First two weeks passed

In reflection on my first two weeks here, I’ve realized how busy I can be that I hardly feel able to make time to journal about my experiences. I plan to set aside this time from now on, hopefully more than just once a week, at least to get some thoughts down about each day or two.

Last weekend was incredible! People started showing up for the Hazon Shabbaton weekend festivities by noon on Friday and we had a relaxing weekend with phenomenal food. Havdalah probably had more energy in the room Saturday night than any previous Ride and I was thrilled to be part of the Teva community that held the core of this spirit. Then, we promptly moved into the busy logistics of getting ready for the Ride: safety meetings; crew, marshal, and medic meetings; etc. Nigel had invited me to be a marshal this year, meaning I would be a step up in responsibility for offering riders assistance and keeping them happy. That was an easy task as I again rode with my Bicycle Stereo hooked up to my iPod and music streaming from my handlebars throughout the pedaling. Fellow riders enjoyed their normally brief occasions to ride near me and enjoy the tunes.

Highlights of the Ride included a 6.5 miles segment of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, which was part my second completed century on Sunday. I also enjoyed sticking to high gears during a 12 mile piece of Route 22. My Teva friends, who saw me at rest stops along the way, were impressed that I seemed to hardly break a sweat and kept my cool as if there was no effort in the extent of my riding. I rode 104 miles on Sunday and another 60 on Monday, finishing as usual at the Boat Basin in Manhattan. A later arrival there due to the longer second-day trip left us with lemonade and Ben & Jerry’s. (I finally got to have my first B&J’s ‘wich.)

We got Ride t-shirts, too, and then formed our critical mass four block ride to the JCC. And in pure excitement, Nili (our Teva director) rode this last piece on the back of my Xtracycle.

These last few days since the ride have found me getting busier with office tasks and also helping prepare for this weekend’s wedding. Bigger highlight though: we moved out of the Kfar (our campy village in the woods) and into Brown House, where we’ll reside in comfort for the rest of the season. I had an opportunity to select Casey as my roommate and he was mutually a great choice. Midweek, we spent many hours kashering the kitchen, after Freedman staff left in covered with the remnants of many pig feasts among more unclean grossness. I’ve gotten mostly settled, though I’m still working on finding places to store a few remaining pieces of my life.

So, tomorrow, while the rest of Teva gets ready for the first round of student arrivals Monday, I’m on duty all day long helping the wedding flow smoothly. We’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, we’re going out now for a hike out through a gorge to a waterfall that used to be on the Appalachian Trail.