princeton shabbat

i had an abslutely fantastic time at princeton. i'm going to try to go chronologically...

we met this guy on the train who works for con-ed soing engineer-y stuff. like many people before him, he was totally charmed by the potent combination of myself and avraham. we talked a *lot* and he gave us his card and asked us to call him so he could take us out to lunch some time.

they have the coolest train that takes you from the train @ princeton junction to campus. it's down the hill from orly's dorm, tres convenient. orly's apt is perfect. fishbowl windows, political stataemnt map placement, awesome cool sweet fun rommmates, and a pretty kick-ass collection of books.

i normally freeze up a bit around strangers. i get very uncomfortable and awkwrd and unsure of myself. but from the confort of davening friday night to dinner, dessert, the speech, and through out my stay, i had such a good time. i was totally comfortabel there, it felt totally natural. people there are so fun, and smart, and interesting, and not afraid to show it ever.

they were having a trial run with a candidate for the director of CJL position. i first encountered her @ friday night dinner when she made kiddush. i liked it. then we had an introductory speech after dinner. she tried to tell us about herself and bring in texts for something cute, but it didn't gel very well for me. the story ws one track, the texts were not so matching, and i felt like her story had a conclusion, but the texts were left hanging out there, making no sense with each other.

we went back to orly's apt and hung out there, til the boys had to leave @12:30 cause of the door alarm thing. then we talked to janine til she fell asleep, and orly and i kept going til about 4:30, which we do every friday night we're together, it seems. oops

shabbat morning we woke up @ 11:30, got dressed, and were walking out the door - and avraham was coming up the stairs to met us. (yes, i felt bad that he was alone in shul and at the kiddush). we went to the CJL and had a big happy lunch. well, mostly. the trial person had 3 kids with her, and they were running around unsupervisd. her husband wasn't doing much to as far as stepping in and being the parent while his wife was trying out for the job. at the kiddush earlier, while she was making kiddush, the kids wanted grape juice, and so as she's making kiddush, she's holding the bottle in her pther hand, pouring it out into their cups... and he was standing right next to her. beyond being strange, it doesn't bode well for someone who's going to need to be focusing on work.

so. lunch. lunch was great (company, not food). screeching kids almost made orly's head explode (great acoustics in there, btw). we retired to the lounge where things got more sticky. husband was "watching" the kids, and the stroller was turned upside down in the middle of the room. this is the main room where the jewish students spend shabbat - reading, talking, playing board games. there were other rooms for the little ones to run around in and make a mess in. the 2 year old and the 7 year old started fighting, the father is just kinda sitting there letting them do their thing. unreal.

they finally left, and i settled in to read the new yorker, talk to avraham and orly, and get to know some of orly's friends. we talked a lot, shared some impressions of the candidate. haha, some...

se'udat shlishit began, and again, it was just a great crowd, great conversations. the singing, btw, is unreal. it's like you have to have a good voice to go to princeton. i loved it. then it came time for the dvar torah, and the candidate lady says "i'm not going to give a dvar torah, i'm going to give a dvar talmud" um, ok... she proceeds to read this whole thing about food burning and oneg shabbat and having sex on shabbat and then back to oneg shabbat and then back to the food and then made a comment about not just reading the part of gemara you need, but to put in context to get a fuller understanding, and then something about reading the halacha and the agadata both... i had no clue what she was trying to tell us, if anything. theories do abound, though.

then it was time to bentch, and they realized the older kids were missing. the husband came out looking for them, and orly's like "don't worry, there's no roof access". he walks off, and i'm like "orly, you do know that you're radiating the fact that you don't like him, right?" she thought she was hiding it so well. avraham was like "yeah, taht was a bit hostile". it was so funny, though.

then we made havdallah, and as we came up, the 2 year old is trying to push her stroller down the stairs. alone. so orly and i grabbed the stroller and talker down a bit. it was unreal. i mean, i'd assume they were on best nehavior. the parents, at least. and they came off as self-centered, not v aware of public ro shared space, inattentive to their kids, unable to prioritize, unable to delegate... and she was a terrible speaker. there's a lot i lfet out, like her digs against orthodoxy, and his showing up after laining and then doing mussaf... but they managed to alienate every student there.

we went back to Orly's, changed, i packed, and then we went for chinese with Sapin (is that how you spell it?), who, i'd like to add, is the first person i met who read this blog and didn't know me. we like sapin a lot, and not even because of that. just cuse.. well. orly has great taste in friends (it's very cool that i get to be included in that group, does terribly huge things to my ego).

so, let me sum up. i had a great time. i really liked the people i met, i got to see orly (!!!), i read great stuff, i had fantastic conversations. and i can't wait to go back.

*grin*

i should go campus to campus, reviewing how they treat shabbat guests...