Author: raining17

Traditions

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Throughout my years in middle school, my friend Lili and I would attend an annual Passover celebration that was put on by her family. I would look forward to this event as soon as the last one ended, counting down the days until I could celebrate once again.

From chocolate covered matzo to hidden gifts, this celebration never failed to excite, and crazy aunts and uncles who piled tables ceiling high with steaming food made the celebration incredibly enjoyable.

Passover is a holiday full of traditions, but this celebration just added to the fun. While hiding the matzo is a common practice, Lili’s family made it that much more interesting by making it chocolate covered, as well as awarding us with a prize.

Photo Credit: kosherkingdom.com

Her uncle, who we swore was insane, would ask us an abundance of ridiculous questions which we had to answer in order to receive our reward. It was impossible to keep a straight face, and we would end up rolling around in fits of giggles. We would then be so riled up that during the service, when we were to be quiet, we couldn’t keep our laughter in.

Mealtime was the best part of the entire night. There were tables on tables covered with so many dishes that the tablecloth was invisible, and mouth-watering smells circulated through the room, making everyone ravenous.

From matzo ball soup to beef brisket, every food imaginable was just waiting to be consumed. We all sat around one big table, enjoying our meal as laughter and chatter drifted around the room.

Once the service was over, we would all sit around, eating dessert and drinking – apple cider for the kids, and wine for the adults. It was almost as if time would stop – it seemed we sat there for hours.

I swear we covered every topic imaginable – we talked about everything from school to how the earth worked, and I remember those conversations being some of the most interesting ones I’ve ever had.

Those nights spent at Lili’s house were some of the longest I’ve ever had, and the most fun-filled as well. From delectable dishes to scintillating conversations, these celebrations were incredibly enjoyable, and have created some of the best memories I have.

Holidays

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While this school tries to be open-minded and celebrate all religions, the celebrations always end up being geared toward the ever-popular Christmas. Our gift exchange is called “Secret Snowflake” as opposed to “Secret Santa,” though most seem to refer to it as the latter.

Our “holiday” decorations around the dorm consist of Christmas trees and stockings; the blue and white tinsel hidden behind the red and green. Gifts this time of year include mugs plastered with Santa’s face, as well as an abundance of tree ornaments.

We get a school break for Christmas, and while I’m not complaining at all (I’m always happy about time off) it would be nice to at least have my holiday recognized. While those who celebrate Christmas get to be at home with their families, I’m taking finals during the nights of Hanukkah.

As a very nonreligious person, I don’t find celebrating Hanukkah too important. Growing up, it was just a fun holiday, one my family and I would celebrate lightly, not worrying if we were busy one night. I don’t place too much value in it, I just find fun in lighting candles and playing dreidel.

But now on the fourth night of Hanukkah – halfway through – I haven’t lit candles once. I have yet this year to even see a menorah. There are people of all different religions at this school, and as a school without a religious affiliation, I think it would be nice to place equal importance in all holidays.

Photo Credit: http://www.ezthemes.com

Wanderlust

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If I could live anywhere in the world, I wouldn’t limit myself to one location – I would backpack across the world and escape from society, exploring each corner of the earth. I would separate myself from civilization as I went from place to place, exploring my inner self and soothing my soul. Wherever I […]

Fast Pass

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It’s finally Thanksgiving break!

The stretch from the start of school to Thanksgiving break is the longest stretch without breaks. And we’ve made it through!

From here on out, it’s just break after break, with only a few weeks in between. We’ve made it thus far, and it’s almost like we’ve all obtained a sort of fast pass for the rest of the school year as a reward. 

Photo Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net

School is always crazy right before breaks, with teachers giving insane amounts of homework and squeezing in tests before students leave and forget all information as the week runs its course. Similarly, students are packing up to go home, frantically washing and drying clothes, and gathering up all they need to bring home.

Classrooms, dorms, you name it. It’s all hectic!

