Jewish Festival 2007 at Yerba Buena Park

The billboard

We arrived at the scene at past 11 AM and the events were in progress. We went earlier to attend the 9 AM Mass at Notre Dame de Victoires then joined in the hospitality (coffee morning); spent a good one hour there, chatting with parishioners in the area. We are new so we want to know more folks. We met John and his son and some more couples, whose name slipped my mind.

The 59 doves of peace (L) and Little Boy Blue with the ensemble, in action (R)

Coming to the Jewish Festival, we walked along Nob Hill (upon husband's insistence) and had to use the stairs to go through this hilly part of the city. After a short while, we were in

Union Square, walking, then before we knew it- we hit it off at Market Street then it was the Metreon then finally, the park!

At the scene, the garden was adorned with blue and white balloons, reflecting the flag colors of Israel. There, Little Boy Blue and I went around the park scouting for freebies and got some, all pertaining to the Jewish Community Federation in SFO. They had heaves of fliers reflecting the goals of their union.

The amazing crowd

At the park, it is interesting to see a lot of Jewish folks who came by and supported this event with gusto. It was their 59th year celebration of Israel's existence. There were food gallore and different booths that highlighted this year's festival. I, myself, enjoyed most the free potpourri they were giving away near the SFO Museum of Modern Art entry. There, array of scents were in stalls and you can pour as much as you like in the small sachet made of cotton fabric. Near

by, drums were neatly arranged in one corner for people to use, play with and have fun to do while killing the time doing music improv. At the sight of the drums, husband's face lighted up and soon enough, he sat down and started drumming up all sorts of beats- fast, slow, medium beat, and syncopated beats. There, a young man was in charge who was very friendly and accommodating to us. Shortly, I joined in. Then after a while, I felt my hands were hurting due to lack of practice. Ayayay! From Alexandria, Egypt in summer 2000, seven years ago, I brought home 2 Egyptian drums, coming home from my posting at the American School of Alexandria (Alexandria is the ancient city where Alexander the Great met and fell in love with Cleopatra). So husband and I are familiar with this ethnic instrument. Well, although the drums are not Egyptian drums, they were still similar in make up. So we were able to handle them well.

The fiddler on stage

While husband was "high" playing drums, I left the scene and opted to walk around the park, looking for some more free stuff for my use! When my plastic bag started to feel heavy, I decided to return to the place where I have left him. There, in a bat of an eyelash, I realized that he was not alone anymore but with a crowd! They were doing an ensemble, a performance of percussion instrument! Wow! I was very proud of my Little Boy Blue! To my surprise, the crowd have swelled where the drums were! And there, I saw my better half, enjoying his bit of musical contribution with a group of adults and young children enjoying the music they were making! Later, I recorded bits and pieces of exposures of this event of them in an ensemble~ performing an improvisation as coordinated by the Jewish guy with beard and moustache. Here is a video clip. I hope you enjoy it!