Day of departure :(

So, I depart today for the U.S. and then Kabul, Afghanistan. Part of me is extremely excited for the adventure to begin and another part is extremely sad to be leaving my family behind once again. Not my favorite thing to do and one I hope I can limit as much as possible in the future.

So anyway, I downloaded a new program called "Day One" that reminds me to write daily. I figured I would give it a try and see how it works. When I am ready to post, I will just try copying and pasting into the blog so the whole world can see my day to day activities and thoughts..... or something like that :)

6:28 PM

So, today has been pretty tough. I went to the office for a little bit, finished up some last minute errands and for the most part, spent most of the day either packing or hanging out with the kids. I am heading out in about 2 hours or less and still have a lot to do. I am torn because I am excited to head out on a new adventure but sad and bummed out that I am once again leaving my family behind. This is seriously getting old.

7:44 PM

So, packing is done. Thanks to my amazing wife for helping me sort through the 20 pounds I was overweight in ONE suitcase. I think I definitely see the issue with super huge suitcases. If I was not leaving in 20 minutes, I would repack into a much smaller one.

9:55 PM

So, again, my amazing wife jumped to the rescue and repacked my super huge suitcase into a much smaller, reasonable one, which should keep me from overpacking on the remainder of my travels. No sooner was she done then the expediters arrived and I had a tearful farewell with Melissa and the kids.

The ride to the airport was fairly uneventful minus the tunnels out of Jerusalem being closed for an unknown reason so after a short detour, we made decent time to the airport, which is usually a good thing but again, dealing with the whole reverse abandonment issues at the moment so it has been tough.

I had a good conversation with another passenger who is flying to D.C. for training. He is a local that works for the Consulate. We arrived at the airport together and had the same expeditor but you would have thought he had two heads and a sign around his chest that said terrorist by how the Israelis treated him. See, Issa, (the gentleman that is traveling to the states) is Arab Israeli (and an American Citizen). His bags were completely searched, he was given a hard time through the entire process. Hard to believe and I think it is one of the many reasons I am looking forward to departing here. Just wish it was with the whole family.

Anyway, I made it through security with no issues. One of the nice things about having an expeditor for official travel is not having to wait in line but of course, I absolutely hate cutting hundreds of people like I am special….well, I guess I am :)

Looks like I have a wireless connection so i am going to send and email off to Melissa and get ready to board the airplane.

Prior to boarding, I would like to comment on Israeli Customer Service, or, the complete lack of said customer service. I had to get a receipt from the counter in order to eventually get reimbursed for baggage fees (Stupid United). Anyway, following the instructions I was given earlier when I paid the stupid baggage fees, I went to the counter at the gate to get a receipt and stood in line behind a couple of other people. It was 10:15 pm. There were three employee's behind the counter doing what appeared to be nothing who stated, "We will not be taking any seat change requests until 10:30 pm" so all of the people in front of me left. I walked up to the counter. I was promptly told, "Sir, we will not to any seat changes until 10:30 pm, like I just told everyone". I smiled and replied, "Thats good, I do not need a seat change (I liked the seat I had, I paid extra for it). I just need a receipt". The reply, "I told you, you can not get a seat until 10:30". "I am sorry, you misunderstood me. I do not want a seat. I would like a RECEIPT for baggage fees".  The reply, "We wont do anything until 10:30". I said, "Okay, I will wait here". The reply, "No you wont. Other people may have questions....Like you are going to answer them.

So, I stepped back away from the counter and waited until 10:30. A line formed again and now, they had 5 to 6 people behind the counter, talking about the weekend and what they were going to do and how we were all idiots standing their watching them (Okay, they were speaking in Hebrew and I do not speak Hebrew but now that it is well past 10:30, this is what I am imagining they are saying. 10:45 rolls around and we are all still standing in line when they start boarding the plane, completely ignoring the line of many people. Needless to say, I was not getting out of line until I got my receipt, which I eventually did  but it really was not like I needed another reminder to why I was so very excited to leave this place and why I wish my family was leaving with me.....

Anyway, I will try to start up fresh when I land.

Until next time.....