After an almost-eleven-hour flight from JFK, we arrived in Tel Aviv. While the airport itself is quite modern, I was struck with all the security and barbed wire fencing surrounding it. Shalom has not yet come to Israel.

All the luggage for 40 people arrived safely, and although we found each other at baggage claim after going through passport control, I think we all felt like herded sheep as we made our way through the building to our tour bus.

We drove an hour, arriving in Jerusalem at dusk. Along the roadway and at the checkpoint in the West Bank, we saw many small communities along the rocky hillsides, distinguishing the Palestinian settlements from the Jewish ones by the lone minarets arising from the center of towns.

After checking into an eclectic hotel, we enjoyed a buffet meal of Mediterranean delights. The desire for sleep weighs heavily on my eyelids. So from the city on a hill nine hours ahead of my fellow Coloradans, good night!