Church Search

I'm looking for catholic churches in the area where I'll be living in Manhattan, and I'm actually shocked by how few there are! Only two catholic churches on the Upper West side! There are a ton in Midtown, but I don't feel like taking the subway to church on Sundays.

So my choices are: St. Gregory the Great and Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. I have a lot fewer mass times I could go to for St. Gregory. But it has a Haitian community! haha, they offer masses in English, Spanish, and French, which is why I say I have a lot fewer mass times. I don't know Spanish or French. BUT going to the French masses could help me relearn French, which I will need for graduate school. However, Holy Name also has French masses...and it's part of the Franciscan tradition! I don't think I need to mention that St. Francis of Assisi is my own personal saint here, but I will. :) Though those Franciscans in Assisi wouldn't let us get a photo...lol. Now, I'm not planning on becoming an official member because I don't want to feel obligated to put money in the collection each week when I'll barely have enough money to buy myself food. I guess I'll check them both out and see which one I get a better feel for.

I'm starting to get really excited about going up in a month!!!! And I am severely unprepared for it. Ok, I need to start going through all the boxes in the basement for things that I'm bringing up with me. I'm going to start that now.

Quick ponderings before work...

Would it be crazy of me to take my nice, big, comfy bed with me when I move up to JTS? I'm staying there year round for at least 2 years, but I'll be moving at three times during those two years: at the end of this summer, at the beginning of next summer (because the hall I'll be living in isn't open in the summer), and then at the end of next summer. Not sure where I'm living at the end of next summer yet. Depends on when Stuart comes back from Japan and if we can find our own apartment up there somewhere.

So to come back to my question: Would it be worth it to bring my big, comfy bed?

Roommates and such!

Alright!!! I got an email from JTS giving me my residence hall number, new mailing address, email for the school, AND three new roommates! Two of the girls are Jewish but do not strictly follow kashrut laws for cooking and such, and the other girl isn't Jewish, so we don't need to worry too much about keeping a kosher kitchen. Unless we have friends come over who DO follow kashrut...and then the one girl suggested we just go to the nearest michvah and have our dishes cleansed! haha.

They sound really great: all three have some kind of degree in history and two have degrees in Anthropology, so it sounds like we all have thoroughly similar interests of study. We've already emailed each other a million times to figure out who's bringing what and it's all pretty much entirely figured out. Sweet! Also, I won't be the oldest. One of the girls graduated in 2007, the other two just graduated this year. Weird, I'll be with students who would have been in my brother's class! haha. They all sound really nice and we all have similar extracurriculars and life styles, it sounds. Good job, JTS Res Life! I am getting SO excited about move-in day (which has apparently changed again to Sunday, August 29th). I'd really like to know which day I'm actually supposed to be there because arriving earlier means I have to wait in a hotel because they don't let people in early. :/ The calendar on the website says August 31st for grad students...

Oh wells. We'll see. Today is Eric's grad party and I don't get to help set up beforehand because I have to work 8-4! boo. And it's been pouring rain ever since I got up. Great. Well, we'll see how this goes!