We've Come A Long Way, Baby!
So much has happened in the last week, I don't even know where to begin...
I guess I should start with last Thursday morning, when our local supervisor called and asked me to come into the office for a private meeting with him. This was a bit weird, since Matt and I usually meet with him together. Nonetheless, I obliged, and was honored -- and a bit surprised -- to find him asking me to step in to act as the head of the local JDC missions department for the next few weeks, at least until we find a permanent replacement for my friend and colleague Lena who left about a month ago. (I was devastated, by the way, when she told me she was leaving. She was my partner-in-crime in planning Pesach Project.)
For those of you not in the JDC world, a mission is usually a group of high-level donors who comes to visit St. Petersburg, sometimes on business and sometimes on pleasure. We try to find time in their schedule and manage the logistics in such a way that they get to see all of the amazing programs and initiatives that their dollars, directly or indirectly, are funding. Some of these missions constitute 2 people for an afternoon tour of YESOD and others involve 40 participants over the course of a week, from dawn until dusk (like Pesach Project).
I am now responsible for making sure all of the upcoming missions -- and we've had 3 in the last 2 weeks, to give you an idea of the spring and summer pace -- are organized with precision and care. Fortunately, Olga, who is the coordinator in my department speaks beautiful fluent English, so we make a good duo and we are starting to put systems into place to make our lives even easier. Needless to say, this is a huge promotion and a clear sign that my boss trusts and respects me. I just hope that we are able to find a full-time missions director soon so that I can transition back to the laid-back world of YESOD. Balancing my old portfolio (YESOD website, tours of YESOD, hosting Shabbat dinners, teaching, camps, etc.) and my new one is a bit of a challenge, especially considering that my hours are not as flexible as they once were.
In order to unwind at the end of what turned out to be a crazy, hectic week with an unexpected new job, on Friday night, we went to Shaarei Shalom for services. Rabbi Stas whatever-his-last-name-is-I'll-never-be-able-to-spell-it was co-officiating with Rabbi Michael Farbman, who is leaving at the end of June. It's such a bittersweet transition. Rabbi Michael has been a major player in this community and a guiding light for us, personally. He is leaving soon to move to the United States with his family. It kills me that a rabbi as charismatic and amazing as he is hasn't yet been placed with a congregation in the US. (Yes, this is a shameless plug for him!) I wish him only the best and I am excited to see how Rabbi Stas begins to integrate with the community over the next few months.
One of the three missions that I mentioned was a small-but-powerful group of professionals and lay leaders from Palm Beach and Cleveland; they arrived in SPB on Thursday and stayed through Monday. They really pushed the envelope, digging and prying into some of the community's latest issues in order to move everyone and everything forward. Their missions are always a little uncomfortable for me -- to some extent, their probing questions (which are certainly well-meaning) can often put me in an unpleasant place, stuck between a rock and a hard place. At the same time, though, it's a lot of fun to hang out with Americans who really "get it." This time was no exception -- we had dinner with them one night and had them over to our apartment for dessert on Saturday night.
After they left on Saturday night, Matt and I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning watching the Eurovision song contest. We were really glad to see that Serbia won, since that was Matt's favorite. I was personally happy to see a country win that chose to sing in their native tongue; I was a bit shocked by how many contestants entered songs in English.
Sadly, my days of teaching kids about Shabbat at EVA are over.
Sunday morning brought my last EVA class (sniffle, sniffle). I'm not sure if I'll miss waking up early and pantomiming to my rambunctious group of 5-8 year olds. I love their energy, but it really drains me, too. Sunday also brought be back to YESOD after two full days of working in the JDC office across town. It was so nice to be back...it really feels like home after all these months and on Sunday is was packed with people. There was a community performance of a riveting Children of the Holocaust by EVA after a great Israeli singer played some Carlebach-style tunes. There was a young leadership seminar in town. And to top things off, Matt organized a sports tournament to help promote his YESOD Sports Program. He had four teams (one from Hillel, two from local universities, and one pick-up team) go head-to-head, or foot-to-foot as I should say, with a professional ref calling the shots. We spent the evening at JAFI's Cafe im Mashmaut program which is quite possibly one of the best programs for young adults that we've seen in this community.
