Daniel's Summer Blog

Quite a few adventures to relate.

To begin with, baseball season kicked off last Tuesday in Japan! Someone more qualified than myself, or at least someone who likes baseball, is no doubt ranting about "America's National Pastime" kicking off in the foreign country that we floated after nuking them in '45. I am just satisfied to say that the NFL's voluntary team workouts also began. I myself am batting .333 in law schools, with two walks and one plate appearance yet to register. There was almost Metsesque meltdown when I slapped a stand-up triple at home, but thankfully you just can't beat in-state tuition. So that is my plan for next year. And the two years thereafter. That was all solved Saturday, a week before going to Israel.

That was the tee-off for my excitement about the future, both immediate and distant. I took Monday off to pack for my journey, but did no such thing and was forced to pack everything late Tuesday night. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked in retail for some friends of mine, enjoying the manual labor and business acumen instead of staring at a computer screen all day. Wednesday evening, I took the train (we have a very nice train station downtown, who knew?) to Raleigh. Once there, the accommodating Ben-Zvi family took me in for the night and out again to the airport the next morning. I slept to Atlanta, where I was collected by a K, and we proceeded to spend the day together, mostly running around yelling about East Cobb, breaking mirrors and eating her mother's delicious meatballs. Late that evening, she dropped me off at the KK's (no relation) where I was reunited with my old frenemy, the economist. He and I proceeded to my (and his) first ever bachelor party. It was not what you see in the sitcoms, because everyone but the bride was there, and nothing inappropriate happened. Nonetheless it was a lot of fun, eventually ending at around 2:00 in the morning (the Waffle House after-party was postponed until the next day). After messing around in the kitchen and hiding Birthday Pis, everyone suddenly fell asleep simultaneously, due to a rare but punctual strain of narcolepsy.

Waffle House the next day was tremendous, as was shopping for wedding presents (many bars of chocolate). We topped it off with a stop at TCBY, which was not really as tasty as I had hoped. S^3 then picked me up on her way home from work, so we could prepare for Shabbat. Because of the unusual fortunes of the Tech team (they won their first-round ACC tourney game) Senor Africa was still in Charlotte shooting the game, so it was dinner for two, and then when he and his brother arrived home around 1:00 am, a party for four. The real festivities were when they were driving home, an F2 tornado tore through downtown Atlanta. We viewed it from a short distance, but later inspection showed that the twister shattered windows, blew down trees and rocked the Georgia Dome so badly that it threw UGA into 3 games in two days, the SEC championship automatic bid, and the NCAA tournament (where they were promptly slaughtered in the opening round, the first confirmed fatalities of the storm).

Saturday was spent dodging more violent storms, and that night we succumbed to cabin fever and went out for dinner.

Sunday morning kicked off the wedding. First there was the see-everyone phase at the tail end of picture-taking, and then tisches and bedecken (she checked out ok), followed by the ceremony. All this took place inside Oglethorpe Library, so anyone who was bored could just grab a book off the shelf behind them and learn something. Accordion-led dancing came next, on the rolling hills of O U, and then lunch and socialization for a few hours. Weddings are not only great for uniting two people forever, but for reuniting groups of people to celebrate with them. Good times for everyone. There was an after-party barbecue that I did not pick up on radar until it was too late, but I did get to go back to the hotel and hang out with everyone for the night.

Monday morning we had a goodbye breakfast and then Mena and I sat on I-85 for a good 45 minutes trying to get to Tech for her interview and my pickup. I then was charged with driving the minivan to find a pick up Momma Mena and reunite her with her daughter. Mission Accomplished. I then arranged a quick hello between two thespians - one had just arrived and the other was leaving. David brought along his Suzy Q, so I brought along Jason (his spring break having just started and SSS being at work) and we had a lovely double date at the newest Kosher restaurant in town, the Bresserie Barbeque (yes, that is how it is spelled, and no I have no idea what it means nor how to pronounce it). It was quite empty, but very delicious, particularly my steakburger. Afterwards, we headed out to Duluth for mini-golf (having gotten directions off Panera). It was a heated 18-hole battle for supremacy on the wet greens of Pirate's Cove, and though I double-bogied the last hole, I was able to claim victory over more experienced pirates. That night we had a raucous dinner party and then I was dropped at the airport for my trip to Israel!

One week of blog-writing later . . .

