City Lass, Country Bound

As I mentioned below, my schoolwide Shabbaton was this past weekend, and it was as diverse an experience as such gatherings typically are. I am by nature a negative person, but I will dry- excuse me, try to avoid saturating this recounting with too strong a dose of pessimistic partiality. The experience was best characterized by a few choice nouns (mostly of the tactile variety) so I will follow history's advice and use those guidelines to recount the weekend's events.

1. Wet- The rain started mid-afternoon on Friday, a wild, torrential country storm that raged for two hours and then pattered out- unfortunately, not before the gusts had succeeded in wiping out the power on the entire location. The lights went back on by 8:00 that night, but the rain started again at 5:00 the next day and continued to drone down, drenching and relentless, until Sunday morning. In addition, reluctant as I was to shower in hotel quarters, my dear friend S kindly offered to wash my hair in the sink after Shabbos. Although the experience certainly added to the drippiness of the weekend, it was an immeasurably salubrious and generous act on my friend's part and I really can't thank her enough.

2. Musty- Fairly predictable, as the Shabbaton took place in a converted camp grounds that had seen better days (I hope.) Every room, every chair, every rank, ratty rug wafted with age, wear and habitation The resulting odor was... unpleasant, to say the least. I ended up sleeping in pajama pants, socks and my robe for disgust and fear of invading critters.

3. Greasy- Despite my most concerted efforts to prevent my hair from transmogrifying into something resembling a very old, very rancid Caesar salad, by the time Shabbos was over my scalp was limp and slick with obvious, unpleasant 'lubrication', shall we say. Nothing I tried, from clipping back my bangs to tying on headbands of varying widths and thickness over the front of my hair (which only made me seem 22 and quite married) succeeded in masking the overt greasiness- thankfully, the problem was finally assuaged with S's help. Also regarding such unctuous splendor, the food served at the place was quite savory and tasty, due largely I am certain to the copious volume of oil infused in every bite. I am fairly confident my cholesterol rose over the weekend, but it's better than eating dry food, I suppose!

4. Minutiae- One thing I hate about Shabbatons is the ever-present threat of some external disaster occurring. For instance, what if my hair frizzes in the damp? What if I forget the right color eyeshadow? What if my tights rip, or no one else is wearing round toe shoes? Everything is magnified, and appearances become the unofficial, unbreakable guidebook. Be pretty, be classy, be original, be stylish... An endless, relentless cycle of invisible obligation. Everything is imagined, of course, but ay ay ay! I'd tear my hair out, if bald patches weren't the fashion faux pax of the past three centuries.

5. Song- I had joined the Senior choir, although I didn't have time to practice as I had somehow been given the job of skit Co-Head. Luckily, the choir more or less crumbled by Shabbos afternoon and I was able to join. I learned a gorgeous song ("B'Shem Hashem Elokei Yisroel, b'yimini Michoel, u b'smoli Gavriel, u milfonai Uriel, u mayachori Rephael. V'al roshi Shechinas K-L.") The choir didn't turn out terribly well (read: it crumbled like a piece of paper) but even practicing was nice. There was also quite a bit of singing involved at mealtimes and just before Shabbos ended. I strained my throat a bit, but it was honestly worth it.

In spite of what may mislead, I really didn't have a terrible time. I was fortunately not involved in any major politics, although I did have a birds eye view of several circles of conflict. Sunday was a completely separate kind of experience and it needs an entry of it's own, so I will conclude this here. I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day!