Life of Spud

February 2012

2012-02-05T14:49:00.002-05:00

The date is the best title because it's been ages since the last blog post.

I am now in Israel, a member of the Pardes Educators Program, living with the wife and kids in a two bedroom apartment in Talpiot.

Last night the pipe under the sink calcified and broke and I awoke this morning to a flooded floor and hours of spoon-jeh.

But this year has been a blessing, as I have become re-acquainted with the learning of my youth to enjoy it and aim to comprehend it in a pedagogic conception.

I want to get a few thoughts out quickly. I will try to come back to them later and write more (although, historically...)

"Where I See Myself in Five Years"
My hope is to move forward in the circles of Jewish education.
I aim to employ 21st century pedagogy to the texts and traditions of Judaism in the hopes of uniting the Jewish people in conversation regarding them.
Whilst text study has been divisive at certain points in our history, it has always been a constant. I believe that it is our most assured safeguard for moving forward into the future as a people.

"Orthodox Zionism"
I recently spoke to a Canadian-Israeli friend and I mentioned this concept to him.
Today in Jewish Ed., Israel-Zionism is a sacred cow, largely because it is perceived as the sole uniting factor of the community.
S0 we educate to an ideal when teaching about Israel. We avoid issues that exist with and within Israel, choosing instead to focus on a narrative that too often presents Israel-Zionism as the Jews it came to rescue: brilliant - sure - but victims, desperate for our assistance in fending off wave after wave of attack. We stick to the same narrative of our parents, seemingly beginning with the Holocaust and ending in 1967.
But we need to start educating to a reality. We need to recognize that our kids are graduating day schools with a limited scope of reality-Israel, going to a high school or college campus and being confronted with an Israel that is at odds with their American values. More and more students are becoming apathetic regarding Israel and a vocal minority are turning away completely.
We need to give our kids access to these issues before they hear about them elsewhere, and we need to let them judge for themselves. We cannot create and enforce dogmatic concepts regarding Israel because blind faith is not what was Zionism is all about.
And, anyway, our kids are not buying it.

"Reverse Shlichut"
I think that Israel and the US are growing apart, and that Jews are following suit. I fear that, eventually, we're all going to have to choose.
And I think one solution is to employ a type of shlichut in which American Jews come to Israel to present a legiitmate American Judaism to the Israeli people.
Because while the Sochnut sends its envoys to the Diaspora to present Israeli Jewishness, there is never a thought of reciprocation. One-way relationships are not healthy.

That's all for now.

Previewing Apocalypse

2010-07-25T21:58:00.002-04:00

We went down to Laurel today. I had a 1 pm game and we looked into the aquatics center across the lot and decided to head over there after the game. they have indoor pools and free swim and the older girl is into swimming now, so we thought it would be a good way to keep out of the heat and have some fun.
at about 3:40 pm the lights flickered and the lifeguards blew their whistles and yelled at everyone to get out of the pool. I figured it had hit 4 pm and the free swim was over, but when looking out the window (and there is a whole wall of the building that is made of windows) we saw a crazy thunderstorm blowing through. There was wind and lightning and thunder and it was pretty intense.
After the storm passed we headed out to our previously scheduled lunch location. We were warned before we left the pool that there were lots of trees down and we quickly confirmed this when we needed to veer around a chunk of tree. and we decided to forge on even when the traffic lights were out, assuming the power outage could not affect all of the traffic lights.
but then we needed to detour when we came upon a tree that had fallen and completely blocked the road, and when we got to the next major intersection there was mass confusion as to how to navigate the traffic with no signals to guide the way.
after a close call in the intersection and then passing a couple of significant car accidents, we decided to go to a closer restaurant. but, alas, that road was also blocked and - we learned later - all of the power was out.
so we turned around again, this time intent on returning home. and we did so with little incident, aside from driving with the gas light on for a bit because the first gas station we got to didn't have any pumps working.
but it was chaos on the roads and, having heard from people in the area, it is chaos in the homes as well. the whole area is without power (some without water) and the power company says it could be as late as aug. 4 before they get everyone back on the grid.
It's been a strange summer.

Alice Bristor

2010-07-23T13:51:00.003-04:00

I returned home from an especially frustrating 7-Mile shopping experience this afternoon, and as I was pulling into mu driveway I noticed an older lady had parked her car in the middle of the street and was on her cell phone having a conversation. This, unfortunately, was not strange. We have a mail box at the corner of our street and people regularly pull over in unsafe and incomprehensible ways. It's frustrating to watch and I always feel like going over to the people and telling them off. This never happens because I either check myself and conclude that it is not worth it (this is Baltimore, after all, and people get shot here for much less) or because the people move on too quickly for me to get over there.
But this time was different. The woman moved like she was going to get into her car but then she continued to wander in a circle around her vehicle, all the while engaged in an in-depth conversation on her phone.
So I concluded that she wasn't going to rush off. And because she was an older woman, I figured that I could take her and that I did not have to fear for my safety.
But don't get me wrong I was going to give this woman a piece of my mind.
As I approached her I gave her "the stare" and asked in my most cynical and condescending voice, "Is something wrong?"
Innocently she answered, "Yes. My car just stopped working."
Now I don't know much about cars, but I felt that it was a little strange that her car just stopped working. I know that it can happen, but when weighing the option of "mechanical failure" with that of "elderly woman", I felt pretty safe where I would place my bet.
I was a bit more sympathetic, though, when I asked her if she wouldn't mind me taking a look inside. I got in the driver's side and immediately noticed that the car was in neutral. I quickly diagnosed this as a problem, put the car in park and turned the ignition. Sure enough, the car started (stupid old lady).
I explained to her that she probably hit the gear shift into neutral when she was turning the corner and that was why her car stopped driving.
She looked skeptical but felt reassured and got into her car. I went back toward the house to unload my groceries but kept an eye on her to make sure she could drive away (like when people make sure that the person they just dropped off makes it into the house safely - even though the person has a key).
But instead of just driving off, she pulled her car over to the side of the road and just waited. I assumed that she had probably spoken with a friend and they had planned to meet before I had come to save the day, so she was just waiting for said friend to arrive. But I felt kind of bad and decided to take a cup of water out to her (it's like 100 degrees outside today).
And when I got to the car and gave her the water, she told me that the car had just stopped working again.
Needless to say, this expert mechanic was perplexed.
I again go into the passenger side of the car and tried to start the car. But, unlike my previous success, the car would not start. It gave a couple of whirs before nothing, and then the clock reset and I knew there was something wrong with the battery.
I once again diagnosed the problem for her and asked if she had AAA or any roadside assistance plan. She did not. But she did confirm that she had called Marilyn already and that Marilyn was on her way. Which was good, because I don't know how to jump start a car and I didn't want to use my AAA before winter (when I usually need it).
But I did invite the woman into my house and she accepted. And she was very grateful for the AC and another glass of water. And then I learned that her name was Alice.
Alice only drives her car to shopping and church. She is 89 years old and has 6 great-grandchildren. I spoke with her son on the phone and explained the car issued to him and reassured him that his mother was safe and taken care of. When Marilyn arrived she was relieved that Alice was not just standing outside in the hot sun. She had flagged down the police car to have him help track down Alice, and he pulled up just as the reunion was happening. He also gave his thanks, and even though I recognized him as the cop that gave me a ticket two years ago for speeding on Lightfoot, I felt that this was a prime example of police and community working together.
In the end I drew my own lessons from the story (not "Benefit of the Doubt"), but I mostly took away the feeling of satisfaction in knowing that my nosiness and frustration with stupid actions can be a positive attribute.
I don't need to change, you do.

Accidental tourist

2010-07-19T13:35:00.003-04:00

So yesterday was Sunday and we decided that it was high time to ride the water taxi around the inner harbor. The plan was to take the taxi over to fells point and eat at the new kosher cafe there, then go to the science center and end up at the o's-jays game for a few innings before heading back to suburbia for a birthday party.
things didn't go as planned, but we did start the day with a water taxi ride to fells point and we did have lunch at the van gough cafe.

but then we continued on the water taxi to ft. hood, where we sat in the shade of some trees for a 1/2 hour before getting back on the water taxi for the trip back to the inner harbor.

time flew, and by the time our boat docked we only had time for ice cream before we had to get back in the car and head home.
but we had a really good time. despite the heat and the sun (95 degrees) we manages to make it home. the little one conked out in the car but me and the 4 year old quickly changed for the birthday party.
by the time the sun set on the day, I was exhausted. but it was a good day and a great way to bond with the family after being away for so long.

Berlin - Day 2

2008-07-03T08:16:00.001-04:00

I’m at the doctor’s office right now. I awoke this morning with a very sore throat and lots of… well, let’s just say that I have my suspicions that I might have strep/bronchitis. So, after trudging through this morning’s activities, I returned to the hotel and immediately headed to the local clinic. It’s just down the block, but Renee walked me over to keep me company (and, I suspect, to satisfy some of her motherly needs).

So as I sit in the waiting room with nothing to read (because everything is in German), it gives me a good opportunity to write my blog summery of today’s events:

We started the day at a park on the east side of Berlin whose main attraction is the war memorial built by the communists after WWII. Of course, it says nothing of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and instead focuses on the victory of the Soviets over the Nazis (the message is that the Soviets were forced into a war they would have preferred to avoid, and ultimately their victory was one of freedom over oppression). The park and its monument are very impressive and they make one feel insignificant (not sure if this was the point). I was really impressed with it and enjoyed it.

From there we hopped back on our tour bus and headed over to one of the Jewish cemeteries in Berlin. Ed showed us around the graves of German Jews who lived during the heyday of pre-WWI until the Holocaust (an era that was the focus of a book that we were assigned to read, “The Pity of it All” by Amos Elon). We congregated by a memorial to fallen Jewish soldiers in WWI and Ed handed out readings of how Jews felt about their German identities. I must say that he really impressed me with this activity, as he is usually more frontal in his educational style.

Next, Ed took us on a bust ride around Berlin, pointing out some of the major sites. It was a relaxing way to see the city, and very informative.

