out of the past and Jewish revelries

I’ve been in Baltimore, visiting my friend Dan Marans at Johns Hopkins. Getting away for a bromantic weekend in Charles village was just what I needed. Dan is involved with the Jewish student community, including the fraternity, so I’ve been going to several of their functions. Friday night I had the pleasure of going to a Shabbat dinner. Last night Dan and I drank vodka and then went to a celebration where they dance around and read passages from the Torah. I danced around, too, and even tried to chant and sing along with them. Since it’s an orthodox event, there’s a divider separating the woman and the men; while dancing, I knocked it down by accident, but no one seemed to notice it was me.

Earlier that day I went to an all day frat party going on for the young alumni weekend. Thirty thirty racks was the theme. Dan had told me about a guy named Gavin, a recent alum, that could easily drink 30 beers in a day, or even in a night. When I saw him he had already had at least 15, apparently. He seemed…volatile, but was somehow reigning it in. He did take a beer can, shake it, and pierce a whole in the bottom with his teeth so that he could shot gun it; it sprayed everywhere. I was afraid that at any moment he would force me to shotgun one with him, or just push me off the balcony.

Also last night I saw a figure from out of my past at a party, this guy Michael that was my roommate at Middlebury my first time there. It was so disconcerting. He had transferred to Hopkins. I don’t want to go into it.

Well, one thing that is strange in all of this is being around these high achievers. Gavin, for instance, despite his habits, is an investment banker. I’ve met no small number of math, engineering, or international relations majors. You get the idea. Perhaps, at another point in my life, I might have had feelings of inferiority in this kind of situation; now, I hardly care. The only thing it seems to do is highlight my lack of drive and ambition, something which doesn’t especially bother me right now.