u/Distinct_Orange_1269

I signed up only a few weeks ago when I found out I was available to go, so I'm worried I may have been left out of something. I had signed up for a trip in the past and had to cancel last minute, but they had already formed a group chat prior to the day of departure. I have my flight info and see the names of people in my group, but I've gotten no other info at all about leaving from LAX.

Is this normal? I want to contact someone but obviously it has been the weekend and I wouldn't be sure who to even reach out to.

Any help very appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I explained my situation exactly as it is and was still approved and accepted for a trip, so I know I'm allowed to be going, but now that it is happening so soon I'm wondering will I likely to be surrounded by practicing Jews/secular Jews who have more knowledge? I'm specifically going in order to learn about the side of my ethnicity that I did not get growing up, but will it cause issues if I am pretty clueless to everything beyond just knowing pretty surface level stuff? I've never been to synagogue, my family never celebrated Hannukah, didn't have a bar mitzvah, etc. I also got a very biased view of Israel based on my university (I went to UCLA during the protests and the vast majority of people in my major were very pro-Palestine) which makes me worried I may either say something tone deaf due to unintentionally internalized antisemitism/misinformation or become uncomfortable if any of the group discourse turns into what I would consider hateful (I assume this won't happen, but I've also seen Jewish dudes in LA walk up to women in hijab in the street in broad daylight and cuss them out unprovoked, so I'm not sure).

I looked at the names of many of the other participants and it seems to be predominantly guys with Jewish sounding names in their early 20s. I'm gay, non-binary, AND 26, so in addition to being an extremely inexperienced Jew, I'm a little worried about how I'm going to fit in socially, especially since I already tend to have social anxiety at first and can take some time to warm up. I just don't want to end up in a position where I am solo on the trip if everyone else has more similarities to connect over. And I feel like I'm bound to be an outsider given all this.

The bottom line is I really don't know what to expect and it's both exciting and a little scary. Any insight or advice?

It always seems surprising to me when people talk about how they would only date a vegan partner or ask if they should break up with ones who decide not to be vegan anymore. I'm gay and live in SoCal, even prior to becoming vegan, gay dating is so complicated. Obviously the dating pool is 1/10th the size of straight people, then you have to consider position (top/bottom/etc), masculine vs feminine, age/racial/location preferences, etc. It genuinely feels like trying to find a partner who meets all of these preferences and is also not ridden with unresolved family trauma, attachment issues, etc, is like finding a needle in a hay city. I am not even super picky when it comes to dating besides having a type and not wanting to date super young or old, and I have been told by many that I am pretty decently attractive and have a good personality, but if I were to add BEING VEGAN to this shitshow of a community... I feel like winning the Mega Millions would be more likely.

To make matters worse, I tend to date mostly Latino men, and my experience with Latinx people is that meat is an absolute staple in most cultures, to the point vegans are often laughable. I've already accepted that if I'm gonna meet someone and be with them long term, I'm gonna have to make concessions and be a little more flexible with what I'm looking for.

People who have vegan partners, y'all don't know how good you have it! If you're dating a vegan Latino man and they come out, please pass em along to me. 🥺

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