The bus dropped us off at the Ebert Foundation, which is a political activism group connected to the German Social Democrat party. They are one of the supporters of this trip, having committed to pay for our trip over here (I have yet to be reimbursed). We had lunch and listed to Pia tells us of her story. And what she said about Germans was very enlightening. She explained that in Germany - for the past 4 -5 generations - each generation has had to deal with a different Germany. We sometimes fail to realize this. Perhaps she was saying that Germany today is not the Germany of the past, and that is perfectly normal in Germany. Meaning, when we are surprised that anyone could live in Germany today and we view it as still tainted by Nazism, she was saying that this generation is not the last and is able to disconnect from its past (while still making amends).

We also had our first session to review some new Centropa material. We met Ullrike, who is the filmmaker for Centropa, and she showed us a new film on a couple from Vienna who grew up just a few blocks away from each other and met and got married after the war. It was very good and touched on many different aspects of Holocaust history.

We then went over our lesson plans for how we plan to use Centropa in our classrooms using an activity entitled “Critical Chavruta”. I worked with Neil and we had an enlightening conversation.

Today is July 1, which means that it is my anniversary as well as Canada Day. While Renee and I had a subdued “Happy Canada Day”, anniversary celebrations were lacking. I did, however, send Tikki some flowers (expensive) and left her a card in my night table drawer. I also spoke with her later in the day (for me). It’s hard being away from home but especially today.

…………………………………………………………….

Medical update: The doctor (Trompke) prescribed an antibiotic for me. I will be taking it for the next six days. It was a less eventful visit than I initially feared.

First day in Berlin

2008-07-03T06:38:00.000-04:00

I’m a little behind on this whole blog thing, but here’s the latest from my trip:

Monday, June 30, 2008

We arrived at the hotel at about 9 am. Neil and Dvora wanted to take a rest, but since I had slept of the plane, I was raring to go. After freshening up, I headed down to have a bite to eat and then tried to track people down. I started with Eileen (because she had come into the city a few days earlier) and caught her as she was leaving for some sight-seeing. While we had a quick coffee we bumped into Leslie and the three of us set out for an adventure.

Our intention was to head over to the Museum of “Checkpoint Charlie”, which was the border crossing between East and West during the Cold War-era. Eileen got us there successfully by guiding us to the bus stop, helping us buy tickets and letting us know when to get off the bus. When we got there we decided to scout the area around the museum before heading inside. It was a real tourist-y bit, with a fee for everything (have your picture taken with guards, have your passport stamped with an E. Berlin stamp…) but there were some good free photo-ops as well. The museum was pricey (12.5 euro = $17), though, so we decided to forego it and instead proceeded to wander the streets of Berlin.

My initial impressions of Berlin are relative to my experience Vienna. As opposed to the latter, Berlin is a real city (a la the USA) with tall buildings, lots of traffic and a diversity of people. Most of the buildings are post-WWII because the US bombed the city pretty bad during the war. One colleague remarked that it reminded her of a typical Israeli city, only much bigger. Those of you who have been to Israel would probably agree with that statement.

But the city is full of history, having been ground zero for the Holocaust and the Cold War, etc. And we saw a whole bunch of that as we walked the streets and tried to match up some of the buildings with those described in the various guidebooks that we carried with us.

One unique experience that I had (and was hoping to have) was at the Bebelsplatz, which is where the Nazis held a huge bonfire to burn books that they deemed “subversive”. The memorial to the event is a window that looks down (underground) into a room of empty bookshelves (symbolizes/commemorate the lost books). But what really struck me was that as I turned to photograph the area a young person (German?) came up to me and tried to explain (in German?) the significance of the spot. And to do so he pointed to the book he was holding (which looked like – and I assumed – was a sourcebook on the Holocaust) and he excitedly pointed to the picture of the book-burning that he had in the book. And what I processed in my mind (and this is what really struck me) was that here was a young German who was walking around with a sourcebook about the rise of Nazism in Germany and was actually visiting the sites where the major historical events took place! To me, that’s very powerful. To think that no matter what happens, Berliners still have to live in the same place where the instigators/perpetrators of the Holocaust’s horrific crimes rose to power and implemented their policies – that’s got to be tough.

We moved on from this area and hopped on a bus to head towards Brandenburg Gate. This was the spot where “The Wall” first went up. But we were disappointed when we got there because we could not get through to see the gate. We wrote it off to bad luck and decided to head over to see the Reichstag (German parliament), and as we were taking in the scene we heard shouting and cheering coming from the near distance. We all commented on the eeriness of this experience (cheering Germans is something that most Jews still cringe at when they stand outside the Reichstag in Berlin) until we realized that the cheers were coming from the area of the Brandenburg Gate. It was then that we realized that there was indeed a rally going on, but it was to celebrate the return of the German soccer team, which had unexpectedly made it to the finals of the European Cup (they lost to Spain, 1 – 0). Once this was processed we decided to go check out the celebrations. Unfortunately we were too late to get into the festivities and too tired to wait for the imminent parade that would pass our way, so we hopped on the 200 bus and headed back to the hotel.

We got to rest up for a few hours before the program officially opened with a dinner at the hotel. Dinner was a chance for us to meet our European colleagues and hear about the progress of Ed’s program thus far. I met the director of the Wannsee House Museum, which is a Holocaust education museum. The Wannsee House was the site where the Nazis officially implemented the Final Solution. Eichmann was the note-taker at this meeting which estimated the number of Jews living in Nazi-occupied territories and laid out the plan for their extermination. The group goes there on Sunday but I will not be attending because I’m heading back to NYC for the COJS conference.

Most of the Centropa participants were jet-lagged and ready for bed after dinner. I. however, had slept for the majority of the flight over here, so I still had some energy left for a little exploring. When some of the European teachers said that they were going to go out for a beer, I decided to tag along. We shared a beer at an area pub and got to know each other a little bit. It was a good experience. Last year I spent most of the time connecting with the core group of Centropa teachers, so I’m making an effort to do the same with the EU participants.

Tomorrow is the real start to the program.

On the way to Berlin

2008-06-30T03:43:00.003-04:00

I just arrived at the Excelsior Hotel in Berlin for the start of this trip. On my way, though, I blogged offline for a bit, so I'm going to paste those entries here. I will update it at the end.

Travel

6/29/08

It’s so hard to say goodbye… but I just did that to my wife and daughters and now I’m at the BWI airport. And of course, the experience has been “an experience” already.

First off, I got pulled aside for a “random” security check. It seems like every time I travel alone I get pulled aside for these security checks. I don’t think I can complain about racial profiling, but it does feed into my general paranoia that my youthful looks cause me more harm than they do me good.

As I was going through security I noticed that the air-conditioning had mysteriously ceased. I wrote this off to some weird security measure necessary for properly screening bags and assumed that the AC would reappear on the “other side”. But no, I was sadly mistaken. Turns out, the air-conditioning was out in the whole terminal! Now, if you’ve ever been to Baltimore in the summer you know that the only thing that makes the city bearable in the summer is AC (and, in my opinion, that’s the only good thing about Baltimore – regardless of the season). So this was another bump in the road.

And the cherry on top: due to thunderstorms in the NY/NJ area, my flight to Newark has been delayed for at least a ½ hour.

So I’m sitting here in the terminal sweating away with no idea of when I’m going to get out of here but desperately hoping that this is the worst-case scenario and that I won’t miss my flight to Berlin.

An update from Newark…

My flight took off about an hour late and I arrived at Newark at 3 pm. The flight was a nightmare for me, though, as the plane bounced around a whole lot at the start of the flight and upset my (apparently) fragile stomach. I was pretty nauseous for all of the flight but I held on until the end and did not use the paper bag in the seatback directly in front of me. I did, however, use the first restroom I could get to in Newark and proceeded to throw up a couple of times. Given my recent history of stomach woes (which began on a flight to Israel), I’m not too concerned, but I am somewhat dreading the flight to Berlin. My wife doesn’t seem too concerned, though, so I guess I shouldn’t be either.

Lauren is on her way here from Dulles. Her flight was also delayed, but last we spoke she was due to arrive at around 4:30 pm. I hope she makes it.

_____________________

In Berlin:

Lauren did not make our flight. But I did meet up with Neal and Dvora Scheindlin. We met in the airport and sat right across from each other on the plane.

Despite what the woman at continental told me over the phone on Sat. night, there was a kosher meal for me on the flight.

Based on my previous experience with my muscle-relaxant medicine, I popped one pill at the start of the flight and slept for almost the duration of the trip. There were some "American" college kids sitting in the row behind me and they were kind of annoying, but I managed to ignore them for the most part.

The weather here is close to 70 with little humidity. Still, I have to figure out how to use the AC in the room. TV is flat screen with a ton of German channels. Internet is expensive - but vital.

The official start of the program is not until 5:30 pm. We'll probably get a group together to wander Berlin before then.

Passport, Schlonger and Sandbox

2008-06-26T22:42:00.005-04:00

Enticing title, for once, eh?
Those subjects pretty much sum up the day, though.
Of course, the day started with me taking the 2 and 5/12 year-old to camp. And, of course, she was really excited all morning and in the car ride over. And, of course, she ran ahead of me to get to the front door quickly. And, of course, she cried when it was time for me to go.
At least we have a routine.
The next move was home to prepare for our trip to the post office to get the baby's passport. The last time we had gone through this process was in Palo Alto, when we had a less-than-memorable experience... Although we remember it quite clearly: The long line, even longer wait and the bureaucratic organized chaos that seemed imported from somewhere in Asia. So I wasn't looking too forward to this date. And I guess that sometimes you fear your fear into happening, because we went to the Post Office with what I thought were all of the documents necessary and, Lo and behold, the birth certificate was not there. I had to race home while my wife stayed to hold our place. It all worked out in the end, but I wasn't much of a happy camper at the time. I know it was totally my fault, but I still blame my wife for giving me the tremendous and overwhelming (obviously) task of getting all the paper work together. Sorry babe.
After the passports it was off to camp to get Elana. We came home and hung out for an hour before she took a nap. Then it was off to my last day of work at Schlonger's.
I have been working at Schlonger's since just before Purim this year (Note: The "black-hat" high school is officially called the Beis Hamedrash/Mesivta of Baltimore. Because it is "black-hat" it has a Rosh Yeshiva. Rabbi Schlonger is the name of the Rosh'eshiva. Hence, Schlonger's). This was quite an experience for a number of reasons, but I won't go into it here. Leave it at: I was a sub for the 12th grade English class there. Essentially, I was a glorified sub, and we all knew it. But I couldn't let go of the need to teach, so we had a few lessons on a few things and I think they learned something. I'm even giving them a final exam. I took a picture with them today and posted it to my alumni (it's mistakenly spelled aliumni) page on Facebook. Here it is for you.

