"The Nutcracker...when i saw it, they had cheese canons!"
last night,
i spent another wonderfully interesting evening
with Alex's family.
[i didn't go to services or dinner
with Chabad. davened in my room.
bit of a long story.
let's just say i'd rather not
spend my time with those who ask,
"is this the first time you've eaten all week?"
while i nibble on foul, overcooked vegetables.]
i very much like is family,
and they seem to have taken to me kindly.
father, mother,
son, daughter.
dog, cat.
Christmas decorations.
wooden floors.
fireplace.
family.
the last few times i've been there,
his father has been the primary conversationalist,
engaging me in talks about my Greek textbook,
my single room, my family,
things like that.
his mother, although kind,
had never before spoken to me
for an extended period of time.
part of her nature, not anything rude.
this time when i came,
she had their dog, Phin
(named after a character in
Around the World in Eighty Days),
a great big black dog,
somewhat frightening,
on a leash.
"we wanted him to get used to seeing Bess,"
she said.
she expects me to return.
later we were sitting in the living room,
talking, myself squeezed between
Adriana on my left and Alex on my right
("this is our usual order," Adriana said),
and i asked his mother a question,
and she spoke to me
directly.
and later, when unprompted,
she asked me if i wanted air-popped popcorn,
which i gratefully refused,
but she knew what i could eat!
and told me about the dog, and in what order
he protects the family,
and it felt like a breakthrough.
a simple one, a silly one,
but...i want her to like me,
i want them all to like me.
i'm being myself--
telling ridiculous jokes and laughing nervously
and generally staying true to
often-awkward Bess.
at the end of the evening,
after Battlestar Galactica,
after discussing Alex's upcoming haircut
(i'm a bit nervous, to tell the truth),
we were about to walk out the door when Alex
got it in his head to pick me up by the knees
in front of his parents.
his reserved, soft-spoken,
relaxed, low-key parents.
i promptly shrieked
and started to fall over, and his father
put out his hands to catch me.
it was embarrassing.
but i looked at Alex, and i looked at his parents,
and all of them started to laugh and shake their heads
and Alex blushed and his parents threw up their arms
and everything was awkwardly okay.
"this is one to tell the grandparents," Alex said.
(i though he was about to say grandkids.)
back to the car, back through the cold,
back to school,
together.
my Friday evenings have certainly changed
for the better.
tonight we are seeing The Nutcracker.
let's see if he survives
to see another Friday :)
i spent another wonderfully interesting evening
with Alex's family.
[i didn't go to services or dinner
with Chabad. davened in my room.
bit of a long story.
let's just say i'd rather not
spend my time with those who ask,
"is this the first time you've eaten all week?"
while i nibble on foul, overcooked vegetables.]
i very much like is family,
and they seem to have taken to me kindly.
father, mother,
son, daughter.
dog, cat.
Christmas decorations.
wooden floors.
fireplace.
family.
the last few times i've been there,
his father has been the primary conversationalist,
engaging me in talks about my Greek textbook,
my single room, my family,
things like that.
his mother, although kind,
had never before spoken to me
for an extended period of time.
part of her nature, not anything rude.
this time when i came,
she had their dog, Phin
(named after a character in
Around the World in Eighty Days),
a great big black dog,
somewhat frightening,
on a leash.
"we wanted him to get used to seeing Bess,"
she said.
she expects me to return.
later we were sitting in the living room,
talking, myself squeezed between
Adriana on my left and Alex on my right
("this is our usual order," Adriana said),
and i asked his mother a question,
and she spoke to me
directly.
and later, when unprompted,
she asked me if i wanted air-popped popcorn,
which i gratefully refused,
but she knew what i could eat!
and told me about the dog, and in what order
he protects the family,
and it felt like a breakthrough.
a simple one, a silly one,
but...i want her to like me,
i want them all to like me.
i'm being myself--
telling ridiculous jokes and laughing nervously
and generally staying true to
often-awkward Bess.
at the end of the evening,
after Battlestar Galactica,
after discussing Alex's upcoming haircut
(i'm a bit nervous, to tell the truth),
we were about to walk out the door when Alex
got it in his head to pick me up by the knees
in front of his parents.
his reserved, soft-spoken,
relaxed, low-key parents.
i promptly shrieked
and started to fall over, and his father
put out his hands to catch me.
it was embarrassing.
but i looked at Alex, and i looked at his parents,
and all of them started to laugh and shake their heads
and Alex blushed and his parents threw up their arms
and everything was awkwardly okay.
"this is one to tell the grandparents," Alex said.
(i though he was about to say grandkids.)
back to the car, back through the cold,
back to school,
together.
my Friday evenings have certainly changed
for the better.
tonight we are seeing The Nutcracker.
let's see if he survives
to see another Friday :)