So.
This past week was my first final week of graduate school. One down, five to go.
It was a pretty intense period. The week prior to finals, the last week of December, I had a huge Ed presentation (on the "Challenges and Opportunities" of Jewish summer camping) as well as my Bible final - it was a ten-minute reading exam where we sat alone with the professor and read for him and then translated into modern Hebrew. And then he asked us questions about the text. It was actually kinda fun.
(Of course, between the last week of classes and finals was New Years. Amy, in her infinite amazingness, organized the HUC Prom. She rented out a kareoke bar neat campus, and for a cover it was semi-open bar, dancing, snacks, kareoke, party hats. Lots of fun.)
Finals week was a doozy. I had four exams, a paper, and a Hebrew Literature take home exam, all due within three days. Nuts. But all in all, I spent the weekend prior preparing and writing my paper (which was entitled "Constructing the White City: Tel Aviv as Physical and Sacred Space in Israeli Collective Memory." How's that for academic mumbo-jumbo? In actuality, it came out really well. I was very proud of my work and the ideas in the paper. It was fun, as well, to write a real academic paper again. I haven't done that in a while) and so the week flowed really well. I got to relax, spend time with friends and classmates before break, and enjoy some time in Jerusalem.
Then, Wednesday night, Tom and Emma came! They were just off a Birthright trip, and here to stay with me for the weekend! It was really great to see them and we had an awesome time. Thursday was touring Joel's Greatest Hits of Jerusalem - seeing sights off the beaten path, like Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel Museum, Tmol Shilshon, Babette's Waffles. Friday we went to the Carmel for the weekend, and toured a bit around Haifa, went to some artist's colonies, Ceasaria, Tel Aviv. It was a lovely weekend. Emma left last night for home, Tom this afternoon for Paris.
And in a few hours I'm off to Europe as well. I leave early Monday morning (my time) to Madrid, with my friend Jason. We're in Madrid three days, and then head off to Barcelona for another three days. Then I go to Paris where I meet up with Tom and Dana (who's working on his PhD in Paris for the year), and we're there four days. Then we visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland in Amsterdam for two days, and then I fly back to Tel Aviv. After a few days, Tom and Dana come visit me. The party never ends.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wholesome Update from the Holy Land...
I'm writing to give you a brief update of events in Israel. For those of you who have been following the news this weekend, you've probably seen that, in response to the Qassam rocketing coming out of Gaza the last few weeks, the Israeli military initiated a huge military response on Hamas institutions in Gaza (see how careful I was in my phrasing? I'm trying real hard to be politically neutral...) Today, it was announced that Defense Minister (and Labor party leader) Ehud Barak is calling up 6500 reservists, presumably to start preparations on a ground attack. Or it could just be saber rattling. Basically, Israel is back in a mindset of war, the first time since summer 2006.
Geo-political (and internal political - there are national Israeli elections February 10) considerations notwithstanding, this is a big deal here. But yesterday, and today, on the ground in Jerusalem, you'd never know what was happening a mere 50 miles (or less, depending on where the Qassams are falling) away. I don't mean to be an alarmist; quite the opposite. Things are literally happening here as normal. And the sense that I get from Israelis is that elsewhere, in the army, in the south (the areas in Israel under Qassam attack), in the center, things are fine. Unlike Lebanon, there is, at least two days in, general widespread support. There are a lot of reasons, I think, why this is, and I won't go into them now, but that, coupled with the support and advice HUC has been constantly (too much?) providing us I feel as safe as I did on Friday (tu tu tu; keine hora; etc).
In other news, we're spiraling very quickly towards finals. This is our last week of class; even though New Years isn' a holiday here, we have it off for a "Reading Day." Which is just as well because we'll all probably been recovering from our New Years Eve Prom: yes, we're having a student sponsored prom. HUC really is High School, all over again, except without the excellent drama department. Oh wait, there's actually plenty of drama at HUC to go around.
I'm in Israel through next week when I head to Europe for two weeks for my winter break (because January is really the best time to travel around Western Europe). But before I leave I plan to blog post (for real, not this faux e-mail post) on the last month, and respond to all of your e-mails very patiently sitting in my inbox. Oh, I haven't forgotten. Don't you worry.
