I finished up my last bit of packing last night.  I moved a few things around to keep my backpack as light as possible.  My checked bag weighed in at 49 pounds- right on target since the max for a free bag is 50.  After dinner with Pam and my mom I got a call from Si and Marissa.  They were headed North from LA and decided to stop in.  Hurray!  Of course they brought friends along, Nathan and Sarah.  Mostly everyone refers to them as the Australians although after prayer they won the green-card lottery and are now immigrating here!  It was great to talk to them because besides being some of the most encouraging people ever, they spent 3 months in Pemba last summer.  Nathan was very excited about my Israel trip as well, he’d like to do a trip like this someday.

I’m very grateful for all the prayer and blessing I’ve received from all of you.  I expect that touring Israel will be fantastically informative and spiritually edifying.  What a perfect preparation for my journey to Mozambique and the rest of life.

SFO isn’t crowded at all today.  My flight leaves early if everyone shows up on time!   Happy elections…feel free to join me in Africa if it all goes bad

Update:  I’m in Amsterdam!  It’s foggy out but not too cold.  That was a long flight my butt got sore from sitting so long.  Yeak!  KLM has decent food on their planes although the chicken looked like fish (but it tasted like chicken) and there was this weird doughy pudding with raisins for breakfast (any guesses??).  I ate it all- the pudding stuff more for practice than nutrition.  One more flight today, I’ll arrive in Israel at about 2am.

Update: Made it to Tel Aviv!  It’s 4:30am here.  Shower.  Bed.