The last major event of the day was when my father-in-law and his wife brought over a sandbox for the 2 and 5/12 year-old. She had played with sand down by her cousins' in Silver Spring, and Zaidy and NR had noted her enjoyment. So they came by and gifted her a small plastic turtle of a sandbox, two boxes of sand, a bucket and shovel, a small pickup truck and measuring cups. She really enjoyed playing in the sand and managed to keep herself pretty clean. Now she has another "outside" activity for the summer time (although the humidity here is not the best for that).

Anyway, the weekend is upon us and next week is just around the corner. That means my big trip to Berlin and the return of my sister's family. My wife will be on her own for the next 12 days as I attend conferences in Berlin and NYC. I feel bad that I'm leaving her alone with two kids, but she agreed to it. Sorry babe.

Back Spasms

2008-06-26T07:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a wash.
I awoke to continuing back problems. After dropping Elana at camp I headed over to Patient First to get some medication to soothe my ailing back. While I do have a primary physician, I don't really like him because he thinks that all of my physical ailments are stress-related. It's not that he's necessarily wrong; it's more the manner in which he dismisses my symptoms. Like I think that my stomach problems are caused by some weird Asian virus that somehow managed to track me down on a flight from Paris to Tel Aviv and he sits there and listens to my theory and then scoffs and says, "it's stress". And then he charges $55 for the visit, which doesn't exactly ease the stress.
So it was off to the clinic to get some meds. They prescribed a muscle-relaxant, some ibuprofen and a painkiller. I took the muscle-relaxant and some ibuprofen around noon, and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day because that knocked me out! I think I slept most of yesterday away, and then I also slept through the night.
Needless to say, I am in hot waters with the wife right now. I need to put together a string of good days from now until Sunday to make up for yesterday. So I got up with Elana this morning, made her breakfast and lunch, will take her to camp and entertain her when she gets home. Hopefully my back will hold up because the muscle-relaxant is off-limits.

First day of camp

2008-06-24T08:44:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Elana's first day of camp. She has been going to the same babysitter for almost two years and she was getting a bit too old and active for the place, so we decided to sign her up for one of Pikesville's many backyard camps. These camps are run by local H.S./Seminary girls, out of their parents' homes. They're not always the most professional endeavors, but the price is right.
We were really nervous about how Elana would handle the first day of camp. We had talked it up a lot for about a month before she actually went and bought her many new things especially for the experience (new bathing suit, swimming diapers, a backpack, sunglasses...), but we were unsure how she would handle the adjustment.
I took her to the camp for her first day. She was talking excitedly the whole way there, but when we got to the front door she refused to walk over the threshold and the fear in her eyes was palpable. I ended up staying for 20 minutes to get her a little oriented and then left her crying with the head counselor, Aviva.
The rest of the morning was pretty nerve-wracking as we waited at home for the phone call that would ask us to pick up our daughter because she was so distraught and crying so much that she threw up (apparently this is a real family trait, as her aunt used to do the same when she was a little girl). But 1 o'clock rolled around and the phone call never came! Our little girl is all growed up.
Of course, when we picked her up from camp she was in a great mood (not only because she was eating) and elated to see me. We all got in the car and went for ice cream and then came home for a nap (she slept for 3 hours).
We're about to leave for day #2.

Ariella Esther

2008-06-23T14:54:00.003-04:00

Once again things have been moving too fast for me, so I haven't blogged in a while.
This blog is an update.
Four weeks ago we welcomed another little girl into our family. She was born at 7:29 am and weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. We named her Ariella.

Mothers Day

2008-05-11T07:44:00.003-04:00

I'd like to start off this post with "Happy Mothers Day" wishes to my wife, mom and sister and sisters-in-law. I hope the day is an enjoyable and relaxing one.
On Friday I realized that I had yet to buy anything for my wife to mark the special day. So I stopped by Target to buy a card and a gift. I already had an idea of what I was going to get for her, so I was in and out in less than 15 minutes with both a gift and a card (I have a philosophy of not spending more than 5 minutes looking for greeting cards - you're either meant to find it, or you're not). But later in the day, when my wife got home from work, she showed me that her sister had sent her a card with earrings attached to the inside of the card. And when I read the card I was disappointed to find that IT WAS THE EXACT SAME CARD that I had so carefully selected just a few hours earlier. Sheesh. Of course, when my wife saw that something was wrong, I had to tell her about it. We both shared a good laugh.
I was on my way back from the radiology clinic when I stopped in at Target. I have been having stomach issues since our trip to Israel in October and my new GI wanted me to go for some more testing (I had an endoscopy back in November that revealed nothing more than an "irritated stomach"). It was a nuclear medicine test: they had me swallow an egg that had been doused in radioactivity and then they tracked my stomach as it digested and drained the egg. It's a pretty cool concept, but not nearly as glorious as it sounds. I knew that it was going to be a long test, and I came prepared with my laptop and a couple of books. What I didn't realize, though, was that I had to lay still on my back for 90 minutes with minimal movement (and my hands were trapped under the machine), so my prep was for naught. Luckily, the technician set the radio to 98 Rock and I managed to fall asleep for most of the test. I woke up very stiff and feeling no different than before. Initial results seems to indicate that the test did not reveal anything (i.e., my stomach is not the issue; it must be elsewhere). On Monday I go for an upper GI series of x-rays. Oh what fun.
As for school/work, the work has been catching up with me and threatens to get way too far ahead for me to catch up. I have to prep a review for my 9th grade final in JH and go over outlines that my juniors submitted at the start of last week. With all of the preparation for Yom Ha'Atzmaut (which was a good experience, albeit a little ridiculously over-budgeted) I completely lost track of time and failed to do all of that stuff when I had planned. As long as I buckle down this week I should be OK, but if the baby is early I'm screwed (hang on one more week, babe).
We're (I'm) trying to get the baby's room painted (yellow) before he/she comes along. I moved most of the furniture out of the room and pretty much finished the prep work (just need to tape the ceiling and do some plastering). A couple of coats after that and it'll be ready for move in (which gives me a couple of months because the newborn will be with us for the beginning).
OK, that's all for now.
Til next time.

He's Back

2008-05-08T13:25:00.002-04:00

I just got off the phone with my brother-in-law who asked me about my blog. He was concerned that I had not blogged in many months (since January?) and encouraged me to do so again.
And so, here we are.
I wo'nt bore you with details of the last five months. Instead I'll let you know of more recent highlights and future expectations.

My wife - God bless her soul, my wife is only a couple of weeks away from her due date. We've been trying to get prepared for the baby but, compared to last time, we just can't seem to focus well on what needs to get done. I guess we figure that we're prepared (in terms of stuff) because we already had one baby, so how much more do we need for the second one. I hope that our optimism has some foundation. I personally cannot remember anything from those prenatal classes that we took in preparing for Baby # 1. What I do remember from the previous experience only makes me more nervous for the current expectation (lack of sleep, dealing with the hospital, welcoming family, etc.)
My daughter - The biggest worry for the new baby is probably the old one. I can't imagine going through the birthing experience with a two year-old. What do we do with her when labor hits? (Best case scenario, my wife goes into labor on weekday at 8 am and gives birth by 3 pm. Then we don't have to worry as much about babysitters). We've also failed miserably at not spoiling our firstborn, so she is a very demanding and clingy child. We're worried that she might not like the new baby (gifts have already been purchased to ease the transition). There have been successes with my daughter, though. She has become very comfortable with the kids across the street (sometimes I can leave her alone there to play). She has also transitioned to a bed and a new room (painted pink and purple by her loving parents), which has freed up the nursery for the impending arrival. We feel it's 50/50 with her right now. In general, she has been the perfect child for us. We hope she maintains the status quo.
My job - Ah yes, the job. Well, the year is winding down. I'm hoping it doesn't end before I can take my 1-week paternity leave. Overall, this has been an OK year. I have gotten used to the school culture and the student body. I scored some points on Yom HaShoah when the display boards that I had my students create were very well received. It's just been such a long year and the job has taken a lot out of me. I'm really looking forward to that last day when - for two months - I don't have to deal with high schoolers, their parents or an administration (I will have a newborn and 2 yr.-old to deal with, but they whine less).
Summer plans - Once the year is over, my summer plans are pretty set. I will be home for a month before jetting off to Berlin, Germany for a week with Centropa (the original inspiration for this blog). I will follow that with a week in NYC as part of a program aimed at professionalizing the way Jewish History is taught in Jewish day schools in the US. I feel a little guilty about leaving my wife alone with our two children, but I'm sure that a nice piece of jewelry can make up for my absence. At the end of the summer (mid-August) we'll travel as a family to Palo Alto to reconnect with old friends and escape the suffocating heat and humidity of Baltimore. I go back to work Aug. 24th.

So now you're in the know.
Thanks to DG for encouraging me to start blogging again. Hopefully the next one will be a little more humorous.
Spud

Emergency Babysitting

2008-01-29T15:24:00.001-05:00

My wife called me this morning at 8:45 am (about 10 minutes before class) to tell me that our babysitter hurt her back and could not watch our daughter for the day. She also told me that she had an all-morning meeting at her job, so she couldn't take her in with her to her place of work.

