I know, I know. I’m reprimanding myself. I’m a bad blogger. I haven’t updated in a while. And I know, it makes the posts kind of long. But I’m back, and I’m bursting with exciting things to share. Plus, I’ve added a recipes page!

I am sitting right now in a Starbucks, (which I generally would not choose, but they have wifi), while my father is attending a diabetes conference near Canary Wharf. We have really had a wonderful visit so far. We have definitely had our funny moments (check out the videos!), including crazy times at restaurants, uneven pavements, toy stores, and pedestrian subways. It’s been really fun to have him here, because I really haven’t been a tourist yet in London. It’s been totally lovely taking photos by the Thames, walking up and down Regent street, and pointing at things like an absolute fool.

On Sunday night, I met him at the airport, and I waited for around an hour at the International Arrivals area. I almost missed him, though, because I was so distracted by the outbursts of emotions around me—one woman broke down crying when she got a call on her cell phone, one boy ran to meet his family with whom he was reuniting, and a mother ran towards her two children and husband, tears streaming down her face. Whoa. Airports.

The next day, we attended Shacharit (morning services) at the Marble Arch synagogue, and we met some really sweet members-the community and the Rabbi are both amazingly warm. Following that, we began our jam-packed day—Oxford Street, Regent Street, The V&A, The South Bank—followed by a dinner in Golders Green and a show called Showstoppers!, an improvised musical on the West End.

Anyhow, our time together has been really enjoyable, and I look forward to spending the rest of the week with him and reporting back.

I guess what I really wanted to tell you about was last Shabbat. Friday night, Bracha, Nava, and myself ate an intimate Friday night dinner not only with the Rabbi of Marble Arch and his wife, but also Lord and Lady Sacks. I’m sorry—but words cannot express how absolutely positively incredible these few hours were for me. Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is a leader that has truly inspired me and shaped my relationship to Judaism, and he was sitting across the table from me. Though the cooking of the Rabbi’s wife was unbelievable, I barely ate because I was so excited and nervous.

The next day, after attending services at Central Synagogue we hosted a lunch of Strawberry Spinach Salad, Eggplant Parmesan, Salmon Loaf, Green Beans, and Honey-Roasted sweet potatoes-a true Shabbat feast. We then walked around and looked at the universities of some of our guests. We were planning to head over to the giant protest afterwards, but we decided against it for various reasons. I had seen hoards of people heading over there in the morning, but unfortunately, a fringe group at the end erupted into violence.

When I tell people I’m studying abroad in London, they tell me that its pretty cool, but, isn’t London like any other big American city? And shouldn’t I at least be travelling to other European countries often? Maybe it’s the Urban Studies major in me, but I don’t think London is like any American city I’ve seen. Furthermore, its only once you become a part of the community and really spend time with the people that you see those nuanced differences.  I wouldn’t have the ability to do that if I went away every weekend.

On Sunday, I decided to take a long and leisurely walk from my place to the Thames. It was such a beautiful day,  I had to spend every moment possible breathing in the crisp air. Everyone was basking in the sunlight, a very rare occurrence for Londoners. People leaned curiously over the ledge to look at the glittering river. Across the Thames I could see the thatched roof of the Globe Theatre. Everyone seemed to be taking life a little slower than usual today, stopping occasionally to look at the monuments that stand regally on every block, surrounding the river completely. Stern and austere archways stand proudly next to iron-wrought mermaids, both acting as guardians to protect and guard the Thames. On several of the streetlamps, a fish looks like a mixture of droopy and ferocious, kind of like a Disney sidekick that was pretty awesome but didn’t have any other job but to protect the evil villain. And they have their tails pushed up against the lampposts, with all the energy they’ve got, looking at passersby with threatening stares. All of these figures seem to really treasure the Thames, an oasis of sparking water in a grey city.

I loved listening attentively to the  sounds of the crashing waves, which are slightly more gentle than the crash of the sea. For me, it brings a calm rather than instilling a fear. The scent of honey-roasted peanuts wafted through the air, and a digiridoo reverberated along the bank. (There was also a singer-songwriter whining a version of The First Cut is the Deepest, but I won’t mention him 🙂

"no cuts" spelled out on the bank of the river with stones and shells

And what’s so different about the Thames than our experiences, say, with the Hudson or the Inner Harbor in Baltimore? It is that Londoners have complete access to the river. You can just walk right down and put your feet in, or make sand sculptures. Both a sense of community is formed around the water, and a close connection to natural phenomenon in an urban setting.

Look at that! Anyone can go down and interact with the water.

Finally, the other day I attended a training the other day at the Three Faiths Forum, an organization whose “objectives are to build lasting relationships between people of different faiths (and those of non-religious beliefs), to achieve a society where religious and cultural differences can co-exist through empathy, respect and engagement; and to encourage friendship, goodwill and understanding, especially between Muslims, Christians and Jews.”

Among the trainees were four Jews, a Humanist, and two Christians. The coordinator and trainer was a Muslim woman.  The discussion and training was really improtant—we discussed the language choices that would be most beneficial to promoting dialogue while speaking to schools, and challenging questions we might face. The only thing I would have liked to see more of was dialogue between the trainees. I feel like its too often I go through these trainings without assessing my own ethnocentricity, or judgments I have about other faiths and beliefs systems.

Anyway, I’ll report back soon-All the work is starting to pile up now!