Geo-political (and internal political - there are national Israeli elections February 10) considerations notwithstanding, this is a big deal here. But yesterday, and today, on the ground in Jerusalem, you'd never know what was happening a mere 50 miles (or less, depending on where the Qassams are falling) away. I don't mean to be an alarmist; quite the opposite. Things are literally happening here as normal. And the sense that I get from Israelis is that elsewhere, in the army, in the south (the areas in Israel under Qassam attack), in the center, things are fine. Unlike Lebanon, there is, at least two days in, general widespread support. There are a lot of reasons, I think, why this is, and I won't go into them now, but that, coupled with the support and advice HUC has been constantly (too much?) providing us I feel as safe as I did on Friday (tu tu tu; keine hora; etc).
In other news, we're spiraling very quickly towards finals. This is our last week of class; even though New Years isn' a holiday here, we have it off for a "Reading Day." Which is just as well because we'll all probably been recovering from our New Years Eve Prom: yes, we're having a student sponsored prom. HUC really is High School, all over again, except without the excellent drama department. Oh wait, there's actually plenty of drama at HUC to go around.
I'm in Israel through next week when I head to Europe for two weeks for my winter break (because January is really the best time to travel around Western Europe). But before I leave I plan to blog post (for real, not this faux e-mail post) on the last month, and respond to all of your e-mails very patiently sitting in my inbox. Oh, I haven't forgotten. Don't you worry.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
דער בונד
...
That's "The Bund" to you.
As part of our Zionist history class, we all had to participate in an inforomal educational experience called "The Duma Exercise" this evening. Essentially, all 32 Rabbinical and Education students (Cantors don't take Zionist history... because it's not important for their line of work?) were divided into 8 groups representing different (mostly) historically accurate Jewish political and interest groups in early 1900's Russia. Plotsk, to be exact.
Such groups represented were the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party/RSDWP (aka Communists); the Autonomists; the Terretorialists; a groups advocating immigration to America; Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews; Socialist Zionists; and the Bund, a Jewish socialist, anti-Zionist, group. I was, as you may have guessed, in The Bund. I was a Bundist. Part of the Bund. The Bund.
The Bund has ironically been described as "Zionists with seasickness," a group thank acknoledged Jewish national unity, but constantly wavered on whether those national and cultural traits meant statehood or integration into the Russian social and economic struggle. It was a hard group to wrap my head around.
The exercise was called "The Duma" because the groups were meant to assemble in 1906 in Plotsk and elect representatives from the Jewish community to the Duma, the new Russian parliament. Each group had to prepare a statement - a platform - and read the platform, take questions from the other groups, and then sing an anthem. We also had to dress up. It was a ridiculous evening program, but ultimately fun. It was a good, experiential way at getting into the heads of the different groups that existed in Eastern Europe when the Zionist movement was gaining prominence; early Zionists were only one voice in a cacophony of different responses to modernity.
To help my group argue our case, I baked a Bund(t) cake. It was delicious.
Here are some pictures of my group:
The Bundists sit in the forum, holding up signs
Comrades Joel and Nikki argue our case
That's "The Bund" to you.
As part of our Zionist history class, we all had to participate in an inforomal educational experience called "The Duma Exercise" this evening. Essentially, all 32 Rabbinical and Education students (Cantors don't take Zionist history... because it's not important for their line of work?) were divided into 8 groups representing different (mostly) historically accurate Jewish political and interest groups in early 1900's Russia. Plotsk, to be exact.
Such groups represented were the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party/RSDWP (aka Communists); the Autonomists; the Terretorialists; a groups advocating immigration to America; Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews; Socialist Zionists; and the Bund, a Jewish socialist, anti-Zionist, group. I was, as you may have guessed, in The Bund. I was a Bundist. Part of the Bund. The Bund.
The Bund has ironically been described as "Zionists with seasickness," a group thank acknoledged Jewish national unity, but constantly wavered on whether those national and cultural traits meant statehood or integration into the Russian social and economic struggle. It was a hard group to wrap my head around.
The exercise was called "The Duma" because the groups were meant to assemble in 1906 in Plotsk and elect representatives from the Jewish community to the Duma, the new Russian parliament. Each group had to prepare a statement - a platform - and read the platform, take questions from the other groups, and then sing an anthem. We also had to dress up. It was a ridiculous evening program, but ultimately fun. It was a good, experiential way at getting into the heads of the different groups that existed in Eastern Europe when the Zionist movement was gaining prominence; early Zionists were only one voice in a cacophony of different responses to modernity.
To help my group argue our case, I baked a Bund(t) cake. It was delicious.
