At the airport

I'm sitting in Detroit's fancy new North Terminal. It really needs a name. North Terminal is so boring. Maybe the Kwame Kilpatrick Terminal? No Seriously, my vote goes to the Ernie Harwell Terminal, but I have a feeling that modest Ernie would be embarrassed at such a suggestion.

I figured I'd better blog from here since I ponied up the $8 to have access to the internet both here and in the Philadelphia airport later today. I really don't have a lot to say right now. Those of you who travel will understand where I am at emotionally right now. I'm excited, but I really need to be across the Atlantic and settled in before I'll feel like I'm on vacation. I showed up at the airport for my 4:30pm flight at 1:45pm- I prefer to be safe about getting to the gate on time. You hear all the horror stories about security taking two hours, but even though I was in a long line, I was through in about 15 minutes, and that included all the time it took to put my laptop back in my bag, refill my pockets, and put my shoes and belt back on. I don't really find security an annoyance. It's simply part of flying. The guy behind me was annoyed that they confiscated his bottle of water, even though all the signs tell people no liquids will be brought through security. He was further annoyed when they had to rescan his bag after the offending water bottle was removed. I assumed he was annoyed because he was late for his flight, but I can see him across the terminal right now sleeping in a gate area that has a flight that leaves a little after 5. I would love to see him go through Israeli security, but no such luck.

I have two options for getting from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem. The first option is a sherut (pronounced shey-root) which is a shared taxi. With a sherut, you wait until all the seats in the vehicle (usually a mini-van or van) are full and then you leave. How quickly you get to you destination depends on where you stop is in relation to the other passengers. The bonus is that it is much cheaper than a regular taxi. I'm probably going to splurge and get the regular taxi, since I get in at 315pm, have to pick up my luggage and clear customs and security, and still hopefully get to Jerusalem before the sun sets around 8. If I was getting in during the morning, I would have taken the sherut.

That's all for now.