When I leave Chicago, I'm making the (semi-) brief trek to Lincoln, Nebraska, where I spent my adolescence and undergraduate years. I'll be spending time with my little brother, who is 16, meeting his new (and first) girlfriend. I'll be going to the restaurants that I so miss, eating the food that I remember as distinctly Nebraskan, visiting the locales (the CoHo) where I would sometimes spend eight hours a day studying biblical Hebrew. I'll be in Lincoln for about four days, hopefully seeing old friends and having drinks and doing that "last hurrah" kind of thing before I scoot off to Connecticut, where I plan to make some lifestyle changes. Of course, I say that I plan, but we all know how planning goes -- most of the time it doesn't. I hesitate to make any grandiose statements, and at this point making those statements without my big WHAT IS MY THEOLOGY post would probably result in some criticism and furthering opinions about my sincerity. So, let's just say, my time in Nebraska is meant to be a full, all-out time of enjoyment and good times.
I'll then make the 22-hour drive from Lincoln to Storrs over a few days. I'm still not sure how I'm splitting the trip up, or whether I'll be stopping at all. I know driving 22 hours is pretty brutal, and it's difficult because I'll be driving through several states were friends -- some whom I haven't seen in years or met at all -- reside. In a perfect world, I'd loop through Indiana and Ohio and Pennsylvania, making stops to see e-friends and college friends alike. Then again, the price of gas and the thought of turning my car in after the deadline make my wallet weep. So chances are, it'll be a straight-shot.

And I know what some reader is thinking: Who cares? Well, I care. My undergraduate school had about 90 Jews enrolled (or was it 60?), and of those, there were about 15-20 who were actually "actively Jewish," as in, showed up for Hillel events and took the Jewish studies courses and what have you. I'd be happy with even 100 Jewish students who show their faces every now and again. I mean, in a state with 6,000 Jews, most of whom live in Omaha, it was tough cookies as far as making a Jewish connection or finding a mate went. So I'm excited at the prospect of a more prevalent, populous community. And the thought of even being near NYC, an American Jewish mecca, well, really gets my gears going.
Community, folks, is a BIG part of Judaism, being Jewish, living Jewishly. At least, it is for me!