I spent this past weekend in Atlanta. I think I have mentioned this before, but going home from college is always weird. Its almost like stepping into a time machine. I have changed so much even since returning from winter break, but at home everything seems just like it always has. The reason for going home the weekend before spring break, however, was to see a production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the Greenfeild Hebrew Academy (GHA) in Atlanta. I went to GHA for middle school and was very involved in theater program there. Then, throughout high school I went back and assistant directed the plays there all four years. Helping out there was the most rewarding activity I did in high school and going back to see their play this year really meant a lot to me, especially because the current 8th grad were in 4th grade my first year assisting and I have seen them grow and develop through the program. I also didn’t tell anyone I was coming, which made for a great surprise.
On the plane ride to Atlanta I was sitting next to a woman coming back from New York after a visit with her daughter in the city. She asked me where if I was coming to or from home. I was not completely sure how to answer. I told her I grew up in Atlanta, I go to school in New York, and I am returning to visit my parents. In other words my question depended on what you consider “home”. Is home where you parents live? Where you live? Home I realized is where the heart is. Though I love returning home and spending time with my family, and though seeing the play was amazing, I spent most of the weekend either talking about school or talking to people from school. My home and my heart now reside in New York. On a completely different note, today is Purim. Last night I read a chapter of megillah at Koach (the conservative) services. Reading megillah may be my favorite Mitzvah so I was really happy to get a chance to read it. Afterwords, there was a big Hillel wide Purim party at Lerner, the student center at Columbia. I went to the party for a little while dressed as a flapper which was fun. Everyone was dressed up and some people had really creative costumes. It was fun to see everyone so into the holiday. I left after about an hour though because I have midterms this week and had to go study. This morning I woke up and went to services again to hear megillah. This mornings services was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had in services. Since it was Purim, everyone was joking around and having a really good time together. For lunch, student council hosted a purim seudah (feast) which was also really fun. Also I have to mention that my friend Nomi is in town visiting me and her brother who is in the Rabbinical School at JTS. Nomi reads my posts before I publish them to make sure there are no huge mistakes, so she wanted to be mentioned. Love you Nom! Everyone has days which just aren’t good. It’s not that anything particularly bad happens, its just not a good day. For me today was one of those days. The day reminded me of the children’s book Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. If you have never read the book, first of all go and check it out from the library because it is really cute, and it was one of my favortie books as a child. Basically, the plot centers on Alexander who from the moment he wakes up nothing goes his way. My day, similarly, just didn’t go my way. I woke up late and didn’t have time for breakfast, couldn’t get the combination we were learning in ballet, my english teacher didn’t like my paper, and the girl I tutor was aweful (I don’t think I have mentioned this before, but I tutor a fifth grade girl in hebrew twice a week. I got the job through the JTS career development). Now, I am sitting waiting to meet with my english teacher to meet with me about my essay. She extended her office hours and said she would wait here until she met with anyone who wanted. I have already been waiting for an houe and there are still 3 people in front of me in line.
Though the day was frustrating, I am far too much of an optimistic person to jsut express frustration. I always try to look at bad days and see any good in them that I can. First of all, tomorrow is my roommates birthday so today during a break I had I went shopping for her present. I got her a bunch a cute little things which epitomize our friendship and rooming relationship. She has been a great roommate thus far. We live really well together because we both are pretty messy, like the room warm, are extremely heavy sleepers, and are considerate of the other person. Being considerate is really the most important thing in being and having a roommate. The room is a home for both people, and it is so important for both people to feel comfortable. In my case, I feel even luckier because not only do we live well together, but we have also become close friends. I am sad we won’t be living together next year (she is an RA next year on a freshman hall), but I am very excited about my potential living conditions. Hopefully next year, I will be sharing an apartment style suite with 4 of my friends. The housing lottery for Barnard isn’t until after spring break, so I have to keep my fingers crossed until then. So I got a little sidetracked, but thing number two that was good today: It’s is really nice of my English professor to stay here and meet with each of us. It may be annoying for me to be waiting here, but she has been in meetings with students for almost 4 hours already and the fact that she is staying shows the unbelievable commitment and caring nature of so many of the professors here at Barnard (and also Columbia and JTS). Professors and advisers here just care about the students. It is one of the best things about going to such a small school. I ran into my adviser on the street the other day, and she stopped to say hi to me. All Double Degree students have Deans as their Barnard advisers, and all three are amazing, caring, and extremely helpful. Finally, having a bad day gave me something to write about here. All of yesterday I was fretting about what I would write today. I am in the middle of midterms, so my life has been pretty rutuine and its nice to have something real to say. |
AuthorIn this blog, I will write about my journey as Spanish student in the U.S. college. |