Summer Happenings
I know, it has been a long while. The truth of it all is that I've had some fun, I've had some none fun, and I have not gotten done nearly as much as I thought I would. I will give a brief overview of the last few months:
The Back
I've been going to a physical therapist for the last month or so and my back has gotten a lot better. I still can't wear heels, but then I never could, and sitting all day more or less makes me miserable. My physical therapist, R., on the other hand makes me quite happy. He is a very nice young man who takes time to massage my tushi and ask my how my life is going. And he listens. It has been one of the best relationships I have ever been in. But he is popular, so I once had to be massaged by Z. a Russian-Israeli man who was a bit too rough, and also had the opportunity to be massaged by K. a very nice young woman.
I've been going to a physical therapist for the last month or so and my back has gotten a lot better. I still can't wear heels, but then I never could, and sitting all day more or less makes me miserable. My physical therapist, R., on the other hand makes me quite happy. He is a very nice young man who takes time to massage my tushi and ask my how my life is going. And he listens. It has been one of the best relationships I have ever been in. But he is popular, so I once had to be massaged by Z. a Russian-Israeli man who was a bit too rough, and also had the opportunity to be massaged by K. a very nice young woman.
The Work
It has been very up and down and I can't really go into much detail. But let it be known that I have very much enjoyed the lessons I have been able to put together and I have learned a great deal from the research I have done as well. I am most proud of a lesson on Hip-Hop and Religion in which I have profiled popular rap artists and used their personalities and lyrics to create lessons for high school students on comparative religion and challenging stereotypes. The other lesson I love is on Refugees, it's a 3-parter with a lesson on religious refugees (Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Rama, Ba'la'hullah and Dhalai Lama), on famous modern refugees (Einstein, Wyclef Jean, Anne Frank, etc.), and a science related one on dehydration. I also had the opportunity to interact in trainings, site visits, and at one point teach a lesson I designed to incredibly bright highschoolers from Harlem and the Bronx. I have been pretty thrilled!
The Friendly Fun
Having had very little time to run around New York over the past two semesters, I have made it my business to rack up my sightseeing spots. More than that, I've been hanging out with great people and deepening my friendships at I-House. Lucky for me, New York is also a popular place to visit, so I've had the chance to catch up with old friends. One was Jon, my best friend from EIE (high school in Israel) who stopped over before heading out to Utah to drive a bus for the summer (he loooves buses). We had a great time running around SOHO and I got to reintroduce him to our old Israeli-loves: Aroma (best cafe on Earth) and Sabon (soap store).
Having had very little time to run around New York over the past two semesters, I have made it my business to rack up my sightseeing spots. More than that, I've been hanging out with great people and deepening my friendships at I-House. Lucky for me, New York is also a popular place to visit, so I've had the chance to catch up with old friends. One was Jon, my best friend from EIE (high school in Israel) who stopped over before heading out to Utah to drive a bus for the summer (he loooves buses). We had a great time running around SOHO and I got to reintroduce him to our old Israeli-loves: Aroma (best cafe on Earth) and Sabon (soap store).
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Asher came in for a visit a few weeks before he head out for adventures unknown. You can read all about them on his blog http://www.asherj.blogspot.com/. He's running all around Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan, and any other number of sadly oppressed former Soviet countries. But, as I was saying...
Asher came in for a visit a few weeks before he head out for adventures unknown. You can read all about them on his blog http://www.asherj.blogspot.com/. He's running all around Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan, and any other number of sadly oppressed former Soviet countries. But, as I was saying...
Asher came in very late on Friday night and I took him directly over to Roti Roll for some of my favorite Indian food. The next day we went over to Shira's for a scrumptious breakfast of pear pancakes and berries. Sibling bonding complete, Asher and I went to the Natural History Museum to reminisce over Catcher in the Rye and the photography project I had done on the book in high school which Asher had posed for (he was quite a brooder in his time). We went especially for the exhibit on Mythical Creatures which we had hoped would be amazing but was actually pretty disappointing. The main idea of it was quite interesting; comparing mythical 
creatures and folktales about them from around the world with depictions whenever possible and a little theory thrown in. The main problem was the exhibition room was cramped, which just enough room for slow-moving families to meander past, so that we found ourselves skipping past displays because they were too crowded. There was one on giants in which the curators showed that people before us had taken the scattered bones of a woolly mammoth and thought they were the skeleton of a giant. Truly though, what is more miraculous and unlikely; a very large person, or a cumbersome hair-covered mammal similar to an elephant which you had never seen or heard of? From the museum we took a nice long stroll through Central Park, slowing down to check out Cleopatra's Needle and speeding up past the herd of Orthodox Jews taking over the main green. Before Asher left we had one more dinner with Shira and a nice time hanging out at her apartment.
