Friday/Shabbat/Sunday – Day 54/55/56
September 19, 2012
After arriving in on Friday I was forced to begin a mad rush to complete all of my work that was due before my arrival back at Penn. So out of my bag I grabbed my notes, grabbed my laptop and… rifling through my bag I couldn’t find my charger! This was particularly worrisome as my laptop contained all the most recent source code from my programming assignments (they were yet to be uploaded to the cloud).
This necessitated a trip to Best Buy to purchase a charger so that I could complete my urgent work. This turned out not to be a huge issue a Robin, Sarah’s mother, was going to Costco, opposite the tech store, to shop for Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year). I purchased the cheapest universal laptop charger in the store, checking for plug and power compatibility beforehand and returned with Robin back home to Sarah’s. Unfortunately when I plugged in the charger, my laptop still refused to boot! Oy Gevalt!
By this time it was well past midday and thus there was a mandatory stop for lunch before trying to figure out my next move. Luckily, Robin had forgotten to buy meat, so on our way back to Costco I took the non-functional charger with me and went to return it and buy a new HP branded one. However, despite my best efforts, I had left a piece of the packaging back home and thus was required to work out yet another seventy dollars in order to get myself back up and running. A return visit to Best Buy with the extra piece was then put on my ‘to-do’ list.
At that point, Sarah and her brother Zack, returned home from college and after a brief spell chatting, Sarah and I headed to the living room to put in some hours working before Shabbat.
Shabbat dinner was a peaceful family affair and soon after I was fast asleep. The sleep in fact continued till around midday the next, and meant that I woke up just in time for lunch. After that, it was time for a good hour and half walk around the area to get myself acquainted and to enjoy the pleasant weather. A shluf (sleep) in the afternoon rounded off the day. When Shabbat came out Sarah and I drove to see ‘Premium Rush’, a decent film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, about bicycle messengers in NYC and we both enjoyed it, though it was nothing to rave about. Though I did think Joseph looked an awful lot like the properties manager from the PGC (Penn Glee Club) a lovely well dressed guy by the name of Devin. Returning home, Sarah and I talked till the early hours of the morning, while busily trying to get a little work done. Finally at about 2AM we called it in and headed to sleep.
Sunday was another trip to Best Buy to return the charge. After that, a good hour on the piano to relax a little and then again, a mad rush to try and complete all my work. Unfortunately I didn’t manage it all on time and now needed to talk to professors to try and obtain limited extensions to hand in my work Wednesday on my return to the states.
Rosh Hashana first night dinner was with Sarah’s Mother’s family. I was slightly overwhelming being introduced to so many new people at once, however, the food was delicious and, I had a great time entertaining and being entertained by her younger cousins. To them I exposed the fact that Sarah has an encyclopaedic geographic knowledge that includes every country in the world and their capitals. I also introduced to them a scoring system by which you could earn a point for finding a capital Sarah didn’t know. The sum of all our points by the end of the evening was a measly one. Trinidad and Tobago she had forgotten.
After a delicious dessert, it was time to go, however Sarah’s little cousin wasn’t too happy over the fact and made me promise to come back for Shabbat dinner another time. An evening well spent.
Friday – Day 43
September 4, 2012
After partying hard Thursday night I deserved a late wake-up on Friday! After a late wakeup I rushed to Hill (a dormitory building) for breakfast, however arrived too late to sit down and have some proper toast, as I had further information sessions for exchange that morning. The lecture was rather useless and inspired me to naught.
Following that, I, a Japanese friend (Kaya Doi) and a Malaysian friend Theng, decided to visit the bookstore and give it a thorough run down. Of greatest interest inside was the large array of Penn merchandise, taking up approximately half the entire store. Particularly catching my eye was a UPenn tie for the tidy sum of $60, well beyond my current tie budget. Though, I did promise myself to at least buy a ‘sweater’ with the logo on it. No doubt by the time I return I will have acquired a full wardrobe of Penn related items.
