Transitions...

I returned from the wilderness on a Sunday and spent a bizarre celebratory evening in Palm Springs with many of the people frm my course. Monday, I happily boarded a plane to San Francisco where I relaxed to the best of my ability. I spent a good deal of quality time with Sitka, my brother's dog - and walked all around Golden Gate Park and the Richmond District. I also did research about summer programs that involve travel, community service, and the outdoors. We'll see.

Saturday, Dan meg and I went hiking up in Marin. We did about 6 miles through the redwoods. Sitka loves hiking and pulled us up with him along the trail. That night, we had pizza on Haight Street. Sunday, while Dan and Meg were off playing frisbee, I explored china town and the adjacent neighborhood that is lines with cafes, italian restaruants and remnants of the beatnik generation. I spent hours in Citylights bookstore and happily found my cousin's poetry on their shelves. I visited the Jewish Museum to see a photography exhibit on Jewish identity. One of the artists gave a talk about his work which featured the story of a woman, a family and a community of Jews from Latin American countries. Many of these recent converts could trace their routes back to Jewish ties from before the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. Now, they have a synagogue in the Bronx bursting with young community members. Another one of the works, by an artist named Nikki lee, depicted a Jewish wedding. Nikki Lee's approach is to set up scenes to illustrate a message.For this project, she dressed as an Asian bride at a Jewish wedding. The groom was cropped intenttionally fromn each photo. Bizarre, but powerful - and feminist. Im not sure how I feel about it!

I met up with Miriam, a friend from Teva. and Sunday night I had a delicious and peaceful evening with her roommies. We made margharitas and stirfry, relaxed overlooking their garden, and woke up to yoga. The next day, I fell in love with Berkeley (as I fully expected would happen...) I walked around the campus and the main streets there a bit. In the library, there was an unbelievably powerful art exhibits depicting scenes from the Abu Gharab prison.

Then, Dan and I headed up north to do some wine tasting. It was gorgeous - rolling hills covered with vines. I wished we were on bike! The first winery we went to was biodynamic - even better than organic, their enterprise was entirely sustainable complete with solar power, crop rotation, etc.

Tuesday night, I took a redeye back to NYC. I guess it's been too long since I lived in Seattle; I'd forgotten how rough red eyes can be! I landed in Atlanta in the middle of the night, without getting much sleep on the first flight. Then, after wandering blindly through the Atlanta airport for 2 and a half hours, I finally got on my flight to Newark. I landed back in this center of urban blight at 10 am, took 3 trains through concrete and metal mazes and arrived at noon in Penn Station. Even after a week in San Fran, the site of New York, and especially NJ, was shocking. I watched some ducks drinking on a puddle of muddy water - wished I could tell them of the beauty and clean water that lies elsewhere. What a humble home they have found!

I am excited to be in New York, near friends and family, and working for an organization that I believe in so strongly. But I miss the stars, the moon, the breeze. I miss being outside so much. I crave a camping trip, a climbing trip, a fire. For now, I must enjoy the merits that only a city can offer, relishing its own special organisms, while not forgetting the great outdoors that awaits me only a few miles away.