I'll be living HERE...

Awesome.

And Let Your Best Be For Your Friend...

After my best friend's bridal shower yesterday, I am inspired to post this excerpt from one of my favorite books, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. The chapter is titled: "On Friendship."

"Your friend is your needs answered.She is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.And she is your board and your fireside.For you come to her with your hunger, and you seek her for peace.

When your friend speaks her mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."And when she is silent your heart ceases not to listen to her heart;For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.When you part from your friend, you grieve not;For that which you love most in her may be clearer in her absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.If she must know the ebb of your tide, let her know its flood also.For what is your friend that you should seek her with hours to kill?Seek her always with hours to live.For it is her to fill your need, but not your emptiness.And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

I try to put on Mackenzie's corsage for her, as she tries to kill me. How special. 

 Mackenzie and her tiny bridesmaids!

"To New Beginnings!"

At the suggestion of a friend, I decided to post the story behind why my friends and I love to toast to "new beginnings":

Last summer, I took a little vacation out to L.A. to visit some friends and see the city. Since my dear friend and hostess had to work, I was perfectly fine figuring out the city on my own (including taking public transportation in LA; apparently a pretty big faux pas).

I went to shabbat dinner, where I started chatting with this guy about LA. He was telling me about the best things to see and do, and when I mentioned that I didn't have a car, he said he was going to see the new exhibit at The Getty museum the next day. He asked if I wanted to go along.

Now, color-me-naive, but was it totally bogus for me to think that a guy just wants to see the new exhibit at the art museum, like he said? I mean, c'mon guys, right? ... guys?

For confidentiality purposes, we'll call him "Frank." But to be honest, I never caught his last name anyway. And he's not on facebook, because it's just "too mainstream." Right, one of those.

After looking at artwork for an hour or so, we sat down in the food court, where Frank revealed a bottle of wine. Awkward small-talk ensued, and then things took a turn for the worse:

Frank: "So, I guess the elephant in the room is 'what's the age difference between us?'"

Elephant in the room? I thought the elephant in the room was "why did you bring a bottle of wine to a museum at 2 in the afternoon."

Me: "Oh, I'm uh, I'm 24."

Frank: **smug laugh** "That's the exact age difference between my ex-girlfriend and me."

Ya don't say.

Me: **Awkward, uncomfortable giggle**

Frank: "I'm actually 36. How do you feel about that?"

How do I feel about that? Buddy, I could care less, I'm just trying to look at some artwork.

He then proceeds to raise a glass, stare at me for what seemed like 5 minutes, and then made a toast:

"To new beginnings."

I quickly finished (ok, chugged) my glass of wine and politely made up a reason to leave. Don't get me wrong, he was really nice and it was thoughtful of him to take me to the museum and all. But, I know a red flag when I see one (though, one could argue that I don't see red flags, which is how I ended up in this situation in the first place).

Out of this delightfully awkward situation, a new toast is born, that is applicable to pretty much any life situation.

Are you getting engaged? To new beginnings!

Did you land a dream job? To new beginnings!

Are you taking a girl that is visiting your city (for only a week) to an art museum? To new beginnings!

On a final note: the Getty museum was awesome. I hope to go back and explore it further one day (sans Frank and his suggestive bottle of wine).

Sha-LOM

This weekend, I started using the Rosetta Stone program in Hebrew.

First, a little background. I attended "hebrew school" at my synagogue when I was in elementary/junior high school, where I learned how to read Hebrew characters and sound them out. This was mainly in preparation for my bat mitzvah when I was 13.

For my non-Jewish readers, a bat mitzvah is one of the most significant milestones in the Jewish tradition, where a 13 year old is called to the Torah and publicly welcomed into the adult Jewish community. In other words, you are placed in front of your friends and family at the most awkward stage of your life (ie: acne, braces, huge eyebrows) and asked to chant in a language that you don't quite understand (this is particularly scarring for boys, as their voice crack with each high note). In most cases, a huge celebration ensues, involving kosher "pigs-in-a-blanket," organized line dances led by an overly peppy DJ, and my personal favorite, the notorious "coke/pepsi game."

But I digress.

Back to the Hebrew. So, like many American Jews, I know how to sound out Hebrew characters. I can read you a line of Hebrew, but wouldn't be able to tell you what it means. When I pray, I don't really know what I'm saying. You might be thinking, "isn't that fairly useless?" You would be correct.

So...as I prepare to move to Israel for the year, I am doing everything that I can to learn both biblical and modern Hebrew. I am coupling Rosetta stone with another modern Hebrew program.

Rosetta Stone is..... interesting. The program tries to immerse you in a language from the very beginning. So instead of learning the basics first, you are taught how to say basic words that are coupled with intentionally-politically-correct photos. It is supposed to be as if you are a child, learning to speak from seeing the things around you.

Okay. So, after lesson one, I can now say the following phrases:

The dog eats.

The girl runs.

This is a green book.

This is not a doctor.

Needless to say, I am skeptical.

Furthermore, there is a component of speaking into a headset. The program follows your voice and determines if you are speaking correctly. If you get the phrase wrong, you hear a frustrating bell chime (think somewhere between "ding-dong" and "womp-womp").

Sometimes, I get the word wrong several times in a row. Picture me, sitting in my kitchen, saying "sha-lom" 5 times in a row, each with increasing volume (and frustration).