Here are some pictures of my group:
The Bundists sit in the forum, holding up signs
Comrades Joel and Nikki argue our case
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Los Angeles, we'll be yours... soon
There are 3 HUC campuses stateside: New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. I am going from Jerusalem, back to LA next year, for two more years of school. The group going with me (9 Rabbinical students and 1 other Ed student) is a great group. I hosted us all for Shabbat brunch today for a time when we could hang out and bond as a group. And it was a lovely, lovely, afternoon. We all got along great as a group; it's a very eclectic, random mix of people, but I'm very excited about us all being together for the next two years. They're going to make returning to Los Angeles a much easier, smoother, funner process, and I'm very much looking forward to that.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Doing Thanksgiving
Yesterday, as you all might know, was Thanksgiving. And celebrating it in America is one thing; doing it in Israel, a whole other ballgame.
For one thing, there were no external cues that it was Thanksgiving week. Which is bizarre. No music, no decorations everywhere, no one wishing anyone a "Happy Thanksgiving." We didn't have any school off (which IO actually think should change, because 95% of the class is American, and it is a big deal for us). Most of our faculty is Israeli, British, or Canadians, and the American born ones are now "Israeli" so there was really nothing done at school. And the weather was all off, warm (even for LA standards) for Thanksgiving week. it just made it really disorienting to have Thanksgiving, and it really wasn't until the afternoon of that I was really excited.
It was decided by a non-voting discussion, by the Kef Committee, to host (organize?) an all-class Thanksgiving Dinner, for classmates, SOs, friends, etc. The organization fell the Leslie, who, admittedly, did a fantastic job getting everyone on their shit. Everyone was assigned a different dish - sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dessert, stuffing, etc - for about 8-10 people, and about 3-4 people on every type of dish. Four people volunteered to make Turkeys - Amy, David, Gavin, and Meredith, and they are my heroes of the evening - which came out delicious, especially considering they were cooked in Israeli ovens (no Weber turkeys this year!).
I signed myself up for sweet potatoes - roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, thyme, and orange juice - and cranberry sauce. Now, I have a serious problem with canned cranberry sauce. I mean, really. Who eats that? But Israel doesn't grow cranberries, so making cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries was out. So... I used dried cranberries and stewed them for a long time in a secret concoction of things (among them fresh orange juice/zest, fresh lemon juice/zest, cranberry juice, cinnamon, pears). It turned out delicious. Almost as good as my mom's. But not quite.
So, heading into the evening, I was concerned that it would either be a fantastically fun evening, or a total bust - not because the food would suck (although there was the worry that there wouldn't be enough or the turkeys would all fail), but because it just wasn't Thanksgivingly enough. So Leslie and I conspired to put together a program that I do with my family. Before eating, people anonymously write on a leaf-shaped piece of paper something they're thankful for. After dinner, we go around the table, and each person picks a paper and reads what's on it and then we try to guess who wrote it. It's lot's of fun and also sweet, without being too sappy. It ended up being a great moment in the evening and made the night feel much more like Thanksgiving, and less like an all-class dinner with Thanksgiving themed food.
It really was a great night. I had a great time, and it was really nice celebrating this holiday that's really important to me with my makeshift Israel/HUC family. Thursday was, however, the first time in the last 4+ months that I really wished I was home, instead of here. T-Day is a really important holiday to my mom and her side of the family; we do a big, big thing, and everyone gets together. It really rivals Passover for "familial importance." And so not being home - this was my first Thanksgiving not home - was tough. I've done Rosh Hashanah not at home, I've done Pesach, I've done Hanukkah. But never Thanksgiving before. David, as well, wasn't home - he's in Kyoto for the year - and this year was my mom's turn to host. I would imagine in some ways hosting made it easier for us both not to be there; but it probably made it harder as well. I guess we're really growing up.
After dinner, there was football being played from a computer, and a poker tournament to raise money for Ride4Reform. I played poker and was at school til the wee hours winning, and then ultimately losing to Jon. Grrr. But it was fun. I miss playing poker. When I got home, I skyped with my family and got to talk to a lot of peeps - Mom, Stephen, Elana, Bobbie, Adam, and a wave to Joe - which made me feel better. It wasn't eating with the family, but it was close.
