Welcome

I arrived to Tel Aviv on February 1 after many hours of traveling. The first challenge: passport control. Security in Israel, from what I had heard, is pretty intense. I have heard horror stories about people having to answer countless questions, having to take their clothes off, having their bags looked through, their computers checked…you name it. So I came prepared.

I had my American passport and a little folder full of documents. Because my American passport was stamped when I went to Morocco, I thought I might be asked questions about that, so I brought the acceptance letter to the Critical Language Scholarship program. I also brought the letter I received from Senator Boxer congratulating me for receiving this award. I did this, first, because I think it’s pretty cool, but also to show them that the US government supports my learning Arabic in other countries.

I, of course, brought my acceptance letter for the Boren Fellowship, with the amount of money I will be receiving and the dates. I also had a bank statement in case they needed proof that I am able to support myself financially during my visit. I had read in some website that they might ask for that as well, so I brought it along, just in case!

I also brought a letter of invitation that Hand in Hand kindly prepared for me. This was crucial because Hand in Hand is an Israeli organization. The letter also contained contact information from the people at the school, with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

I saved all my files from my computer, and just in case, I made sure my underwear matched J

I arrived in Tel Aviv and after walking up the stairs, along some corridors I ended up in this huge room with a ton of little stands that had signs on them; the ones to the left read: “Israeli Passport” and the ones on the right said: “All other passports” or something along those lines. I stood in one of the lines to the right. I checked, and each little stand had its number. I went to number 24. That’s my sister’s soccer number, so I figured it might mean good luck.

The lines were going pretty fast. I noticed they were asking people a few questions, but all in all, passport checks lasted about 5 minutes. That’s, of course, until they got to me. The guy looking at my passport first asked me if I had an Israeli passport (I get that I look Jewish a lot). I said I didn’t. He then proceeded to carefully examine my passport. He got to my middle name and looked at me surprised. “Abou-Khinin? What is this?” he asked. I told him it was my father’s last name. A series of questions started coming up, and just about 3 minutes later he told me: “Well, I don’t usually do this, but please stand right over there, and a police officer will be right with you”. "Fantastic!" I thought. I waited about 15 minutes and this guy dressed all in black asked me to follow him. As we were walking, people standing in line were looking at me. I think they were totally judging me, but that might have been just me (it most likely was).

He took me to a room and there were a couple of other people there. There was also a tv, and a Spanish soccer game was on- weird, hugh?. Anyways, this other guy came to the room and called my name. I followed him to the police station. I then sat there with yet another man asking me questions. I was there for about 30 minutes and then they let me go.

I made it!!!

…and welcome to Israel!