On my way...

So I'm sitting in the lounge in Newark airport, awaiting my flight. I am ready to return to the Holy Land; I am stoked at the prospect of the new zman rapidly approaching. I'm hopeful that all my plans should work out the way they're planned - of course, for the most part it's out of my hands.

One tidbit of good news I have is that I officially have the winter pressure free regarding dating. My parents and I came to agreement that if I can make it through the winter - and I hope I can - then unless something major comes up ( an "offer they can't refuse", whatever that means ) I am free from their clutches. This is a good thing; it shows we're making progress.

Now, you're probably wondering what my job was this summer, right? At the time, because of potential confidentialty issues, I had to keep mum about it, but now I can express myself, free of censorship.

I volunteered to work as an intern in a social work organization that covers most of Ohio. The organization is jewish, although not religious, and in order to recieve funding and whatnot, they also work with non-jewish people. My father scored the initial invitation for me, and I went for my first interview the day after I got home. apparently, my father knows the CEO of the organization, and the two of them put their heads together and arranged what I should do. Of course this was galaxies away from what I wanted to do, so when I met my supervisor, I straightened things out. They had planned for me to work with MR/DD kids (mentally retarded/ developmentally disabled ), and holocaust survivors. although these are very nice things to do, and are certainly altruistic, I wanted to work with kids with problems, be it behavioral problems, drugs, etc.

I was referred to a program of theirs which helps enable youth to participate in societal events. I was given one kid to mentor, and he had to do community service as a penalty for assualt. It happens to be that this kid was a very sweet kid ( not jewish, by the way ). He chose as his service to volunteer at an animal shelter. Since he's a minor, I had to be with him at all times. Thus, I learned the subtle differences between "clumping" and "gritty" kitty litters, the proper techniques to clean out cages, and the various nuances to a dog's stance ( when he's about to pee, etc., when he's about to take a chomp out of your crotch, all those wonderful things). Mainly we walked the dogs and played with them. The shelter was far from my own house and subsequently I spent a lot of time in my car with this kid, just talking. Even though our time together was short, I felt like I had established a pretty good rapport. He'd never had contact with a religious jew, and he asked a lot of questions; maybe my openness in answering him helped to break the ice.

Now, obviously my parents weren't all too happy with my job, and to tell the truth, I could have thought of a lot of better ways to spend my time than to walk dogs. I didn't mind working with the kid, it's just that I am a little afraid of dogs. However, this job was gainful. First of all, it gave me an experience I'd never had before, and it was necessary. Secondly, I found messages in my work: 1) It may be unpleasant, and not your first choice, but sometimes in life you have to do things that are just plain undesirable. 2) Humility. It's very hard to think highly of one's self when you're holding a steaming fistful of dog shit.

So now I'm waiting for my flight, reflecting on my short weeks of qausi- vacation, and I know I can tell myself it was worth it.

Peace.

Originally posted Tuesday, 22 August 2006