the wheels on the bus

starting at the airport we rode on this purple bus the whole time we traveled in Israel:

there were often 2 or 3 more at the places we stopped as Pilgrim and Sar-El Tours are popular tour companies. our group was small so we each had our own seat. i met the bus driver, Zion, at the airport as he so kindly helped me with my luggage. from there i could tell that he would be a good pal to have for the trip.

let me back up a little and tell a little of my history with busdrivers...i have always loved them. and respected them. especially the ones that put up with all the students that i ever rode the bus with.

in college when i played volleyball and we had 5-10 hour trips for games, i would often sit up near the driver and chit chat with them as we made the trip. i learned a lot about them and heard some pretty great stories over the years.

when i did buid-a-thon with americorps in 2007 my friend christine and i made sure to ride the same bus each time we went to the work site because of the particular bus driver. she had great stories to tell of her experience on the gulf coast and gave us each a parting gift of a plastic butterfly because after the hurricanes she considered them a sign of hope.

and the same experience was had on this trip. the bus driver was fantastic. he has been driving a bus since completing his time serving in the military for the past 25 years. if ever i were stuck in a parking situation that i could not get out of, he is the person i would want to call.

the roads in israel are crowded and narrow and everyone is an aggressive driver. (mom, you would never get anywhere)

but our bus got everywhere it needed to.

not only was he one of the best drivers i have ever ridden with, he was also a very sweet man. he is a believer. so he appreciated and supported why we would visit israel. he is a family man with a wife and 2 daughters at home, he lives near gaza. and he was very funny. he and the tour guide had many conversations in hebrew. many they were laughing, some they seemed to be arguing. i always wondered what they were talking about.

he gave me 2 necklace charms during the trip. one a corral-ish colored stone heart (which i was the only recipient of) and one a charcoal cross (which he gave to a few people). i think because he saw the interaction between my dad and i he felt a connection that he would have had with his daughters. and because i always talked to him when getting on the bus and when he was out and about with our group.

he gave me the cross on the last day. i was having a small emotional break down (which is typical for me at that point in any long trip) and he was handing out the crosses to the few people that were on the bus. dad and mike had left for petra and i was left with 8 other people and not quite ready to go home. he noticed i was crying and in his broken english accent asked, 'you ok?' to which i just shook my head no. and he replied, 'you not want to leave?' to which i again just shook my head no. and he replied, 'that's ok. you come. come live with my family.' to which i smiled and said, 'thank you'.

when he dropped us off at the airport and was saying good bye to everyone and shaking hands, he turned to me to shake my hand, but then stopped and gave me the only hug he gave to his departing guests.

i think that often on a trip the bus driver is forgotten about by many. in my experiece, however, getting to know the bus driver is often one of the highlights.

so to our fantastic bus driver, Zion, (pictured above) i say thank you for making the trip that much better with your warm and funny personality and mad driving skills.