Yohoshua! and break

And so we reach the end of 2006. And I send out a HUGE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

YOHOSHUA HARRIS!

baste the fuckers
miss you tons and tons

The break continues....

After going down to Battery park with Anmol, I went again the next day with my favorite German couple, Michael and Manu. This time we took the Staten Ferry to get a slightly closer look at the Statue of Liberty (when my hair wasn't getting blown in my face).

On the way out Michael couldn't resist mocking the tourists waiting in line for the ferry. This was us just a mere hour earlier. He kept asking why every five minutes the clock that "showed the boarding time" went back 5 minutes (indeed, it was just a clock, telling the actual time).

Excellent panoramic picture of Ground Zero

The next day Michael, Manu, and I did a (food) tour of the Lower East Side. We started out at Delancey and Essex looking at one of the oldest synagogues in NY which is now home to the Shul of New York (look at my earlier post on the High Holy Days). We were lucky that one of the shomers (workers) was able to let us in...

The inside, even though there were no lights on, was pretty impressive. I love that they've left the pain peeling with only hints of the grand decorations that were once on the walls. Michael and Manu were pretty impressed, and decided to come with me to Shabbat services (to be discussed later...)

Ahhhhh, the Forward Building. Home to the Yiddish newspaper "The Forward" as well as the romantic meeting place of my Grandma Edie and Grandpa Harry! Oh those romantic Socialist Jews!

What is a tour of the Lower East Side without a ridiculous amount of deli meat at Katz's? NOTHING. We had also stopped at Gus's for pickles and Kosar's for bialeys. And Ross and Daughters for some rugelach and halva (Jewish sweets).

In the past few nights we've also had some nice dinners, a curry and a German noodle dish. I also went down to Brooklyn to visit Russell and Sam with Rachel B. and Tzipporah. I think it was a pretty nice night, though perhaps better for some than others...

At I-House we've also played some mean Trivial Pursuit which turned into something more like Charades since each team needed a dozen hints to get any answers right

(pictures today were provided by Michael, quite the photographer)