Journey to Israel

So I left for Israel on Sunday, October 2nd at 7am. My flight schedule was NAS ---> MIA --->LHR---> TLV. With all of these layovers I didn't actually arrive in Tel Aviv until Tuesday, October 4th around 4am! Needless to say it was a long journey.

I left Nassau around 7am Sunday morning on a little single engine plane with an Israeli pilot. I had no idea before that morning that the guy that flew for my mom was Israeli, but I took this as a good sign. The night before I couldn't sleep so as soon as we took off I fell asleep. Once we got to Ft Lauderdale my cousin picked me up with all of my luggage, 3 large suitcases, and took me to do a bit of shopping. My next flight, to London, wasn't until 8:30pm and there were a few stops I needed to make before he took me back to the airport. 1st stop was Target! Target is hands down one of my favorite stores ever and for 2 months I'd been without one. I needed to get a few supplies to take with me to Israel so of course Target was my go to place. We spent some time in Target and I got what I needed and then we grabbed some food. I'd not had Mexican in 2 months so I was excited to see a Chipotle! I love that place, fast food, that's reasonably healthy and made with organic/natural ingredients but doesn't cost a fortune! I love it!

After lunch we went to the mall and I grabbed the last few items on my list. By which time it was time to go back to my cousin's place and repack my stuff and head out to the airport again to catch plane number 2. We loaded up the car again and off to Miami International we went. Like I said I had 3 large suitcases and I was quite nervous about how much British Airways would charge me because I am pretty sure they're all overweight. I was right. The lady immediately confirmed this, but like I told her I was travelling alone and there was nothing else I could do so I'd have to pay her whatever the fees were. I knew I was going to have to pay them anyway because I had extra luggage. I'm a girl travelling to the otherside of the world for a year I mean I thought I was doing pretty good to only have 3 suitcases. Do you guys have any idea how hard that was for me? I had to leave all of my shoes behind. :( I have way more than 3 suitcases of shoes alone! When I told my best friend Tiana I was only taking 3 suitcases with me, she laughed and wished me luck. Well I did it in 3 but it was hard to say the least! Anyway so back to the ticket agent and my overweight luggage.... she told me if I could even out the weight and get all  3 bags under 25kg she'd not charge me the overweight fee. So I rearranged some stuff and ended up paying $200 for my extra luggage. I was all checked in.... now time to go through security and board my next flight.

I called a few friends to say bye and let my family know I was off again. I called my BFF Tiana to say bye and she started crying. Up until that point I was so ready to leave and then I heard her upset and it made me upset and so I shed a few tears. I was ready though. I anticipate this upcoming year being a good one, but it's still hard to leave your loved ones behind. I can't lie I miss my friends terribly. :(

The flight to London was about 8 hrs. Thankfully I brought my snoogle with me so I slept well on that flight. I was exhausted by that time. I was going off about 4hrs sleep at that point so I needed the rest. I woke up when we landed and I was determined to make the most of my day in London. I'd not been to London since 2003 and I was excited to see old friends and enjoy my day. If you're gonna have a 12 hour layover it may as well be in city you love with people you love! I got the train from Heathrow to Paddington and met Georgie at the station! It was so good to see her! I didn't realize how much I missed my friends and missed London until that day. It was a gorgeous day too. The sun was shining and it was warm, which is quite unusual for London especially in October.

Georgie and I made a stop at Tesco's so I could load up on my favorite junk food that I'd been missing and then we went to Celia's flat so I could take a shower. When I'm travelling I always feel gross after being on an airplane, it doesn't matter how long the flight is. That shower felt great! Then we went and got a yummy lunch at Nando's, one of my favorite chains in England and then we laid in the sunshine at the park and ate junk food and caught up. It was awesome! It reminded me so much of when we'd go down to the village in boarding school and get popsicles and make daisy chains in the park. After the park we gathered our stuff and met Celia and Sarah-Jane for dinner near the paddington station. We had some good Indian food and then it was time for me to leave again. Spending the day in London and seeing my old friends was so great. I promise it won't be that long before we see each other again!

On the Train to Paddington

In the park with Georgie! I miss London Parks!

At dinner with Georgie, Celia and Sarah-Jane! A mini-Hemsted reunion

After dinner I hopped back on the Heathrow express back to the airport and then boarded my flight for Tel Aviv. This flight was about 4 hrs long so I watched a couple of movies and then we were here. I collected my luggage and struggled through the airport at about 5am with my 3 large suitcases to the train. Trying to get to the train and get all of my stuff on and off the train was difficult alone, but I did it. I took the train to the Tel Aviv University station and then got a cab from there to my apartment. It was a long journey, but I made it safely!

I said hi to my roommates and then I crashed! When I woke up I took a shower and got dressed and Shoshana took me to the grocery store to get some food. I was hungry by this point so when we got back I made some food and then crashed again. My first Israeli grocery store experience was quite overwhelming. Thank goodness Shosh was with me to translate!

Time to step my Hebrew game up! This is gonna be an interesting year! I'm ready!