Heeeeere we go

To fall back on the old cliche, the last few days have been a blur.

The flight was smooth, but uncomfortable. Delta Airlines purchased NWA recently and, judging from the NWA nameplates on the service carts, this was one of the birds that came with the deal. The interior was somewhat antiquated with vinyl seats and now integrated entertainment system. Sure, there were movies, but none matched the in flight catalog. With luck I'll get a better bird for the flight home.

As soon as I met Ron and we left the airport I realized once again I am through the looking glass. This is a place where balagan (clusterfrak) is used in polite conversation as a description of the normal way things can be. A place where it is sometimes difficult to tell from a distance if a building is being put up or knocked down, and a place where a civilian carrying a pistol is almost the only one who can walk into a shopping mall without getting searched.

I'll go a little bit into the activities. I've spent a few hours now in Ron's airsoft shop. It is a converted CONEX container at a large shooting range. The walls are finished, there is a water hook up and most importantly, an air conditioner. The peg wall is a bit sparse and includes mostly King Arms rifles, and a number of pistols of a few makes and models.There are shelves of magazines and another wall of tactical gear, nearly all of it Israeli made.

Today the main activity was fishing in the Kinneret. (Gallilee) We exclusively used spoons and had decent luck. I landed two keepers, but I have no idea what kind they were. I lost count of how many times the lures were hooked on the rocky bottom. When that happened, one of us would wade out to where the lure was and give it a tug in the opposite direction to dislodge it. I had the fun of trying that with my own line only to rapidly find myself doing some extreme multitasking by way of keeping my [borrowed] rod and my head above water while treading water one handed, dislodging the lure and reeling it in without hooking myself in the process. I managed that at least three times.

With the exception of being up since about 3AM to go fishing, my sleep schedule has largely stabilized into what would pass for a normal, day walking schedule. Hell, I even managed to do a little work on behalf of my real job. However, when I get home I have a feeling that my 28 year streak of not being a regular coffee drinker/addict will be over.

More will be written as I think of it and as I get a chance. I'm having a hard time finding the words. I think I'm feeling a certain sense of normalcy- which doesn't make a whole lot of sense what with being so far from home, not speaking much of the local language, etc. Perhaps it is the compliment I get every time an Israeli starts asking me something in Hebrew not thinking for a minute (Until I open my mouth.) that I'm an American.

Apparently my food tolerance is not quite up to spec.

Last night was a family mangal, the Israeli version of barbecue. Yellow curry chicken breast, some other marinated chicken, lamb, chicken wings, pita toasted on the grill with either a paprika or pesto based spice along with the usual selection of salads, humus and tahini all washed down with a Carlsberg. I got razzed a bit for not cleaning my plate but considering everyone else got to pick and choose what they had and I had a massive pile of some of everything given to me, I think that I did all right. Besides, I protested, “I took extra wings!”

Ron's father can not eat them so someone had to make sure they were enjoyed. Oh boy were they ever enjoyed.

Now's as good a time as any to revisit my pre flight nerves. I still don't know where they came from. I still don't know how they were able to so quickly disappear once I looked out of the 747 and saw I was feet dry over Tel Aviv. It could be one of my ongoing emotional issues, the one where my mind says, “You're here now, time to get this done and think about it later.” I really hope not. Because that's a stress response and the closest to real stress I've gotten since I've been here was the previously mentioned aquatic multitasking while fishing yesterday. Hell, the sunburn I got doesn't even hurt that bad.

Well, time for a shit and a shave- not much point in a shower right now, I'll be outside most of the day sweating my nuts off. Today's going to be a long day- but a good one. One in a long series I think.