creatures and folktales about them from around the world with depictions whenever possible and a little theory thrown in. The main problem was the exhibition room was cramped, which just enough room for slow-moving families to meander past, so that we found ourselves skipping past displays because they were too crowded. There was one on giants in which the curators showed that people before us had taken the scattered bones of a woolly mammoth and thought they were the skeleton of a giant. Truly though, what is more miraculous and unlikely; a very large person, or a cumbersome hair-covered mammal similar to an elephant which you had never seen or heard of? From the museum we took a nice long stroll through Central Park, slowing down to check out Cleopatra's Needle and speeding up past the herd of Orthodox Jews taking over the main green. Before Asher left we had one more dinner with Shira and a nice time hanging out at her apartment.Pride 
Around Pride time in NY a number of events popped up around town. Sandy, Anmol and I went to Bryant Park for what was supposed to be an especially fun one, but what turned out to be some very poor Gay Pop sing alongs. We salvaged the afternoon once we found a carousel. It took a bit to work up the courage, and the crowd of kids necessary, to ride on it. Just Anmol and my luck, we somehow sat on two of the little kid horses that don't even move. So while Sandy was bounding up and down on a pretty palomino, we two were strapped on measly mules.
The actu
al Pride Parade was much more exciting. The sidewalks were absolutely packed with onlookers and the streets were loaded with cars, bands, floats, and politicians. Towards the beginning there were a lot of religious f
loats, which was exciting at first but quickly lost its novelty. It seemed every denomination of church had its own float, which is something pretty fantastic, no doubt. I cheered especially loudly for the Jewish flo
ats and Riverside Church's (my neighbor). After all the festivities, drag queens, and semi-nudity in general, our little group headed over for some beers. We went to the Cubby Hole, a popular gay/lesbian/bi bar in the West Village. At this point my back was killing me, so I sat outside one a bench while the rest of the group got beers and hung out.
al Pride Parade was much more exciting. The sidewalks were absolutely packed with onlookers and the streets were loaded with cars, bands, floats, and politicians. Towards the beginning there were a lot of religious f
loats, which was exciting at first but quickly lost its novelty. It seemed every denomination of church had its own float, which is something pretty fantastic, no doubt. I cheered especially loudly for the Jewish flo
ats and Riverside Church's (my neighbor). After all the festivities, drag queens, and semi-nudity in general, our little group headed over for some beers. We went to the Cubby Hole, a popular gay/lesbian/bi bar in the West Village. At this point my back was killing me, so I sat outside one a bench while the rest of the group got beers and hung out.The Group - in general when I say "group" in this post I mean some combination of Cyrus (half Persian American who is studying Education Technology at TC), Sandy (Armenian American studying Anthropology and Museums studies at Columbia, with a penchant for skulls), Michael (German-Filipino American studying nutrition at TC and doing experiments on rats in some lab), Anna (full-on Brit doing Museum studies at Columbia with a speciality in feminism). Sadly, Anmol has left for Hong Kong and the current Michael is not to be mistaken for previous German Michael who is back home too. I only put in nationalities to prove how very cool and multicultural I am. I love IHouse.
4th of July at Coney Island
It seems that it is a NY tradition to go to Coney Island to celebrate the 4th of July. This was an espe
cially important year to go because Coney Island will be torn down sometime in the next 12 months to be turned into a new Atlantic City, or so goes the rumor. From what I saw, they won't have to do a lot of demolition. The boardwalk is hardly nailed down, so that as large crowds walked across it the wooden boards lifted and creaked. The beach itself was hardly inviting, with the wind kicking up sand storms and the 
large amount of human debris cluttering any sense of panoramic views. But we weren't there for post cards. No, we were there for hot dogs. Nathan's Hot Dogs has been hosting the International Hot Dog Eating Contest for 92 years. It used to be that eating 12 or so hot dogs in the official 12 minutes was quite something, but that was before Japanese contestant Kobayashi entered the ring and began downing some 40 hot dogs in that same time. He's been the reigning champ for years, until this year when American frat boy from Ohio, Joey Chestnut, won with 66 hot dogs! Believe me, the crowd was tense, and it was packed, and strangely All-American. After the contest w
e explored the other tourist hot-spots of Coney. There were the amusement rides, which my father remembers going on some 30 years ago, and which creak as much as the boardwalk. There was the freakshow, which we didn't enter, but we didn't have to because the crowds Coney drew was bizarre enough. A special treasure was the Coney Island Museum, which only cost 99 cents to enjoy. There we saw old photographs, tin signs, memorabilia, and a special viewing of Topsy the Elephant who was electrocuted at the turn of the century for Coney guests' enjoyment.
