it is rather deceiving how scheming and elusive life can be at times. One moment you can be enjoying a dark, soothing refreshing brew and the next you can be lying on an ICU fighting for your life. About two months ago, my great uncle on my mom's side moishe, or how I like to call him, El Moi, was diagnosed with lung cancer. To the majority of my family it came in shock, but for me it was almost expected. The man smoked his first cigarette at the age of 12 and has been an avid smoker ever since. He has never been a man who concerns himself with risks and negativity so its no coincidence that he has always been very oblivious about most things. What can I say? It was only a matter of time. The man was burdened but refused to relinquish his fight to live so much to the encouragement of the family he began taking Tarceba, an orally induced chemotheraputic pill, two weeks following his diagnosis.
December rolls around and the month of therapy ends at about the time that I am departing for my trip. On December 13th, I call home from new york to check in and find out with amazement that el moi's cancer disappeared and that my family was once again calm and relieved so i left to Israel with no worries. Through the next three weeks I concentrated only on my trip... I went to the wall in Jerusalem and I thanked G-d for his recovery... I only called home all but a couple of times. When I returned on the eve of the new year, I was welcomed with the unfortunate news that El moi had passed away while I was gone...Shocked, I still am. It happend Dec. 19th, he went peacefully...thats all that matters to me.
He wasnt just my uncle, he wasnt just family, he was my friend. He was possibly the youngest 79-year old in this world. He never invisioned himself as being old, only "un poquo grande" - al little old. He would hit on my friends, which was hilarious, all in good fun of course. He loved boxing and wrestling, sexual induendos, and drinking coffee. He smoked like a man possessed but he was always strong as an ox. El Moi always lived by his own rules... once even stepped into a boxing ring in front of 2,000 people and fought a guy after his opponent failed to show up. The newspapers and his friends called him "El Kid Moi" from then on. He never married because he lived for the thrill of life. He was never tied down in one place until he grew too old to care for himself. He listened to his loved ones but he never let anyone tell him what to do. He was careless and arrogant, charming and witty, funny and charismatic. He did a lot of stupid shit all throughout his life but he was a good man who loved and appreciated life and family. He lived life to the fullest and he never regretted many things about it. He's in a better place now... probably charming marilyn monroe as we speak. You will be missed Moicas.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
476 trip
-Warning...Being brutally honest, not a custodian....dick!
Having arrived hardly in one piece two nightfalls ago, I've had all but a minute to kosherly analyze the trip and the people that i traveled with. Doing BR in the winter is 3 times more difficult primarily because of the harsh weather so I had an idea of what was to come. Knowing that id be working my 2nd trip with Uriel, i knew that the pressure of keeping professional standards would be considerably minimized and that I would have to carry the load because I would be working with a rookie co-staff...worse off, from canada (ouch!). So right off from the airport I met the group and began labeling the token individuals: The drinkers, the creepy one, the smelly one, the spiritual one, etc. I was wrong with some of my labels but to the contrary I was rather proved wrong...disappointed I wasnt for the most part; impressed for the most part with individuals who I initially thought would be douchebags.
Initially the people that stood out in my eyes were the 1st batch of people that showed up in Newark....danny, jonny, dara, michelle, david and tej. Danny was one of the few people that greeted me warmly and with enthusiasm so initially i knew that this was a guy that I would definately like (nongayly...not that there's anything wrong with that). Dara was insane since the moment I met her. She was definately going to be one fo the few girls getting plastered night in and night out. David was great from the first minute that I met him until the last day when I hugged him goodbye. He was always so chilled and had some good conversations with him. It was funny when 'a rock jumped up and bit his leg' and when he climbed a tree and sat there for 30 mins. Then comes Michelle...dont really know where to start. I came on the trip with the mentality of carrying on my responsabilities and not allowing myself to get attached to anyone. Yea...easier said than done after meeting Michelle. Even with her piercing beauty, what initially attracted me to her, aside from the eynayim, was her personality. so chilled and relaxed, feel that we would get along great even in different settings. Dont really want this to be it...definately would/will go those extra 2,000 miles to show thaat i really care for her...
Then came my co-staff hagai. I thought this kid was going to be a 6'2, 220lb monster...primarily because I invision canadians like that because that's the stature of my only canadian boy...but he was about the same size as me, except not as strong, witty, and charming. Initially I was a bit skeptikal but he seemed like a good guy but it took me a little while to make him trustworthy. We worked well initially but then we kind of drifted because he aggrevated me too much, reasonably because of lack of experience and the fact that he never attempted to step up and take charge quite the way Wolfin (last co-staff) did. Work aside...my canadian counterpart was sooo chill, love the guy, great personality and we got along great.
Airport incident: The entire group was initially supposed to depart from Newark Airport in Jersey but several of my people got bumped off so I had to stay behind with them. We ended up catching a shuttle to JFK in brooklyn and left from there almost 7 hours later. After we met up with the rest of the group next friday afternoon, some of the characters started standing... unfortunately, we had a higher average of whinners and complainers compared to other groups. I would say that emerged mostly from the rooming listing. Like this girl Jess walks up to me one night and "threatens to go home" because I had to put her in a "triple room intead of a double", and that was completely "unacceptable". NEWSFLASH - I dont know how many times I had to remind people that it is a FREE FUCKING TRIP!...and I make that rules, cuz I have this tight nametag that says staff. I knew Mrs. Jess would come around by the end of the trip so I told her to chill. My "break" time is supposed to come after official meeting times have adjurned so having people disrupt me afterhours to address me with stupid issues aggrevated me various times.
