commuting

ok, so it's been awhile since i last blogged.  this is not because nothing has been happening in the world of cpe, but instead that a TON has been happening so i haven't had the time/energy to blog.

i quickly realized, upon beginning cpe, that the commute would be substantial.  on classroom days, it's a mere 45 or so minutes (more if i get off the subway early and get coffee at my favorite coffee place and walk the extra blocks), not too bad.  when it's time to head to the docks to hang out with the seafarers, it usually amounts to about 2 hours.  this is if our timing is good and we make it in time for the #40 bus to the ports (if not, we have to wait for the next bus an hour later).

now, i know what you're thinking (or maybe i don't, but we'll pretend i do).  2 hours!  each way?!  that's awful!  well, it would be.  if it weren't for two things:

1-my kindle.  my aunt got me a kindle for graduation from college and i loaded it up with books and took it to slovakia instead of taking a ton of books.  i didn't get through all of the books while in slovakia (i didn't quite get around to many of the classics, which were free downloads since the copyright had expired) and brought the kindle with me to nyc, knowing that i would at least have a bit of a commute.  i've now read: the death of ivan ilych (for cpe), marley & me, bait, and am 95% done with the final book of the golden compass series (next up: frankenstein).  as i travel around manhattan, i bring my kindle everywhere and read, so leg #1 of the commute is occupied by my kindle.

2-my cpe partner, m.  m is an open orthodox rabbi.  i know, confusing.  i'm not going to try to explain what that means to you (although if you're really curious, i can give you some more info), except to say that i have found him to be full of grace in his approach to life.  m and i spend the other two legs of our journey together, taking the path train to new jersey and then the #40 bus out to the ports.  this has been amazing for me.  although i was hesitant at first, i look forward to our conversations.  we have talked about a lot (everything from queerness to the middle east to cpe and why we do what we do how we do it).  the conversations are thought provoking and deep rather than surface level chit-chat and i have thought deep and hard about several things that i had never given much thought before this summer.

an added bonus is that i wear my clerical collar every day and so to the unknowing observer we look like a pastor and a rabbi (i don't know if maurice looks like a rabbi or not, but we'll say he does).  we are the beginning of so many jokes!!!  we walk around all the time, so it really is "a pastor and a rabbi walk..."  (except that i am not yet a pastor, but they don't know that)  i really like being a visible indicator of interfaith dialogue.  it's awesome.

anyway, the commute is one of the parts of my summer that i didn't expect, but have come to cherish greatly.