(Side note: Normally my cell phone does not work in the school building, but every once in a while my wife manages to get through to me and every time it seems to be something important/pressing)

Thinking on my feet, I made some calculations and decided that she should drop my daughter off at the school and I would watch her for the day. I only had two classes to teach and I already knew that my first-period class was going to be working on an in-class assignment (which would give me some time to plan for my third-period class).

I informed my class (freshmen) that she would be coming in warned them that, under no circumstances should they look at or talk to my daughter while she was in the classroom (she doesn't really do well with new people). I explained to them their assignments and they got to work even before my daughter arrived (they actually did really with the situation and were very mature and understanding about it).

My daughter arrived at 9:10 am and proceeded to spend her time coloring and watching Barney on YouTube (which, amazingly, was still unblocked since the release of Brandon's "Chinese Food on Christmas"). The enabled me to wander around the classroom helping students with any questions that they might have had, and the class ran as it probably would have had she not been there.

When that class was over (10 am) I had a one hour break to prep for the next clas. We headed down to the preschool area and got some books, puzzles and crayons to entertain Elana and keep her bust. I loaded them all into my laptop cart (finally found a use for it), put Elana on top and wheeled around the school in search of Laura. She was able to hook me up with a limited-teaching lesson plan that I then gave to my junior class. Although they struggled a little more than the freshmen at keeping their focus, they did an admirable job and I thanked them for their cooperation.

Since that was my last class of the day, I was able to leave school early (12:25 pm). I called my wife and we met up at the Bistro for lunch. Unfortunately, by the time I got there we only had about 20 minutes to eat because my daughter had a doctor's appointment at 1 pm. I didn't have to leave my wife alone, though, because Ila walked in with Dasi a few minutes before, so my wife just joined them.

The doctor's visit was pretty quick. It was her 2 year check up (and, for the first time that I can remember - she didn't have an ear infection) so things went pretty fast. My daughter, of course, cried through the whole thing (despite the fact that she had watched the Barney video "The Doctor is In" numerous times that morning and in the preceding weeks in anticipation of this visit), but was placated with promises of lollipops, chips and stickers.

We got home at 2:30 pm and I stuck her in for a nap.

She's sleeping right now.

My wife said that I did a good job and that I would get to relax tonight.

My 2 year old

2008-01-29T14:36:00.000-05:00

So my daughter turned 2 last Thursday.

Her birthday happened to coincide with the Leafs' (Toronto's NHL hockey team) visit to Washington to take on the Caps, so I took it as a sign from G-d that she should go to the game. My wife thought I was nuts for wanting to take her (the game was an hour away and started at 7 pm) but she doesn't really get what it means to be a Leafs fan (get them while they're young, because if they're too old they'll be smart enough to cheer for a team that has some hope in hell at winning the Stanley Cup - and then they're lost forever).

"My guy" who works for the Caps hooked me up with four tickets (eight rows from the ice) and a VIP parking pass, and we invited the Bierers and their almost-2 year-old and headed south. And even though the Leafs lost, it was a positive overall experience. There's so much that goes on at a hockey game (loud music, flashing lights, videos and - yes - hockey) that it was the perfect stimulus for keeping a tired kid awake for two or more hours past bedtime.

The next morning my mom came in to town. This was her first visit since my sister went to Israel for the year, so it was a big deal. She wanted to come in especially for my daughter's birthday and she was able to get a lift to and from Buffalo so that she could get a cheap SWA flight here. I got her from the airport and dropped her at the house to chill (my mom can spend hours on the phone/internet) and headed to work to complete some midterm reports.

[Side story: When I picked up my mom from the airport I parked and went inside to meet here. As we were waiting for the bags to come, I noticed what looked to be something ipod-related on the top of the baggage-claim belt and I picked it up. It turned out to be a wall charger for an ipod and, since no one else was around (really, this definitely was something lost for good) I pocketed it and took it home. My wife, of course, was critical of my actions. She felt that I should have given it to the Lost and Found. Sometimes I'm amazed that we get along at all.]

Shabbat with 'Ma' was a nice experience.

On Friday night we headed to my father-in-law's house for dinner and celebrated his birthday with my sister-in-law (my wife's younger sister) and her family (they were staying over there from Silver Spring) and the Zions. The downside was that my stomach was acting up (again) and I was so nauseas the whole time and didn't really socialize all that much. Fortunately my mom picked up my slack, sharing family memories (mostly made up) and personal stories (ibid) with the whole table (needless to say, this did not help in staving off the nausea).

For Shabbat lunch we went to Barbara's house. We work together and, although we are a generation apart (I'm good friends with her younger son and his family), we have a lot in common and have become good friends. Her son from Israel (the older one) was in for a visit so she had a Kiddush at her house and then we were invited to stay for the meal. We really had an enjoyable time getting to know each other's families and I even managed to keep down some food (I had to chance the cholent because it smelled so good).

We came back to the house around 4:30 pm, so it was too late to put my daughter in for a nap. Amazingly, though, she felt comfortable enough to play with my mom and she was willing to stay with her so my wife and I got the rare sleep-until-Shabbat-is-over nap in (thanks mom!).

When Shabbat was over we immediately went to work preparing for the 2 year-old party that I had pushed so hard to have (vicarious living and all). I ran out to get the balloons (I accidentally bought one that said "Happy 16th Birthday") and last-minute party materials while my wife and mom prepared the food and the decorations. We were pretty much done by midnight.

The next morning I made a successful run to Sions to get the cupcakes and we were all set for the party. Lauren, a friend of ours, prepared a program for the kids and we had coloring and toys and food (healthy and noshy) and the party was a great success... although my daughter didn't really enjoy it as much as some of the other kids because she doesn't really do well with crowds and prefers the comfort of a small, recognizable group (but that's not so important because the party wasn't really for her anyway!).

And now she's a full-blown two year-old. Like yesterday, when it was time to clean up, she proceeded to make a mess. And when it was time to eat, she proceeded to throw her food on the floor, making a hugemess. And when it was time for her bath... well, you get the picture.

On the plus side, though, my daughter is getting very good at saying "Time Out".

The New Year

2008-01-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog of the new year.
Lots has happened since the last entry. Winter break came and went, we paid a visit to the family in Toronto, I (basically) finished my "synagogue project" and school has resumed and we're back in full swing.
Here's a more detailed recap of the last couple of weeks:
I was really looking forward to winter break. With it being a Jewish leap year, we don't get another break (Pesach) for a long, long time. Unfortunately, plans fell apart pretty quickly.
First, my little brother and his family were supposed to come down to Baltimore for the first part of the break. Unfortunately that plan never came to fruition because, the night before they were supposed to leave, they couldn't find their passports. I mention this only because my brother was worried that I would. In reality, though, I had a ton of work waiting for me with this project that I had to complete for a program that I attended in the summer.
Most of my vacation was spent working on the project. My original idea was to compare Orthodox and Reform synagogue architecture in 19th century Europe, but in the end I only looked at Reform synagogues in Germany, Austria, Hungary and America at that time. I put together a wiki website (spodek.pbwiki.com) for the project.
We headed up to Toronto for the weekend before New Years. We rented a car and drove up on Thursday night. We left at 7 pm and got to my mom's place just before 3 am (We would have been there 40 minutes earlier but we had a long wait at the border as the women in the booth felt it necessary to cross-examine every car that passed her way). We had a nice Shabbat, with dinner at my older brother's place (I really enjoyed it. They have three boys who are all great. We hadn't seen them in some time, so it was nice to touch base again) slept in on Shabbat and had an intimate lunch at my mom's (although there was enough food to have at least 10 more people over) and went to my mom's cousin for seudat shlishit. On Sunday we went to a bagel place for breakfast (where we bumped into my grandfather and aunt and uncle and cousin and his wife and kid), went shopping with my mom at the WORST WALMART EVER, had dinner at my aunt and uncle and went to sleep early. We were supposed to stick around until Tuesday, but with little going on and my project to finish (can you spell p-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-e) we decided to head home a day early.
So I'm going to end this blog here because I'm not terribly pleased with it (it sounds as exciting as my vacation was). Hopefully I'll get back into the groove soon.
My apologies to any fans/readers that may be out there.

Winter Break

2007-12-20T16:11:00.000-05:00

Well, it doesn't start until tomorrow afternoon; but I needed a title for my blog, so there it is.

OK, some updates:

Mazal Tov to my oldest brother, who just had his third child (a girl). He's living in Israel and things between us are complicated, so I haven't spoken to him yet. I did send off an email....
Stop judging me, please.

We just got our driveway redone last/this week. It was an expensive and frustrating experience. I never realized just how convenient our driveway was until those guys dug it up and spent a week and a half putting it back together.
It was also one of those situations where - against my better judgment - we hired a "local" company (see: Eruv List) to do the job. It was never really clear to me what was going to happen and when. We never signed a contract and the work took longer than we had originally intended. It was a stupid move (I watch a lot of those Judge shows and I should now better), but I figured I could trust the guy.
Well, luckily, I could. Despite delays and some anxious moments, the job got done (although The clean up left much to be desired).
Live and learn.
We still haven't moved the cars back into the driveway, though. My wife pointed out the irony in re-doing a driveway that we don't use any more, but I just want to wait a little while longer to make sure that everything is dry and ready for the cars again.
And just before I drop that topic, I'd like to thank my father-in-law and his wife for their assistance in this whole matter.

I have also entered a new phase of my life as I just sent off a check for my first ever life insurance policy. I am now officially worth more dead than alive. Fortunately I have a very loving wife who is not too into material things (aside from diamonds and jewelry), so I think I should be OK. But it was definitely weird coming up with a dollar value for myself and everything I own and owe. I also had this paranoia that the whole time I was waiting for the policy to kick in, something bad was going to happen to me (I always fear irony).

