INDIAN SUMMER OF A FORSYTE

"He had always had wide interests, and, indeed could still read The Times, but he was liable at any moment to put it down if he heard a blackbird sing. Upright conduct, property--somehow, they were tiring; the blackbirds and the sunsets never tired him, only gave him an uneasy feeling that he could not get enough of them."

--John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga

la dorada

Jerusalem is the most beautiful of all cities, it has the beauty of all the world's cities combined.

So said my Rabbi in Milan one Shabbat dinner from the head of the table as we all sat gathered around, eating above a white tablecloth and the brass chandelier overhead.

Sometimes Jerusalem is a real balagan, casino, mess. The supermarkets, cheap-looking florescent madhouses with their exhorberant prices and slow-moving cashiers, the trashy bars offering free but tasteless hookah on Ben-Yehuda, the bus station crammed with numerous security entrances. The city lacks the flashy sexiness and easiness Tel Aviv. Jerusalem's air is often tense. This is a difficult place. It is heavy, sometimes I feel so weighed down by the history (there is none of Italy's famosa leggerezza here) The city has so many divisions, Jew against Jew to say the least.

And yet, walking around on a tuesday afternoon, right before sundown, the city is illuminated. I love the arches, the city's beautiful buildings, oh! the arches, oh! the gates, oh! the palm trees. People siting outside in cafes. A certain something in the air. The women in the institute across the street with covered hair, so elegantly dressed. The time I spend peering out of my balcony as I wait for Shabbat to end so I can let there be light.

Jerusalem is magical.

schviel/schpiel

I am obsessed!

back from an amazing weekend hiking the israeli trail, schviel yisrael, way up north. israelies are amazing and this land is beautiful.

the schviel yisrael is the hiking trail that goes from the north to the south, and takes about 2-3 months to hike all the way from the neggev to the tippy-top golan. i was in a section near a very picturesque town, zichron yakov. my friend and i joined a group that was doing the entire schviel in memory of a fallen soldier ( i believe; interesting because the town's name, zichron yacov, apparently means Jacob's Memory). we arrived late in the town the night before the hike and drank with some charming israeli high school students and then camped outside sans tent (waking up shivering at the crack of dawn!) Everyone was so nice and the path was so easy and beautiful and cut through the most lovely farmland, and we were served two breakfasts. It was amazing!

http://wikitravel.org/en/Trail_of_Israel

I also met 4 israelis who went to scarsdale as tourists. one was even in the scarsdale inquirer. more updates to follow.

red scare! (dressed in all red)

"Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation."

-Walter Benjamin (the only man who could ever persuade me to have communist inklings)

"To the Planetarium"

e stop

Life is unreal, yadda yadda yadda e basta, and goodbyes make me all weepy inside. So instead I will choose to focus on one of the best ice creams I have ever had: beer and peanut flavoured. Yummmmm-o. On a warm day in the summer, or even a cold, rainy day in the winter, an ice cream cone is one of the best foods there is. In Italy you have a delicious work of art, for 2 Euros.

e allora?

in bici

Back from a lovely weekend in Cremona, with lovely coworkers and their friends.... i conquered my fear of biking and road 25 km in the lovely lombard country side, through the forest, along a naviglio (canal) and farmland. we saw turtles, oversized rats with a special name, and ducks. it was beautiful. we picniced in a sanctuary and had a coffee break in a charming little town.

In other news, I think I am becoming a seventeen year old boy, probably due to the fact that the majority of people i interact with are between the ages of 15 and 19, meno male. upon my students' suggestions, i rewatched American Pie and I must say that I was touched.

America the Beautiful

Working with my students, I see the beauty that is New York. WOW, but as my students pronounce it, woaaaaaaaaow!! I love my students, and oddly enough, I love New York again. Not love-hate, but love. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

It has been long coming. There are many things I love about Italy--the food, the culture, the people, the art, the plethora of book stores, the palm trees, Frederico Moccia films. I could go on and on. But I realize the way I look at things--the way I like differences, the way I like doing things alone sometimes, my sense of humor, I feel very American.

My revelation on one hand had been a long time coming, but on the other hand I felt a boom. Well, two booms: the first came when I was talking with one class at Sraffa about how New York is so diverse and how nice it is and how normal it feels in New York that everyone is something different.

The second boom came at the Liceo Artistico on my last lesson on The Jersey Shore, when one of my students said that she thought people (Americans) liked Jersey Shore because they could say that they were better than the "Guidos." I asked her to elaborate and she said because the characters were different, that they were not American. And I said, well, in America, it is different. Every one is something different, it doesn't make you any less American. They (the Jersey Shore cast) are just as American as I am. They are Italian American, I am Jewish American, but we are all American.

I said that in my opinion, to be considered Italian it seems that you must be catholic, and that you must be born in Italy to an Italian family. And one (non-"Italian") student said she agreed.

I hate PC stuff, coming from Smith it's hardly a surprise why. But now I am appreciative of it, of why it exists. I don't like how in Italy, mentioning points of difference--ethnicity, non-Catholic religions--seems to be a point of tension, if it's even on the radar. It makes me miss New York.