Party on the Plaza

Friday started out stressful, but wound up being a wonderful day. I think I'm learning that the key to enjoying myself is to spend as much time as possible on campus.

Friday:
1. My students had permits to sell challah on not one but two locations on campus for the first time...and they sold out!

2. Hung out on the Plaza with two great students, to celebrate one of them being accepted into the top-ranked graduate program in her field.

3. We got to watch some crazy kids play around on a slackwire. Don't know what a slackwire is? Neither did I. It looks a little something like this:

Cool, huh?

4. Went upstairs in the campus library for the first time. It's no Butler, but it was certainly impressive.

5. My favorite part? The supercool spacesaver shelves. They're lined up side by side, and you press a combination of buttons to slide over the desired number of stacks, until a space opens up between the ones you need to access. Perhaps this is standard for a university library - but it certainly didn't exist on Morningside Heights.

6. I was on my own at work for Shabbat. Usually, I hate being the sole staff person, but on Friday night it was really fun. Lots of new faces, lots of quality time working the room and getting to know some new students.

7. Shlomo. Oh, Shlomo.
While sitting in the Plaza, watching the slackwire escapades, my Tzedek (Social Justice) chair showed up and asked if any of them would like to buy the last challah. One called out, "Sure, I'll take a challah." My chair good-naturedly asked if he knew what challah was...to which he responded by reciting HaMotzi (the blessing before consuming bread). We asked him his name, and he replied, "Shlomo!" (which turned out to be his Hebrew name). After some convincing (read: extolling the virtues of the in-house matzah ball soup), he agreed to stop by Hillel for dinner...and actually showed up. I love chance encounters.