FIST: Micah and Weiler

Almost done with these...

First Impressions
Micah is very Boston: he likes the Red Sox, talks with a tinge of the famous accent, and uses expressions only a Bostonian would use. We share an appreciation of sarcasm and dry humor (he recommended Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which I am enjoying immensely) and playing backgammon (I am leading the series 28-21). We watch movies occasionally on his computer ("The Big Lebowski" and "That '70s Show") and play frisbee. We learned Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) together, and are currently engrossed in Mishlei (Proverbs).

Adam is the oldest kid here. He talks with a bit of lisp, but he is always more than happy to repeat for you to get his idea across. He moves around a lot; his parents, actually, are in Israel for the year, so he goes home every other weekend. He graduated from Ramaz, where I'm told he had throwing knives (see picture, although that is a cutting knife for cucumbers) and had pet ferrets. He writes poetry and has his own blog. Is currently learning the story of Cain and Abel in greater detail.

Second Thoughts
Micah has a good sense of fun, a humorous side that can be very dry and sarcastic, and a good taste in film and literature, which means that we are often on the same page here at yeshiva. He knows to balance relaxation with learning, whether that relaxation is reading (Doyle, Carrol, Adams), throwing frisbee, or playing The Settlers of Catan. And as to learning, we are engrossed currently in a project for Rav Elisha's class that attempts to explain issues such as Kol Isha (women singing), Tzniut (modesty), and women covering their hair (women covering their hair). Micah has a vocabulary of unusual words that no-one else seems to use, such as "mergle" and "wicked" and throwing in the word "monkey" wherever.

Sharing a room with Micah (as well as DZ) is Crazy Adam Weiler. I don't know many people who truly fit the description of crazy, but Weiler fits the bill. For starters, his bed is not so much bed as it is nest. A nest of everything that is Weiler. He still plays with knives. He writes short stories about a clump of feces that looks like Beethoven. He also writes surreal poems. He learned the New Testament with Ilan, and upon completion they conducted a siyum by watching a double-feature: "The Passion of the Christ" and "Monty Python's Life of Brian."