For one thing, there were no external cues that it was Thanksgiving week. Which is bizarre. No music, no decorations everywhere, no one wishing anyone a "Happy Thanksgiving." We didn't have any school off (which IO actually think should change, because 95% of the class is American, and it is a big deal for us). Most of our faculty is Israeli, British, or Canadians, and the American born ones are now "Israeli" so there was really nothing done at school. And the weather was all off, warm (even for LA standards) for Thanksgiving week. it just made it really disorienting to have Thanksgiving, and it really wasn't until the afternoon of that I was really excited.
It was decided by a non-voting discussion, by the Kef Committee, to host (organize?) an all-class Thanksgiving Dinner, for classmates, SOs, friends, etc. The organization fell the Leslie, who, admittedly, did a fantastic job getting everyone on their shit. Everyone was assigned a different dish - sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dessert, stuffing, etc - for about 8-10 people, and about 3-4 people on every type of dish. Four people volunteered to make Turkeys - Amy, David, Gavin, and Meredith, and they are my heroes of the evening - which came out delicious, especially considering they were cooked in Israeli ovens (no Weber turkeys this year!).
I signed myself up for sweet potatoes - roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, thyme, and orange juice - and cranberry sauce. Now, I have a serious problem with canned cranberry sauce. I mean, really. Who eats that? But Israel doesn't grow cranberries, so making cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries was out. So... I used dried cranberries and stewed them for a long time in a secret concoction of things (among them fresh orange juice/zest, fresh lemon juice/zest, cranberry juice, cinnamon, pears). It turned out delicious. Almost as good as my mom's. But not quite.
So, heading into the evening, I was concerned that it would either be a fantastically fun evening, or a total bust - not because the food would suck (although there was the worry that there wouldn't be enough or the turkeys would all fail), but because it just wasn't Thanksgivingly enough. So Leslie and I conspired to put together a program that I do with my family. Before eating, people anonymously write on a leaf-shaped piece of paper something they're thankful for. After dinner, we go around the table, and each person picks a paper and reads what's on it and then we try to guess who wrote it. It's lot's of fun and also sweet, without being too sappy. It ended up being a great moment in the evening and made the night feel much more like Thanksgiving, and less like an all-class dinner with Thanksgiving themed food.
It really was a great night. I had a great time, and it was really nice celebrating this holiday that's really important to me with my makeshift Israel/HUC family. Thursday was, however, the first time in the last 4+ months that I really wished I was home, instead of here. T-Day is a really important holiday to my mom and her side of the family; we do a big, big thing, and everyone gets together. It really rivals Passover for "familial importance." And so not being home - this was my first Thanksgiving not home - was tough. I've done Rosh Hashanah not at home, I've done Pesach, I've done Hanukkah. But never Thanksgiving before. David, as well, wasn't home - he's in Kyoto for the year - and this year was my mom's turn to host. I would imagine in some ways hosting made it easier for us both not to be there; but it probably made it harder as well. I guess we're really growing up.
After dinner, there was football being played from a computer, and a poker tournament to raise money for Ride4Reform. I played poker and was at school til the wee hours winning, and then ultimately losing to Jon. Grrr. But it was fun. I miss playing poker. When I got home, I skyped with my family and got to talk to a lot of peeps - Mom, Stephen, Elana, Bobbie, Adam, and a wave to Joe - which made me feel better. It wasn't eating with the family, but it was close.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Learning to feel the distance
Yesterday, my class went on a day-long tiyul to Haifa, Tsfat, and Tiberias. We were all over the Galilee. The day was a truncated version of a typical 3-day tiyul to the north, which included a visit to Ceasaria and Tzippori; both of which we’ll be doing as part of our Rabbinic literature class in the spring, and so in the interest of making budget cuts – spurred by HUC’s 3-5 million budget shortfall this year (thank you sinking stock market), the trip was condensed into a very, very long day.
But all in all it was a good day. A very interesting and exciting day. We started the morning off in Haifa, at the Leo Baeck School, a complex named for Leo Baeck, a charismatic German Reform Rabbi who lived and worked in the first part of the 20th century. The school is a bizarre place, but a really wonderful place. It’s a "public" Junior High and High School, an Israeli Reform community center, an educational initiative center affiliated with the Israeli Reform movement, and a fairly new "Private" Reform Day School. I still don't really understand how the whole, mammoth, beautiful complex and institutions therein fit in with both the Israeli secular school system as well as the Israeli Reform movement, but it was really a special place.
