Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Balancing act

As Donna promised, this semester has begun with a bang. Last week I met (all too briefly) with a group of aspiring ministers from the Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. I very much enjoyed my first "interfaith" forum and look forward to continuing such work throughout my career. This Thursday the cantorial students are giving a recital of opera and musical theatre selections to benefit our colleagues who are traveling to the Former Soviet Union to lead Passover seders. Next week I am participating in a special Kabbalat Shabbat - Tu biShvat service for a visiting group from the Jewish National Fund. And of course there is the sheaf of classes to contend with; in addition to Hebrew and Liturgy and Jewish Music History, I am taking a course on Israel Folk/Popular Music, a Cantorial Workshop in which we learn as much practical repertoire as possible, and also a series of lectures and discussions on Rabbinic literature. Although I'm not required to take this last class, I'm excited to learn about material that has heretofore mystified me.

There will be a moment of escape this Shabbat to Kiryat Moriah, the home of the Jewish Agency and a special program with Avichai Shelichim: Israelis who come to the USA in the summers to work at Jewish camps. As my last experience at a Jewish camp was for 2 weeks 15 years ago while my father was the camp doctor, I am excited to renew this ancient connection and make new acquaintances!

The cantorial class has begun making plans to audition for next year's student pulpits via a DVD recording early next month. I find myself dwelling on the event, perhaps a bit too much, since it effectively marks the beginning of my professional career. But I know I will secure a fine job and gain a lot of valuable experience in a real synagogue.

And of course, there is the wedding looming less than five months from now. Tending to all of these proves to be quite the balancing act for yours truly, but I know that this too is good preparation for what lies ahead.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Off to California!

I'm skipping town for 10 days to go home to California and I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends (and my poochie.) I leave tonight and have a 24-hr journey ahead of me; I arrive in Cali tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon. I hope to be able to get a LOT of wedding details ironed out, and especially to spend time with my sister and parents (and my brother if he shows up) and also hang out a bit with my peeps. I haven't been home since October, but that's nothing compared to Josh, who hasn't been in Michigan since June! (Josh did go stateside in August, if you recall...)

I'm definitely going to miss a few important events here in Jerusalem while I'm gone. Sadly, I am missing the Cantorial students' fundraising concert on the 25th, due to an oversight on my part when I booked my tickets. They are raising money for the upcoming Passover trip to the Former Soviet Union. Read more about it at Anna and Jamie's blog!

I'm also missing rehearsals for "Patience" which has been going very well! JEST is also putting together a concert in February that will consist of different Gilbert and Sullivan solo and ensemble numbers, and the one-act operetta "Trial by Jury" in its entirety. I will be singing Mad Margaret's songs from "Ruddigore" in the first half of the concert (I did this production as a freshman in college -- in the chorus, of course!)

Josh is busy again with schoolwork and has some different classes this semester. I'm sure he'll do his own post soon to update everyone on his academic pursuits... RIGHT, JOSH??? :-)

Farewell for now, J-lem. Be back on the 27th!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Back to Normalcy

Josh and I are enjoying being recovered from our crazy touring of Europe, and back to normal here in J-lem. We had a couple days to relax, and then got back to work: me with rehearsals and teaching lessons, and Josh with updating his student cantor resume and prepping for the HUC Colloquium, which starts tomorrow and lasts until Friday. Classes proper start on Sunday for Josh and then it's back to the grind! We've also been reconnecting with all the HUC kids who came back to Israel this week; tonight we watched "The Empire Strikes Back" at Michal and Jonathan's place -- they have a projector that displays the movie up on the wall! They also have two adorable kitties that we played with.

I am looking forward to immersing myself in my projects: rehearsals for "Patience," teaching voice lessons, preparing for my recital in April and participating in the Hallel Choir. Josh and I will also be singing with the Hallel select choir, a smaller group of voices that will tackle some more challenging music. I don't know if we'll have any performances... I hope we will!

I'm also looking forward to some upcoming visits! My brother is coming to Israel on January 30, and everyone is very excited. Also, our friend Siri who currently lives in Vienna is coming for a few days in March, to see Israel for the first time and to spend some time with us before she heads off to India, Tibet, Nepal and Bangladesh to teach English and music. Phew!!

And of course, I'm mostly looking forward to my own cross-planet upcoming trip!!!

More soon... we promise!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Final Posting, Farewell France!

Our trip has come to an end, and we couldn't be happier with the memories and stories we collected. We were devoted to our Rick Steves Guide to Paris 2007. We ate fine French baguettes and wonderfully stinky cheese, crepes filled with all sorts of tantalizing things, and the best croissants in the world. We hit most of the big sites, walked many miles every day, and really got a great feel for this incredible city. Our trip to Switzerland was also delightful, and it was so special to see my cousins who live so far away.

