Gettin' flexible fast (written in the departure lounge, Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Gate D49)

The original plan was that we fly Houston (IAH), to Newark (EWR), to Tel Aviv (TLV). So, our flight to EWR was cancelled by the Northeast Blizzard of 2006. The scene: Houston airport (IAH), Sunday afternoon. Martin Cominsky, our tour leader, is spending a long time with Continental Airlines to re-route us (see photo). The trick is to get all 30 of the delegates into TLV at roughly the same time. After a long time on telephones, and a medium long time sorting out paper travel documents, we had a quick trip from IAH Terminal E to Terminal D, a frenzied transit through security, and a near last-minute filing aboard a KLM 747 to Amsterdam, filling all the center seats in coach, that the aisle dwellers thought would remain empty. Eight happy hours later, it's a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam, and the whole group due into TLV, about 12 hours behind schedule.

Most of the group went to see the Anne Frank House, and on a canal boat tour, where a great photo was rumored to have been taken of some of the leading lights of the Houston interfaith community, face down on the table, sleeping.

I, for one, having already seen Hamsterdam, opted for a quick train ride into the city, and a few precious hours of sleep on a real bed, in the Hotel Ibis, right next to Amsterdam Centraal Station. The price was quite reasonable, and I'm hoping to be a little more awake when we catch up with our original schedule, in Nazareth.

Martin, our mission leader, and regional director of the ADL, was kind of crestfallen about the closure of EWR. He'd so carefully arranged everything: synchronized connections, buffet in the lounge at EWR, full night's sleep in TLV. I heard more than one delegate quoting a Yiddish expression that translates to "man plans, God laughs." Snow is snow. Actually, being stuck in Amsterdam for a few hours turned out to be a lot more fun than being stuck in Houston or Newark.

As we work our way through a full schedule in Nazareth and Tiberius, we'll see how our people do without sleep. Onward...