The Hillel team, on the right, takes on a team from a local university in YESOD's fantastic gym.
Then on Monday night, we "relaunched" English Club with the assistance of Ira, the JDC's PR manager. As our original group dwindled, she kick-started the energy and the redesigned the format a bit in order to attract a more unaffiliated audience. We had about 15 come for the first week to discuss the experience of recent graduates as they enter the working world. The discussion was interesting, but the part that warmed our hearts was that a handful of people were late because they couldn't find the building. That means that they've never been there before and our program was the reason they came! Between English Club on Monday and the sports program on Sunday, we estimate that at least two dozen new faces were in YESOD this week, due to our efforts. We've come a long way, baby!
I guess I should start with last Thursday morning, when our local supervisor called and asked me to come into the office for a private meeting with him. This was a bit weird, since Matt and I usually meet with him together. Nonetheless, I obliged, and was honored -- and a bit surprised -- to find him asking me to step in to act as the head of the local JDC missions department for the next few weeks, at least until we find a permanent replacement for my friend and colleague Lena who left about a month ago. (I was devastated, by the way, when she told me she was leaving. She was my partner-in-crime in planning Pesach Project.)
For those of you not in the JDC world, a mission is usually a group of high-level donors who comes to visit St. Petersburg, sometimes on business and sometimes on pleasure. We try to find time in their schedule and manage the logistics in such a way that they get to see all of the amazing programs and initiatives that their dollars, directly or indirectly, are funding. Some of these missions constitute 2 people for an afternoon tour of YESOD and others involve 40 participants over the course of a week, from dawn until dusk (like Pesach Project).
I am now responsible for making sure all of the upcoming missions -- and we've had 3 in the last 2 weeks, to give you an idea of the spring and summer pace -- are organized with precision and care. Fortunately, Olga, who is the coordinator in my department speaks beautiful fluent English, so we make a good duo and we are starting to put systems into place to make our lives even easier. Needless to say, this is a huge promotion and a clear sign that my boss trusts and respects me. I just hope that we are able to find a full-time missions director soon so that I can transition back to the laid-back world of YESOD. Balancing my old portfolio (YESOD website, tours of YESOD, hosting Shabbat dinners, teaching, camps, etc.) and my new one is a bit of a challenge, especially considering that my hours are not as flexible as they once were.
In order to unwind at the end of what turned out to be a crazy, hectic week with an unexpected new job, on Friday night, we went to Shaarei Shalom for services. Rabbi Stas whatever-his-last-name-is-I'll-never-be-able-to-spell-it was co-officiating with Rabbi Michael Farbman, who is leaving at the end of June. It's such a bittersweet transition. Rabbi Michael has been a major player in this community and a guiding light for us, personally. He is leaving soon to move to the United States with his family. It kills me that a rabbi as charismatic and amazing as he is hasn't yet been placed with a congregation in the US. (Yes, this is a shameless plug for him!) I wish him only the best and I am excited to see how Rabbi Stas begins to integrate with the community over the next few months.
One of the three missions that I mentioned was a small-but-powerful group of professionals and lay leaders from Palm Beach and Cleveland; they arrived in SPB on Thursday and stayed through Monday. They really pushed the envelope, digging and prying into some of the community's latest issues in order to move everyone and everything forward. Their missions are always a little uncomfortable for me -- to some extent, their probing questions (which are certainly well-meaning) can often put me in an unpleasant place, stuck between a rock and a hard place. At the same time, though, it's a lot of fun to hang out with Americans who really "get it." This time was no exception -- we had dinner with them one night and had them over to our apartment for dessert on Saturday night.
After they left on Saturday night, Matt and I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning watching the Eurovision song contest. We were really glad to see that Serbia won, since that was Matt's favorite. I was personally happy to see a country win that chose to sing in their native tongue; I was a bit shocked by how many contestants entered songs in English.
Sadly, my days of teaching kids about Shabbat at EVA are over.
The Hillel team, on the right, takes on a team from a local university in YESOD's fantastic gym.
posted by Alyson Fieldman at 5:37 PM
1 Comments:
Good work-- you two are so busy that it tires me out just reading about it! I wish you the best with the missions role.
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