ISRAEL

My trip to Israel was over eight months of planning.  The day for departure had arrived and the bus from my departure point to Los Angeles International Airport had us there nearly four hours ahead of schedule.  There is nothing more exciting than the wait period at LAX.  The time for customs scrutiny had arrived and we waited and waited.  Snails moved faster than this line.  I’m thirsty and three people are in front of me.  Also in front of me is a very expensive water bottle dispenser.  I lean over put in my credit card and out drops my purchase, a bottle of cold water. “Next” a commanding voice heralds.  I step forward and the next thing I hear his voice demanding “What is that?”  I held it up and said it was a bottle of water I just purchased from the machine, almost next to him.  “You’ll have to step out of line and dispose of it then get back into line.”  No trash cans could be seen anywhere.  Almost forty-five minutes later I’m back with the same gentleman.  Step over to your left he says and points.  I’m escorted to a table where I have to take off my shoes, belt, empty my pockets and have my carry-on luggage and back pack torn into.  They unrolled socks, checked out my labeled medicines and unfolded every item.  It took two men almost fifteen minutes to find nothing of interest.  They looked at me, ran a wand over me then told me I was ok to move on.   I took my time reorganizing the mess they had created but I was now on the other side.  I had munchies in my back-pack for the flight so I ordered a sandwich and another small bottle of water to get me thru the waiting period.  My friends on this trip enjoyed my comment that the eight ounce bottle of H2O I had just purchased was almost twice the price of a gallon of gas.  We board the plane, get seated and now we are in flight.  Beverages were served, the water was free but I don’t think anywhere on earth you could find smaller cups.  A couple of hours later a meal was served.  If you’ve ever had a meal on a plane, no further comment is necessary.  We landed, I think, in
Amsterdam and chose to leave the plane for the ninety minute lay-over.  No smoking signs were everywhere and also everywhere were glass rooms with huge cigarette ads and they were filled with smokers.  When we went to get on our flight we discovered we had to go thru customs again.  Back on the plane we were again treated to another meal.  We played with our food asking each other what do you think this is…I think even the chocolate chip cookie evaded description.

Finally we landed in Israel, easily went thru customs and headed to our hotel.  Once settled in we gathered for our first meal.  As far as meals went the food was always good but the laws of Judaism were very much the rule…especially with regard to dairy products.

We visited several historical sights every day finding friendly people everywhere.  At the Wailing Wall I discovered the men had access to areas woman didn’t.  Some men seemingly in deep prayer were actually banging their heads against the wall. 

On the men’s side rooms were filled with gentlemen praying, some chanting and others totally oblivious to us tourists.  We sailed on the Sea of Galilee and stepped barefooted into the muddy waters of the River Jordan.   Across the river about twenty feet away was Palestine and several guards sat smoking while visible holding guns.  Signs were everywhere warning ‘DO NOT CROSS THE RIVER’.  As we put our shoes and socks back on I picked up a rock and decided it would be my souvenir, a remembrance of this day.  As I walked away I passed a woman who was struggling among all her packages.  I asked her if I could help her.  She pointed to a small rock at her feet and indicated she wanted to take it home.  I picked it up and dropped it in one of her bags. 
She thanked me and asked if there was anything she could help me with.  I smiled and said actually there was a small rock I passed earlier and would like to take home…she agreed.  When we reached the rock I said this is it.  She looked at me smiled and told me I had made her day.  She started to laugh and then said…’you are crazy but you know that already don’t you?’  she laughed some more and again thanked me for helping her.  The small rock is very interesting instead of describing it I’m offering a photo

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We went by a cemetery, the site was cement like tombs, in some cases piled up. Many of the locations we visited were undergoing restoration.  We walked where Christ walked and looked into the well type room where he was once shackled to the wall.  We visited a church and school where we left a large amount of gifts for the youngsters.  The four young boys that were altar servers for our mass eyed the donated items constantly and as quickly as they could get there they picked up baseball  caps (both  LA Dodgers & Anaheim Angels), T-shirts and a book or two. 
When the school children appeared they all got one or two of the gifts from our group and outside they waved their items and said ‘Thank You’ over and over.

Israel offers modern cities and yet around a corner you can run into a historical site almost everywhere.  We found a stairwell and five of us decided we should go to the top to take photos.  Half way up we encountered a gate and were told we needed to go back down and purchase a ticket.  We got our tickets, climbed the stairs to the top and found ourselves standing on the top of a wall that went in several directions.  We took lots of photos from this area and decided to leave.  A voice called out no exit here.  So, we began a walk along the top of the wall soon discovering steps going down and we followed them.  As we walked along the lower level there were what appeared to be gun turrets obviously to defend the city.  This path took us to another set of stairs and we again found ourselves on the very top of the wall and the walkway became extremely narrow.  What was at one point nearly a two foot walk-way had become one less than a foot wide.  The wall on one side was about three feet high and on the other side it was an easy drop straight down several stories.  The wall took us up and down around a corner here and a stair case there.  Plenty of photo ops and at one point a costly lens fell from one of the cameras and we listened as it loudly collided with stones on its way to total destruction.  It was so far down we couldn’t see it.  We finally heard the sound of children playing and as we turned the corner we discovered an extremely narrow stairway that ended at ground level and a small patch of green grass where they were playing.  We learned at that point counting the numerous staircases we had walked almost five miles and we were very close to our starting point.

I found Israel filled with history, religiously and historically.  The people were extremely polite and caring.  Some of the tourist souvenir stands offered unusual Israel items…for example, a huge display of t-shirts all bearing the letters UCLA.

On the flight home we discussed some happenings that will remain forever with us.  The new friendships made and how fortunate we felt having the opportunity to walk in the steps of Jesus.

When we arrived back at LAX we had to again go thru customs.  As I approached the final customs agent I was again detained and asked if I would step thru a door into another room.  I walked thru a corridor and found myself in a big room with an agent approaching me.  Put your luggage up here he said.   Two additional agents approached…’are you Mister Woodin ‘ one asked.  We’ve been watching you since you handed the first agent your passport.  Is your passport totally accurate one asked.  I assured them it was, they made several comments and asked if they could shake my hand.  After that exchange they picked up my luggage and walked me to the exit door where the others in my party anxiously awaited.   Another round of handshaking and they departed.  ‘What was that about?’ they queried.  I smiled and said it was nothing.  ‘No’ one said,  ‘they were giving you special treatment’.  “What happened?’ another asked.  I promise you you’re going to laugh.  I then told them they questioned my birthdate on my passport and questioned my age and then they said they hoped they looked as good when they reach my age. Everyone smiled and laughed.  ‘Just how old are you?’ someone asked.  I smiled and began walking away.  Looking over my shoulder I replied, ‘Old, very old!’