Joan Jett takes the stage again!
I feel like a psychphrenic (pardon the spelling) but i cried all last night and this morning for my hair. I look like Joan Jett gone arwy. I know, I know hair grows, but we are talking years people. I got the worst bout of homesickness as well. I just feel ugly and alone. This is going to be a selfpity blog, so just move on if you don't want to read anymore. I hadn't realized how much that i hide behind my hair and all of a sudden there is no place for my face to go..it's just out there. I am sick of thinking about things i can't change. And the hair is big and puffy. i shoulda known!
Let me tell you instead about my empowering trip to Bucharest. I went thanks to Mom's helpful investigating, to a seder for Passover at the Hotel Intercontinental in Bucharest. It was a gala event with over 500 people. My mouth dropped when i saw the room filled with so many Jews. The seder was organized by the Chabadniks and they were their usual enthusiastic burst of Judiaism. During dinner they were jumping around from table to table singing Hebrew songs and dancing. They are the merriest Jews I've ever met. I sat at a table with a bunch of Israelis, in fact 99% of the people there were Israeli. One woman, Ina spoke English, so we talked a bit. She was and investment banker and she actually lived in New York ( I could smell it a mile away). "The Peace Corps!" she shouted at me above the singing Rabbi maddness, "So you're a Peacenik." I guess so. "You know," she continued, "Chabad is the Peace Corps of the Jews." I had never thought of it that way. At that moment three Rabbis ascended a table midroom and started to dance, it was more a whirl actually. They were Rabbi's turned dervishes. They looked so happy and so sure of who they were and what the were doing and why. I could almost taste their joy in the air. The soup was bad, matzah ball turds with way too much pepper. But we had gefilta fish, and bitter herbs and charoset. I knew the prayers for the most part. We sang a Tony Award winning Dayenu! I had fun and went back to my hotel full and warm with a buzz from the wine. The next day my student was participating in a international speech contest in the house of parliment. She invited me along and I went to support her. We had rehearsed her speech all week. "Local Values, global worth," was the topic. She spoke about local minorities in Romania, especially the Rroma. i couldn't be more proud of her, her speech far excelled the rest of the competition and she won first prize which is a trip to London in May. There she will compete for the International prize. I went home to Valcea high on Bucharest and life.
I have tried and tried but i can't get my bad haircut out of my head. no pun intended. i am joan jett folks. i can't laugh about it yet and that is what bothers me most.