2 days of travel, and we're here

We made it! It's so weird how travel across time zones really messes with your perception of time. My flight from Boston to Toronto was nice. I sat next to a nice Canadian woman and talked about American politics, and how Barack Obama should win the election. I arrived in Toronto and found my gate. The man sitting at the desk provided several hours worth of entertainment. He either loved his job (he was very cheerful) or really hated it. Anyway, I eventually boarded the plane and smushed my too-big backpack into the overhead (an elderly woman sitting under the overhead gave me a hostile and nervous look).
The flight wasn't bad; I sat next to two 18 year old boys headed to yeshivot in Israel. We talked about baseball, mostly. I can't sleep on airplanes, and I didn't really want to watch 10 hours of movies, so I watched people. The flight was about 1/2 students headed to study in Israel, and 1/2 older people or really young families (multiple children, of course). The flight attendants were nice; among them, there were 5 languages available (Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, and Italian).
I arrived at Ben Gurion, and after some confusion with baggage claim, I went through "customs" (a couple of old men in uniforms, sitting in chairs, waving people on), and found Maya! A friendly face was certainly welcome. Maya bought me gelotto and I kvetched. Eventually I headed out to the Sherut area and boarded the van headed for Jerusalem. The driver, being Israeli, found speed limits to be merely a suggestion (and a mild one at that). Also, lane indications were no biggy (who needs them anyway?)
He dropped me on the street. I looked around in the dark, saw no number 12, and rustled through my bag to find my phone. Elyssa found me, though, and we headed upstairs to unpack.
The apartment is small, and not very well furnished, but we'll go to the shuk tomorrow. I've unpacked, and it finally feels like a home. The oven is small, but I expect that we will be able to use Shimon's kitchen!
We're heading to ulpan tomorrow morning at 8, and then some organizational stuff.
Peace out, from the holy land,
Eliana Tair