Despite being a day early in Atlanta, ASOR was awesome, as should be expected. I met up with nearly everyone from Gezer and we all went out to dinner Friday night. I got shrimp and cheese grits. Oh yea. There was even some bacon in it, so I got my non-kosher fill. Our staff meeting got me REALLY excited to go back this summer! I can't wait! I got to see a lot of really interesting papers presented and some ideas of what to do with my focus in archaeology. It's a little difficult for me to try to do that while I'm at JTS, but I can at least clear out all my language requirements for PhD programs. :)
I saw Heidi, which was awesome, too. She's the one who recommended me to come to JTS! She gave me a bunch of professor's name to meet up with and try to get on good terms with. Sweet! She's such a sweet heart, I love her. Turns out she lived the exact same room I do now in her first year! Ha!
Marcella and I also groupied out when we saw a lot of famous archaeologists, like Israel Finkelstein, Dever, Amihai Mazar, Aren Maeir, Anson Rainey, and others. Oh yea, it was awesome. We would just stand in awe. haha.
It was really nice to get back into the archaeology sphere and hear what new things are going on and see who's moving up. I have a new list of places I want to dig at, ideas of neat things to study, and also some things to cross off my list. Like the Amarna letters! What the heck... I'm sad, I wanted to work with them. I guess there's probably still a lot more out there that I could study besides the 400+ ones that someone is working on compiling into a data base. We'll find out...
23.11.10
17.11.10
haha, I'm such a moron sometimes...
*sigh* This is why I don't like flying anymore. For some reason I thought ASOR started TODAY but it doesn't. Well...it does, but it's just an evening reception kind of thing. Anyway, I arrive in Atlanta, make my way through the airport, get to the train that will take me to my hotel, hop onto the train, take it to my destination, and start walking to find the hotel. I text Marcella to let her know I'll meet her in the lobby. Her reply: You mean tomorrow?
Crap. I get to the hotel, end up having to book a room for the night, but they only have a SMOKING room available. blech. Luckily it didn't smell. Check out is at noon, my friends aren't getting here until evening. The front desk said they'll hold my stuff until they get here. Looks like I'm exploring Atlanta with my bookbag! To top it all off, I forgot my phone charger and my phone is already losing battery life. Damnit.
Atlanta has a really nice feel. There's a lot of character that I felt even while I was waiting for the train at the airport. I can't really describe it, but I'll take pictures as I wonder today...
Crap. I get to the hotel, end up having to book a room for the night, but they only have a SMOKING room available. blech. Luckily it didn't smell. Check out is at noon, my friends aren't getting here until evening. The front desk said they'll hold my stuff until they get here. Looks like I'm exploring Atlanta with my bookbag! To top it all off, I forgot my phone charger and my phone is already losing battery life. Damnit.
Atlanta has a really nice feel. There's a lot of character that I felt even while I was waiting for the train at the airport. I can't really describe it, but I'll take pictures as I wonder today...
14.11.10
WHYYYYYYYY?!
Cassie, Katy, Rachel, Simon, and I experienced the most epic of epic proportions at the Quidditch World Cup yesterday while watching University of Maryland "Terps" play the NYU...I don't even remember what they were BECAUSE MY STUPID CAMERA DECIDED AT THE END OF THE DAY TO TAKE A CRAP AND DELETE ALL MY PHOTOS OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*cries heavily* We had a picture with the best Snitch I've ever seen... and Heather's brother got red carded out of the game for throwing some dude on the ground... and the end of the game consisted of all the Snitches co-mingling on the playing field to keep away the team Seekers from our Snitch. It was so amazing. The game last for 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES, which is epically long for Muggle standards! And then there was a mass dodgeball game. It was all just pure awesomeness...and I've lost all of it. ALL OF IT!
:( Sadday...
*cries heavily* We had a picture with the best Snitch I've ever seen... and Heather's brother got red carded out of the game for throwing some dude on the ground... and the end of the game consisted of all the Snitches co-mingling on the playing field to keep away the team Seekers from our Snitch. It was so amazing. The game last for 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES, which is epically long for Muggle standards! And then there was a mass dodgeball game. It was all just pure awesomeness...and I've lost all of it. ALL OF IT!
:( Sadday...
11.11.10
Pickin' Up the Pace
Note to self for next semester: Don't do another no-homework weekend EVER.
That weekend from the march absolutely killed me! It's not that I'm behind on homework, I'm keeping up, but I didn't realize how much I utilize weekends to do ALL my homework for the week. THAT'S why grad school seemed so easy until this point...