On a lighter note, my daughter continues to grow and amaze us...
She goes to a babysitter and one of the other girls there is named Michal. She has difficulty pronouncing the Semitic "ch", so she whenever she talked about this girl she would call her "Mishel". Well, this past Friday, after I picked her up from the babysitter, she was in her car seat all the way home saying "Mee-kchal, Mee-kchal" (essentially practicing her "ch"). I was so proud of her and made a really big deal out of the whole thing. I had her try to say "Challah" (which she calls "La-la") and Chanukah (even though the Holiday was over) and kept giving "Hooray"s and promising prizes all the way home. I felt it was such a big step in my daughter's development as a Jew (instead of a Brit Milah?) and I really was excited.
Of course, when my wife came home I was bursting to tell her the great news, so I animatedly related the experience to her.
Her response? "Oh yeah. She's been doing that for a couple of days now. No big deal.
NO BIG DEAL!?!?!

I wonder how she'll be at my daughter's wedding (yeah, it was a nice affair, but no biggie).

But to get back to my original blog title:
I'm sure you're all wondering what I'll be doing over break. So far the schedule looks like this:

Finish "Synagogues Project" for COJS (there's a lot of code there and I'm really not interested in explaining it all to you right now. But when it's done, I'll tell you all about it).
My brother and his wife and daughter will be coming for a visit on Sunday. We haven't seen them since... the summer?... so that should be nice.
On Christmas, my daughter's babysitter is taking the day off and my wife has to work (ca you believe that? Who the hell works on Christmas? I mean, you might not celebrate it, but it is a freaking Federal holiday!) so I'm on full-day duty. Yikes. I hope my daughter survives the experience.
We're heading to Toronto for the weekend before New Years. We're driving (please no blizards). Yikes. I hope I survive the experience.

If I don't blog before then, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Winter Break and a Happy Winter Break (that's what we call it at my school).

Chanukah

2007-12-11T10:49:00.001-05:00

Tonight's the last night of Chanukah, so it's a good time to summarize what's happened over this past week:

The holiday has been pretty enjoyable. My wife made delicious latkes and special holiday cookies. We also decided to jump on the presents bandwagon this year to ensure that our daughter will always have a positive feeling toward Chanukah. We've been giving her one gift each night of the holiday and she's really enjoyed tearing open the wrapping paper and trying her "prizes". She refuses to touch the candles (a good thing, I guess) and she cries whenever we start to sing (she only likes to sing her songs), but we consider the plan an overall success.

We went to a couple of parties during the holiday. The first was a Sat. night party for our friends' daughter who turned two. They had a lot of family in town, so the place was pretty full. We debated buying a gift and decided, at the last moment, to do so. We were lucky to find a "Mrs. Potato Head" at the Rite Aid and even luckier that the birthday girl did not yet own one. She really liked it (for two seconds until her next gift arrived).
The next night we attended my wife's family's Chanukah party. Her sister lives down in Silver Spring and she came in with her husband and three kids as well as her brother/sister in-law and their two kids and her parents-in-law. My father-in-law and his wife hosted. My wife's aunt and uncle were also there. And, for a "family" party, it really wasn't all that bad. The kids got tons of gifts and enjoyed playing with each other. My daughter finally warmed up near the end of the party and played with Vovo (wife's sister's father-in-law), but I wasn't feeling so great so we had to leave soon after the dinner was done.

I've been celebrating at school as well. On Friday the kids got to have a Color War, so that meant no real classes. And I also like to light the candles at the start of each of my classes and then sing the first verse of Maoz Tzur. As jaded as these kids are, they seem to appreciate this form of celebration.

Speaking of lighting candles... This year I purchased ready-to-light oil containers for my menorah. The irony is that while the holiday celebrates the miracle of one cruse of oil lasting for eight days, my lights - which are meant to last for hours - have struggled to remain lit for more than a half hour. Although I guess irony is also a big theme of the holiday (many vs. few)...

And, so, another Chanukah draws to a close.

First Snow

2007-12-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

We got our first snow today. Unfortunately it didn't start until after the school day, so no day off of work. Baltimore is famous for its low tolerance for snow and all day the students (and faculty) at my school were waiting for the fateful announcement that never did come. It was really putting a damper on my day until I realized that I did not teach past fourth period and could duck out early (to avoid the carpool rush). We'll see what the deal is for tomorrow. It's not supposed to snow anymore, but a delayed opening would be great (don't have to deal with students and Tefilah - not that there's anything wrong with that).

The snow didn't keep me in the house tonight, though (Ironic that I almost NEVER leave the house, but on a snowy night - that's when I decide to get out for a bit). I was over at the JCC to meet and hear from Nathan Englander.
I first read his work when I was in Israel ("For the Relief of Unbearable Urges") and really enjoyed it. When I found out that he was raised yeshiva-ish and went "off", I just knew I had to meet this kindred spirit. And out of the blue he came in a speaking engagement arranged by a Baltimore-wide (Jewish, of course) reading consortium.

When I arrived I was one of five in the room so I introduced myself to Nathan and we played a little Jewish geography (we were both in Israel around the same time) but we didn't find any connections. We managed to carry on a conversation nonetheless. It was weird because I was in that whole "This guy is famous/I wish I could be him" mode and it felt a little gay (not that there's anything wrong with that). But the whole thing was neat and I felt cultured afterwards (even though he was here to promote his new book, "The Ministry of Special Cases", and I had only bought my copy ten seconds before I introduced myself).

My wife was supposed to come with. We had a babysitter all set up. A student from school. But I called her a couple of hours before she was supposed to come and she said that she couldn't make it because (no kidding) her house had been broken into. She was crying and distraught and I - IDIOT - said "So you won't be able to babysit?". Well, with no babysitter, one of us had to stay home. And since I was the one who had come up with the whole idea of going, my wife got House-duty.

G-d bless her soul.

My aching back

2007-12-03T16:42:00.000-05:00

So last Thursay morning I was playing "row, row, row your boat" with my daughter (I was the boat) in an attempt to avoid the Barney videos while keeping her entertained. All seemed in order until I got my daughter ready to go to the babysitter, at which time my back started to spasm. I really thought the pain would subside over the course of the day but I was mistaken.

By Friday morning I was in some serious pain, but I had a ton of work to catch up on at work and had to wait until after that was done to see a doctor. I dropped my daughter off at my father-in-law and headed over to Patient First (which is where people with no real doctor go if they need to get checked out) where I waited for two hours to see a doctor.
And what a doctor! His name was Dr. Hooper and, at first glance, it seemed that he was probably an older relative of Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street (yes, that old!). He also reeked of cigarette smoke, but that was a good thing because by now I had given up hope of getting an x-ray (there was less than an hour until Shabbat) and was just looking for some meds to get me through the weekend. Dr. Hooper understood.

The meds helped make for an exciting weekend, but they failed to take the edge off. I spent most of the weekend in discomfort and bitching to people about my predicament. It was at shul that my friend, whose wife is a physical therapist, suggested that I drop by for some treatment. So on Sunday morning I headed over to my friend's place and his wife started to mess around with my back. It really felt great to have a massage, but the treatment did not totally resolve the discomfort. To make matters worse (?), she found some scoliosis in my upper back (altohugh she doesn't think it will be an issue until I'm much older).

Presently, I'm still in pain with no idea of what to do about it. Another friend has suggested that I come by his office to have an MRI taken (he's a hotshot doctor), but I don't know if I'm ready to shell out the cash for that procedure. I think that if I just ignore the issue it will eventually go away. I'm old enough to know that things don't work that way but young enough to stubbornly refuse to recognize that truth.

Time will tell.

Terrible Twos

2007-11-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

(People have been telling me that my blogs are a bit too edgy and negative for them, so I'm going to write about my daughter again. It's a happier topic)

So last week my wife and I went away and left my daughter with my father-in-law and his wife. We were worried about how she'd deal with being "on her own" but she did really well. I guess she was ready to start living on her own, and our trip away was her chance to play.
Trouble is, though, that while we came back ready to assume the role of parents, she continues to stubbornly cling to her independence. This wouldn't bother me too much if she would go out and get a job (let alone get dressed, fix her own meals and change her own "pishee"s and "poop"s), but she seems content to leech off of us while asserting her needs.

Apparently this is what is meant by "Terrible Twos", which is a total misnomer in this case because my daughter won't be two for another couple of months. Question are always answered with a reflexive "no", foods will inevitably end up on the floor and every attempt to go anywhere involves a spirited run around the house that usually ends with a screaming, whining child being shoved into a jacket, then a car and then a car seat.

This development is bad enough its own, but add to it my daughter's newfound appreciation for television. Yes, at first I though it'd be great. I figured, a few videos would be a wonderful way to keep her entertained while my wife and I needed to get things done around the house. But TV is a powerful drug, and it has quickly enticed my daughter into developing a full-blown addiction. No sooner than she wakes up, comes home from the babysitter or has a free moment to play is she asking for one of her videos.
Of course, her favorite video is a Barney video. And Barney is the biggest, purplest and most ANNOYING dinosaur you have ever seen. Why did I buy that video for her? What was I thinking? Hadn't my wife and I spoken about this? Hadn't we agreed? But it was on sale (damn you, Sam Walton!).
Yet things, could be worse. It could be a Teletubbies video (lo aleinu).

The silver lining, of course, is that my girl is growing up and one day soon (in the "Peace in the Middle East" sense) she will graduate from medical school, open up her own private practice and make enough money so that her mom and I can live off of her.
How's that for independence.

The "Do Not Scnorr" List

2007-11-25T15:10:00.001-05:00

So I'm thinking of starting a Do-Not-Schnor List (like a do-not-call list, but for schnorers who go house to house and ask for money) for the Baltimore area because it's getting a little ridiculous.

Last night, at 9 pm, my doorbell rang. For some reason I did not process that it was probably a schnorer, so I peaked through the peephole and - for some inexplicable reason - opened the door. On the other side was a man with a beard who spoke to me in Hebrew and explained that he was collecting money. I gave him my "I'm sorry, but I don't give at the door" and he turned on the whole Jewish guilt thing (if Moshe rabbeinu came to your door asking for money, would you refuse him?). I resisted the temptation to give him some money and he offered to give me an envelope so that I could send money to him. I accepted this envelope and was relieved that I did not give him the cash. The important cause was for a Kolel organization in Israel...

