Friends of the Rain

The Friends of the Rain is a student group -slash- tradition from Lancaster. In 05.2 and 06.2, when rain had very recently fell or appeared imminent, a group of CTYers would gather on the quad in front of the dining hall. There were no set members, but this collection of people was known as the Friends of the Rain. Led by Jeff Sachs, Shea Levy, and Eli Petzold, the students would pray and shout in various languages for rain to come. Languages included (but were hardly limited to): English, Spanish, Hebrew, Greek (Ancient and Modern), Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, Pig Latin, ...

It began in 05.2 when, after a very exciting but disappointingly brief bit of rain during dinner, Shea and Eli, among others, began the Israeli water song (not really a rain dance, but a song using water as a metaphor for spiritual salvation) "Mayim, Mayim" (lyrics below). This gathered a massive group, who began singing/belting Canon songs. Students proceeded to break various petty rules for rain ("Are you willing to take your shoes off for rain?" "YEAH!" "Are you willing to go beyond a 3-second-closed-mouth kiss for rain?" "YE-... um, no.") There were many sacrificial cookies involved which tasted pretty damn good. After a huge grass orgy in the rain, it broke up with students heading back to class chanting "Hoo ha! Hoo ha! Friends of the rain, rain!"

In 06.2, Christ was used as a sacrifice and then actually disappeared in the ensuing chaos. It didn't rain, though, so one plucky CTYer yelled at the sky, "Hey! We want a refund!"

Mayim, Mayim

Ushavtem mayim b'sason
mimainei hayeshua
Ushavtem mayim b'sason
mimainei hayeshua

Chorus:
Mayim - Mayim - Mayim - Mayim
Hey, mayim b'sason
Mayim - Mayim - Mayim - Mayim
Hey, mayim b'sason

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Mayim - Mayim
Mayim - Mayim
Mayim - Mayim - b'sason

Mayim - Mayim
Mayim - Mayim
Mayim - Mayim - b'sason