I'd never ridden on a plane that felt so much like a bus ride before. People were elbow to elbow and it was about the most uncomfortable flight I'd ever been on, with the exception of a few chopper rides in Vietnam. It was a long flight and I was happy when the wheels touched down at the airport in Tel Aviv. The air terminal was small and there were a lot of people crowded around the phones and elsewhere. After struggling to make a call with specially designed coins that only worked in Israeli pay phones and eventually linking up with my contact person, I was away from the airport experience.
The person I met drove me to his place which was on the Mount Of Olives, of all places. I was amazed to even to be at this location temporarily, however, he couldn't provide me with a room or a place to stay for the night, so I had to go to a nearby hotel in Jerusalem. It was towards the end of June and this was about the hottest time of the year for Israel. The hotel I stayed in, for some reason, didn't have air conditioning. It was a hundred something degrees everywhere, and I was burning up with the heat of Vietnam inside of this small hotel room I was in!! Because of the many things it was lacking, it might as well have been a room in a hostel. There were practically no conveniences, and if I remember correctly, the water was limited. I had to stay there for six days until the first Saturday when I could attend a worship service on the Mount Of Olives and meet with some people who had places to rent out.
A lot of the American Christians in Israel chose to worship with Jewish believers on the Sabbath Day, or as they say it in Hebrew, (Shabbat.) they do it in order to keep everybody happy, I suppose. Palestinian Christians worshiped on Sunday, the Lords Day. Before going to Israel, I wasn't aware that there were three or more different classifications of Jews, Liberal, Orthodox, and Ultra Orthodox; the Mea-Shearim community. Each group lived different life styles within close proximity of one another. Unfortunately, the hotel I had to stay in was located in the Mea-Shearim district which happened to be during a period of several days that they had designated to be holy. The city block I was in was actually roped off in order to keep people from coming and going in and out of the area. In other words, I was basically quarantined to the hotel for six very long days. The heat was excruciating and I had little food... One thing about the ultra orthodox women that I thought was strange was that they had shaved heads, and either wore scarves or wigs to cover them. Otherwise, they wore make up and looked like typical non-religious, society minded women...
This was my initiation to Israel proper during Jewish holy days. Needless to say, I was going through a little bit of culture shock... The only way I could have avoided the discomforts of being stranded and of having to put up with the intense heat would have been for me to have a lot more money on me and taxi it to a formidable hotel. Even if I would've had the money to pay for it, throwing hundreds of dollars away just to have the convience wouldn't have been a wise thing to do. I can't remember what the hotels were charging in downtown Jerusalem at that time, but I remember that the rates were way too unrealistic for me. Lounging six days in a luxurious hotel in Jerusalem was not part of the plan. I stuck it out, or sweat it out, like I've done many other times. My life wasn't in any immediate danger and I wasn't starving to death, so as long as I could breath it wasn't anything to worry about...
I finally made it to the worship meeting up on the Mount Of Olives. The house it was being held at had a large window facing out over the Old City of Jerusalem. It was a fantastic view, especially for anyone who's read the Bible much about this particular location. They had a meal following the service when everyone could talk and get to know each other a little. I was able to meet someone who could rent me a flat, a mile or so, north of Jerusalem. The only surprising note was that the flat was located on the West Bank, which is Palestinian. I was hesitant at first to take it, because of the very one sided understanding I had of the Palestinians which was all I could get from the general news media back home. I'd never heard of them being peaceful, loving people. My first thought was, wouldn't my home church be glad to hear that all Palestinians are not terrorists??
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