Immediately after, it was back to an information session on safe living at Penn with the entire freshman class, the class of 2016. I made a few more fresher friends along the way but mostly that session was again, a complete waste of time, albeit with a few amusing moments courtesy of the poorly constructed “Tell It Like It Is” anti-sexual violence campaign.
I walked the freshmen back to their dorms and then was somewhat at a loss as to what to do next so I walked down spruce and eventually came across a food truck ‘Chez Yasmine’ which caught my idea for its different style. As I was looking at the menu, which featured a variety of cuisines from North African to Vietnamese the owner, one Jihed Chehimi accosted me and began talking in depth about the inspiration behind the truck, which followed his life story through the medium of food. Fascinated I decided to order a simple sandwich and listen further. Over the next fifteen minutes (a long but worthwhile wait) my sandwich was prepared by the friendly staff member inside the truck and Jihed told me a great many stories from his life whilst inquiring into mine. At his insistence I was also presented with a delicious quinoa salad and a fresh baguette, to ‘fatten up a skinny boy’. I was then informed that every customer is provided with a fresh piece of fruit and water with every order, however as they were out of fruit I was to receive a can of San Pellegrino instead.
Lunch
Feeling bad for them I tried to pay more than the requisite six dollars but was forcibly told I would be banned from the food truck were I to manage to pay more than the value of my food. I highly recommend visiting the truck as much for the experience as for the food.
Following that, I prepared for Shabbat in my room and played piano for a few hours before heading out to the library social just as the sun was lowering in the sky. Looking at my watch, I saw I had about thirty minutes at the social before I needed to take my leave and go to synagogue in the Hillel (Jewish Students Building). The library social was really something to see. Over one thousand students packed into a library racing like mad on a scavenger hunt for a free tshirt which I managed to snag as well. Inside the hallowed halls was also a DJ playing typical dance music and the masses gyrated alongside columns and shelves of books.
Leaving just as Shabbat began, I walked briskly to the Hillel where the OCP (Orthodox Community at Penn) minyan (prayer service) was already in full-swing. Strong melodies arose from the room and I took a free seat at the back and enjoyed singing and listening to the powerful voices.
Following that it was dinner with the Jewish freshmen, which was a pleasant experience though nothing special to report. More of note is the sheer size of the Jewish population at Penn, over 25% of the student population. Though, I was delighted to meet one Abby Jablansky, Executive VP of the Hillel with whom I connected on a number of different levels.
After dinner I met a few freshman upstairs to hear a performance by Penn’s Jewish acapella group, the Shabbattones. While most people were severely impressed, I thought that though they were highly entertaining, their pitch could have been better. However, as a first experience of college acapella it was fantastic.
Alexis and her friends, some freshmen that I had met then walked with me to their dorm and as they decided to go out and party, I made a bit of a retreat back to Rodin, climbed up my eight floors of stairs and took a good nights sleep.
Day 30 – Shabbat
August 21, 2012
Today’s photos are for good reason, not all supplied by me, thus credit where due. As per most Shabbatot that I’m away, the day was mostly spent walking around.
Koen and I visited the TV tower at Alexanderplatz and also the Pergamon Museum, two touristic features of Berlin.
The TV Tower
Later in the evening we returned to Theresa’s apartment where we met with her boyfriend Lucas and a friend of his to head out to a late night movie.
Statue of Victory at the Pergamon
The cinematheque to which we were taken was located in what I could only describe as the ‘indie’ part of town. The narrow streets were filled with crowded outdoor bars and the sound of many languages could be heard following faster than the drinks. Street art lined the walls and a cobblestone pathway drew us ever deeper through the winding alleys. Finally we came upon the theatre, within which were posters from the numerous films screening, none of which I had heard of.
It was explained to me that the cinema only showed films after they had been strictly vetted by staff to ensure their quality, and tonight’s film “We Have to Talk About Kevin” was no exception. Nominated for Best Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival last year, ‘Kevin’ is a psychological thriller, directed by twenty two year old first timer Lynne Ramsay. The film was most enjoyable but struck home on an emotional level in relation to issues concerning mental health, the relationship between parent and child, and the long lasting effects on parents when their offspring go awry.