But before I do just that I want to describe a friend of mine on this trip. A girl named Samara has a very interesting mannerism: she loves of the odd facts of life. Since the airport Samara has interviewed me on various matters such as my favorite breakfast cereal, what my parents do, which clubs in high school I joined, and numerous others esoteric tid-bits of knowledge. Although they may seem like odd-job facts, each kernel is insight into who I am and what I'm like.
You can immediately get a feel for a person within five minutes of talking to them. Are they sarcastic? Shy? Eccentric interests etc. But this snippits give just a little bit more than your personality, they give the questioner a window into what ingredients make up the final product that is the person. I'll get back to that analogy later.
The story begins with Elie telling, one of my closest friends on the trip, Ben to tell his 'life story'. Ben reacting just as you might, with a little shock, some confusion and then a whole lot of thought. Ben and I have since discussed this idea throughly since. After Ben told Elie his 'life story', and he mentioned what he had done to me, he asked me to do the same. Later, we sat down and I began to talk. As I began to speak, people sat around and started to listen. What's going on? What are they doing and what does it mean? That night many life stories were told. And with each one, the group learned something about that person that they may never know without this given context.
One cannot possibly ever tell someone your entire life story. Not in five minutes, not in forty, not in a day or a week. Therefore, when you do have the chance to attempt to do just that, you have to pick and choose what it is you want to say. Do you choose profound experiences? Ideologies that shape your lifestyle? Habits? Each one of these is an ingredient that makes up your life. After telling your life story, or even while listening, you are constantly thinking: Why did I just say that? What does that say about me that of all the other components of my life I chose to say that? The idea by the end is to reflect and then ultimately, tell your story again. Will you choose different ingredients this time around? To further the analogy, lets take bread. In describing what bread is, you could talk about the wheat and the water. But you could also spend time talking about the baking process. Or maybe the time spent coating with eggs. All of those parts, hugely impact the final product of the bread. Yet each time you describe bread you might choose to pick one of those steps as opposed to another. At the end of the day, life stories are more about personal reflection than the actual process of story telling.
Samara wrote was asked a question in her college application process that she shared with me, and it has truly affected my thoughts on both life stories and in the end how I view myself. The question was "write about something you do everyday that most other people find mundane that you find particular significance in". That everyday activity for me is riding the subway twice-a-day. Partially because that time is time for me to listen to music that I don't get at other times in the day. But more importantly because I get to 'people-watch'. When I sit across from a 30-something-looking woman with a ring on her finger I spend my subway ride thinking about what's going through her head, what her husband may be like, does she have kids, what is her favorite breakfast cereal (or another such Samara question). I spend my subway rides trying to get inside another persons head.
When I talk to a person, anyone from my mother to my best friend to a stranger, I always wonder what they're thoughts are. What is causing them to talk the way they do? I don't necessarily mean they're temperament and tonality, but more importantly, why did they choose those words? What is so profound about 'life stories' is that it gives you just enough ingredients to understand a few of the nuances that go into understanding why they chose those words and why they have the temperament and tonality they do. Why they have the opinions they do, why they are passionate about the things they are etc.
In conclusion, I wish I could possibly articulate how I feel about my fellow Kivunimers. I wrote in a speech I gave at a graduation dinner that I believe that a person must be both an achiever and a thinker and that Heschel encouraged both. There were only a few at Heschel that I felt really fit that category. This trip is composed entirely of those people. Each person on this trip thinks passionately, eloquently, deeply, and intellectually. Each person has their own idiosyncrasies, their own quirks and habits. And each person is genuinely interesting. As I articulated about myself in an interview with Peter Geffen for this trip, everyone on this trip is passionate about their interests and active about their passions.
I can't begin to explain how excited I am to learn, grow, study and explore with these 50 brilliant friends of mine.
until next time...
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