You Can't Judge a Book by it's Jeans

Ah, Brov.

I don't know what to say about my year in Israel, and I don't think I'm alone. I went through such phases in that place. First was the "oh God, do I really belong in a seminary and do I really have to wear long sleeves when it's so damn hot out?" phase, immediately followed by the "OK cool so I'm a pariah because I don't want to make Aliyah" phase, followed by the "OK whatever, it's all good cuz I love learning" phase, followed by the "will people stop eating F-ing salted vegetables for lunch already?!" phase, followed by the "I need to get out of here, where's the nearest bar?" phase, followed by the "bring on the boys!" phase, followed by the "OK, wish I hadn't done that, I think I'll stop going to class for a while" phase, followed by the "aww, teachers care enough to ask what the hell is up with me lately, I think I'll start going to class again" phase, followed by the "nope, I think it's too little, too late" phase, and finishing up with "wow, the administration will not remember our names by July - fabu."

Lengthy and confusing, I know. So was the year, I guess. And I often wonder if I wish I could do it over, but I follow that up by wondering if in practice, I would really do it any differently at all.

It's interesting to see how people turn out after Israel, and especially, at least to me, when they come from Brovender's. This summer alone I've seen, umm, half my class from Brov? And we're so all over the place and it's great. Last night, at the 4Q housewarming party, I found myself standing around in a circle of Brov girls, all wearing jeans, and joking that we were Brov failures. Except that in my head, it's just a great irony. Because we learn, and we daven, and we get involved in Israel, and we've all chosen to disregard the notion of being judged by what we wear. And yes, I know that that's typical Brov speak and somehow relates to why people think that we shouldn't learn Gemara (which leads to why I think certain people need to get a life) but I don't care. I'm proud of us for knowing that wearing a skirt and long sleeves doesn't determine who we are as people.

Wow OK, that was kind of a Jewfeminist tirade - rare for me, but then again, I've been spending a lot of time with JFems lately. (Ooh, add that one to the Dahlia Dictionary.) Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, props to the boys of 4Q for throwing a great party last night - good times had by all, even those who didn't touch the vodka.

Oh, and shout out to Tali "Sweatermonkey" Fisher, who proves that not everything that comes from Canada sucks.