In Which Dominanta Opens Doors, and a Few Things Happen Which are Entirely Unrelated

Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Last we read, I was getting ready to sing at an evening of foreign songs in Hebrew translation, a gig that I found courtesy of Dominanta...

Well, I learned not only "La Vie en Rose," but also another song that I was given the night before the event, a lovely little number translated from Italian. The evening lasted from 10pm until 3:30am, and was arguably the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. Even after five solid hours of singing, I didn't want to leave, and found myself wishing it would last forever. The morning after, I felt like Cinderella the day after the ball, still dreamy and starry-eyed, floating around as though on a cloud... that night, at Rami's event, I remembered what it was like to be in love with music. It was a feeling I had lost sight of for a while, but on Friday, January 7th, at Keren's house, I fell in love again. And this time, I'm not letting it go.

Well, it turned out that this was the gift that keeps on giving. As a result of this evening, as well as some woman's unsuccessful attempt to fix me up with her undoubtedly charming and talented nephew, I have been drafted to TWO further vocal ensembles, both a capella groups. (You'll recall that the evening itself was the result of having joined Dominanta, which was because Zvika brought me to a rehearsal, which was after I met him during Kismet, which I found by accident on facebook, which chased the cat, which killed the rat that lived in the house that Jack built...) The first, Pacapella, is a five-person group, the founder of whom was at Rami's foreign song event. Their soprano had JUST left, and somehow I had officially taken her place before I had noticed or consented... but it should be fun, nonetheless, to give it a shot, especially now that I have an uncharacteristically large amount of time on my hands! I have been to one rehearsal so far, and am optimistic -- while very different from Dominanta in atmosphere (and once I convinced myself that I am not betraying Dominanta by being a member of more than one ensemble), Pacapella is fun and upbeat and I am looking forward to some tight, one-to-a-part choral harmonies.

The second ensemble, formerly called Intonica (the current name is still under construction), has not yet met for rehearsal, but is another five-person a capella group, and another instance in which I was introduced to the group as the lovely and talented new soprano before I could either deny these virtues or agree to join. But once again, I will see how it goes and make my decisions and cuts later on in the process -- this is the first time I have ever known sopranos to be in such high demand, and I am going to take advantage of it while it lasts! :)

On a final Dominanta-related note, we recently participated in a national competition. When I joined the ensemble, the group had just risen to the semi-finals, and after only two rehearsals with them, I was asked to go ahead and participate in the semi-finals (and then, happily, the finals). I am happy to report that we placed second in the entire country, and are the proud owners of a silver medal and a tidy little cash prize. Yay Dominanta! I am very proud to be a member. At the moment, rehearsals are the highlight of my week. And since they've already decided they're going to sing at my wedding, I feel that I am, shall we say, in for life, if I so desire. :)

And now for the entirely unrelated.

I recently had the very good fortune of being able to tag along with a DePauw winter term trip to Israel! Led by drs Anne Harris and Rebecca Schindler, two professors with whom I was closely acquainted at DPU (and their boys, Oliver and Simon, the latter of whom was my Hebrew student for three years), twenty five students came to study the political and theological history of the state of Israel. I spent a few thoroughly enjoyable days with them, visiting the old city of Jerusalem, walking its ramparts, touring the Holy Sepulchre, singing "Dona nobis pacem" with Anne in the notoriously resonant basilica of St. Anne's Cathedral (appropriately), and spice shopping in Jerusalem's Machanei Yehuda marketplace. That was such a treat for me, and I am so grateful that it happened!

And in other news, after almost six months of vocational roadblocks, including the Great Nepotism Disaster of 2010, I have decided to shelve my pride and settle, albeit temporarily, into a job at a big Israeli cafe franchise. The company in question, Arcaffé, was founded fifteen years ago by a woman who is almost a relative of mine, being the significant new other in the life of my father's cousin Rami (yes, there is a plethora of Ramis in this post, I apologize upfront for any confusion this may be causing). Today, I went in for an interview, and will start my training shift tomorrow. Like the job I once held at the Scholar's Inn Bakehouse in Bloomington, everyone at this cafe does a bit of everything -- including, in this case, working the cash register, the barista, waiting tables, busing tables, and a number of other things that I am sure I will find out about tomorrow. I will grant that it will be nice, not only to have some kind of regular income, but to spend some time in the company of people who share my general age group, which has admittedly been a rarity since my arrival in Israel. And hopefully once/if something comes along that is more directly related to my range of interests/skills, I will be able to transition gracefully with, perhaps, a new group of friends, peers and supporters, in addition to all of you. :)

Let's see how this goes!