I'm home...and Ariel and Fabio don't have a lot in common...

Well, you've all been ever so patient...and I'm sure you've just been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see how my trip ended.
First, let me say that Ariel...well...not Fabio. Very nice. Very helpful. But not Fabio.
I did not take a picture of him but several of the people on the trip snapped photos of us...so I'm sure I'll run across one at some point that I can post for you.

So, let's back up to Jerusalem...
The 45 people I'm traveling with are leaving on the big tour bus for the airport (see back of the bus video for a bird's eye view of what that is like...) at 8pm, so my new friend, Nurse Ariel, is picking me up at 7:30pm in the lobby of the hotel. He is supposed to show up in a taxi...which happened to be a Mercedes. The beginning.
Since I have my own personal assistant at this time (which I rather enjoy, I must say), I decide to take the opportunity to get some McDonald's (not something we can do easily on a tour bus, but definitely something I was craving after 2 weeks of falafels). Turns out that the whole theory of McDonald's being the same no matter where you get it...well, it's not so true.
Ariel explained to me before I ordered that it was a "Kosher" McDonald's. ??? I'm looking at him like he's crazy. I'm American. I like pickles just like the next guy...what in the world does that have to do with my cheeseburger?
"So, yes...I'll have a double cheeseburger and a large diet coke, please." (BIG smile here...I'm already tasting the food...my mouth is literally watering)
"No double cheeseburger, sorry."
"OKaaaaay...how about a cheeseburger and a large diet coke?"
"No cheeseburger," McD boy says, as he looks at Ariel with a disgusted look.
"It's Kosher," he whispers to me...
"What does that mean?" I'm getting rather annoyed at this point.
"It means we don't mix dairy and meat."
"Who is this WE you speak of???"
"Orthodox Jews, it is custom." says Ariel.
"Oh Ariel. I'm SO very sorry. This is a sad, sad travesty...you mean to tell me you've never experienced the beauty of a melted slice of cheese on your burger??? Seriously, this brings tears to my eyes! Get this boy a slice of cheese!!!"
He is not amused.
I ate a burger - no cheese - and I'm not sure it was beef.

Later, we meet up with my group, who is all waiting in line after line, while I am being whisked around in a wheelchair. Now, at first I felt really bad about this. It is, after all, a sprained ankle. Again, I'd like to reiterate that if I had crutches, I would have been fine moving along with everyone else. But since the insurance insisted otherwise, I decided to sit back and enjoy my royal treatment.
At this point, the rest of the group has come up with a nickname for me..."Queen April"...queen, for obvious reasons, I was totally being treated like royalty...April, because I swear Carolyn called me April for more than half the trip. At some point, I decided to not respond to the name, and finally I snapped..."I refuse to talk to you if you keep calling me April," I said. Well, apparently, the rest of the bus found this rather amusing, because for the last two days of the trip, I was very lovingly referred to as Queen April:-)

So, that's about all I've got for tonight. I was back at work today and did not have my foot elevated at all...so it's rather swollen at this point. Time to lay down and prop it up.

But, at the request of several of you, I've decided to go ahead and keep posting stories about the trip...since I didn't even come close to sharing everything while I was there.

So - don't get confused. I'm back. But if you want to hear 'the rest of the story', keep checking in...tomorrow...I'll tell you of the trials of traveling first class...oh woe is me.
Love,
Angel