A walk through Far Rock

The neighborhood I live in now is as different as night and day from where I grew up. I live in Far Rockaway, NY now and walking around the neighborhood I feel very enclosed. The buildings, houses and apartments are right next door to each other. Some city dwellers say that Far Rock is "out of town", but if they visited Atlanta, they would know what a real out of town neighborhood looks like. No matter how much I am getting used to it, it will never be as green and as beautiful as Atlanta, Georgia.

Walking down the narrow sidewalk I glance down at the broken pavement, the ridges move up and down, almost as if they were dancing in a pattern. There are parked cars on each side of the street since most people are without driveways here. Looking back at my three story apartment building, it’s much newer than the rest of the houses or buildings on the block, and I am thankful for that. As I walk along I notice all sorts of different people of color and cultures. Closer to my home are little Jewish children riding their tricycles up and down the sidewalk, almost knocking me over out of excitement to be out of their small family homes. But, as I walk down I see more people of ethnic decent. Hispanics and Blacks mostly. Some gathering around an ice cream truck because it’s never too cold for ice cream. I personally have grown to hate the music it makes since it’s reverberating and annoying while I try to relax in the evenings. About two blocks further, as I turn the corner, it is completely ghetto looking. There are no more Jewish kids and no more run down houses even. It all looks like government housing to me. There are metal bars on the windows and the doors of some apartments look worn and tattered. There is a gated tiny convenience store I walk into. It’s owned by Arabs. All the jokes start running through my mind now. “A Jewish girl walks into an Arab convenience store..." I giggle to myself. No worries, I know these guys since I come here in a pinch sometimes for milk or OJ. They smile at me and say, "hello, how are you", in their broken English. I smile back and slide around the clustered line forming out the door and isles, to find what I need. I leave with not yet ripe bananas and a carton of Tropicana. Walking back home I notice even though the neighborhood seems more sketchy to me, there are still people going about there business outside. Little black girls jumping rope while chanting poetic songs, a Hispanic mother dressed like she's going to a fiesta, clutching her little boy's hand so he doesn't run in the street. It gets me to thinking, that even though they don't have yards to play in and they need to watch their children more because they are without fences; they live their lives like any other person would. As I get closer to my building I see warn down houses again, some have yards and fences, others do not. There is a red bricked public school behind the houses that I notice through the driveways. We don’t have schools back in the ATL behind our houses. I close my eyes for a minute and think back to Atlanta, the green plush grass, big driveways, renovated houses, and no one parking on the street...unless you’re having a party. The sprinkler systems watering the gardens people work so hard on with beautiful colored roses and lilies and…” BEEP, BEEP, BEEP”, I am rudely interrupted by the sound of cars incessantly honking their horns at each other. I begrudgingly open my eyes. Once again, I am back in Far Rockaway.

Boredom

My eyes are tired, I'm staring at my computer at my desk, and I am bored. All my work is complete for the day and I have two more hours to go. I sign into Facebook, checking any new status's that seem interesting and commenting on them. I am bored. I sign off facebook and notice only 15 minutes have passed by. I pick up my cell to see if any new texts have come in. To my disappointment they have not. I text a friend, no answer. The phone at work rings. "Hello, Dr. Schum's office, can I help you?", I ask with a smile. Its for my co-worker. My smile fades. I look down at my nails, I really need a manicure I think to myself. I glance at the clock. Only seven more minutes have passed?! Are you bored yet reading this? Now you know how I feel ;)

http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/dress/burka.html

This article along with the short essay "Shrouded in a Contradiction," by : Gelareh Asayesh are about muslim women and their cultures. But they couldn't be more opposing views on their roles. Unlike the short essay where Asayesh describes her distaste for the very strict ways the women in Afghanistan are forced to dress, this article states its not that big of a deal. Women of this decent don't all own "Burkas." Explaning that its like stating all Mexicans have sombreros. The writers continue to go on to say that Muslim women are diverse and their problems stem from lack of freedom through religion. It has nothing to do with how they dress.

I relate more to this article than the short essay by Asayesh. I too was raised to dress a certain way due to religion and while growing up and questioning its strict ways I came to a realization as I matured. What you wear doesn't define who you are. Its done out of respect for others. While its not always easy being religious, sometimes we have to step outside ourselves to respect others. Asayesh could dress however she wanted to when she was on her own but if she was in THAT culture she should be respectful and go about her own business at a different time. She should focus on whats more important in life.

15 simple pleasures in life.

