Surprises

Life continues to solidify for me here in the city of peace, holiness, conflict, disorganization, unity, music, beginnings, and endings. Even as I write "solidify" I'm thinking of other words to put there, and many of them mean the exact opposite. Being from the Northeast, I'm not used to the last minute planning, the strange organization, the lack of baseball...etc. Elyssa and I are continuing to search for and find places to spend our time. We're still very much in the planning period, but we're less frustrated than we were.
On Sunday, I visited Pardes. The word "Pardes" literally means "orchard;" it is well named (although it is on top of a Mazda dealership). I felt like I walked into a hall at the Havurah Institute (although this time, almost everyone was in their mid-20s). I sat in on a social justice class and was welcomed into a wonderful chevruta of two Dorot fellows. We learned rules of Shmitta, first by examining the text from the Torah, then the Mishnah, and then the Gemarra. SO welcoming and inclusive was this community, that I felt comfortable contributing to the class conversation. I'm eager to start learning there, though I am completely unsure of my schedule.
Which brings me to my next point.
Elyssa and I also visited Yad B'Yad (www.handinhandk12.org). Of everything that I planned on participating in this year, I was most excited for this. While it's too early to judge, I admit I'm a bit nervous about this venture. First, the building was gorgeous. Jerusalem stone, glass, open spaces, beautiful library etc. They did, however, seem a bit disorganized. I'm attributing this now to the fact that we are in the awkward time period after the summer and before the major holidays (there are about 10 days of school in October). We did have the opportunity to play with the kids (although many of them had gone home because it is Ramadan). I spoke to the kids in Hebrew (they do not yet have the English to speak with me) which is great! They were a bit crazy, but it was nice to start. The school really was beautiful and I'm excited to start working there after the chagim (sort of a mantra here: everything starts AFTER the chagim).
We then caught a bus to the center of the city (mirkaz ha'ir) for a meeting at the Open House. It really is a wonderful organization, and they are in great need of funds, so we'll be networking and raising money. Hopefully, in a couple months, my Hebrew will be good enough that I can do more person-to-person interaction.
And now for something entirely different....well, not really. I auditioned for Rent. I swore I wouldn't do theater this year, but...we shall see. I vistied the Supreme Court today with ulpan, and I had my first longish conversation in Hebrew with a French woman. If I didn't know a word, I substituted French, which was a little confusing.
I'm looking forward to new adventures. Shabbat shalom!