Meeting With the Ludlow's

Victor Ludlow (and his wife V-Ann) will be teaching at the Jerusalem center fall semester. Lucky me, I grew up around the corner from them. Lucky me, my parents once rented their house. Lucky me, my parents are their good friends. Lucky me, I already know my religion professor! (I even went to youth conference with him.) Lucky me, my mom arranged for us to meet with them at their house to chat before they flew out to Tel Aviv one week later. Lucky, me--we got to ask them all sorts of questions for a whole hour and a half!

I made peanut-butter cups, (a marvelous Mildenstein concoction, if I do say so myself...) and Mama, Daddy and I drove out to Orem to see them. (An FYI for my family that might not know Dan Ludlow moved into their old house, and Vic and V-ann moved out to Orem...)

See, the Ludlow's are the GURUS of the Jerusalem Center. Bro. Ludlow has taught there for over THIRTY different sessions. Egad. Obviously they know just about everything there is to know.

Bro. Ludlow read the entire itenerary list of field trips for me. (Golly, was it long!) We got to see a bunch of their souvenirs--brass candlesticks with stars of David on them, paintings of the Galilee, and a bunch of other stuff. I asked them general questions, but more importantly I asked what the students would have to do to make fall semester the best they'd ever had. I also asked what they'd suggest I should do to prepare. (The prescription was a selection of books, including a 1009 pg. novel about Jewish history through the ages written by Michener that I can't take my eyes off of. It's well written to say the least. Starts out at an Archaeological tel-- and, well, it's really good.)

Daddy asked a bunch of questions about security and traffic. (My, he looks after his youngest girl, doesn't he?) Come to find out, a bunch of girls winter semester got groped on the field trip to Egypt. ... I'll wait for the shock to settle in. Yes, that's right, I wrote groped. Bro. Ludlow told Daddy that nothing of the sort had ever happened before, and Sis. Ludlow muttered that fall semester the boys will learn "a few choice phrases in Arabic" that will get certain points across. Hmm. My only question is whether I have permission to use what Star Wars calls "aggressive negotiations," or if I must maintain a diplomatic composure. Guess I'll find out. We are required to bring two Egyptian security guards with us on each bus. Sis. Ludlow said they look rather impressive. That should be fun, eh?

Sister Ludlow told me she knows Mom feels better knowing I'll that Sis. Ludlow will be watching my every move while I'm there. This was her way of telling me I that she'll be there if I need anything, but also not to do anything stupid. (... I knew I liked her!)

I was most grateful for the opportunity to speak with them. I can't wait to see them again.

--R