Day 1 in New York City

After our morning Yiddish language class, we all (that is, 18 interns and 3 staff members) hopped into two vans and headed out to New York at 12:30. We arrived with no problems at the NYU dorms at around 3, where we checked in, caught our breath for a second, and headed out immediately to Katz's Deli. I took some pictures, but I realize now that in my enduring technological brilliance, I deleted all of those pictures before I could upload them. I will try to get a few from others to post.

It's a good thing that it was a really, really long walk from our dorm at NYU because the sheer amount of food they serve at that place is astounding. As I am not of the meat-eating persuasion, I did not partake in one of the more typical New York deli dishes. Nevertheless, it was amusing to watch my friends try very hard to finish their sandwiches. Each sandwich was stuffed full with 2 or so inches of meat. Some others also got huge pieces of kugel, knishes, soups, deserts and, of course, pickles. I ordered an omelet (which was generous enough in size), but, like everyone else, I got an entire plate full of both sour and half-sour pickles. I ate the entire plate of pickles. It occurred to me later, when I found myself drinking cup after cup of water, that I was easily dehydrated from the pickles alone.

After Katz's, we hiked it a few blocks for an hour-long subway ride into the Bronx. Our destination was a small vestige of Yiddish culture that still exists in the Bronx. All 18 interns and our staff members filed into the house of Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, a Yiddish-speaking relative of the great linguist Mordechai Schaechter. I wish I had not been stuffed with pickles and dead exhausted, or I may have been able to enjoy the experience more fully. What we attended is called a Zingeray--a circle of Yiddish speakers who get together every once in awhile to sing lesser-known Yiddish songs. It was neat to watch everyone with varying levels of musical talent lead the group. It was folksy and completely unpretentious. The best was watching Beyle, who is (I think) in her late 70s, sing these songs. Her delivery was soulful, even if she had difficulty recalling some of the words. My only complaint--aside from being utterly exhausted that evening--was that I felt a little bit uncomfortable. We (that is, the interns) were not asked to introduce ourselves to the circle at the beginning. They did not sing any songs we knew and it was difficult to hear the translations when they provided them. Some of the more advanced students were able to participate, but the beginners (more than half of us) were kind of excluded from the experience.

After an hour long train ride back to NYU, we finally got to sleep--with air conditioning, no less!--and anticipated an early morning.