The rows of chairs are about half-full in the semi-large auditorium. Some of the girls scribble madly on the meager desk space afforded them, trying to balance notebooks and sefarim as the amplified voice emanating throughout the room belays quips and intelligent comments interlaced with the language of ages. Other girls attempt to do the same but are unfortunately suffering from yet another sleepless night and space out or fall asleep entirely throughout the fifty minute class. Yet others have different agendas, the thick booklet awaiting the imminent test on all things Jewish surreptitiously sitting before their roving eyes, or a sheet of writing paper atop their notebook as they diligently record their surroundings. Those who arrived early enough have snagged the advantageous seats behind the thick pillars supporting the library above us, hidden from view of the podium. The reader for the day has an expressive voice, albeit very American, and she reads without a hint of hesitancy, periodically interrupted by a deep Hebrew explanation.
The recent threats dealt by the school administrator to send all transgressor home has resulted in an almost complete absence of knees in sight, as each girl is left fearing for her prospects after being kicked out of seminary. Uggs are still being worn a year after their prime, Naot slowly taking over as the culture of the surroundings seeps in in spite of most girls' alternate desires. Backpacks are slightly rare, school bags and Le Sportsacs pretty much reigning. The retro eighties poof is cooling down a little, and girls are finding other ways to disguise grown-out bangs. Japanese hair straightening set thje stage for those lacking it to blow dry their unique locks.
The stronger personalities sit quietly, awaiting discovery, some more patient than others. The rebels are all disguised by their own desire to be there, the buried beliefs flaring of their own accord at familiar utterances of idiocy. The longer they stay the more familiar they become with this new system and canon, anticipating correct answers with a calculated guess rather than a blank stare.
What any of us will be at the end of the year is anyone's guess.