Saturday, June 12, 2010

piso mojado

The title comes from the fact that I was disappointed to notice that the wet floor signs up here did not also read 'piso mojado' underneath. I had become accustomed to seeing most things in English and Spanish, and it's even rather helpful in learning some Spanish. It's a shame we can't learn languages Matrix style, where you could just plug in a tape and have it all instantly in your brain. That would be awesome, and I'd have a ton of languages that way. Hebrew is making me feel kind of stupid, though, because I just can't seem to get all those words to stay in my head rapidly enough. I also kind of think my Romans prof is a bit out there, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not so much a fan of learning dead languages, though, because the method for learning is very dry, and it just doesn't really do it for me. I like the Hebrew language, because I think it's interesting and it feels like I'm connected with centuries of people, more so than Greek.

Mostly I'm writing in here because I don't want to study Hebrew right now, and I spent most of the day reading ethics. I did unpack some more things, so now the room looks bigger because there isn't as much stuff all over the floor. That's good news. I also need to go to the store again, because I didn't make a list and forgot to get mousse, and could use some more food, too, since there are no meal plans over the summer and the cafeteria has yet to serve something that compels me to go eat there. I did also go to the food co-op with Tim yesterday, and that was interesting and kind of cool. It had more stuff than I expected, but I did get some fresh eggs, as well as some spaghetti.

I like being able to keep the window open, but the outside can get very loud sometimes. Occasionally I hear airplanes (like right now), but I also hear lots of birds and other creatures, and people walking down below. This morning I was interrupted in my sleep by some very obnoxious squirrels who kept chattering at one another until something happened and one of them fell. I only know this because someone was walking by at the time and said, 'did you see that? that one just fell!' I don't know if the one knocked the other one out of the tree, or if the squirrel was just so beside himself with anger that he lost balance. Either way, it was a humorous and rather unreal interruption to my sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I think it's time for a shower and the bed. Peace.

Friday, June 11, 2010

back north

Hello friends, long time no blog, I know. But I'm back in the frigid north again (which isn't quite so frigid in June, but I am still beginning to wonder if they actually have sunshine and hot weather up here) so it's time to try to find time to blog. Surely this means my life will be more interesting, right? Busy, for sure. I've been drowning in Hebrew this week. Drove up here last weekend, which is an extremely long time to sit in a car. I also did not know Iowa was so hilly and windy. Kansas was blah, plus they charge a toll for half of I-35 that runs through it. Ain't right. The Flint Hills in KS were pretty nice, though. I'll give them that.

I noticed that blogger had updated templates since I last logged in, so I hope you like the new design. I like blues, if you hadn't noticed. They also updated the posting section, so we'll see if I inadvertently do something strange with it.

I really feel quite uninteresting in general, but I have a trip to Target and the grocery store later, so I won't starve or run out of important things like contact solution. This blog has no organization already, I can tell. It's very weird to see this place without snow, I was amazed at how many plants they grow up here. I also saw rhubarb growing, and someone told me what it was. I don't know what half of these plants are. I like that I can have the window open and sleep with it open and everything (also helps that I'm on the second floor).

My room is not even halfway unpacked yet, but I suppose we'll get there by late August, between summer and fall sessions. Who knows. I figured out how to do the combination for my mail box now, though, so that excites me. I need to decorate, and now I'm wishing I had gotten a Texas flag before I left, I think it would brighten the room quite nicely. haha. All these northerners with their funny speech habits and strange ways and gloomy weather. Oh well. I'd be complaining about the heat if I was back south, anyway.

Alright, I've wasted enough of our time for now, but I wanted to say hi again, hopefully I will be more coherent and organized in the future. Peace.