Festivities

It's been a festive week indeed!


Last Sunday there was a big St. Patrick's Day party at the good old EV pub. I didn't have anything green that I wanted to wear, so here's how I avoided getting pinched.



Everyone got pretty rowdy. There was a lot of live, original music and even a faux-Irish band, as well as an auction to raise money for the funeral and medical costs of an American teacher, Bill Kapoun, who died from the wounds he sustained when his Seoul apartment caught fire. I participated in the date-auction part of the evening, so I'll be having coffee with one of the interns here in the near future. 'Twas a good night.

Last Thursday, my friend Rachel (who happens to be the token Jew at EV) and I introduced our fellow villagers to the awesomeness that is Purim.


Here's Rachel in her crazy outfit sitting in the midst of her shaloch manos materials. These are little bags filled with goodies that kids usually trade with each other at Purim. I should mention that I fear that Rachel is destined to be confused with my friend Rebecca by my family forevermore.


Here are some friends making hamentachen, the tasty cookies that represent the ears or hat of Hamen, the bad guy in the Purim story.


The Hamentaschen didn't turn out as aesthetically pleasing as one would hope, but they were deemed thoroughly delicious.


Above is a little shot of our reenactment of the story of how Queen Esther saved the Jews. Pictured is Esther herself, doing some feasting and partying with king Achashvirosh.


Another important part of celebrating Purim is drinking wine, "until you cannot tell your friends from your enemies." To that end, we played a game called king's cup, which involves a deck of cards and some complicated rules.

The night was a lot of fun. I was really happy to continue a long-standing tradition that was begun for me by Rebecca and to learn some new things about it from Rachel. A lot of the people who came hadn't known anything about Purim before, so I was glad I could spread some cultural fun in their direction (even though it's not a culture I belong to...).

One week from tomorrow I get on a plane and head for the States. I am outrageously excited and look forward to seeing many of you soon.