Tuesday – Day 8
Posted on 2nd January 2014
Tuesday morning I had planned to meet at 10:30 with Tova and Rocky Neumann, a madricha (youth leader) of mine from when I was in Primary School. They had met each other at UChicago, both being Jewish. Unfortunately for me, the meeting time had been mis-communicated to me and I ended up waiting in the cold for near an hour.
When Rocky finally arrived we embraced and both smiled widely. I hadn’t really had the chance to get to know her as an adult but I could immediately tell that she was someone who I would get along excellently with. Tova was late another half hour, but in the meantime I had an excellent chat with Rocky and her friend and decided then that I would have to make more of an effort to keep in touch with her. Additionally as an Australian expat looking to do graduate study in the US we had a lot more in common than our history. Tova finally arrived and we had a nice brunch together that took us well into the afternoon. From brunch we walked to the apartment I was staying in to check out the gamelan and to sing a little with the Steinway. Nothing really compares to such a beautiful piano!
From the music therapy, we then continued on to search for party supplies for Rocky, as she was to attend a secret warehouse party for NYE where we met with Ariella. I was asked a good deal of questions about what looked good and what suited and had not the foggiest, but I did my best and dutifully carried bags and merchandise. Soon the Americans departed and Rocky and I were left alone going from party store to party store searching for the right material for her costume. We settled again for coffee and a sandwich, finished off a little shopping, and then I was on my own again.
Not sure what to do with myself alone on NYE I found myself walking back to Marie’s, very early in the evening. I arrived at around 6.30 to take the same stool in front of the piano as the previous night. No familiar faces as of yet save for the excellent pianist Jeff. This night I now knew a few more of the songs, bought a few more drinks, and before I knew it the bar was packed with revelers. Laura from the night before had come with her friends and they sat down next to me. Over the course of the evening Laura, her friends (Laura and Mark) and I spoke a little more, shared songs and enjoyed each others company. I was introduced to a good number of people, all incredibly warm and friendly, most of whom could really sing. By the time midnight came I was having an incredible time as was so happy that I’d stumbled by.
New Years came and went and soon I was walking home again for the best nights sleep of the trip.