It’s all done in good spirit though, as students are ever so excited to finally head home. As Thanksgiving break is the first of the year, students are looking forward to going home and reuniting with their family and friends.

This week is the longest of any, as the anticipation is building and building. But soon everyone will be aboard airplanes, en route back to welcoming homes!

Superstition

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With all that happened in the world this past Friday, there’s no way I can help it – I’ve become a little superstitious. Through many terrorist attacks, the world truly changed. And they all occurred on Friday the 13th, a day known to be bad luck.

Although worse than others, these attacks are not the first thing to go wrong on this unlucky day.

In October of 1307, Crusaders were captured, tortured, and later killed. On Friday the 13th of course. Flash forward a few years to 1940, when the Nazis bombed Buckingham Palace. In 1970, a cyclone hit Bangladesh, killing 500,000, later being classified as one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in the world. In 1972, a plane crashed in the Andes, and 12 died.

Even creepier – on Friday the 13th in 1989 a virus crashed IBM computers in Britain. In 2012 a cruise ship, by the name of  Costa Concordia sank, killing over 3o people.

Coincidence? I think not.

Photo Credit: http://www.warrenphotographic.co.uk

Novemb…Christmas!

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People. It is the beginning of November.

This past Saturday, November 7th, I was walking past a coffee shop when I heard a man say, “Merry Christmas”. I was in disbelief – Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet, are we already in the period of Santa hats and Christmas music?

What was even weirder was how the other member of the conversation responded. There was no mention of the fact that it is almost two months until the ever-popular Christmas itself, or that we still haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving.

With a month left until Turkey Day, and Halloween right behind us, we are already diving straight into the Christmas celebration. Already, it is near impossible to walk into a store without hearing Mariah Carey blasting for the hundredth time.

Now I’m all for celebrating the holidays – it’s a joyful time, so why not cherish it? But I don’t understand the urgency, the need to skip over holidays just to begin celebrating Christmas as soon as possible.

In the seasonal isle of any given store, there are going to be a few Thanksgiving decorations, sure. But the majority of that isle is going to be chock full of blow up reindeer and twinkle lights. And that’s fine, except for the fact that it’s not Christmas season yet!

It’s November. It’s not even Thanksgiving. You guys are ridiculous.

Photo Credit: sammyadebiyi.com

My Summer in Paraguay

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This past summer I went to Paraguay for seven weeks as part of a program called Amigos de las Americas. After a one week training period in Houston, TX, I flew for 16 hours to the country’s capital, Asunción.

From there I met with all 50 of the volunteers, who were from all over the U.S. We then went through a more in-depth training, got our partners, and left for our communities.

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My partner Elizabeth and I were in a community called Costa San Blas, in the Department (kind of like a state) of Paraguarí. It was a beautiful, rural community, with roughly 800 people. We lived with our host family, which consisted of a mom, dad, two sisters and two brothers. Normally, only the mom and the sisters were around.

The community is living in poverty, but we were lucky enough to have running water and other appliances. We had a shower (though no hot water) and even had a washing machine! Surprisingly, we also had a T.V. and huge speakers, almost as tall as me.

A big part of their culture is music and dancing, so they would constantly be blaring their favorite songs and dancing as much as possible. It was so cool to experience.

As Amigos volunteers, Elizabeth and I were required to implement a project in the community, work with our partner agency, SENASA, to provide latrines to those in need, and hold camps for the younger kids at the school.

It was a busy summer!

The seniors at the school were building a playground for the younger grades to play on, and we adopted their project as ours. The kids still did all aspects that they planned – our job was to fundraise and buy paint to add some color to the playground.

We fundraised by holding a soccer tournament in the field behind our house. With the help of the senior girls, we made empanadas which we sold, along with other food and drinks at the games.

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Teams were charged, and the losers bought beer for the winners. With the money we made, we went out and bought paint!

For the latrines, we went around the community and met families in need, who we then taught how to construct the facility. Elizabeth and I helped distribute the materials, and the latrines were built!

