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Phoenix, AZ
Sep. 13th, 2008 01:37 amMy family and I are in Phoenix this weekend (well, actually Scottsdale) for my cousin's bar mitzvah. We flew out of Philly on 9/11. I briefly wondered whether that was a good idea or not, but decided that because of the commemorative date, people would be extra vigilant - and that was indeed my experience at the airport. I took the same flight that my brother and his family were on. They were seated in First Class and I was back in Coach. My brother and I shared a joke about being in a similar sketch from the Carol Burnett Show. Tim Conway was in Coach and got a rope instead of a seatbelt, an open window on the plane, no carpet, all the turbulence, and was finally pushed out the door at his destination. That sketch was a riot and when the turbulence hit our plane I did ask him whether they had felt any in First Class :-)
We landed, schlepped everything to the rental car van, got the rental car, drove half an hour to the hotel, checked in (the woman at the desk took an awfully long time), went up to our rooms and collapsed. It was 1:30 am by the time I got to my room (which was 4:30am Philly time). The kids were exhausted and the littlest one wasn't feeling well, but we all made it. My cousins had thoughtfully provided a nice little gift basket in the room with some fruit and muffins to tide us over.
Found my parents at breakfast and watched the kids while we arranged to go to my cousin's house for the afternoon. We were all overtired, and no one had really slept well, but that didn't stop the kids from having abundant energy. It did stop us grown ups from coping with it as elegantly as we would have liked though. I managed to get a cheap pair of sunglasses, since I had forgotten to bring mine and it was very bright outside. We spent some time in the pool and playing a skateboarding video game (of which my almost 6 year old nephew soundly defeated everyone else).
It was good to catch up with my cousins and my parents and I went to Shabbat services with them in the evening. My brothers family either went to a ball game or caught up on their sleep. The service at this synagogue was very musical. The Cantor played guitar and piano and sang very well. He led a number of prayers with tunes that I had never heard, that had a very 70's feel to them. This felt a bit odd, as these tunes were vocally challenging. It did make the service more entertaining, but it kind of felt less accessible. The Rabbi cleverly called all the kids in the room up to help open the Torah - an interesting way to foster community involvement and make it clear that everyone was welcome at the service. My cousin led one of the prayers and he will have more to do tomorrow during his actual bar mitzvah. I was amazed at how much of the Hebrew prayers that I still remember! Afterward, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Arrivederchi, which was quite tasty. Now I'm crashing out and getting ready for a busy day tomorrow.
We landed, schlepped everything to the rental car van, got the rental car, drove half an hour to the hotel, checked in (the woman at the desk took an awfully long time), went up to our rooms and collapsed. It was 1:30 am by the time I got to my room (which was 4:30am Philly time). The kids were exhausted and the littlest one wasn't feeling well, but we all made it. My cousins had thoughtfully provided a nice little gift basket in the room with some fruit and muffins to tide us over.
Found my parents at breakfast and watched the kids while we arranged to go to my cousin's house for the afternoon. We were all overtired, and no one had really slept well, but that didn't stop the kids from having abundant energy. It did stop us grown ups from coping with it as elegantly as we would have liked though. I managed to get a cheap pair of sunglasses, since I had forgotten to bring mine and it was very bright outside. We spent some time in the pool and playing a skateboarding video game (of which my almost 6 year old nephew soundly defeated everyone else).
It was good to catch up with my cousins and my parents and I went to Shabbat services with them in the evening. My brothers family either went to a ball game or caught up on their sleep. The service at this synagogue was very musical. The Cantor played guitar and piano and sang very well. He led a number of prayers with tunes that I had never heard, that had a very 70's feel to them. This felt a bit odd, as these tunes were vocally challenging. It did make the service more entertaining, but it kind of felt less accessible. The Rabbi cleverly called all the kids in the room up to help open the Torah - an interesting way to foster community involvement and make it clear that everyone was welcome at the service. My cousin led one of the prayers and he will have more to do tomorrow during his actual bar mitzvah. I was amazed at how much of the Hebrew prayers that I still remember! Afterward, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Arrivederchi, which was quite tasty. Now I'm crashing out and getting ready for a busy day tomorrow.