A lot of money and energy went into building this institution and it seems like it’s on the cutting edge of both Israeli public schooling (which is infamously, notoriously sucky) and the role of “private” Reform-affiliated schooling (which is very akin to private Jewish day schools in the US). We took a tour, sat in on Thursday services with the elementary school (they were totally adorable), had a panel session with four high school students, talked with the Rabbi who started the elementary school, and then had a tasty falafel lunch.
Off to Tsfat!
Our next stop in the mid afternoon was in Tsfat, one of the 4 holy cities in Israel (the other three are Hebron, Jerusalem, and Tiberias). We divided into two groups, and each group met with a different local American-born artisit who moved to Tsfat in order to 1) practice Kabbalah, and 2) make art about it. Our guy, Avram, was really cruts (=crazy nuts). He grew up in Detroit and after reading two of Aryeh Kaplan’s books on Jewish mysticism in college, found his mind blown, and started to understand the “true bliss” of Judaism, and moved to Tsfat where he and his wife make Kabbalistic art. He was very kabbalisitc-hippieish, chill but totally operating on a different level than we were. He spouted a lot of aphorisms about using Kabbalah as wway to relate to life, like "learning to feel the distance," and "becoming brings of complete goodness" and "making all of our energy into output instead of input." His art was kinda cool, kinda bizarre. I didn’t buy anything, although a fair amount of my classmates did.
The day before the tiyul, Wednesday, we had an intro to Kabbalah session with an Israeli Rabbinic student, Or, who just completed a MA on the Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah. The session with Or, combined with the session with Avram, was enough discussion on Kabbalah from practicing mystics. However, we did ANOTHER study session with our “trip scholar” who took our group to three central synagogues in Tsfat, each associated with a different 16th century halakhic or kabbalistic scholar. It was interesting, but way too long, and by the end my energy and attention was shot.
When we finally got our “free time,” I raced off to Tsfat Cheesemakers, who, as I remembered from my visit to Tsfat with David Cushman and Jon Grinspan back in the early spring of 2005, makes great cheese and Halva. And my memory was correct. As we returned to the bus, and everyone compared with purchases, I had a funny realization. Some people viswit Tsfat and buy kabbalistic art. Other visit Tsfat and buy Tallitot or Jewish jewelry. I visit Tsfat and buy gourmet, locally made food.
Off to Tiberias!
Our visit to Tiberias, one of the jankiest cities in Israel (ironic because it’s the birthplace of the Jerusalem Talmud and one of the holy cities in Israel), consisted of dinner: a delicious, scrumptious Chinese food feast at Pagoda, a kosher Chinese restaurant on the bank of Lake Kinnert. Jason, Sarah K, RVT, and I shared a smattering of “classic” Chinese dishes: eggrolls, crispy duck, beef with cashews, and sweet and sour chicken. It was amazing. In reality, not the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, certainly not, but after 4+ months of no Chinese food at all (it’s funny; it’s easier to find decent and tasty sushi in Jerusalem than tasty and decent Chinese food), it was really, really wonderful. A little taste of home.
But all in all it was a good day. A very interesting and exciting day. We started the morning off in Haifa, at the Leo Baeck School, a complex named for Leo Baeck, a charismatic German Reform Rabbi who lived and worked in the first part of the 20th century. The school is a bizarre place, but a really wonderful place. It’s a "public" Junior High and High School, an Israeli Reform community center, an educational initiative center affiliated with the Israeli Reform movement, and a fairly new "Private" Reform Day School. I still don't really understand how the whole, mammoth, beautiful complex and institutions therein fit in with both the Israeli secular school system as well as the Israeli Reform movement, but it was really a special place.
A lot of money and energy went into building this institution and it seems like it’s on the cutting edge of both Israeli public schooling (which is infamously, notoriously sucky) and the role of “private” Reform-affiliated schooling (which is very akin to private Jewish day schools in the US). We took a tour, sat in on Thursday services with the elementary school (they were totally adorable), had a panel session with four high school students, talked with the Rabbi who started the elementary school, and then had a tasty falafel lunch.
Off to Tsfat!
Our next stop in the mid afternoon was in Tsfat, one of the 4 holy cities in Israel (the other three are Hebron, Jerusalem, and Tiberias). We divided into two groups, and each group met with a different local American-born artisit who moved to Tsfat in order to 1) practice Kabbalah, and 2) make art about it. Our guy, Avram, was really cruts (=crazy nuts). He grew up in Detroit and after reading two of Aryeh Kaplan’s books on Jewish mysticism in college, found his mind blown, and started to understand the “true bliss” of Judaism, and moved to Tsfat where he and his wife make Kabbalistic art. He was very kabbalisitc-hippieish, chill but totally operating on a different level than we were. He spouted a lot of aphorisms about using Kabbalah as wway to relate to life, like "learning to feel the distance," and "becoming brings of complete goodness" and "making all of our energy into output instead of input." His art was kinda cool, kinda bizarre. I didn’t buy anything, although a fair amount of my classmates did.
