Ben wrote!

Hey Momalai,
We arrived here in Israel safe and sound.  I am at my
dorms and everything went pretty well.  I was delayed
out of SD but luckily my layover was long.  The flight
on El Al was long (10hrs) but it was expected.  It
took a little while to get settled into the dorms
which by the way are, well... they're rooms and they
have beds....lol.  They arent that bad but I suspect
that I will be eating out a lot, the kitchen is rather
hideous.  We are not going to be issued our cell
phones untill tomorrow, which will be sometime this
evening your time.  Furthermore, most of the shops
that sell phone cards are closed at this point hence
the reason I am emailing you.  The weather isn't too
bad, it is prolly around the mid to upper 80's but
it's kinda humid so I already had to take my first
shower just from trying to unpack.  Ok well I am off
to find some felafel, and then to bed.  I will call
you when we get our phones.
Love you All,
Ben Hafner

I feel somewhat better, just knowing that Ben has landed and is safe and sound. His email makes him sound just like he always does/has. Once again I feel connected. His email is assurance that I did not send him into cyberspace, that he is on this earth, taking showers, unpacking, eating, logging onto his laptop...

The mundaneness of daily life, is as comforting as canned soup: predictable and bland, yet familiar. Being able to picture Ben unpacking in a simple room with a bed, I can see him stuff his shirts in a drawer, hang a surfing poster above his bed, prop up photos of his family, fumble with the converter to connect his computer. Seeing him walk to his gate at the airport towards the unknown was scary. Now I have pictures in my mind of him living life salted with the regularity of any life, just in a different place.

Now, I can't wait for his phone call.