Out of all our duties, the camps were my favorite. Held at the school while it was in session and behind our house over break, we worked with children from grades K-6 for two hours each day. We would play game after game, including duck-duck-goose, and games just from their community.

I loved spending time with the kids, and getting to know them all. They always looked forward to the camps, and it was the cutest thing ever.

At home, Elizabeth and I mainly hung out with our host sisters, Leila, 11 and Rocio, 6. Feisty but adorable, they would take us around the community, showing us every nook and cranny, and introducing us to different community members. Back at the house we would also play cards – I must have played at least 100 games of UNO.

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I know I made an impact this summer, and that’s an awesome feeling to have. I have a sense of accomplishment that I couldn’t achieve in any other way.

The fact that I built relationships with so many people, all in a different language and living so differently than what I’m used to, is pretty incredible to me.

I may not have changed the world, but I think I’ve impacted the lives of a few. And I’ve had an experience unlike any other, which I think is amazing within itself.

Talking to you

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I want to talk to you at three in the morning, when I’m laying in bed, with waves of emotion rushing over me. I want to talk to you when I wake up from a bad dream – drowning in my thoughts, suffocated by my imagination.

When I can barely talk, overrun by emotion – I want you to be there, welcoming my grievances. Listening to my rants, my aches and pains, and my worries.

When all I see is blackness, and all I feel is pressure, I want to talk to you. My support – a shoulder to cry on, someone to vent to – you are who I turn to.

I have a lot of thoughts. Good and bad, light and heavy, they consume me. And when I wake up in the middle of the night and every inch of me is devoured by these emotions, it is you who I want beside me.

Photo Credit: thumbs.dreamstime.com

Control

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Lack of control, lack of consciousness. From a passing feeling of anxiety grows a larger, stronger sensation.

A pit embedded so deep in my stomach, sprouting vines that spread to the very tips of my fingers. The pit grows larger and larger, heavy as rock, hard as steel.

I pass it off as nothing. All in my head, nothing of significance. But this rock, this sensation, leaves me hyper aware.

Each movement shoots throughout my body, ricocheting off of every surface. Any tingle, shiver or prickle is felt in every nerve, magnified by my growing alertness.

And this greater attention leads to a realization, an understanding of this feeling. My depths are screaming to be let out, stopping at nothing to be heard.

I fall, deeper and deeper into my head; I am below the surface, unaware of the world around me. This pit, this feeling, is overtaking me.

The vines wrap around my brain, my eyes, anything they can grasp, bringing darkness to my world and shutting out any understanding.

My hands are immobile, unresponsive to my commands. These vines suffocate me, wrapping around my neck and my brain, squeezing tighter and tighter.

I have lost all ability to speak – to guide and to oversee. Dark clouds loom over my last drop of consciousness, obscuring my last speck of assurance.

I have lost control.

Photo Credit: http://www.markraymondmason.com

Warm Winters

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From my experience, California winters are nothing like actual winters.  With highs of 100 degrees and lows of 70 degrees, this weather resembles summer more than anything other season.

I’m from the Pacific Northwest, and it’s pretty chilly. Around this time of the year I’m usually prepared for cold weather, and lots and lots of rain.

Here, despite the fact that Halloween is right around the corner, I can wear tank tops to school every day. Instead of suiting up in my rain jacket and closed-toed shoes, I find myself wearing shorts and sandals. 

I don’t dislike the weather – it’s really pretty, and let’s be real. I can go to the beach in October! But as far as winter goes, it just doesn’t feel like one.

Photo Credit: http://www.californiatravel.eu

To me, winter means cozying up in sweaters and blankets, and being able to lay inside and listen to the rain. Winter is the cold wind on your face when you step outside, both chilling and refreshing at the same time.

Photo Credit: fcdn.mtbr.com

And while I love the sun and warm weather, I’d like to save it for the summer. It’s just where it fits in! I look forward to cold weather, and the feeling of winter – and that just doesn’t happen in California!