The theory of how the schnorers found our house is twofold. One is that, because we are listed in the local Jewish phone book (The Eruv List) we are also on the lists of every schnorer that shows up in the city to collect for their "just" cause. As well, the previous owner of our home seems to have been rather generous to previous schnorers, so many are returning in the hopes of getting more money. Both theories are probably true.

I have discussed this matter with many of my Baltimore friends and most of them accept the reality of the schnorers. I, however, am not comfortable with the idea, and I think I've figured out why:
First, when I was a kid and the schnorers used to come to my house, I was told to answer the door and tell the schnorers that my parents weren't t home or that they were busy. That was model upon which I was raised, and it's stuck with me. To be sure, my parents gave a lot of money to charity --- it was just the door-to-doors that they rebuffed.
Second, I attended a Yeshiva for high school and my education was far from stellar. I generally reject what I was taught, especially the idea that sitting and learning is an ideal and that if you do get a job, paying for someone to learn was the next best thing. I also dislike rabbi-looking people (until I get to know them).
Finally, I do not earn a lot of money and I realize that I, too, could benefit from as many handouts as possible. I give a set amount of charity to organizations that I support and don't have a lot left over for schnorers.
When someone knocks on my door asking for a handout, all of these emotions pass through my mind.

And I know that some of you are judging me, and I get it. Still, I would prefer if total strangers (even a fellow "yid") didn't come up to my door and ask for money. It's weird.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T22:15:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving weekend is behind us...

It was my wife's 30th birthday on Friday, so I had arranged for us to go to DC for a couple of nights. Her dad and his wife took care of our daughter for that time. It was the first time we had left her alone since she was born (someone else putting her to bed, and all that). She did just fine, but we were pretty nervous about it. Thankfully, everything went well.

On Wed. night we left Baltimore and headed south to the DC-area. We stopped at Siena's for dinner and then went to an Off-Broadway show in Bethesda called "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change". My wife enjoyed the show, but it was a little too much for me. It passed without incident, and we headed off to our hotel (Capitol Hilton - fancy).

We awoke pretty late on Thursday morning. I had packed some bagels with cream cheese and lox, so we had that for breakfast. We then decided to take a walk over to the White House to check out what was happening (not much). I then tricked my wife into walking towards
Dupont Circle (she has no sense of direction) and surprised her with a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner at Eli's Deli. We walked back to the hotel room and started to watch a movie, but that darned tryptophan knocked us out for a couple of more hours.
The evening plans started with a trip to Royal Dragon for a Chinese dinner, but after we got there we realized that we weren't hungry or in the mood for the limited buffet that they had available. We ordered something to go and headed back into DC to see a show called "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center. The show was quite entertaining. The only complaint was that there was a large group of high school kids there to see the show (they were well-behaved, but I just hate spending my free time around adolescents --- I deal with them EVERYday).

All had gone rather well up to that point. Friday, though, was a whole other experience...

First, I had to move the car by 7 am from the street into a lot. We had scouted some lots the night before and found one not too far from the hotel (a block and a half). When I went to park in the morning, I pulled into the lot and headed down the ramp to park. I was looking for the place to take a ticket, but I couldn't find one. That's when I noticed the attendant coming up behind me. He seemed very pissed. Turns out, I was supposed to stop my car at the top and walk up to his window to grab a ticket and give him my keys. It was pretty early so I just blew off his attitude, gave him my keys and headed back to the hotel (there's more to this story later).
On my way back to the room I decided to drop by the spa to check on an appointment that I had arranged for my wife. I figured it was a simple matter of confirming her facial, massage and manicure, but the guy tells me that his esthetician called in sick and that the facial would have to be canceled. That really bugged me because the only thing my wife really wanted was a facial. Also, the spa has a 24-hour cancellation, and if I would have done the same they would have charged me anyway. So I told the guy that I felt that I should be properly compensated. He offered a free massaged and I countered with a massage and manicure and won (I know this sounds like a good thing, but I would have paid money to avoid the stress altogether).
After the treatment I went to get the car. We had to be back in Baltimore by 1 pm to get my daughter. When I got to the lot, the angry attendant and another were there. The other guy helped me out, but as the car came up the ramp I heard a clicking sound. I checked the tires and, sure enough, there was a screw stuck in my rear left tire. I asked the attendants what had happened and the angry pipes in that it wasn't from them and that I could "go check" to see that there was nothing on the ground in the lot. That really got me steamed and I forced them to fill out a damage report.
With a screw stuck in the tire and 60 miles to go we debated if we should drive the car. We decided to chance it and head for home. We made it almost all the way home. We got off 695 and passed the quarry when we heard the dreaded flapping sound. The tire went flat less than a mile from home. My father-in-law was able to grab our daughter from the babysitter and then picked up my wife from the car while I waited (and waited) for AAA to come change the tire (please don't ask why I didn;t change it on my own). I ended up going home until AAA called to say they had arrived and my wife drove me back to the car. The tire was changed pretty quickly but then the car wouldn't start. Luckily, the mechanic hadn't left and he gave me a jump.

I was happy when Shabbat arrived.

Rabbi Marcus

2007-11-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

My sister called this morning and left a message telling me that Rabbi Marcus passed away.
I hadn't seen the man in quite some time (It's been a while since I've been to Toronto, even longer since I've been to Bnai Torah and almost forever since I last spoke with the rabbi - probably at my aufruf a few years back). I did know that he was sick, but I never really process these things well (out of sight, out of mind?). And as inevitable as the news was for some, it really caught me off guard.

The first time I met the rabbi I was a five year-old kindergarten student at Eitz Chaim. Over the course of the year we had been learning our Aleph Bet, earning stars for every letter that we covered along the way. I, of course, had procrastinated for most of the year so that, by the end of the year, I had only gotten as far as the fifth or sixth letter (not for lack of knowledge, mind you). With time running out, I tried to corner my teachers to have them listen to me run through all of the letters so that I could earn my stars.
Shockingly, they could not devote all of their time to ME.
This upset me tremendously, so I stormed out of the classroom into the school lobby at the very moment that Rabbi Marcus was entering the front office (This was the rabbi's very first day and he was on his way to introduce himself to his neighbors).
When he saw me moping in the lobby (I was really cute and innocent-looking as a kid) he asked me what was wrong. I explained my situation, and he offered to solve it by being the one to listen to me recite my letters.
He spent a significant amount of time with me that day, and I earned a lot of stars as a result of his kindness and patience.
First impressions are very important.
That is the Rabbi Marcus that I knew.
That is the Rabbi Marcus that I remember.

Baruch Dayan Emet.

Short week

2007-11-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

It's tough to keep up with a blog. When there's a lot going on there's not enough time to sit down and write about it; when things are slow it's really difficult to find things to write about. I guess I could spend some time bitching about how complicated blogging is (or did I just do that?).
I'm currently in a "not-much-happening" stage, so here's a summary of the past few days:
The weekend came and went...
Shabbat starts so early that I nearly missed it. At 4:30 pm on Friday I was on the computer and watching TV when my wife asked if I planned on getting ready for Shabbat. Of course, it was a little too late at that point to do anything m ore than turn off the TV and shutdown the laptop...
An early start to Shabbat means an early end on Saturday night, which, in the past, meant a chance to get out. But now that we have a kid (and each other) that doesn't really happen too often. We spent the evening watching a movie ("Science of Sleep" --- pass on it) and munching on popcorn.
On Sunday I played football (we have this great game of out-of-shape Jewish guys who desperately need exercise), went with the wife and kid to visit grampa, and hung out at the Klaff Jr.'s for the early evening.
Monday brought with it the new parking set up at my school (I'm a teacher at a school that's doing a lot of construction). See my blog about Baltimore drivers and you'll understand how frustrating something like that can be. It put everyone in a bad mood. Luckily, the rest of the day went swimmingly and I made it through.
Today's highlights included a quick day at work, a physical for life insurance (blood and urine) and sushi for dinner.
Excitement is just around the corner. Tomorrow is a half day of work and then the wife and I are going away for two days ON OUR OWN! We plan on sleeping and doing things that people who don't have children do.
Hopefully I'll be too busy to blog.

Driving in Baltimore

2007-11-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

I often complain about the way people drive around here. The stereotype is the 15 passenger GMC van that doesn't stop at stop signs, makes short left-turns and wide right-turns and drives on the wrong side of the road. It's really a frustrating experience, especially on Fridays (I use my horn often. My wife has still not gotten used to that).
These driving skills often play out at the supermarket as well. People amble along with their carts, stopping dead in the middle of an aisle as they ponder their next move, blocking it completely for everyone else. They come out of aisles, completely blind, and don't bother to stop. They often are so unaware of their environment that saying "Excuse me" doesn't work. Today, my daughter and I went shopping for groceries at the local supermarket (my wife read my blog and started to bother me about how lazy I am and how I don't help out as much as I could). We had a pretty big shopping list and - because I'm not so familiar with the layout of the store (I usually go there for emergency milk runs and the like) - there was a lot of going back and forth. Needless to say, it was bad...

More than me

2007-11-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

It's the end of the week and I'm glad it's over. Being a teacher, parent and homeowner is stressful at times, so it's nice to not have to worry about one of those responsibilities for a little while.

I haven't really written about my family at all since I've started this blog.
I guess it's only fair to mention them every once in a while...

My wife started working about a month ago. We realized that the single-income family thing wasn't exactly working for us so she applied and got a full-time job that started right after we got back from Israel. This changed a lot about our daily routine. For my wife, it meant rolling out of bed before 9 am and not having most of the day to take care of things around the house.

As for me, I now pick up my daughter from the babysitter and watch her (alone!) for about an hour or so unitl mom gets home. I, of course, am supposed to be helping out more around the house to make things easier, but I've been a lazy ass these past few weeks. I do feel more guilt than I did in the past, so I guess I'm vindicated.

