FIST: Jason and Marans

Notice that we are going in the same order as we did in October...

First Impressions
Well, there you have it. Jason, a religious Jew from a mostly black public school (some of his classmates were Tone-E and Antoinette), left after junior year to come to Israel. Whenever we are trying to get all the Americans together, the first person identified as missing is Jason. And he usually is. He is sometimes in classes, but is more frequently found in his boxer shorts around the dorms, or hitchhiking with Israelis. He is a founding member of the Cholent Club, and says "sababa" a lot.

And as for Marans? He's loud, a skill he uses to make his points heard (he was also on Model UN). Marans is very social with Israelis, and has many chevrutas with them (something I am still working on). When I mentioned in passing that I never see him in the Beit Midrash, he assured me that he was there. Maybe we have different hours, or I just kept missing him. Whatever the case, I now see him more often, learning. One of my most...vivid anecdotes regarding Marans: one time he came up to my room for the only time and said hi. He then proceeded to leave a... surprise in our bathroom, stinking it up. I mean, come on. Who does that to someone?

Second Thoughts
Jason is one of the real surprises at yeshiva. He has a learning side, but that's not why he stands out. Jason is... how do I put it? The rebel. The trail blazer. The maverick. He comes from public school, and is going to YU. He is likely to be found at a number of places: in Jerusalem, biking, hiking, fishing, lounging around, learning. He found Israeli roommates when it became obvious that four rooms of three Americans each would not fit for thirteen of us. He cooks, he is looking into a Euro trip, he is a devious Settler (Settlers of Catan), and is a year younger than us. He says "shmehhhh" a lot, replacing "sababa" as the word I associate with him (although he still says that a lot too, but I'm used to it). For some reason, he regularly wears a sports coat (see picture), sometimes with a matching hat.

If Jason is the surprise, Marans, to me, is still the mystery. Our schedules and classes rarely coincide: he learns with Rav Meir while I'm with Rav Yitzchak; he skips Rav Bigman's American shiur in favor of learning with a teacher named Yoshi; he's the last one at dinner while I'm one of the first. He has a very outgoing and sociable personality, which is as striking to me as it was the first day. And he's as sharp as a very sharp sharp thing. But I never seem to know where he is or what he's doing, when he's bound to show up or what class he might attend. Though I can estimate the social circles of most guys here, I have no idea who he hangs out with. Maybe it's me. However, I do feel like I've gotten a good read on the guys here, and with Marans, I feel like I haven't been living on the same isolated mountain with him for nearly six months.