I spent a mercifully small amount of time in Hartsfield-Jackson airport, about two hours on each end of my trip. My flights were longer than I expected, 12 and 13.5 hours, because apparently Delta does not fly over the Atlantic, they go all the way up the east coast, to Canada, Iceland and Greenland, before coming back down via England, France, and Mediterranean Europe. The Delta in-flight entertainment was unbelievable, they had at least two dozen movies, and handful of comedies and stand-up shows. They even carried some HBO shows, but of course at $1.99 a piece, so I doubt anyone paid up for Ali G. There was also in-flight info, music and games. Most unusually, the whole system ran Linux. I found myself being politely but thoroughly interrogated about Judaism by the couple sitting next to me. They were Baptists on their first trip to Israel and were interested in the Jews. After a nap of indeterminate length, I watched Rush Hour 3 (a classic) and Bee Movie (feh) and tried to stay awake until landing. I then took a Nesher with 9 close frum friends, a pair of whom appeared to be married and progressive (she wished my chag sameach) but 19 years old.

I finally arrived at my destination, without serious jetlag, so my gracious hostess immediately took me out to a party. I met all of her learning buddies and then collapsed into bed. The next day (Wednesday) I went out for lunch only to run into more friends some of whom I did not recognize because they were already in Purim getup. I then took a ride to Hebrew University to meet up with some camp and home friends studying abroad. I managed to see the HU dorms, but not the actual school, as it is a bit of a walk from one to the other. I missed my first bus home because I turned to hug my friend and the bus driver decided to take this as a sign that he should drive right be without stopping. 15 minutes later I managed to board a bus and then walk myself back home. Thursday was spent out at lunch and then making Purim plans. I had to plan carefully, because while I wanted to take part in the celebrations, I also wanted to watch first round NCAA basketball. I was successful in both endeavors, booing Haman, enjoying a shpiel that I did not completely understand, dancing in the streets with people holding goats and then watching hours of basketball.

Friday morning lasted a few minutes, and then Shabbat preparation commenced. I helped (a little) set up for a large dinner that the apartment was hosting. Don't listen to what they tell you, carrying chairs and heavy tables across six-lane streets is not as fun as it looks. We went to Shira Xadasha for shul, where I ran into some old friends and old bosses. Dinner was a raucous affair, I spent my time with friends I had not seen longer (the more recent friends did not take this lying down) and learned a great deal of things about current events in the bubble that I just can't keep up with without a community. Later that night, I retreated to my more recent friends and interrogated them for what news I could get. Shabbat morning everyone attended Shaarai Shayna and then we had a great picnic at the park across the street. Afterwards we walked the length of the Tayelet, interrupting a Bar Mitzvah on the way there a back. After Shabbat there was more basketball, into the early morning.

Sunday I trekked through the blazing 35 degree heat to AdAm's seudah which was quite fun, more of the same people. I then took a break before going the other way to my Rebbe's seudah, which was a veteran affair, a lot of fun and catching up and complaining about visas that have not arrived yet. Sunday night brought a final round of basketball, with some actually appearing on the local ESPN. On a side note, the international version of Sportscenter is one of the worst ideas I have ever seen. I would have much rather seen one detailed for a specific region, even if it was not my own. Monday was departure day, I spent a ludicrous amount of money on Ben Yehuda buying kipot for the family. I then had a nice lunch with a friend at Marvad HaKsamim and lamented the fall of the Tza'ad Taymani. Sadly, Jerusalem traffic prevented my from seeing a friend, coworker and prodigy, because she had trouble getting into the city, while my Nesher picked me up early to get out of it. Traffic was fairly snarled on Highway One, but as we came into the airport it dawned on me that it must sit on a huge plot of land or that their entry road was circuitous in the extreme, both by design. In the airport I ponied up for a mozzarella-tomato-cucumber-olive sandwich with a scrambled egg on top, which to my surprise was a delicious combination. Later that night, the excellency of this decision became more pronounced, as the kosher meal was once more nearly inedible. The people next to me on the way home were quiet and unfriendly, which was fine by me. I watched a karate flick and No Country for Old Men, a violent twisted action movie.

I landed in Atlanta and managed to jump onto the earlier flight back to Raleigh, cabbed it to UNC and then hitched a ride home. I was gone almost two weeks on a trip that I had been impatiently awaiting for months. My current light at the end of the tunnel is camp, a mere 8 weeks away from Monday. I will be at camp for record time for my final summer (for now) and I am quite looking forward to it.