Also, sometimes I try to trick the program. So instead of saying something like "sha-lom," I will say "ma-mom." It still counts as correct.

So, again I say, I am skeptical.

More to come on my Hebrew-speaking adventures. Until then, "ze lo rofeh" (this is not a doctor).

Pretty

"Find fulfillment and wear joy." ... sing it, sister.

Live Beautifully for the Next 100 Years...

The following article was just published in the paper of my hometown Jewish community about my trip to Moldova. I was given a generous "500 words," but could have easily written for 5,000.

I think it's important to share this incredible and resilient community's story, especially with the American Jewish community.

Also, this article will surely give my Jewish mother some bragging rights in her mahjong circle.

"As the director of engagement for Penn State Hillel, I have the privilege of accompanying groups of Penn State students

on short-term service projects. This year, I was assigned a spring break trip with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to Kishinev, Moldova.

Moldova is a small country in eastern Europe, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. It became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991. In the Jewish community, it is best-known as the site of the horrible “Kishinev pogrom” in 1903. Before World War II there were 77 synagogues and about 70,000 Jews in Kishinev. Today, there are about 15,000 Jews and only one synagogue.

Needless to say, our group was not sure what to expect of Moldova and the community with which we would be working. Shortly into the week, we learned that Moldova was a unique place, with a very special Jewish community.

We learned about the challenges that the Jewish community faces in Moldova. Approximately 66% of the Jewish population is suffering from economic hardships. The general population is getting older, and a significant portion of the young population moves away to find jobs elsewhere. Also, crime is on the rise, as is anti-Semitism. In 2009, a public menorah was taken down by a church group chanting anti-Semitic slogans, and in 2010, a swastika was painted on a synagogue.

With all of these challenges, the Moldovan Jewish community is growing and is very future-oriented. We had the opportunity to visit the Kishinev Jacobs Jewish Campus, built in 2005, which is the hub for Jewish life and sponsors many of the JDC initiatives.

This campus houses the Kedem Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Family Services, a Hesed welfare center, a Hillel student center, the Center for Training and Professional Development, a Jewish pre-school, and the Haverim club for Jewish youth. All of these JDC programs help to envision a bright future for the Moldovan Jewish community.

Our group’s project for the week was painting one of the four welfare centers in Kishinev. The JDC serves over 1,700 elderly clients, providing them with food cards, medicine, home repairs, and social activities. The building that we painted will provide greater resources to the clients, including psychological care, social opportunities, and even a beauty salon.

Perhaps the best part of the week was spending time with our Jewish peers. They were warm, welcoming, and optimistic about their futures. It was inspiring to see such vision and leadership in the youth. A particularly memorable moment was spending Shabbat together and learning that our traditions are the same.

This trip certainly exemplified the Talmudic concept that “all of Israel is responsible for one another.” While we live in very different places, we now feel a part of one global Jewish community. This trip was very meaningful to our Penn State group, and we will always have a place in our heart for our Moldovan Jewish community.

To learn more about the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), visit www.jdc.org."

This is a memorial to those who perished in the 1903 pogrom. While this is a sad reminder of the past, our tour guide told us that the Jewish community sees HOPE in this picture, because the building in the background is actually a maternity ward, symbolic of the future.

Our group's project for the week was painting the inside of a building. The building will be used as a welfare center for elderly clients. In addition to providing basic necessities, there are plans to put in a beauty salon and therapists' office.

This is the inside of the only synagogue left in Moldova. We went to an orthodox service here on Saturday morning.

On International Women's Day, our group split up and went with our Moldavian peers to visit some of the elderly clients that the JDC serves. The JDC provides relief in the form of food tickets, medical care, home repairs, and social visits.

The picture above is not from my visit. The couple that we went to visit did not want their picture taken because they were so embarrassed that they were living in such conditions. Both the husband and wife worked hard all of their lives (and both had master's degrees), but when they retired, they were not given the pension money that they earned. They were forced to move into a very tiny apartment (one room) with barely enough money to live each month. The woman hasn't been out of the apartment in 6 years because she broke her hip and cannot go up and down the six flights of steps. Before we left, they said that their wish for us is that we would never again see such poverty. It was very powerful.

In addition to helping at-risk people, the JDC also has many programs for individual's personal enrichment and community-building. The picture above is from an English class that we visited. The adorable gentleman on the left wished us a life of "health, wealth, and happiness!"

Shabbat with our Moldavian peers. They went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and special in their community. Throughout the week, we went bowling, went out to eat, had meaningful conversations, and even watched Black Swan together (yes, you read that right... Black Swan).

The former soviet union celebrates "International Women's Day" on April 8th. On this day, women are given flowers from husbands, boyfriends, fathers, sons, etc.

Hey American boys, take a hint!

King of Pop nesting dolls.

LoLz.... good one, Moldova!

This is our Penn State group during a tour of Kishinev, the capital city of Moldova. :)

Me and Her Kissed on Da Lips

Cutest thing EVER!

Sort of reminds me of my first kiss. Except for the fact that I was 16. And I got mono 4 weeks later.

But still, I think I probably fist-pumped afterward.

Lines

"'I have too much to lose,' she said, 'if I cross that line.'

'Like what?' I said. She could not think of anything that day so she said she'd get back to me.

Since then I've been thinking what I would lose if I cross my line & I haven't come up with anything either.

There's always another line somewhere."
— Brian Andreas