Thursday, May 31. Woke up at 4:15 AM, in anticipation of my alarm ringing at 5:15 AM, and then once again I couldn’t get back to sleep. Monica also called me to be sure I was awake, because I needed to catch a train to the airport. I walked down to the train station—I think I put too many miles on my suitcase because one of my wheels started breaking apart, but I made it. I was sure I knew exactly where to go to find the train to the airport, but I couldn’t find it. Then I realized I had entered the train station at the other end. Once I got my bearings I was all set. After the half hour train ride, I went through airport security, which took a while, but I was still early. Then I hopped on the plane and flew away from Rome. Rome is a very interesting city. Parts of it, like the part we were staying in, is really run down and there is a lot of garbage on the streets (not nearly like Catania, Sicily but still…); we even saw a rat run under a garbage bag on the sidewalk in the middle of the day. Other parts are really classy. But the most amazing thing about Rome is that you can walk or drive around, turn a corner and bump into ruins from the Roman Empire, or some lavish monument to the last kings of Italy. We never did make it into the underground lower part of the city, where I guess the lower down you go the older it gets because the city kept getting built on top of what was there before it./But suddenly we landed in Israel. Flying in, I couldn’t believe how huge Tel Aviv is. Sue Lachman and her husband Frank picked me up outside baggage claim and drove me out of their way to Jerusalem. That was so nice of them! Speaking of nice and way above and beyond the call of duty, Chana Studley gave up her apartment to me for the week! Incredible!  I did a much-needed laundry. Chana took me for a walk into the most amazing street market I have ever seen in my life—called the Shute, or something like that—so alive, so vibrant. I loved it. She lives in a really nice, old neighborhood— pronounced Nach-la-ot—that feels like you’re back in time. I have never been to the Middle East before, and this clearly is the Middle East. It’s got a completely different feel to it than Europe. I really loved it. Raizel Druxman, who is doing such a wonderful job organizing the first Three Principles conference in Israel, met us for dinner at a great restaurant. By this time I was struggling to keep my eyes open so Chana walked me back to the apartment for an early night. Really nice day despite my tiredness. It is wonderful to be here.