Midnight Witticisms

I finally made my way to the Old City to walk the Via Dolorosa. This includes all 14 Stations of the Cross, and we also managed to stumble upon the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. While it wasn’t meaningful in a religious way, it was still a very moving experience.

It is difficult to me to see Israel with an unbiased eye. After all, this beautiful country has been central to my Jewish education. For the duration of my 22 years of existence, I’ve seen Israel as a country that belongs to us. Obviously I’m aware of the fact that Muslims are trying to stake a claim, but I always seem to forget that this land has Christian roots as well.

One thing that I found particularly interesting was how notes were stuffed in the walls of both Mary’s birthplace and those of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a practice I thought unique to Jews with regards to the Kotel (Western Wall). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, by the way, is absolutely stunning. The cathedral ceilings are breathtaking. We were also fortunate enough to witness a procession of sorts - it seemed to be that several religious leaders from three or four sects of Christianity were meeting. I was hoping to hear some Gregorian chanting, but no such luck. Maybe next time.

From there we continued to the Kotel: an experience that I cannot live without and one that always confounds me.  Whenever I am there I see women (like an Orthodox synagogue, there is a wall to create a men’s section and a women’s section) praying fervently out of the Siddur.  Some are swaying, some are crying, but all are passionate.  It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way about prayer, not since High School have I felt anything remotely close.  Nor have I ever cried whilst in liturgical prayer.  I much prefer my own personal prayer (to the disdain of many rabbis).  In fact, often I do not say anything at all, letting the words tumble out of my head and my heart until they are in such a shamble that only G-d Himself knows what I mean.  I find it more personal than words written by another man (a wise sage, but another person nontheless).

With that, I bid you all adieu.

I miss being busy. Meaningfully busy. I signed up for a course, and they’ve already given me a password to their online study component, although the course itself doesn’t start for a few more months. I’ve already started studying, making notecards, doing practice questions. I’m more serious about this than I’ve ever been about academics in my life. Aside from gross anatomy. That shit was awesome. Seriously. The only problem is that after staring at a computer screen for eight hours the last thing I want to do is, well, stare at a computer screen.

PS - I forgot pretty much everything I ever knew about geometry, algebra, and percentages. This can be verified by the number of correct answers I received. I clearly need to do more studying of rules and whatnot. I am, however, kicking ass on the English section.

On the bright side, I am currently in the process of getting myself onto a schedule. I start work at 7am and work until 9am.  I then go to the gym for an hour or two, come back and work for another six hours.  Take a break, followed by some studying.  I’m even eating better. We’ll see how long this whole thing lasts, but I am fairly excited about getting my life under control.  I’ve rearranged my workout and put myself on a three-day split with the help of a wonderful website.  This should considerably minimize the amount of time I spend in the gym, while still getting a good workout. The only downside to this is that I go to bet earlier.

What can I say?  I like my sleep.

Bella is just fine.  But she does have a nekkid stomach

I never actually wrote about the Jerusalem snow experience.  Essentially, we received a grand total of three and a half inches over two days.  The city was absolutely shut down - there were no busses, the market was closed, and I couldn’t take my in-heat cat to the clinic.  By the the second evening, a good portion of the snow had melted.  As Joel and I made our way to the gym (still open in the blizzard!!), we saw countless Israeli youths in a snowball fight.  As a New Yorker, and expecially having done a stint in Buffalo, the aforementioned snowball fight was pitiful.  There were few “mounds” of snow, the majority of it having disappeared already.  Rule #1 about snowball fights - you need to be able to duck and slide in abundant snow.  Otherwise it is worthless.  Oh, and for the record, I came to Israel in order to avoid the snow, not have 3.5 inches of it wreak havoc in my life for two days.

I went to Mike’s Place (a local American-esque bar) to watch the Super Bowl last night (wooo New York!).  It was thoroughly enjoyable.  Minus the fact that we were sitting in a room full of stereotypical American Jews.  My favorite were our barmates - religious bachurs from Far Rockaway.  Who got drunk.  Who at every commercial would say “What is ths?  Are you serious??”  No, this isn’t serious.  Obviously a dog can’t train a horse - it’s a commercial. Oh, and also, stop yelling at Pats fans to “get the hell out of the bar”.  Actually, stop yelling; you sound slightly nasal and I can’t stand the way you tawk (yes, I am aware that this is slightly hypocritical).  Then they leaned over and started asking about what I was drinking (Is it good?  Do you recommend?  What does it taste like?  Oh, sure I’ll taste).  And I’m pretty sure one of them made a sex joke.  It was interesting.

Moving on.  I’m currently sitting in a cafe, working (clearly not) and listening to Boston radio, as all of New England mourns the passing of the Perfect Season.  I’m waiting to hear about Bella, who is getting a kitty-making-equipment-ectomy (spayed).  Hopefully she’ll be OK.  I’ll keep everyone posted.  Pray for her so that she doesn’t die.  Hopefully I’ll hear something soon, because I’m getting a little antsy in my pantsy.

Well, back to work for me!