Thursday, October 11, 2007

Well . . . we finally made it. What an unbelievable experience it's been!
First of all, we were able to share aspects of our aliyah with many families. I can't tell you how much it meant to us that people made us meals, helped us pack, helped shlep and clean, drove us to the airport - the list goes on and on. We are especially indebted to A. L., who stayed up very late two nights in a row to help us clean, pack, and shlep suitcases and duffel bags at 2 a.m.
After going to sleep around 3 a.m. for the second night/morning in a row, we got up at the Lavine home and ran around the house taking care of some very last minute things before our "van service" pulled up. C. A. and F. G. in D. & E. G.'s big van, and we commenced stuffing all the baggage into the back. Other friends came by as well, and we managed to find room for everything - even Pepper and her plane carrier. We cried through all our final goodbyes to everyone, including Mrs. Greener's parents who had come down from Pittsburgh to see us off. After a brief stop to drop off (our sold) van, we were off and away to JFK airport in New York.
The trip to NY was uneventful, and thankfully there was little if any traffic. C. got us there in good time. We pulled up to the terminal, and spent some time pulling out all the luggage that was wedged into the back. I got it all balanced on three carts, and we pushed and pulled everything into the building to start our processing. We checked in at the Nefesh b'Nefesh desk, then pushed all the carts around to the security area. I pulled the luggage off the carts for the x-ray exam, then piled them back on the carts for the trip to the check in counter. By this time, our close friends M., R., E., and A. W. had appeared, having made the trip up from Baltimore to see us off. I could see Pepper standing in a crowd of her Baltimore friends as I made arrangements to set up her cage and put her in later.
NbN had a brief ceremony with some speakers, but it was hard for me to listen - I think the exhaustion and excitement were taking a toll on me. I walked away for a few moments, and I was able to talk by cellphone to two people who had helped us tremendously in our aliyah - Rabbi S. and N. G., our Jewish Agency shaliach.
Finally, the announcement was made to start saying goodbye to friends and family. This is always the hardest part, as some of our closest friends were with us. We walked down to the farthest elevator, went down one flight, and started our walk back to the security gate. We said our final goodbyes, and got in line with our carry-on luggage. We heard Pepper barking from her carrier upstairs. After our bags were x-rayed, Mrs. Greener was pulled out of line to where some of our bags were opened. We had two BJ's sized jars of peanut butter and a jar of mayonnaise. Both were confiscated because they were considered "liquid." The security people threw them away - what a waste.
We walked all the walkways to the gate, and we boarded almost without incident. Just before we go onto the plane, we were told that we had too many carry-on pieces. We gave up two, got our receipts, and entered the plane and settled in. We were told that the plane was going to leave one-half hour early, but we were still at the gate when our "real" departure time came. The pilots wanted to leave, so the people boarding were told to grab a seat anywhere.
The engines revved up, and we slowly taxied out to the runway. The engines got louder, and we started down the runway - and then we were off.