1. TCBY
2. flip flops
3. lipgloss
4. additional 25% off sale items.
5. frozen grapes
6. my 3 yr old niece calling me and saying " auntie fayga, can u come over to my house?"
7. cool sand between my toes
8. winning scratch off lottery tickets
9. pedicures
10. Febreeze
11. when someone cooks you dinner
12. when people write on your "wall"
13. getting a GOOD parking spot
14. Sushi
15. Disney World ( which is not so simple but a HUGE pleasure )

My top 12 things to do when the power's out

1. Use a flashlight and snuggle with a blanket and a funny book.
2. Get flashlights and play boardgames with friends or family.
3. Meditate.
4. Take a walk outside.
5. Use your cell to phone a friend you usually talk to on Facebook.
6. Go for a drive to see who has power and who doesn't.
7. Light a campfire in your backyard and tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows.
8. Get your old family photos out and laugh with them at how times have changed.
9. Light scented candles and take a bath.
10. Get someone to give you a massage and return the favor.
11. Sleep.
12. Use your cell and call the power co. to complain that the power is out

Natural phenomenon or sign from G-d?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/15/icelands-volcanic-ash-halts-flights-europe-137061971/

I believe that this volcano erupting is G-d sending us a message. Since the main effect of it was people's flights being canceled I think G-d is communicating us to slow down and appreciate what we have more. Why do millions of people fly around the world every year? I think its because people feel a lack of completion. The need to conquer a new place by visiting it or to escape there life for whatever reason. We need to take this as a lesson to slow down and not feel the need to run away to feel good. Or the fact that running away from your problems will never solve anything.

Radio giveaways...

Everyday at work we leave the radio on. The patients like it and it keeps the office less stressful. All day long I hear the DJ's announce "Listen to these five songs and be the 100th caller"... or "call right now and tell us whose celebrity voice this...get it right and we''ll give you tickets to..." I pick up the phone and dial over and over again. Busy, busy , busy...then it'll finally ring and I get sent to their voicemail or worse " ehh ehh ehh...you must dial a 1 before dialing this number...blah blah blah." So annoying! But there is always a winner. How did they get through? Sometimes I think theyre not even real but then I remember going to a Britney Spears concert at madison square gardens courtesy of my friends husband calling in at the right time. So I continue to run this rat race in hopes of maybe oneday being the right caller at the right time!

Last thing I ate...

The last things I ate today were delicious but not very filling. It was green flat pieces with red and green chunks. On top I put a shredded expensive protein that some use in Japanese foods. And then a low fat creamy base to add flavor. On the side I had crudites of orange sticks and light and dark green crunchiness. For dessert there was my little wedges of plump pulp right off the rind. I had sliced it in quarters since its easier to eat and the strong smell wouldn't linger into my fingernail bedding. I polished it all off with a cold liquid of Columbian decent with frothy white waves and a glaze of dark drizzle.

World's Greatest Klutz

Lately Ive been very clumsy. I'm not sure what makes a person clumsy. Is it a physical imbalance? Or just a person not paying enough attention?
I work in a plastic surgeon's office. There are two people that work the front desk but my coworker doesnt get there until at least 11 am so more often than not it's super busy in the morning and I am the only one there. Well two days ago, I kept getting up and down because faxes were coming through and the phones were ringing and at one point I went to sit down on my chair and wouldn't you know it? The chair fell out from under me and my bum popped straight to the floor. It really hurt but because no one was there to see I just burst into laughter. The phones kept ringing and I was sitting on the floor laughing. then it occurred to me that we have a security camera and the thought of my boss watching my klutziness only made me giggle more. I finally composed myself and answered the phone. I don't always love the fact that I'm clumsy but if it can make me laugh a little throughout my day Ill take it anyhow.

Language and Power

Humans communicate through many ways but the most common is speech. There is a plethora of languages and because of this in each culture words have different meanings. For example: Ass is found in the bible to mean a donkey but nowadays people use it derogatorily regarding a person who is acting in a not nice manner.
However the power of a word can change based on context even in the same language. For example : The word "Nigger", a very strong word derogatorily referring to a black person. It has changed over time. During slavery before The Revolutionary War. Many white "owners" would refer to their slaves as their Niggers. Nowadays if a white person calls a black person this in the streets, its considered racist. But the Blacks have given Power to this word. As I have read in Gloria Naylor's essay on "What's in a name" she states, "When used with a possessive adjective by a woman- " my nigger", it became a term of endearment..." Furthermore, she goes on to explain they did this to signify it didn't matter what people called them, they would rise above it's original derogatory decent. This is one of the many intricacies between Language and Power.

Picklejuice Kid

When I was younger my family called me by many different nicknames, one of them being "picklejuice kid." I didnt particularly love the juice from pickles, although lots of kids my age did but we had this kids book my mom used to read us and the title was "Picklejuice." Not sure really how it caught on but it may have been something like this: I am a very expressive person and when I didnt like something I would scrounge up my nose and pucker my lips, like a kid who just ate something sour. When we started reading the book, my mom said I looked just like the kid in the pictures when I made my "face." So she started calling me that. It didnt last that long because my sister liked to call me by a different nickname, "Peg." Im not even sure I wanna know how that one started, but I think I like "picklejuice kid" better :)

Passover Madness

Every year without fail, the same wonderful holiday known as Passover rolls around. And every year without fail it is crazy! First we start about a month in advance cleaning our entire house. From top to bottom we go through drawers, couch crevices, and the like in search of what we call "unleavened bread."We only have "matzoh" in our house when the holiday finally arrives. This commemorates the time the Jewish people were brought out of Egypt by Moses and did not have time to let their bread rise so instead the sun baked these large crackers known as matzoh. After cleaning for about a month we start to cook, cook, cook... I never in my life cook as much as I do for Passover. Its kinda like Thanksgiving but for eight days! The family comes together and you have all these big meals where you eat and drink... its a celebration so it makes sense that we eat so much but my stomach is starting to hurt me ;)