Lest you think an excess of French wine blew a few too many brain cells and caused us to miss THE museum in Europe, never fear: on our last day in Paris, we went to the Louvre! This time we actually were able to get up early to beat the crowds, and we only had to wait 10 minutes until the museum opened at 9:00. The museum is so huge, easy to get lost in, and overwhelming -- but gorgeous.

Just a glimpse of the grandeur from the outside, since it could never fit in one photo.

The Louvre was originally the palace of the Kings of France until Louis XIV built Versailles. The architecture is just as grand and eye-popping, and can sometimes steal focus from the works of art! We focused our tour today on Ancient Greek art, Medieval French and Italian art, and French Renaissance and Romantic art. We hit all the famous paintings, including the Mona Lisa -- and yes, it's a lot smaller in real life. Some of the cool things we saw were: Statue of Winged Victory; statue of Venus di Milo; "The Raft of the Medusa" by Gericault; "Liberty Leading the People" by Delacroix; works by DaVinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo; and the largest canvas at the Louvre, "The Coronation" -- of Napoleon, that is -- by Jacques-Louis David. Unlike plenty of tourists around us, we were good citizens and obeyed the posted signs forbidding photos or videos. So we have fewer photos, but a strong desire to go back and see more!

Le Pyramide

An afternoon of packing, cleaning, and just plain relaxing has led to bedtime... we have a 7:00am flight so we need to turn in early and get up before the crack of dawn (although the sun doesn't really rise here until almost 9:00 ANYWAY, so one wouldn't be able to tell the difference at 5:00 when we leave!!) I myself am looking forward to getting back to Jerusalem and the regular pace of life. Josh starts school on the 10th, and I'm sure we'll both have plenty of news to share.

Happy trails........

Versailles

Yesterday we took the RER train out to see Versailles. The grandeur and wealth of the Kings of France is almost too magnificent to believe. We toured the main part of the castle (including the King and Queen's bedrooms) the residencies of the Dauphin (prince), the main parts of the extensive grounds and gardens, and the Grand Trianon. Our Versailles One-Day Pass should have given us free access to the electric train that takes you all around the grounds, but apparently things have changed, and it now costs 4 Euro to ride (that's with the Pass!) No way, Jose. So... we walked the entire day, and by the time we left Versailles, I was in serious pain and we were both completely wiped out.

Some of the highlights of Versailles were the paintings by Charles le Brun, the official painter of the King, who was responsible for so many important projects at the castle and throughout Paris. The Opera House was also especially neat to visit.

Not Charles le Brun, but Hyacinthe Rigaud's painting of King Louis XIV. He was definitely the man.

Royal boxes at the Opera House. The stage pillars are hollow and don't actually hold any weight!

Most of the original furniture of the castle is gone (stolen during the Revolution) but the period furniture that replaced it is very opulent.

Beautiful clock in one of the antechambers

Louis XIV would have slept in a bed like this. He also received visitors in his bedroom, and the ceremonies of waking in the morning and going to bed at night were public.

The sheer size of the castle is nothing compared to the square mileage of the grounds; the Grand Canal (built solely for show, it used to have actual gondoliers trolling around on the water) is a mile in length. Our walk to the Grand Trianon, the royal home used as an escape from the pressures and publicity of Versailles, took roughly 30 minutes each way!

View of the grounds from the back of the castle. See the Canal in the distance? We walked out there!!

Fountain of Apollo at the foot of the canal

There were some disappointments during our visit. Versailles is undergoing a series of major renovations, as well as a complete redesign of the walking tours, to make it easier for visitors to negotiate the sheer magnitude of the castle. The most famous of all the rooms is, of course, the Hall of Mirrors... and it's being restored. Half the room was on display but half was covered up by an artificial hallway. I was really upset... but I guess it means we'll just have to come back some day?

Although we were zonked after our return to Paris, we went out to the Bastille area for our only "nice" dinner at a charming restaurant called L'Impasse. The meal was really fantastic. The restaurant was recommended in our Rick Steves book -- our bible, which we almost lost at the Grand Trianon! When we recovered the book, the guard was reading it and laughing at the funny French pronunciation guide at the back of the book. Whew, we almost lost you, Rick!

More later on our last day in Paris...

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Ow, ow, my legs, my LEGS.

We are SORE. Today we spent almost every single hour on our feet, and our legs are definitely staging a mighty protest! But we had a lot of fun today.

Our morning was filled with a tour of the beautiful Musee d'Orsay, the museum home of French art of 1848-1914. Even though we arrived right when the museum opened, we still had to wait in a long winding line that snaked outside of the museum. (Though if we thought THAT was bad...read on.) The museum is in an old converted train station and it is truly a beautiful setting for all the artwork. We spent three hours meandering through the rooms (diligently using our Rick Steves guidebook!)

