Mothers Day

Once again I'm writing to you from my ESLP Sustainable living class, which, being three hours long, is almost impossible to stay intently focused for the entire time. Right now the speakers are taking questions, so there's time for me to write. Today's class was about Fair Trade and Coffee, and we had a woman from Nicaragua who lives in a coffee Co-Op lecture in spanish at us (there was a student translator). Next we had an environment studies professor lecture about fair trade vs. free trade. He talked about the pros and cons of fair trade in comparison to free trade. Fair trade is about 'voting with your dollar' - participating in a market that favors companies and businesses that are sustainable, organic, and mutually beneficial for producer and consumer. Fair trade reduces contact with 'the middleman', so that there aren't many businesses between the producer and the consume. A problem, however, is that in order to get the certification for 'organic' or 'fair trade', there are a set of rigorous criteria that need to be met, which not all producers/farmers are able to meet. Also, because of climate change, the specific climate zone that coffee grows in is getting higher in elevation by 3-4 meters a YEAR, so that, depending on how much high ground is available, many countries won't be able to produce coffee anymore in a few years.

Anyway, this past weekend I planned to surprise my Mom in LA for Mothers Day, drive down on Friday and stay the weekend. I was going to drive alone at first, but then Jose, my housemate, hear about my plan and asked to tag along. Then I saw my good friend Jon, who apparently had been frantically searching for a way to get down to Whittier (near LA) to surprise his mom. So naturally Jon came aboard, and my RA and friend Matt (who heard about our trip form Jon), asked to come. Suddenly, my trip grew from just me, to a full car of my friends. Friday, and 11 am, all 4 of us piled into the love bus (my mini-van), and headed south. I've driven down to LA many times from Santa Cruz, and this group of guys was one of the best i've driven with - we all got along really well and had a great time, despite being in an enclosed space with me for an extended period of time. Jon was particularly excited to get a solid 'dose of Ben', which i'm sure he got by the end of the ride back to Santa Cruz. On the ride down to LA, we stopped in Santa Barbara to eat and see my friend Rachel, who i'm going to India with. At about 630ish, we arrived at my house in LA, where Jon and Jose were to be picked up (Matt had been dropped off earlier). Jon's step-dad grew up near where i live, so he brought Jon's mom, and his brothers up to Cheviot hills to meet 'an old friend of his', who coincidentally had the same address as me.

When they pulled up to my house, and Jon walked up to the car, his mom shrieked and jumped out of the car and hugged him -it was great to see his mom so happy and surprised with Jon's presence. Jose got picked up later, and then I was off to services where my Mom was helping out. After meeting with my Dad at Temple Emmanuel, he went over to my Mom and told her that she needed to talk to someone right now, and that it was urgent. She walked out the door of the sanctuary, looked at me, kept walking, and then realized who she saw. Unfortunately we were still in plain sight of some of the congregation involved in services, and the ensuing scene of hugging and motherly love might have been a bit distracting. I was brought into services, where, to everyone she knew (which is everyone), she pantomimed how i (her youngest son) came down from College in Santa Cruz, to surprise her for Mothers Day. When I asked her later if that might have been disruptive, she answered, "well, i'm the Rabbi, i'm allowed". Good point, Mom.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful, seeing Darrow's (my roommate from last year) family, and hanging out with my Brother, Dad and Mom. I had this idea a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking of all the various stories i've grown up with - stories of the incredible life my Dad has led. I thought, "man, he has so many stories, all of them great, how am i going to remember all of them to tell to my friends and future children?". So i thought that he should write down all the stories, but then i realized that it would be easier, and better if we videotaped him telling the stories, so that the viewer could not only get the content of the story, but see and hear the story being told in its original form, by my Poppa. So I borrowed Lisa Greer's (Darrow's mom) flip video camera, and we set to work filming. So far, just from this weekend, I have about 90 minutes of film, which, edited down, is probably about 70 minutes. Not only do i have that much content, but there are more stories to come! When i finish editing the stories together into a comprehensive video, i'll post it on youtube or something, and put the link on my facebook page on and this blog if you're interested in hearing some great stories.

Other than than, I got some new shoes/sandals for India, which have neoprene inside (the stuff wetsuits are made out of), and an anti-microbial BUILT INTO the padding, so any crazy germs or bacteria i pick up while running around Delhi will be mostly neutralized by my sandals...pretty sweet. Also got a new rain-jacket which got me all excited for monsoon season in India.
That's about it for today - ive still got a month and a half until i go to India.