In Which Tiltan Avni is Remembered

Those of you who were in my life already six years ago may recall a certain tragic event that occurred in my family on Thanksgiving Day, 2004, when my fourteen-year-old cousin Tiltan died unexpectedly of a fall in a construction site in Modi'in. Every year since, her parents, my aunt and uncle, have held a memorial for her at her grave in November. This is the first year I've been in Israel since the funeral, and able to attend the annual memorial. My youngest cousin, Yaara, and I, prepared a contemporary Israeli song for the memorial, in translation "To see the light," by Ephrat Gosh, which she played on the guitar and I sang. It's a really beautiful song, and can be found in its original form here, for those who are interested in hearing it. I was just glad that we were almost the very first thing in the service, because once people started talking, the tears began, and there was no way I would have been able to sing anything. Many people came up later and told us that we really touched them, for which I was glad, despite the difficult circumstances.

On a happier note, my web of freelance activity has continued to spread throughout the city. In a series of serendipitous encounters, as is the Israeli way, I came across a woman named Elvia who moved here from the United States three years ago. Her occupation since arriving, besides the numerous hours that she spends in Hebrew classes each day, has been one that is quite familiar to me at this point -- a nanny whose ulterior purpose is to help her charges practice their English. While she enjoys this, she decided that she was not going to get stuck there, and thus CityKids was born.

CityKids is an afterschool program (and during the day, for the kids who are too young to go to school), much like any other, with classes (yoga, music, dance, art, etc), a playroom, a library of about 1500 books... the only difference is, this center is run entirely in English. The idea is that parents have a place for their kids to go after school, AND they can practice their English -- anyone from those who have never heard a word of English in their lives to those who speak it at home. As well as the standard classes, then, there are also English classes at varying levels. And the kicker?

CityKids is located LITERALLY a twelve second walk from my apartment. Handy? Quite!

I met with Elvia and her assistant, and spoke to them about my qualifications and interest in their project. CityKids has not actually opened yet, and will do so on Hanukkah (two weeks from now). Right now the space is being renovated, and is going to be really lovely, but as of this moment has wood and tiles scattered all over the place. Unfortunately, the music, art and English teachers were already taken care of by the time I discovered them, covering pretty much all of my bases. The music teacher, however, is also Hebraically challenged, and spends her mornings in Ulpan (Hebrew classes)... so, with that information, I offered my mornings for the younger kids, at least until the job at the opera gets going and I have a better sense of whether my mornings are available.

For those of you who don't know what Music Together is, it is a "class" in which kids (under the age of 4 or 5) come with one or other of their parents, and everyone learns songs and makes music together (as the name suggests). There are often small instruments, like maracas or egg shakers, and songs a la Raffi or Sharon, Lois and Bram. And for those of you who DID know that, here is another piece of information: I am actually a graduate of the very first Music Together class ever taught, in Princeton, NJ. :)

Once Elvia found out my Music Together-related news, she started jumping up and down and it was decided that I would perhaps come in some mornings and run my own version. This is very exciting to me, because it's right up my alley for so many reasons! And furthermore, this is a job that actually pays me (unlike the other afterschool center at which I've volunteered around six or seven times already, including today), and pays very handsomely at that. I've already signed a contract, and am now officially a freelance teacher at the CityKids center, around the corner from where I live! (As well as the Music Together coordinator I will be the permanent substitute for pretty much all of the other teachers at the center, which is nice -- but it's definitely a plus to have my own thing to do too!)

In other news, Kismet's run has only two performances left, and has been mostly successful, all things considered. We experienced an inhuman number of technical difficulties, such as power outages, malfunctioning microphones, and people falling on slippery stages, all mid-performance; and for me, personally, Kismet has presented a series of interesting challenges as well (my filling and part of my tooth falling out during the final dress rehearsal, resulting in an emergency visit to the dentist; a gaping, bleeding wound from my head -- source unknown, no pain, just lots of blood; an unprovoked allergic reaction to stage makeup that happened only during the fourth performance, when I had been doing everything the same as on previous nights, resulting in a giant rash all over my face, much better now). In a roundabout way, this brings me back to the original topic of my post, as my cousin died on opening night of Camelot, the last time we were in Israel and both Maya and I performed... and then my grandfather died during the final dress rehearsal of Time Flies, the only other show I was in that year. Maybe I should stop performing in Israel.

But yes, other than that, Kismet has been successful. And a lot of fun, in spite of the obstacles. I especially love all the people that I've met, and hope that we will stay in touch.

The final bits and bobs I wanted to mention were that as of today, I FINALLY have my health insurance card and my student ID, both essential to my successful life here and both outrageously late in getting to me... but I actually have a plastic card for each now, so as long as I don't lose them, I can both see doctors and get on campus without difficulty. That will make for a very nice change.

And, to begin and end with mentioning my cousins and the passing of time, I would just like to say that tomorrow morning, less than 12 hours away, my cousin Yuval will be an official member of the Israeli military. This is very difficult for me to believe... much as I know that he will be successful and appreciated, I can't help but remember him as the little kid he used to be, and not the eighteen year old soldier he is about to become. And the seasons, they go round and round...