June 29, 2003

I’m sitting here in the lounge because Tali and Debbie will be trying to sleep soon… I should be doing that, must arise early for a new avodah and all.

Excluding Shabat, Sunday is now my favorite day of the week because of the lack of avodah… very selfish of me, I’m sure. But this morning, Stephanie offered a “book club”, which consisted of a lot of us basking in the morning sun. I got out A Woman’s Kaballah, and after the chapter of Hesed, I copied al of the poems I’ve written so far at BCI, and then the community journa entry… this took several hours of free time, of course.

After breakfast, Rabbi Levi spoke at Beit Midrash again but I was semi-distracted today… I don’t know if it was due to the subject matter (which I forget now, really,) or his “teaching” style, part lecture, part myth, part imparting his own opinion, but I was really looking forward to getting out of there. Save for dance immediately follwing…

…which actually turned out to be very nice. Dossa’s father, Dani, was teaching, a man who worked with BCI for 30 something years, and also a famous Israeli dancer in his own right. He taught us a (gasp) slow dance, though his daughter did a fast, Hasidic wedding piece. Mostly he sat us down to share some family heirlooms—a siddur and a magillah—that have been in his family over a hundred years. Made me want to call Grandma and find out more about my Star of David neclace.

I took a nap during free time, then talked to Mom briefly. My cousins, Bob and Kathy, somehow found it reasonable to look after their toddler, Paul, when Kathy goes into labor… so the lot of them were getting together for dinner tonight so Paul could get used to her. Why anyone would entrust my mother with a small child is beyond me. (Wink)

Social justice afternoon consisted of Vanina explaining some of the problems in Argentina…. I remembered senior year Spanish, discussing the rapidly changing presidents in that country; even then, I was aware of the repercussions such a shaky government would have. I need to find a way to get involved in tikkun olam.

But the main event of the night was something radically different; we attended a community-wide event at the house of the book, where a mid-eastern music band, Pharaoh’s Daughter, was giving a concert. What incredible music! I really regret not buying their CDs, (though Aaron’s probably right; I can find them for cheaper online.)

Mostly, I sat with the other BCIers on a hill next to the erected stage, but we also broke loose in a few frenzied dances. Dinner was served there, including soda for the first time in 2 weeks… wow.

I took some pictures of Yakov since he played drums with them one of their songs. Yoshi played violin on another one, and the young artist’s program and music workshop learned a harmony for yet another. I took some pictures in my own right.

I spent a lot of time talking with Emily. She said there are a lot of couples around… I was shocked, having only noticed one (though I can venture a guess on some of the others…) but I’m not here to gossip; it just got to me because I wanted to feel a part of the community, know what the community knows, then again, I don’t want them to know about certain things I’ve felt while here, so perhaps it’s only fitting that I don’t know about them.

I don’t get myself sometimes, honestly. I’ve gone to several summer camps in my day, and during all of them, I always develop obsessions. Right on the page where I’m writing this is the email address of someone I remember going ga-ga over at UVA… 2 weeks of drooling, but then I forget all about him. So yeah, BCI is a lot longer and yeah, there’s something different about being around a Jewish community rather than a writing one, but do I really expect them to turn out differently? Why expend all of this angsty energy?

I should stick with my college friends, no one else. We’ve been together for one year already, and have three more on the day. They won’t desert me.