My daughter had the easiest transition. She now goes to the babysitter for 8 hours a day (instead of 4) and she loves it there. She knows that, when I come to get her, "Mommy - work" and she seems to enjoy watching me play Madden football or check my email. We've even got a snack routine down where she demands something and I give it to her.

Weekends are becoming more important but we're still in the rut of not doing anything on Sundays. Because of a new commitment to budget, which limits excursions to Target and Walmart (which can kill 2 hours on a Sunday), we don't really have a whole lot of ideas. Last Sunday we broke the bank and went to the Science Center. They were showing a Mr. Roger's Neighborhood thing in the panetarium and we thought that Elana might enjoy it. She did, until the lights went out... Word of advice to all you first-time parents (cuz I know that the veterans are laughing at our stupidity): Don't spend money on kids activities before your kid is 2. Definitely not $30.

A few other cute things about my girl:

She's good at singing her ABCs and counting to ten.

She just got her most recent shots and she only cried for, like, 20 seconds (seriously)

She like to point at people's freckles and say "Freckles", but it actually sounds like "F**kers" (see video)
She puts her feet on the table when she eats because she knows they belong "Under table"
She likes to watch Barney (ARGH!)

That's all for now.

Try, try again

2007-11-13T14:47:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last blog (the Israel trip) and, of course, a lot has happened since then. But it would take me too long to go back and recap the past month, so I'll just take it from the top.

Israel expenses keep adding up:

I was sick to my stomach for a lot of the time that I was in Israel. When I got back I went to see a GI and he ordered an endoscopy. Needless to say, these things aren't free. And since I got sick on the way to Israel, I decided to add it to the expense of the Israel trip (it's all the same back account, but mentally, it helps).
Then came the credit card bills. Well, that was a bit of a shock. When it's on the card, you really don't feel it. Our most expensive days were those "second days" that we opted out of. Maybe G-d is punishing me for keeping only one day of Chag (or maybe I was just too irresponsible with my money). I just remind myself that spending money in Israel is a Mitzvah.
Finally, despite trying to figure out how much I was going to get docked by my work for missing school, the amount was much more than I had assumed. My calculations were incorrect both in the number of days they were going to dock me as well as the amount of money I earn per day (and, thus, get docked). That really hurt. It's not like I get paid the best salary out there, and this makes it even less. It's tough getting nickel-and-dimed by a Jewish institution, but lesson learned.

I'm also a bit overwhelmed with a bunch of other "projects" that I need to finish up:

COJS, the program that I attended in NYC this summer (pre-blog), came calling for their curriculum. I had a great idea for a unit that I was supposed to be working on for the past few months. Now I have to cram (remember college?). Luckily I found some sources in the BT library...
I'm looking into applying for grad school. I'm thinking of jumping into education with both feet and going for an MA in admin. I think that I have some good education ideas (although I know that I'd need to improve my organizational skills). But they need transcripts from BIU, and damned if I know how to go about getting them.
MERCAZ, which is BT's adult education program, meets for the last time tomorrow night. Every lesson has been a scramble and this last one is no exception. It helps that we'll break early for a final dessert, but I've got to get it done soon.

There's more, but even I'm getting bored thinking about it. This isn't bad, though, for a first try (again).

Made it

2007-09-21T05:45:00.001-04:00

We made it to Israel last night. We decided in the summer time that we would go for Sukkot and I figured that we should spend Yom Kippur here as well (they change the clocks in Israel based on YK; the fast is just as long but ends by 6 pm).
We flew Air France and it was a decent experience. My father-in-law and NR drove us to Dulles (in record time) for our flight to Paris. There was extra room on the flight but we all had a hard time sleeping.
When we got to Paris we were all set to hop on the RER and head into the city but we couldn't figure out what they had done with our stroller. Turns out that when they took it from us at the gate they checked it through to Tel Aviv! I was pretty annoyed as Elana was tired and we weren't about to carry her through Paris. But the woman at baggage claim managed to track it down for us and the problem was solved (although we did lose an hour of free time).
Turns out, that wasn't such a bad thing... we were so tired that walking in Paris, even with the stroller, was so tiring. We went to the Marais and got some food (thanks for the advice from DK) and then just walked. We saw Notre Dame and the river, but the Eifel Tower was barely visibe from where we were and too far away to get there. We were quite content to be back at the airport a couple of hours later.
The final leg was a full flight so Elana slept on me and Tikki. The guy next to me was nice but he kept emitting a nauseas smell every few minutes. I managed to sleep a bit, though, and we got to TA on time (We were so stiff by the end of the flight).
WELCOME TO ISRAEL!
Customs was short and painless and our bags came through without a problem... but the car seat was still not there. I was told that it would come through on a special conveyor belt so we went to wait there. When nothing happened for a few minutes I peaked down the conveyor belt... and saw our car seat just sitting there. Of course, there was no one around so I went to the people at Lost Baggage and asked them to help. After a whole drei and a stubborn front on my part, they got a guy to come and turn on the belt. He couldn't understand why I was upset and seemed impatient... WELCOME TO ISRAEL!
Then we went to get a cab. At first there was driver in the terminal. He wanted 180 shek for the ride to Modiin, so, feeling like we were getting ripped off, we went to the Taxi stand. The driver we got there welcomed us to his car and then just stared at our cart before I asked him to help us load up (we also had to install the car seat, which seemed to surprise him). I asked him for a price and he looked it up -- 120 shek... WELCOME TO ISRAEL!
The he asked if I needed a receipt and I said yes so he said that he would have to put it on the meter. I wasn't too happy with this, especially because he didn't seem to know the Modiin area at all. We argued for a bit and then he said that I would only have to pay the meter or 120, whichever is cheapest... WELCOME TO ISRAEL!
We got to my sister's at 1 am and as I was schlepping the bags up the stairs I twisted my back. I woke up at 6 am this morning feeling like crap. I woke up my sister and told her that I needed to go to the hospital because I was dehydrated. We held off for a bit and I drank 2 liters of Petel, throwing up every once in a while - slept for a bit more and now I'm feeling OK.
Tonight is Yom Kippur. I hope that all will be OK.
The best of luck to everyone for a good ending!

Presentation

2007-09-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've blogged, but last night I presented my Centropa experience to my shul (synagogue) in Baltimore and I though I'd write about it a bit.
Due to the makeup of the membership, my audience was mostly older people, with a smattering of the "under-40 youth". It was pretty intimidating being up in front of people who have experienced so much more than me in life, and probably lived through some of the history that I was going to present. What worried me most, though, was that they wouldn't get my jokes.
But things went well. While some of the jokes flopped (maybe they weren't funny?), the material really presented itself. I entitled my lecture "Revival of Jewish Life in Austria and Hungary" and spoke about the Jewish life that I encountered while over in that part of the world. While I only planned on speaking for a half hour, I actually took an hour.
After the Q and A people came up to me to tell me about themselves and where they fit within the story. A few of the people told me that they were from that region (mostly Hungary and Romania) before the war. Another man reminisced about his time in Vienna when he was in the army in 1967. One woman, of Polish descent, told me just what my grandmother would have said: I will never go back to Poland (and I can't blame her).
Miriam's (Danica) story blew me away, and I would love to find out more... I had mentioned the phenomenon of kids in the FSU (former Soviet Union) who grew up not knowing that they were Jewish. She told me that, until the age of 14, she had not known that she was Jewish. She said that my presentation meant a lot to her because it showed others that these Jews are out there. We talked for a little bit afterwards, but I was too nervous to ask her for the whole story. She left me with a phone number and an offer of help if I needed it to translate any Hungarian.
All in all, a worthwhile experience.

Centropa - Day Three

2007-07-27T11:48:00.001-04:00

I pushed off writing this blog last night.

We are currently getting ready for Shabbat and I have a 1/2 hour til I call Tikki, so I will try to remember as much as I can about yesterday's program and today's events:

OK, so the day started with a phone call from Ed, wondering where I was. It became very clear to me that I had overslept, but in less than 5 minutes I was dressed and downstairs (although not quite awake)

We started yesterday at the bank, sitting around the conference table and discussing films (Centropa has been producing short vignettes that they hope we can use in our classroom). Then Nechama and Eileen cited my ideas from the day before and divided us into small groups to look at specific films to flush out how we might use them in the classroom (this, by the way, was NOT my idea exactly, and I felt a lot of pressure to produce in an environment that was a little uncomfortable). But the time passed and we moved on to lunch.

It was back to Alef Alef for lunch with Hans Winkler (yes, we made the required "the Fonz" jokes afterwards), who is the foreign secretary of Austria. The food was good but there wasn't really a lot of time to eat. As one course was served, it was already being cleared and replaced with the next. Nonetheless, I at and enjoyed and we moved on.

We walked toward the foreign ministry, with Hans giving us a tour of Vienna along the way. We came to the Judenplatz (Jewish Place?), which has on one end a plaque commemorating a pogrom of 1421 (the text is in old German and Cynthia found out that it reads something like: This is where the (200) Jewish dogs were burned at the stake to atone for their sins). On the other end of the square is the Holocaust memorial, which was built on top of the ruins of the shul that was destroyed in those same pogroms. In the middle was a monument of Gothold Lessing.

NOTE: I have to go now. Here is an outline for me to come back to. I will try to fill in the details and add pics on Sat. night.

Austrian foreign ministry
Awesome room
planted questions
video of interview

Freud museum
Carlton look alike

Sushi for dinner
picture of "Chinaman" (you really have to see this)

Day 4

Happy 60th, Arnold!

Bank
Embarrassing slide show
Me as the center of attention and butt of all jokes
Elisabeth
Flushing out curriculum

Lunch at Alef Alef
Mischke, Bruno, ?
Discussion of Holocaust ed.

Schonnbrunn

Getting ready for Shabbat.

Centropa - Day Two

2007-07-25T16:23:00.000-04:00

Well, today had a much better start if only because I was able to drink coffee and eat the cookies that were lain out for us on th conference table in the bank (we are meeting in the conference room of a local bank that is owned by a local Jew). We watched Centropa videos and I really made the effort to engage the material. I think I said some profound things, but it could have been that the caffeine...

