were flying through Paris, France. We would land around 5 AM and would be in the Paris airport for breakfast on the day before Valentine's Day. With that kind of timing, any couples on the trip should have had an option to spend a day or two there, but that wasn't offered.
When we went through international security, a guy that was in our group had a bottle of water from the Jordan River. I remembered seeing him collect it while we were at the Jordan River. Had he used a tiny bottle, he may have gotten through security. But they saw a normal-sized drinking-water-bottle-sized bottle and they wanted him to toss it. He explained what it was, and everyone could see it wasn't clean drinking water. It was the dirtier water of the Jordan River. To their credit, the person at security seemed very sympathetic and felt bad about the situation, but she also had to require it to get tossed.
I didn't expect this stage of security, since my only other international flight in my life was direct from the US to Tel Aviv on the flight out. We had no intermediate international airport. I didn't like when I wasn't able to take a large bottle of water onto the international flight to Israel, since I bought it in the airport, figuring I was already in the area where I could access the gate. I figured I was past security. But they had security INSIDE that gate, and had to toss it. I didn't get as much water on that flight as I wanted. So this time, I bought water in a spot that I thought was okay yet again. But as we neared that security station in the Paris airport, I realized I better chug the water. I did so. We made it through the various levels of security and found our gate. I made sure to locate a bathroom along the way, since all that water and the hours I had gone without a bathroom break required the need for one.
We were there for a few hours. Then we took off for Atlanta.
When we reached Atlanta, we encountered similar security yet again. I guess each airport has this same routine. I made sure not to have lots of water this time. I think I had an empty bottle at this point. I was used to flying through the Atlanta airport from a few prior domestic trips.
Once we departed, we had the usual 2-hour flight home.
I had packed very light, enabling me to keep everything in carry-on luggage. I remember going to the baggage claim with everyone else. I may have checked the luggage for the final leg, but I'm not sure. I think I may have, due to the frequent issue with limited overhead space. I didn't like doing it. But whatever. I waited for luggage and picked it up. I lingered around with the others until they had their luggage.
The guy who had the Jordan River water taken from him in Paris ended up not getting his luggage. They didn't have it on the plane and would have to send it to him later. He lives a few hours away. He traveled farther than most, if not all of the other travelers. So of all the people to not get his luggage, that was perhaps the worst combination. But most of us were minutes from home. It was nice to be home again. I anticipated being tired or jet-lagged, so I had already taken Friday the 14th off of work as vacation. I felt fine that day, though. But it was nice to have a longer weekend to get back to the normal routine...
But my life would be changed from the trip. So it would never go fully back to normal.
Now, when I read or hear accounts from the Bible, I tend to envision those places. I know where many of those events took place geographically. I know the lay of the land. I know what churches are in those spots, but know that those buildings weren't there long ago.
Now I understand why Saint Jerome referred to the Holy Land as the 5th Gospel.
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