Aerial view of the main room at the Orsay.

The Impressionist rooms are the most famous at the Orsay and we got to see many famous paintings that we recognized instantly. Monet, Manet, Rodin, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne... we were saturated by the big shots!

Just one of the many...!

The Orsay used to have a hotel and the main ballroom was the hottest hangout for high society. The room was really beautiful:

Just one corner in the Grand Ballroom.

After the Orsay we were already pooped, but it was only noon, so we pressed on. We walked to the Rue Cler neighborhood to eat at the famous Cafe Marche (noted by Rick in his book as the place to see and be seen for lunch. ) Then we walked all the way back to L'Hotel des Invalides, the enormous military hospital/museum/place where famous people are buried, etc. I'm afraid we didn't do the place enough justice, but we did visit Napoleon's Tomb. And we had every intention of visiting one of the military museums, but we just... couldn't.

Instead, we went here:




No explanations needed. We waited in line for over an hour and the prices, again, were villanously high. But still. The views were worth it.

Crashing now.... Versailles tomorrow!

Yesterday

Here's a little overview of what happened yesterday (Monday, January 1) since we were so exhausted we didn't have a chance to post...

Our late morning finally got started with a walking tour of Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur. It was amazing to be in the Montmartre area and see such a different side of Paris: seedier, sexier, and, well, more bohemian! We did the whole climb up to Sacre-Coeur (no funiculas for us, thankyouverymuch) and had a fantastic view of the city.

Josh pauses on our climb up to Sacre-Coeur.

Other interesting spots in Montmartre were: a club-turned-art gallery where Edith Piaf sang... the Lapin Agile Cabaret, still a hangout for local bohemians and a favorite spot for free thinkers like Picasso and Paul Verlaine... Place du Tertre, a whole square completely filled with artists selling their paintings and sketching portraits of tourists... and of course, the Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann sure took some liberties.)

The famous Moulin Rouge -- it's still a busy concert venue/cabaret.

By this point in our travels, the fast pace of the past week was catching up to us. We took the train home and did some much-needed laundry. Afterwards we headed to the Grand Palais museum which had an awesome exhibit on Walt Disney, oddly enough. The theme of the exhibit was exploring the artistic inspirations behind Disney's characters and films. It was really fun and very cool to see some original stuff from the Disney archives.

After the museum, we decided to pause from the hectic touring and went to see "Casino Royale" at the movie theater on the Champs Elysees. The ticket prices were absolutely outrageous!!!! But we both loved the film. We rested up and got a good night's sleep, which was useful considering the day we had on Tuesday........


Monday, January 01, 2007

Back in Paris

So we slacked a little bit in posting on our last couple days in Switzerland. We were just enjoying ourselves way too much! Some highlights:

On Friday Josh and I took the train to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It is almost as beautiful as Zurich and just as charming to visit. We explored the old town and climbed the impossibly high tower of the Munster, affording an amazing aerial view of the city. Those spiral stairs were scary, though. A view from the top:


View from the other side of the tower, Alps in the background:

We also visited the famous bear pits which have housed the bears that give the city its name for hundreds of years. I felt bad for them, but they were really funny to watch as they effortlessly caught food thrown down to them. (The food was specially sold for the bears... no nasty people food to harm them, never fear!)

Pedro the bear waiting to catch food in his mouth.

After an interesting Shabbat experience at the Reform congregation -- Josh accepted an aliyah and made such an impression that he was invited to return to lead High Holiday services! -- we opted to take an overnight train back to Paris. We booked two spots in the "couchette" car, i.e. the sleep cars with six beds to a compartment. The train left at 11pm, and we were alone in the cabin... or so we thought. Two more couples got on at different stops during the ride. It was noisy, cramped, and turbulent. We didn't sleep a wink, and arrived in Paris at 7am in a state of utter exhaustion. We crawled back to the apartment and back into bed to sleep until mid-morning!

With Evelyne and Thibaut, our gracious hosts, at the train station before our educational experience with the "couchettes."

Post-napping, we dragged ourselves out to the Marais section of the city and did a walking tour. We felt like we were back in Jerusalem in the Jewish Quarter, where falafel and "chawarma" stands abound. Most interesting was the extensive and moving Shoah memorial which is also a WWII education center.

As for New Year's Eve... well, we were so zonked from our night of no sleep, we decided to stay in and celebrate quietly with a funny French New Year's Eve program on TV. We did do a lot today but this post is so long so I'll update tomorrow. Happy 2007 everyone!!!