International Express and Goodbye Party
cially important year to go because Coney Island will be torn down sometime in the next 12 months to be turned into a new Atlantic City, or so goes the rumor. From what I saw, they won't have to do a lot of demolition. The boardwalk is hardly nailed down, so that as large crowds walked across it the wooden boards lifted and creaked. The beach itself was hardly inviting, with the wind kicking up sand storms and the 
large amount of human debris cluttering any sense of panoramic views. But we weren't there for post cards. No, we were there for hot dogs. Nathan's Hot Dogs has been hosting the International Hot Dog Eating Contest for 92 years. It used to be that eating 12 or so hot dogs in the official 12 minutes was quite something, but that was before Japanese contestant Kobayashi entered the ring and began downing some 40 hot dogs in that same time. He's been the reigning champ for years, until this year when American frat boy from Ohio, Joey Chestnut, won with 66 hot dogs! Believe me, the crowd was tense, and it was packed, and strangely All-American. After the contest w
e explored the other tourist hot-spots of Coney. There were the amusement rides, which my father remembers going on some 30 years ago, and which creak as much as the boardwalk. There was the freakshow, which we didn't enter, but we didn't have to because the crowds Coney drew was bizarre enough. A special treasure was the Coney Island Museum, which only cost 99 cents to enjoy. There we saw old photographs, tin signs, memorabilia, and a special viewing of Topsy the Elephant who was electrocuted at the turn of the century for Coney guests' enjoyment.International Express and Goodbye Party
Stefan, a German student doing a year abroad at Columbia for his PhD in
Finance at Cambridge, invited me out for a special tour of the International Express. In fairness, he invited lots of people out, but I was the only one who went. And the International Express is not the luxury train you picture going across the Alps and through Siberia Russia. No, it is the #7 train through Queens. It received its name because of the diverse neighborhoods it passes through. So Stefan and I headed out early to take the train all the way North to Flushing, where we has a nice Korean lunch at the 4th place we checked out. I got Bibi Guksoo, or something to that effect and we both had bubble teas, delicious on such a hot day. We then hopped back on the train and got off at Shea Stadium. The park area beyond the stadium was once the fairgrounds for the 1969 World's Fai
r (attended by both my mother and father well before they would ever meet!) and a large metal globe (in fact the largest on Earth) still stands there (though it maybe have been put up much later, I'm unclear). Point is, it's a lovely park for a nice walk around. We then took a way too long walk in search of Louis Armstrong's last home in a poor Hispanic neighborhood. We finally found it, had a look around the museum (are you aware Armstrong advertised for laxatives???) and promptly headed back to the subway. We got off again near Jackson Heights and walked the few Mexican blocks until the neighborhood changed to Indian. Stefan loaded up on Indian cookies and we walked a few blocks before getting back on the train. We next disembarked in an Irish neighborhood which was hosting a street fair of a very generic variety. We stopped into the most Irish-pub looking of Irish pubs and got a glass of beer e
ach. After a much needed rest it was back onto the train for our final stop at PS1 and noteworthy graffiti just over the bridge from Manhattan. Though PS1 was hopping, we were exhausted and decided it was time to go home. An extremely full and international day indeed.
