Travel Home, Conclusion

My body has completely shut down due to exhaustion and lack of sleep. I managed to fall asleep just before the plane took off. Being awake for 22 straight hours after many nights without enough sleep has finally taken its toll on me. Fast forward to flight #2 from Zurich to New York – Swiss Air has amazing chocolates. Once I got to New York I went to check in for my flight to Toronto via Washington DC. They said that the flight to DC might be delayed due to bad weather, thus making me miss my flight to Toronto. Shit! Not again! Luckily, the ticket agent was able to put me on a direct flight home to Toronto that gets in 4 hours earlier! I had to take a 1 hour shuttle bus from JFK to LaGuardia, and I managed to get home early! Once again 5 airports, 4 countries, 3 flights all in one day.

Of my 4 trips to Israel, this was my shortest one – only 7.5 days. Going and coming took almost 60 hours, and the ridiculousness of almost missing my flights getting to Israel was beyond stressful. I did not know what to expect from this trip. I had only met one person prior to this trip and I was the only Canadian. On a trip geared towards volunteering and community service I did not expect to see anything new on this trip. I did not know what kind of work we would be doing or what kind of impact it would have on me or the communities. I did not know what it would be like to be going to Israel just as Israel was going to war.

The work we did as a group was amazing. We saw a real change when 40 students spend a few hours a day volunteering. The entire group of people was awesome and they definitely helped to pass the time at some of the more tedious jobs (picking up trash). In the 7.5 days here, the only things that I had done before was shop in Tel Aviv (which I could have done without) and visiting the Western Wall and the tunnel tours (which is always a must!). Everything else was a completely new experience which was a pleasant surprise. There are a ton of things to see and do here and I was glad I got to experience a lot of new sites. It was important to be here in times of war. It is imperative to show Israelis that we stand with them and support them in times of peace, and especially in times of war. What you see in the mainstream media is not indicative of life in Israel. Everyday is still business as usual and I was not scared for myself, but only scared for others.

This was another incredible trip to Israel, and another one I will never forget.
Once again, the people of Sderot STILL need your help. You can still donate to the rocket proof playground here.