Here are my seatmates, opps i forgot their names, They are twins from my trip who speak little English so I helped them at the airport. Pretty unique story about their family. Their mom was born in Jerusalem! Her family came from Iran in 1896, same year Herzl had the first Zionist Congress (hope I have my dates correct. Another picture will prove me right or wrong)
Here is a picture of the plane as we landed. I can't begin to tell you what an emotional experience it was to land in Israel. Something I haven't felt in many years. I was smiling from ear to ear and everyone was singing as we touched the ground. Why these strange emotions? Two reasons. First of all, travelling through Europe, following Herzl and his plight to save the Jewish people, and learning first hand about the atrocities that happened to my people and then landing in the Jewish state was intense. Second, getting stuck in Budapest, where I don't speak the language, and we didn't know when we would get out (or have to miss out Israel trip entirely) was reason enough to cheer, smile and sing as we touched ground. It wasn't just getting there that was exciting, it was the entire group's excitement that collectively we got there that also was poignant.
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