So I arrived in Jerusalem this afternoon. Early in the day, it seemed that things were goingt o conspire to keep me in Rome. When I had packed and turned in my keys to the guest master at the Angelicum, I walked out of the building and closed the door behind me. Only then did I realize that I had no means of opening the outside gate to let myself out of the Angelicum property. Nor did I have a was to reopen the Angelicum doors and find someone to let me out. My cell phone did not work there and besides, I knew no one's phone number. I was literally trapped it the area between the building and the gate. Who knew how long it would be until someone came to let me out. I was panicking a little because El Al is very specific about checking in 3 hours before your flight.
After about 20 minutes of trying every door and wondering, I finally decided to try and contact Filip who was still asleep inside. First I tried throwing stones at the second floor windoe of his room. Not being able to get astone even close to his window, I finally resorted to simply shouting his name in the direction of the window. Bingo, it worked. He came down and let me out. I took a bus to the train station and caught the train for the airport. At the airport, poor signage meant that I ended up in the wrong building. htat was resolved quickly and I found the shuttle to take me to the right building. I know it was poor signage because I heard several other complaining that they had made the same mistake.
Check in at El AL is differnt than every other airline. First step is the interview. They ask very detailed questions about why I am going to Israel, how long I will be there, where i will be staying. They want to know why I am going from Rome and not home. They want to kn ow who my associations are at home, in ROme, in Israel - especially interested if I have extended contacts with Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Iranians, Egyptians. Who had packed my bags, when? They wanted to make sure that I am not transporting something for anyone else - "even the simplest letter could contain a bomb..."
After the 10 minute interview, they tagged my passport with a security tag and sent me to have my bags checked. They rummaged throught the contents of all my bags and checked them all for explosive residue. Satisfied that I had no contraband, the sent me to check-in for my flight. Then I went through the metal detector and headed for my gate. THe process took a good hour and a half.
The flight was on time, the plane was not crowded, the movie (12 Rounds) was not great and the food was kosher. We landed in Tel Aviv a few minutes late and I met Carl and Steven at Passport Control. Baggage claim went smoothly and Fr. Gregory met us in the arrival terminal. We took the 30 minute car ride back to The Ecole Biblique, arrivng about 4:00 PM. We were checked into our rooms and given a tour of "the Compound" as they keep calling it and an orientaiton to our program of studies.
In our rooms were orientation packets with syllabus, schedule, map and some readings. We were provided with some souvenirs including a burial shroud and a face clothe (as in St. VEronica) We are also provided with head coverings both a Kippah (yarmulke) and a Palestinian keffiyah which we will wear in certain circumstances later on. 
Today is Fr. Carl Schlichte's birthday and we went out to a nice steak dinner to celebrate. After dinner, we went to the Legacy Hotel for drinks and dessert on the patio of their 5th floor bar with a great view of the Damascus Gate.
Tomorrow the real adventure begins as we begin with a walk around the tops of the Walls of the Old City and a visit to the Citadel. It is sooooooo exciting to be here at last!
I rejoiced when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.
Here the tribes have come,
the tribes of the LORD, 
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
Here are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
"May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers."
For family and friends I say,
"May peace be yours."
For the house of the LORD, our God, I pray, "May blessings be yours."
--------Psalms 122:1-9 (NAB)
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