In my mind, one of the most expected things about spending a year in Israel is the use of words like crazy, unbelievable, and ridiculous to describe what it feels like to be nearing the end of the year. Whether that expectation came from having discussions with friends who spent previous years here, from the "hype" from the Rabbis and staff of our program, or just from my imagination, those are definitely some of the words that come to mind on this motza'ei Shabbat of my program's last Shabbaton together.
I had a little bit of a craaaazy week last week as I spent a lot of time avoiding the term "jet lag" and focusing on the fact that I had four days of classes before finals would begin. I had the privilege of spending the majority of last Thursday in Yerushaliam with Adina Polack, and it was definitely confusing and sad to me that that would be one of the last couple of times I'd be taking our good 'ole 400 bus. The year is by no means over, seeing as I still have a solid couple of weeks left before returning home, but the whole end of May/beginning of June, no more classes thing kinda settled in the fact that we really are almost there... Weird.
I guess I'll pause for a second in the sob story to note how absolutely incredible and amazing my experience at the Foundation for Jewish Camp's Cornerstone Seminar was. I spent five days in beautiful Waynesboro, Pennsylvania at Capital Camps with a couple hundred other people who love and care about Jewish Camp as much as I do. I believe I mentioned it briefly in my previous blog post, but I don't think I could possibly give enough attention to the most wonderful work which the Foundation for Jewish Camp is clearly doing. I was blessed enough to attend the conference as a representative of Sephardic Adventure Camp, and I can happily report back that I learned more in those five days than I could imagine learning in months of normal discussion or research. I had this awesome experience where I felt, at every moment I was there, that there was no other place in the world for me to be. It was this fulfilling and engaging place of clarity regarding my physical place of being. I don't really know how else to describe this feeling than by saying that I absolutely need to return back next year, which will hopefully work out.
As I also mentioned in my previous post, I had the honor of spending a Shabbat with Rabbi Yossi and Judy Azose in West Hempstead, NY, as well as a Shabbat at Yonaton and Chana Shefa's house in Washington Heights, NY. Both Shabbatot were absolutely wonderful- for completely different reasons. Being with the Azose's, who are long time family friends, simply made me feel at home... the elaborate meals, wonderful minyan, and amazing children. Shabbat with the Shefa's, as well as some other friends, was more focused on this coming summer at Sephardic Adventure Camp but also had an element of relaxing and fun which I really appreciated and enjoyed. Fantastic.
The only not fantastic part about my trip time in New York was the torrential downpour which I experienced upon exiting the bus from Cornerstone outside of Penn Station. Wow. You'd think I could handle something like a little rain being that I was raised in the very wet city of Seattle, WA. But, my friends, this was not anything like "a little rain" or something which has every happened in Seattle. I'm pretty sure that if I had counted to five from the second I stepped off the bus I would have found that in those very short five seconds I could already have been considered sopping wet. Don't worry, though! I spent upwards of ten to fifteen minutes in the rain with my purse and suitcase. If only there weren't literally more than one hundred people in line at the taxi stand... maybe I would have been a little bit less soaked.
I guess I'm going to try to describe the rain/wetness to you, but I don't think I'm even going to do it 50% justice. So, over-exaggerate everything that I say and maybe you'll understand. The thickness of the rain that was falling was like syrup almost. It had this weird way of caking my skin and clothing upon hitting me. In retrospect, I guess that could be due to New York's smog problems, though. Within minutes the sidewalks were covered in quite a bit of water because the sides of the streets were overflowing. At one intersection, I'm totally serious when I say that there was over a foot deep of water which I stepped into-- EW. Let's not forget to mention that my suitcase couldn't even stand up to the amount of water that fell from the sky, and many of my belongings within it were soaked for a couple days. Oh, also. Let's talk about the blue folder which I got at Cornerstone that bled blue onto everything near it... There are drops on my siddur, my notebooks, and any other papers or things that I was given at Cornerstone. Sad. At one point, I just walked into the New Yorker Hotel and was so discouraged and wet that I was tempted to spend a percentage of my life's savings on one night of not getting wet anymore. Alas, I didn't. Instead, I called my friend Garce, who happened to be in New York, and she was luckily in a taxi near where I was and she managed to pick me up on our way to Stern College. Also, I actually looked like I had just jumped in a pool. Too bad I was covered in smog rain and not pool water.. Yucky.
Anyways, my trip to America was wonderful. My time in New York was fun, and my time in Pennsylvania was educational and fulfilling. As I sit here looking at my Washington calendar which my Mom mailed me a few months ago, I am astonished to see that it June has come. Though I am pleased to see that the picture this month is of my Mt. Rainier, and I am deeply looking forward to gazing at it (safely) as I cross I-90 once again, I am in disbelief that this year has passed by as quickly as it has. I am so very thankful to everyone that helped me get here that I was able to have the vast amount of experiences that I have had, and I am looking forward to making my last couple of weeks really count.
I'll be spending the majority of the time I have left here focused on finishing up school with my ten finals, but I hope to be able to leave some room to create some good memories as well. Wherever you are, try to take a few minutes to reflect on the time that has passed between last June and today. Consider where you were, what you were focused on, what you were looking forward to, and what direction you thought your life was going in. Maybe you're there now, maybe you've gone somewhere completely different, or maybe you've taken a few steps in the journey that you once set out on. Summer is a time of sunshine, happiness, and opportunity. As we near that time think about where you picture yourself in a year from today, and try to create some room for growth in that vision.
Shavua Tov!