Also had the honor of hosting a Long Island girl that didnt even have the common courtesy of shaking my hand when I first met her...completely disrespectful. I spit on people like that so I made it my priority to disregard her as much as I could. Check this... the 23 year old called her daddy to tell on Uriel and I for not fetching the maddam ice one night. Sleazy comments like "Israelis dont deserve a tip" and "eeww at least im not that skinny"(observation at the holocaust museum) basically sum up the type of person that she is.
To the contrary, I can honestly say that everyone one else was great....
Quite possibly the best line of the trip came on the 2nd day when I was informed that someone woke up at around 6am after the first night in Tel-Aviv and pissed right on the corner of their hotel room. When asked what they were doing...they uttered in a semi-drunken manner "what? haven't you ever pissed in the corner of a room before?" - classic. This was just one incident...there was everything from vomiting to urinating in public to streaking,
Nice!
I felt very exhausted and moody at times during the trip which I regret but I still had an amazing time with some great people. Cant really compare the group to others, but I can say it was better than others. The group had some very chill, unique individuals & they definately made it very memorable and special for me. I got to talk to and know more people on a personal level than in the past groups, I think primarily because I did not concentrate purely on drinking and keeping up with "the cool kids" every single night...I kinda did my own thing some nights, chill with the guards/aaron's people, or just rest. More later. - J
Having arrived hardly in one piece two nightfalls ago, I've had all but a minute to kosherly analyze the trip and the people that i traveled with. Doing BR in the winter is 3 times more difficult primarily because of the harsh weather so I had an idea of what was to come. Knowing that id be working my 2nd trip with Uriel, i knew that the pressure of keeping professional standards would be considerably minimized and that I would have to carry the load because I would be working with a rookie co-staff...worse off, from canada (ouch!). So right off from the airport I met the group and began labeling the token individuals: The drinkers, the creepy one, the smelly one, the spiritual one, etc. I was wrong with some of my labels but to the contrary I was rather proved wrong...disappointed I wasnt for the most part; impressed for the most part with individuals who I initially thought would be douchebags.
Initially the people that stood out in my eyes were the 1st batch of people that showed up in Newark....danny, jonny, dara, michelle, david and tej. Danny was one of the few people that greeted me warmly and with enthusiasm so initially i knew that this was a guy that I would definately like (nongayly...not that there's anything wrong with that). Dara was insane since the moment I met her. She was definately going to be one fo the few girls getting plastered night in and night out. David was great from the first minute that I met him until the last day when I hugged him goodbye. He was always so chilled and had some good conversations with him. It was funny when 'a rock jumped up and bit his leg' and when he climbed a tree and sat there for 30 mins. Then comes Michelle...dont really know where to start. I came on the trip with the mentality of carrying on my responsabilities and not allowing myself to get attached to anyone. Yea...easier said than done after meeting Michelle. Even with her piercing beauty, what initially attracted me to her, aside from the eynayim, was her personality. so chilled and relaxed, feel that we would get along great even in different settings. Dont really want this to be it...definately would/will go those extra 2,000 miles to show thaat i really care for her...
Then came my co-staff hagai. I thought this kid was going to be a 6'2, 220lb monster...primarily because I invision canadians like that because that's the stature of my only canadian boy...but he was about the same size as me, except not as strong, witty, and charming. Initially I was a bit skeptikal but he seemed like a good guy but it took me a little while to make him trustworthy. We worked well initially but then we kind of drifted because he aggrevated me too much, reasonably because of lack of experience and the fact that he never attempted to step up and take charge quite the way Wolfin (last co-staff) did. Work aside...my canadian counterpart was sooo chill, love the guy, great personality and we got along great.
Airport incident: The entire group was initially supposed to depart from Newark Airport in Jersey but several of my people got bumped off so I had to stay behind with them. We ended up catching a shuttle to JFK in brooklyn and left from there almost 7 hours later. After we met up with the rest of the group next friday afternoon, some of the characters started standing... unfortunately, we had a higher average of whinners and complainers compared to other groups. I would say that emerged mostly from the rooming listing. Like this girl Jess walks up to me one night and "threatens to go home" because I had to put her in a "triple room intead of a double", and that was completely "unacceptable". NEWSFLASH - I dont know how many times I had to remind people that it is a FREE FUCKING TRIP!...and I make that rules, cuz I have this tight nametag that says staff. I knew Mrs. Jess would come around by the end of the trip so I told her to chill. My "break" time is supposed to come after official meeting times have adjurned so having people disrupt me afterhours to address me with stupid issues aggrevated me various times.
Also had the honor of hosting a Long Island girl that didnt even have the common courtesy of shaking my hand when I first met her...completely disrespectful. I spit on people like that so I made it my priority to disregard her as much as I could. Check this... the 23 year old called her daddy to tell on Uriel and I for not fetching the maddam ice one night. Sleazy comments like "Israelis dont deserve a tip" and "eeww at least im not that skinny"(observation at the holocaust museum) basically sum up the type of person that she is.
To the contrary, I can honestly say that everyone one else was great....
Quite possibly the best line of the trip came on the 2nd day when I was informed that someone woke up at around 6am after the first night in Tel-Aviv and pissed right on the corner of their hotel room. When asked what they were doing...they uttered in a semi-drunken manner "what? haven't you ever pissed in the corner of a room before?" - classic. This was just one incident...there was everything from vomiting to urinating in public to streaking,
Nice!
I felt very exhausted and moody at times during the trip which I regret but I still had an amazing time with some great people. Cant really compare the group to others, but I can say it was better than others. The group had some very chill, unique individuals & they definately made it very memorable and special for me. I got to talk to and know more people on a personal level than in the past groups, I think primarily because I did not concentrate purely on drinking and keeping up with "the cool kids" every single night...I kinda did my own thing some nights, chill with the guards/aaron's people, or just rest. More later. - J
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