More adventures

the shutters that blew out of the utility room windows and nearly hit Sam. The rest are in the utility room. 

 It's 7:40 on Monday morning

We have officially been up since 5. The reality is none of the three of us got much sleep last night. The bombing was heavy last night. We are also anxious because we are being evacuated today.

At first we thought that we would have to leave the building and run to a central location. I was worried (terrified) about having to be outside unprotected running with our luggage. We also found out that the amount of luggage we can take is very limited.I left a large suitcase filled with stuff behind. It's just stuff.

Because of the fire on Saturday morning on the first floor from rocket fire we won't be using the elevator. We will run down the five flights of stairs as soon as our transportation is nearby. 

Our transportation arrives at 9. Meanwhile we sit in the safe room and wait.

There are different sounds that we have been hearing. The reassuring sound of Israeli war planes. The sound of distant explosions and the sounds of explosions in varying degrees of close. There is one sound that scares the pants off of me it is a kind of rumbling whoosh that is a little bit like the feel of the jets ins hot tub... but it is a sonic sensation that is really disturbing. If I were Israeli I would probably know what all of the sounds mean.

The window next to Sam's bed. 

I am incredibly relieved that we are being evacuated. As relieved as I am I also am thinking about the children of so many dear to us who are being called up to the army. We have been hearing about the beloved of friends who have been killed

We have the luxury of being evacuated. They are staying to protect our land and country.

I am worried about our drive to the airport. I hope that our van won't be struck by a missle.I am worried about where we are being sent. I'm writing to calm myself. I'm not sharing this until we are safe. Time is crawling here in the safe room. 

The safe room has the fan going and the light is on. It is nevertheless too warm and a little rank from the fear and sweat of three adults. If we were Israeli we would be able to sort out which sounds mean actual danger and which not. My Israeli friends will pop in an out of the safe room as needed We don't know enough so basically have been in the safe room constantly since Saturday morning at 6:30. When we feel a bit safer we crack the door open

 The Internet works a whole lot better though the open door. We also get a bit more fresh air.

Now it is an hour until we get picked up. 

Because we aren't Israeli we didn't know to shut the trisim the protective shutters when rocket fire is imminent. Because we aren't Israeli we aren't good at parsing the meaning of the various sounds that we are hearing. 

glass balcony panel

It's 9:45 our driver is in Ashkelon but hasn't arrived yet. I realize that I am a spoiled American who has only had to endure this for a couple of days. These have been two difficult days but our Israeli family and friends live with the constant fear all the time.

We left for the airport in a caravan of three vans. The drive to the airport was uneventful. Like many things in Israel, some aspects of this evacuation were a little bit disorganized. We were allowed to get off the vans but they weren't ready for us to enter the airport. Some of us were standing in the sun. Others retreated to the shade under the overhang near the entrance. A siren went off. We all ran to the entrance of the airport. I guess that the normal protocol is to lock the airport doors when a rocket siren goes off. there were about fifty or a hundred of us laying on the floor in front of the glass doors. After a few minutes we heard the explosion.. It was loud and close. עם

My husband and Sam were several yards away from me. I was close to the locked doors. Some people screamed. Some people cried. Me? I recited the last lines of Psalm 121 over and over. Maybe it worked because none of us were harmed. A man near me kept trying to force the glass doors open.. I was afraid that his efforts would break the doors and we would all be covered in glass shards.

After a bit the airport security staff rushed us into a reinforced area of the airport. When the crisis passed the handed out bottles of water.

So now we wait with my son's coworkers. We get on our flight later this afternoon

Well... while we were on the ticketing line someone panicked and thought that there was another rocket attack. Everyone on line ran for safety.  Well, everyone is on edge and lots of people were in hysterics. Eventually the no nonsense security staff got everything organized.

We woke up at 5:00am after a terrible night's sleep. We just ate our first meal of the day at 4;00pm.

Do where are we going,? Dubai. When will we get home? We have no idea.