Finance at Cambridge, invited me out for a special tour of the International Express. In fairness, he invited lots of people out, but I was the only one who went. And the International Express is not the luxury train you picture going across the Alps and through Siberia Russia. No, it is the #7 train through Queens. It received its name because of the diverse neighborhoods it passes through. So Stefan and I headed out early to take the train all the way North to Flushing, where we has a nice Korean lunch at the 4th place we checked out. I got Bibi Guksoo, or something to that effect and we both had bubble teas, delicious on such a hot day. We then hopped back on the train and got off at Shea Stadium. The park area beyond the stadium was once the fairgrounds for the 1969 World's Fai
r (attended by both my mother and father well before they would ever meet!) and a large metal globe (in fact the largest on Earth) still stands there (though it maybe have been put up much later, I'm unclear). Point is, it's a lovely park for a nice walk around. We then took a way too long walk in search of Louis Armstrong's last home in a poor Hispanic neighborhood. We finally found it, had a look around the museum (are you aware Armstrong advertised for laxatives???) and promptly headed back to the subway. We got off again near Jackson Heights and walked the few Mexican blocks until the neighborhood changed to Indian. Stefan loaded up on Indian cookies and we walked a few blocks before getting back on the train. We next disembarked in an Irish neighborhood which was hosting a street fair of a very generic variety. We stopped into the most Irish-pub looking of Irish pubs and got a glass of beer e
ach. After a much needed rest it was back onto the train for our final stop at PS1 and noteworthy graffiti just over the bridge from Manhattan. Though PS1 was hopping, we were exhausted and decided it was time to go home. An extremely full and international day indeed.Too soon afterward Stefan left to go back to England. I missed the goodbye dinner because I was busy venting steam with a new wonderful coworker, Joy, at a happy hour of champagne mojitos on the Upper West Side. How glamorous. But I did meet up with everyone later at the Hungarian Party Shop for dessert. Speaking of which, I hosted this very same group for dessert a week before at Cafe Lalo's, truly nice but truly tiny as well. It will be great for something scrumptious in the wintertime.
Figment on Governor's Island
Ever the crowd for free fun, a group of us went to Governor's Island for Figment. Figment was billed
as an East Coast Burning Man. This means nothing to me. I was lead to believe it would be a lot of funky artists, a great deal of interactive art, and perhaps some drugs which I would obviously not be thrilled about. Instead it was a very family-oriented ramshackle affair. Most of the artists were just strangely dressed men with notably underdressed female assistants. The art included a self playing accordion hanging from a tree, strips of cloth with prayers written on them tied to a tree, and branches made to look like a sinking boat tied to a tree. There was a theme. Those artistic endeavors that went against the norm included a man who would take your photograph in a tub (why, I just don't know), another man who pushed around a cart that looked like a lirmaid (hald lion, half mermaid) and which he'd bloodied his k
nees pushing, and a joust! Yes, a group for Creative Anachronism was there showing young boys how they didn't have to play with actual swords but could take a well duct-taped lead pipe and use it just as well. Each time one of the knights "died" by falling to the ground an especially excited wench would scream out "Hurrah, he's dead!" in the same shrill tone. What I really liked was that one man's costume didn't look at all Medieval, but very much fat Indiana Jones. I also saw one man who looked Jewish, so I approached him and asked if he was an Anachronistic Jew. In fact, he was, and he pointed out 5 other Anachronistic Orthodox Jews complete with kippas and shteitels. I had to ask, what was the appeal of going back to a time when Jews were killed en mass as a past time? They had no good answer for me.
as an East Coast Burning Man. This means nothing to me. I was lead to believe it would be a lot of funky artists, a great deal of interactive art, and perhaps some drugs which I would obviously not be thrilled about. Instead it was a very family-oriented ramshackle affair. Most of the artists were just strangely dressed men with notably underdressed female assistants. The art included a self playing accordion hanging from a tree, strips of cloth with prayers written on them tied to a tree, and branches made to look like a sinking boat tied to a tree. There was a theme. Those artistic endeavors that went against the norm included a man who would take your photograph in a tub (why, I just don't know), another man who pushed around a cart that looked like a lirmaid (hald lion, half mermaid) and which he'd bloodied his k
nees pushing, and a joust! Yes, a group for Creative Anachronism was there showing young boys how they didn't have to play with actual swords but could take a well duct-taped lead pipe and use it just as well. Each time one of the knights "died" by falling to the ground an especially excited wench would scream out "Hurrah, he's dead!" in the same shrill tone. What I really liked was that one man's costume didn't look at all Medieval, but very much fat Indiana Jones. I also saw one man who looked Jewish, so I approached him and asked if he was an Anachronistic Jew. In fact, he was, and he pointed out 5 other Anachronistic Orthodox Jews complete with kippas and shteitels. I had to ask, what was the appeal of going back to a time when Jews were killed en mass as a past time? They had no good answer for me.
posted by A Mus-Ed Blogger @ 1:38 PM
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