In AND out

I have been reflecting on our trip to Israel. There were so many experiences to talk about.

When we arrived in Tel Aviv, we went through security at Ben Gurion Airport. It was a little unnerving, because we flew all that way, and then stood in a line to go through "passport control." That should not be a big deal since we both had passports and a good reason to enter the country. However, Pam had a little problem. Four days before we left, I noticed that her passport had her listed as a "male" and not a "female." I called the US Passport service and they told me I needed to get to Houston to fix it, before the trip. That would have cost hundreds of dollars and there were no guarentees. So I called Delta Airlines and they said, "Bring the passport, and your birth certificate. Then act like nothing is wrong, and if they bring it up, act really surprised and pull out the birth certificate."

That sounds like an easy solution unless you are the person who is trying to get in and out of a country like Israel. So as we approached passport control, I could feel some tension and anxiety on Pam's part. That, added to a transatlantic flight overnight and it is a little hard to act like nothing is wrong.

We went to the booth and I gave the lady my passport. She asked me for the reason for my entry into the country ( "Bible Study tour of the country"), put a couple stamps on it, looked at a computer and said " okay."

Then the moment of truth. Would she see the "m" instead of the "f"? Would she think we were trying to pull a fast one? Would she notice that Pam is obviously a woman and this is a typo? Would she wonder if there was some terroist connection, pull her out of the line, take her to a room with one light bulb and interrogate her? The answer? None of the above. That was my prayer. I had prayed that she would not notice, not ask any questions and just let us through.

Well that is what happened. As we walked into the country of Israel, we high fived and thanked God. Then we went on our merry way.

Fast forward two weeks later..... now we have to get out of the country. Here is what I found out... at 9 PM on a Sunday night, it is harder to get out of Israel than it is to get into it. I guess that surprised us a bit. As we stood in line with our luggage, men and women were looking us over, along with the rest of the group.( Alot of profiling going on there.) We were told that if we got pulled out of the line , we were to answer the questions honestly, be patient, don't go on and on about answers and be courteous.

That instruction by our tour people bothered me just a little bit. Shouldn't Christians do all that stuff anyway? You would think so, but even that evening we saw some of our group get a little irritated, gruff, and even rude.

Once again, just like upon entry, I could feel Pam getting anxious. What if they pulled her out of the line? Well, she had nothing to worry about. They pulled our travel partner, Dale, out of the line. We watched him answer the questions confidently and kindly. Then we moved on.

Going out of the country, they x-ray everything. Pittmans had their luggage x-rayed twice. We sailed through. The questions by security were basic. Have you been with your bags at all times? Did anyone give you anything to carry on the plane? Interestingly enough when you fly in the states, you don't get all those questions any more. But Israel has the toughest and most thorough security in the world.

So, both coming and going, with a little anxiety because of a typo on the passport, we got in AND got out.

A couple other things about security. The top question I have gotten about our trip is, "Did you feel safe?" The answer is absolutely. We saw very few guns. We saw no millitary in the airport (that was a suprise). We never felt threatened in anyway, even in a land where they live under threat of bombs from the North, East, and Southwest of Jerusalem.

Lastly, I think I figured out who the air marshalls are on transatlantic flights. They are the guys who never sleep on a 10-13 hour flight. On both flights I noticed guys who didn't sleep. They read, watched movies, played video games. They did not talk to anyone, even those they were sitting next to. But no sleep, even though everyone else was. I thought, "Well that is comforting...they are working as air marshalls." But I did not attempt to ask. It would not seem right to lean up to a guy and say, "Hey, are you an Air Marsahll?"

More to come...