Seeing new friends sometimes is like seeing old friends.

Our Group Study Exchange team arrived in Jerusalem this afternoon. We checked in at our hotel, some pretty posh digs called the Regency. We’re tired, but thrilled to be near the end of our adventure. And in some strange way, we seem to have found our second wind as the Rotary District Conference has gotten under way.

The reception this evening was a coming together of new friends we have made along the way, but seeing them again was like a gathering of old friends.

These were our “house parents.” They were the folks assigned by the Rotary District in Israel to play host to this band of travelers from Texas, U.S.A., and from The Netherlands — with whom we’ve been traveling for the past four weeks.

From Tel Aviv, Eilat, Nazareth, Nahariya, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, Zichron Ya’Akov and Tivon they all came to this conference. Old friends who took care of us along the way, opened up their homes — and their hearts — to us all. They told us to make ourselves “at home.” They said their homes were our homes, that their fridge always would be open to us. “You need laundry done? I’ll do it,” they said. “You want to call home? Go ahead, use our phone,” they implored us.

It’ll be strange later this weekend when it all concludes. We parted company earlier knowing we’d see them in Jerusalem. That wasn’t so bad and I took comfort knowing we would gather once again in this holiest of cities.

But when the exchange ends for keeps on Sunday, someone will have to keep the Kleenex handy.

I just hate saying goodbye to friends.