The day before the tiyul, Wednesday, we had an intro to Kabbalah session with an Israeli Rabbinic student, Or, who just completed a MA on the Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah. The session with Or, combined with the session with Avram, was enough discussion on Kabbalah from practicing mystics. However, we did ANOTHER study session with our “trip scholar” who took our group to three central synagogues in Tsfat, each associated with a different 16th century halakhic or kabbalistic scholar. It was interesting, but way too long, and by the end my energy and attention was shot.
When we finally got our “free time,” I raced off to Tsfat Cheesemakers, who, as I remembered from my visit to Tsfat with David Cushman and Jon Grinspan back in the early spring of 2005, makes great cheese and Halva. And my memory was correct. As we returned to the bus, and everyone compared with purchases, I had a funny realization. Some people viswit Tsfat and buy kabbalistic art. Other visit Tsfat and buy Tallitot or Jewish jewelry. I visit Tsfat and buy gourmet, locally made food.
Off to Tiberias!
Our visit to Tiberias, one of the jankiest cities in Israel (ironic because it’s the birthplace of the Jerusalem Talmud and one of the holy cities in Israel), consisted of dinner: a delicious, scrumptious Chinese food feast at Pagoda, a kosher Chinese restaurant on the bank of Lake Kinnert. Jason, Sarah K, RVT, and I shared a smattering of “classic” Chinese dishes: eggrolls, crispy duck, beef with cashews, and sweet and sour chicken. It was amazing. In reality, not the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, certainly not, but after 4+ months of no Chinese food at all (it’s funny; it’s easier to find decent and tasty sushi in Jerusalem than tasty and decent Chinese food), it was really, really wonderful. A little taste of home.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Reactions
There are a lot of reactions I've been having in the past 36 hours, most of them elated and ecstatic (except where California is concerned. I'm just... disappointed. More than anything else. I'm just disappointed), some confused - Ted Stevens? Really? Him? - but really it's a sense of relief. I mean, finally. After so many years, my entire adult life - except for 2006, which was a huge victory, but tempered by two more years of W - has been filled with political disappointment after political disappointment. You have to go back to 1996 for some good news.
I feel so relieved that this victory, one I've been gunning for for months (in truth, I can't really admit to hopping onto the Obama bandwagon until the night of the Iowa caucus, mainly due to his speech; until his victory speech Tuesday, one of the best political speeches I've ever heard). I'm relieved that this is something momentous, and incredible significant, not just because of the racial element, not just because of the annihilation of decades of conservative rule over Washington, but because I feel like this is the moment when my generation - those who came of age with Iraq - have come into our own. We have said, "No! We don't want our world to be like this!" and then we've fucking done something about it.
I, myself, haven't actually done much - it's hard to campaign from 10,000 miles away. But I donated and phone banked in the primaries, and endlessly sported my fabulous Obama shirt this last week. But I still feel ownership over this moment, over this transition, over the next 4 (8!) years. I feel real ownership, for the first time in 8 years, over my country, over my Americanship. And I'm really excited about that and what great change the future holds.
I feel so relieved that this victory, one I've been gunning for for months (in truth, I can't really admit to hopping onto the Obama bandwagon until the night of the Iowa caucus, mainly due to his speech; until his victory speech Tuesday, one of the best political speeches I've ever heard). I'm relieved that this is something momentous, and incredible significant, not just because of the racial element, not just because of the annihilation of decades of conservative rule over Washington, but because I feel like this is the moment when my generation - those who came of age with Iraq - have come into our own. We have said, "No! We don't want our world to be like this!" and then we've fucking done something about it.
I, myself, haven't actually done much - it's hard to campaign from 10,000 miles away. But I donated and phone banked in the primaries, and endlessly sported my fabulous Obama shirt this last week. But I still feel ownership over this moment, over this transition, over the next 4 (8!) years. I feel real ownership, for the first time in 8 years, over my country, over my Americanship. And I'm really excited about that and what great change the future holds.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