On our way to lunch I spoke with Eileen and Nechama and made some suggestions of how I felt we teachers could be better used to help develop Centropa's curriculum. They liked some of the ideas and said that they would propose them to Ed (P.S., Nechama just told me before we broke for the night that Ed was very responsive to these suggestions... I feel valued).

After the study session at the bank we headed to Alef Alef for what turned out to be a big deal luncheon with many of the interviewees from Centropa's archives. There were some dignitaries there, but most of the guests were older Jews from Vienna and Prague and places in between. I originally sat at a table with Yoni (Ed jokes that he is my twin), many of Centropa's techies (younger, hipper people) and representatives of Vienna's Jewish community. However, as we were preparing to hit the buffet (I never realized that when my mother and sister serve buffet-style that it is a throwback to their E. European roots) Ed asked me to move to a table full of "old people" to sit with them during the meal.

I procrastinated by continuously moving to the back of the line, but finally I was the last one left. So I took my plate and bravely sat down between two elderly women. I nodded hello, they nodded in return, and I proceeded to eat my food in the hopes that this awkwardness would pass because I didn't think that they spoke any English and I though the whole meal would just be nodding and staring. After a few bites I finally worked up the courage to raise my eyes and I met those of the woman sitting across from me:
"Hi. I'm Avi," I said.
"I am Hertha," replied the woman in ENGLISH.
I took another few bites and lifted my head again, sure to avoid Hertha. I met the eyes of a man. "Where are you from?" he asked in perfect English (with only a slight accent).
"I am from Baltimore, MD," I responded, "although I was born and raised in Toronto. Canada."
And from there the conversation began to flow more naturally. I told them about my Polish grandparents and where my parents were born. I met Lily and Hanna and others whose names escape me. They were wonderfully friendly.
I probably bonded the most with Lily. She was new to the Centropa group (as was I). She had been born in '37 to a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father. Her mother never told her that she was Jewish, but she found out the hard way when, in third grade, she was forced to sit at the back of the room with the other Jewish children. She was not allowed to have a pencil or paper (or any materials for that matter). I could see the tears welling in her eyes... She survived the war and returned to Vienna. She has a 40-something son who is a committed Jew and brother who lives in NYC (she is going there is September for her nephew's Bar Mitzvah).
Hanna is a firecracker. She told jokes, sang songs and cuddled me when I went around the table for photos. She told me that she would let me take her picture but that I had to promise that I would not show it anyone (jokingly). I told her that, of course I would not bcause my wife would kill me if she knew I was hanging out with such a beautiful young lady (note to all: Europeans love cheesey American lines).

(l-r: Hertha, Bischitz, me, Lily) (Hanna and I)

Following lunch we headed to the Stadt Temple (the only synagogue not destroyed by the Nazis) where leaders of the Jewish community talked to us about the current state of Judaism in Vienna and the National Fund (reparations from the Austrian government to victims of National Socialism).
Hannah Lessing spoke of her journey to her position. The daughter of a survivor, she explained that her efforts were not meant to repair a past but to help build a future. She was extremely articulate and likable.

(Hannah Lessing)

Oskar (VP of Zwi Peres Jewish Day School) said that they were looking for a young, experienced, Shomer Shabbat Jews who spoke German to be the director of Jewish Life at the local High School, which has 370 students, k-12 (so if anyone is Jewish, adventurous and speaks German, let me know).

(Oskar)

It was then on to the Jewish Museum. Chana was an excellent tour guide and we viewed the exhibit entitled "There must be order" which is difficult to explain (or show you, for that matter, b/c flash photography was not allowed). They had these really cool holograms of Jewish life that moved with you as you wandered the room. Again, no pics, but a visit to the museum is worthwhile for just this.
At this point we were all a bit tired, but the synagogue was so beautiful and the museum so unique that I once again felt engaged (no caffeine this time). I was glad when the tour was over, though. My back was aching from fatigue and a heavy backpack.

We took a break from 4-7 during which time I shaved my 9 day-old beard (give or take a few days). I left a goatee, though, and Tikki has given me permission to keep it until I get back to Baltimore and she can really get a sense of it. What do you think?

Dinner was at 7:30 pm at a local Italian restaurant. I sat next to Cynthia and bonded with her and Neil and his wife (whose name escapes me at this moment). We talked about Jewish education, document-hypothesis, integrated vs. concurrent history and the like. We concluded that we were all good teachers, that we'd all love a window in our office and that the food was good.

And so, another Centropa day comes to an end. Tomorrow holds a lot of promise, but I'm really looking forward to Shabbat and davening at the main shul. It was so nice. Perhaps I can deliver the sermon...

Centropa - Day One

2007-07-24T16:38:00.000-04:00

Tisha B'Av is over and my stomach is full (cream cheese and lox is readily available throughout this city).

So what did I do in Vienna on a fast day?

Last night for Eichah, Yoni, Nechama and I left the group and headed to a local shul (this was not the main shul, which is the only remaining synagogue from before the Shoah). Davening was straight out of Galicia (boyrooch atoo adoiynoiy) and Eichah was quick and painless (note: there are only 7,000 registered Jews in Vienna and almost all of them do not have pre-Shoah roots, so this accent is not local). There were definitely moments during the reading when you could easily make the connection between the Churban and the Shoah, but I'm probably not the first to figure that out.

This morning I skipped breakfast but joined the group for most of the programming. We met at a conference room on the top floor of a bank. The table was set with coffee, juice and cookies and, of course, multiple ash trays (basically, what a teachers' lounge looked like in the 80s). We were introduced to each other, the Cenropa program and mission, and to our expert educators, Nechama and Eileen. I'll spare the in-depth bitching for another blog, but it seems like this might be one of those LONG conferences with one or two people making everyone else miserable (and I am not that one this time).

After three hours of sitting around this table (and just as I began to nod off) we broke for lunch. It was chilly outside - and about to rain, it turned out. Yoni and I skipped the meal and headed to the Jewish Museum but got sidetracked at an antique shop that was so packed with "old stuff" that we and the owner had to move in unison to see everything that was there. I got bored and we left.

I stayed with the group because the cool air and drizzle were the perfect combination for a fast day and my energy was up. We headed first to the Habsburg Crypt. It is a big building with a bunch of coffins that supposedly hold the bodies of for emperors and empresses (though I have my completely unqualified doubts about that). I joked with Ed that this was a fitting place to visit on this day of mourning. I think he liked the joke. It was here that my batteries died (Yitz was right; his camera gobbles energy voraciously), so I made a special place for them amongst the old Habsburgs and laid them to rest.

(a tomb in the crypt)

After this we headed out to see some of the city's other attractions. We passed a monument to the victims who died from allied bombing in WWII. Here Ed explained that Austrians have historically viewed themselves as Hitler's first victims because Germany took over Austria in 1938. The reality is that Austrians loved his politics and welcomed him with open arms. When the war ended they hid behind their illusion of victimization and never really grew out of it. The monument does not criticize the allies but implies that, were it not for Hitler, nobody would have died during that raid.

(WWII Monument)

Just behind the monument is a sculpture of a Jew bending down, covered in barbed wire. It was Austria's first attempt to commemorate Holocaust victims and was only covered in barbed wire (not real) because people were using it as a bench (I got this information from "Schlepping Through the Alps" by Sam Apple... Thanks Josh!).

(The Jew)

We continued on and passed through the courtyard of the old Habsburg palace. Nowadays the grassy area functions as a sort of central park and the old city walls have been converted so that cars can fit through. These pics don't really do it justice.

(side entry to royal courtyard/palace) (Old city gates) (another monument of Franz Josef I)

At that point Cynthia asked how I was holding up and I remarked that the weather was perfect for fasting and that moving around was actually helping, but if we were to go into an art gallery I would probably zone out and crash immediately... And with that remark we entered the Museum of Fine Art.

(entrance hall of the museum with unidentified Asian woman in foreground)

I have nothing against art; I just don't get it. I like TV and comics and all other sorts of visual presentation, but --- well, let's just leave it at that.

Cynthia and I left early and headed back to the hotel and I went to my room with a plan to watch a video on netflix. Unfortunately, the website was down for repairs (I'm going to call and request a free month of rental) so I was left to surf the net and watch TV. I fell asleep for an hour and then went back to shul with Yoni and Zhenia for Minchah and Maariv.

I broke my fast on a bagel w/cream cheese.

Here we have come full circle and I am tired. I will write more tomorrow.

Centropa - The flight

2007-07-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

It's hard to say goodbye, but that's what I had to do to my wife and daughter today as we pulled up to the departures terminal at Dulles. I started missing them even before the car left the curb.

After a long wait to check in and an adventurous run-around to get through security (where I bumped into Lauren), I boarded Austrian Airlines flight 94 for the non-stop journey to Vienna.
The flight was OK. I had an aisle seat with an open seat next to me and nobody in front of me, so I didn't feel claustrophobic at all. However, I was sitting in what I would term the "family section" of the plane and there was this three year-old boy who, when awake, whined and complained at such a high pitch that sleep was impossible (even with a sleeping aid in my system).

The plane touched down at 8:15 am and I was on the CAT by 9:00 am and headed toward the city. I checked into my room, which is quite small but clean and well-appointed, and unpacked my 12 days worth of clothing. I set up my computer and internet connections, checked out the offerings on the TV and decided to go for a walk into town.

The hotel is a 10-minute walk from the city center and the weather was perfect for the stroll. Vienna reminds me a bit of Prague, in the winding, never-ending alley sort of way. The buildings are imposing in a medieval style, making them quite inviting to this modern tourist.

I happened upon the local Jewish museum and stopped in for a cream cheese and lox on a bagel breakfast at its cafe before heading backing to the hotel for some R and R.

Others have since arrived and the program will officially begin at 18:45 (no a.m. or p.m. around here) in the hotel lobby. I will do my best to keep this blog up to date.