on your marks, get set…

[gilana]

I leave tomorrow. Twenty-four hours from now I will be sitting in an airport; too many hours and times zones after that I will be arriving in Scotland, G-d willing. I find myself vacillating between excited and nervous. I'm pretty clear on the excited part, but I can't quite figure out what I'm so nervous about. Granted, this is the first time I'm taking a trip of this distance and duration alone, but I have no question that I am capable of dealing with anything that comes up. There's nothing I could forget to pack that would be that disastrous, no way I could get lost beyond all redeeming in a strange city, no faux pas I can imagine myself making that would ruin the trip that badly. I guess I'm just afraid of the unknown, of a new experience that might change who I am just the little bit more.

I'm also a little nervous about my plans for shabbos there. I arrive on Friday morning, and shabbos comes pretty early these days. So when I found that there was a synagogue half a mile from my B&B, I emailed the rabbi, and he offered to host me for dinner on Friday. My plan is to go to services to meet him and then go to dinner.

Part of me is excited; it should be interesting to see what synagogue is like in another part of the world, and it will be a nice way to meet people (maybe even a cute Scots boy who is actually Jewish!) and get to see the non-tourist side of Edinburgh.

But I haven't been to services in an Orthodox shul in a very long time. My past experiences have left me with pretty strong negative feelings about it, and I can't help feeling like "real" Orthodox Jews can tell that I'm not actually one of them, and judge me as a bad Jew. I have a tendency to get a wee bit defensive about what I imagine they're thinking, whether they actually are or not. All this emotional baggage on top of the fact that I expect I will be pretty overtired by that point, and that generally means I'll start crying at the drop of a hat.

Of course, I've heard nothing but good things about the hospitality of Scots, and I know that lots of Orthodox Jews are not, in fact, closed-minded and judgmental. My sister's community in Harrisburgh is pretty open, in part because there's such a small Jewish community there that they can't really afford division. I'm hoping that Edinburgh is much the same. And I'll have plenty of time for a nap before services, and it could be a really great experience. So I'm trying really hard not to stick the jack up my ass.

In fact, in general I have a tendency to plan out every last bit of a trip months beforehand -- to make lists and sub-lists and meta-lists, to pack weeks beforehand, and have every detail under iron control before I go so that I won't be at a loss for a single moment. This time, I'm trying to leave myself more open. I have a guide book, and I've printed out some web pages of places I might like to go, tours I might like to take, but I'm mostly going to try to live in the moment and take each day as it comes. We'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, time to finish packing. Do I *really* need clean underwear every day? ;)


Going Down To Liverpool - Bangles

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oooh! have a fabulous trip!

[earthling177.livejournal.com]

Hm. I find it that most people can be pretty comfortable wearing one pair of jeans a week, and even wearing a t-shirt a couple of days or so shouldn't be a problem, most of the time one is not doing physical work anyway, it's mostly dust and a little sweat. Of course, if I'm eating a meatball sandwich, it's almost certain I'll need another t-shirt, but that's different... ;-) But I do think you'll feel better if you take enough underwear for everyday or at least a week (I'm sure they will have a laundrette in Edinburgh).

In any case, I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

You do not need to pack clean underwear for every day. If you are desperate you can always wash them in a sink and dry them overnight on the radiator.

Alternately underwear is relatively cheap and you can always pick some up while in Scotland.

However underwear takes up very little space, I would worry more about the rest of your wardrobe... :)

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

You need four pairs of underwear. Sometimes it take two days for a pair to dry thoroughly if you've washed it in the sink and not wrung it out well. And, if you meet a nice Jewish Scot who's not *too* nice you may need to change your underwear after he comes to your hotel to take you out to dinner, but before you manage to make it out the door.

[wellstar.livejournal.com]

Do I *really* need clean underwear every day?

Probably a little late for this trip, but allow me to recommend

Quick-drying, lightweight Magic Underwear.

Available at your local outdoor-supplies store. Known to the less fanciful as "Travel Underwear."

[scholargipsy.livejournal.com]

Have a great trip, Geely! I miss you!

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

One thing to remember is that you are an American, and while I realize that the Jewish community has very strong international ties, I'm betting it's still the case that if you do something outré, they will blame it on your being American. Which may not be great, but is perhaps better than being a Bad Jew.

Good luck with the cute Scots--but I'll say that again when I see you this evening.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't see this last night! I'm so excited for you, knowing you'll be exploring the same gorgeous city I fell in love with.

I'm betting the Scots Orthodox people will be very nice. Everyone is nice there -- they must put some magical "niceness" chemical in the drinking water (like maybe scotch!).

Hugs!

[istemi.livejournal.com]

Have a good trip!