Baumers Abroad: Biz Trip to Portland

In lieu of my business trip to Portland, Nicki ventured to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to get additional pages added to our passports. Hard to believe that just three years ago we didn’t even have passports—and now they are full. Security is understandably tight at the Embassy. There are no windows on the first floor. Nicki couldn’t bring her cell phone into the building. Instead, she had to go next door to the “Embassy Coffee Shop” and pay them 10 shekels ($2.80) to “hold” the phone while she completed her business.

The Embassy isn’t the only place with tight security. Passengers who depart from Ben Gurion, Israel’s only international airport, are advised to arrive 3 hours early—and now I understand why. My bags have never been so scrutinized. They were scanned twice, then all of my belongings were pretty much taken out, and then I got to re-pack the items. My camera and telephoto lens caused some commotion, and were taken to another room for a while. The guards didn’t seem to mind me asking if I was in the “VIP” line, since I saw others (Israeli citizens?) getting through with much less rigor.

I boarded an El-Al airlines flight to London. I couldn’t help but notice the Israeli airline’s motto: “El-Al – It’s not just an airline, it’s Israel”. After a quick layover in London, it was on to Seattle. Then to Portland. While my 24 hour long trip duration felt long, I met a man from Beaverton who is serving in Afghanistan who’d been en-route to home for 5 days. First he took a chopper ride to Kabul, and then waited several days for a cargo plane to Dubai. Then to London. Then Seattle. Then Portland.

Being in Portland was great! I got to see several friends and even attend an amazing wedding. Those of you who know Tim & Katie know what I’m talking about when I say amazing. Witnessing them being faithful to each other and to God during this time is quite powerful. I also experienced the “feel” of the holiday season – music, decorations, cold weather, and yes—eggnog lattes at Starbucks.

The hard part was being away from Nicki and little Sammy. Sammy certainly kept his mommy busy, but Nicki was also able to get together with friends—some of which being Americans that we’d met in China…so now she’s seen them in China and Israel, but never in the US.

On the way home, I had an 11 hour layover in London during daylight hours, so took advantage of it. And, it was sunny (rare in December, I’m told). I even picked up some of the local dialect while I was there—allow me to try it with this next sentence: From Heathrow, I took the lift down to the Underground, then alighted the Tube and rode into the city—all the way minding the gap, of course. Actually, it felt a bit strange to be in a foreign country in which I could understand what people were saying….that hadn’t happened since Jamie and I were in Canada.

With my back-back on (my other bag was checked through), I power-walked my way around Westminster and then along the South side of the River Thames. After crossing the Tower Bridge, I then proceeded through downtown back to Westminster for some dinner. I was exhausted. Later, after Googling my adventure, I realized I had walked more than 7 miles.

With an additional 5 hour flight from London to Tel Aviv, I was finally home. Just one small hurdle remained—to pay for parking at the Ben Gurion long term lot. The pay machine wouldn’t take foreign cards, and I didn’t have enough cash or access to a cash machine. With some hand waiving, the attendant understood my story enough to make a phone call in Hebrew, and my understanding was that he had relayed my credit card number to someone who could charge it.

Finally, around 7am Tel Aviv time, I was back to Nicki & Sammy.

Below are some Londong layover pics...

It's about an hour journey from Heathrow to Westminster via the Tube (metro). Here is Big Ben with the London Eye (ferris wheel) in the background. Note the blue sky--that is, until about 3pm when some clounds rolled in, and then the sun set at 3:55pm.