I'm desperately trying to get a gain on homework today and maybe tomorrow. We'll see what time Cassie arrives! This weekend promises to be fun! We're going to the Quidditch World Cup, among other things! Like, for instance, some free whiskey tastings, free comedy show, and uh, yea, things that are free! Yay! And the library, of course.
Next week I am so afraid of what all I am missing for some classes. My grammar class is flying along and I'm worried what missing one day of class will do for me. I'm also worried that for my Jewish Liturgy class he's going to give us our take-home final next Thursday. I think I'll ask him about it in class today, and if it's true, get it from him before I leave. I am so excited about going to ASOR, though! I have a staff meeting for Gezer AND all the staff going on a little outing Friday night. ;) It'll be fun! Marcella's going to be my roommate for the week! I am so excited.
Tuesday I gave a little talk to my Bible class about archaeology, according to the professor, "what happens when you get dirty." haha. It was so all over the place because I wasn't sure what to say about it because I didn't know how much people knew about it. It ended up turning into a question/answer segment, so that was awesome. I thought it was a total flop, but everyone kept telling me what a good job I did. Katy pointed out that none of them really knew anything about archaeology, which is why they thought I was awesome. haha. Rachel, I believe, is the only other person who had been on a dig before.
I've been looking into classes for next semester, and JTS is offering ARAMAIC OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS!!!!!! &$)@T(*$()@@$&@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO taking it!!!! My advisor happens to be the professor for the class, so I think I can get in. The class claims no prior knowledge of any language necessary, which means a lot of people I know are trying to get in on the class. I will beat them. I will get in before them. There is no way I am NOT taking this class.
Unfortunately, I cannot find much else that I'm really excited about taking. There is one class taught by the professor I have come to take as my favorite, though the topic isn't especially of interest to me: Moses Traditions. However, from what I gathered from the course description, his approach to teaching it will involve learning about other things that are interesting to me, so I may just take it. And there are no archaeology related classes at Columbia next semester that are related to the Ancient Near East or that I haven't already taken in my undergrad, so I have 4 classes that I am thinking of taking or have to take (Hebrew and Jewish Traditions) and I can take 5 to max myself out. I am going to take 5 because I'm taking the equivalent of 5 right now and I'm pretty sure I could handle more work.
Anyways, time for class. I love Thursdays!!
That weekend from the march absolutely killed me! It's not that I'm behind on homework, I'm keeping up, but I didn't realize how much I utilize weekends to do ALL my homework for the week. THAT'S why grad school seemed so easy until this point...
I'm desperately trying to get a gain on homework today and maybe tomorrow. We'll see what time Cassie arrives! This weekend promises to be fun! We're going to the Quidditch World Cup, among other things! Like, for instance, some free whiskey tastings, free comedy show, and uh, yea, things that are free! Yay! And the library, of course.
Next week I am so afraid of what all I am missing for some classes. My grammar class is flying along and I'm worried what missing one day of class will do for me. I'm also worried that for my Jewish Liturgy class he's going to give us our take-home final next Thursday. I think I'll ask him about it in class today, and if it's true, get it from him before I leave. I am so excited about going to ASOR, though! I have a staff meeting for Gezer AND all the staff going on a little outing Friday night. ;) It'll be fun! Marcella's going to be my roommate for the week! I am so excited.
Tuesday I gave a little talk to my Bible class about archaeology, according to the professor, "what happens when you get dirty." haha. It was so all over the place because I wasn't sure what to say about it because I didn't know how much people knew about it. It ended up turning into a question/answer segment, so that was awesome. I thought it was a total flop, but everyone kept telling me what a good job I did. Katy pointed out that none of them really knew anything about archaeology, which is why they thought I was awesome. haha. Rachel, I believe, is the only other person who had been on a dig before.
I've been looking into classes for next semester, and JTS is offering ARAMAIC OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS!!!!!! &$)@T(*$()@@$&@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO taking it!!!! My advisor happens to be the professor for the class, so I think I can get in. The class claims no prior knowledge of any language necessary, which means a lot of people I know are trying to get in on the class. I will beat them. I will get in before them. There is no way I am NOT taking this class.
Unfortunately, I cannot find much else that I'm really excited about taking. There is one class taught by the professor I have come to take as my favorite, though the topic isn't especially of interest to me: Moses Traditions. However, from what I gathered from the course description, his approach to teaching it will involve learning about other things that are interesting to me, so I may just take it. And there are no archaeology related classes at Columbia next semester that are related to the Ancient Near East or that I haven't already taken in my undergrad, so I have 4 classes that I am thinking of taking or have to take (Hebrew and Jewish Traditions) and I can take 5 to max myself out. I am going to take 5 because I'm taking the equivalent of 5 right now and I'm pretty sure I could handle more work.
Anyways, time for class. I love Thursdays!!
5.11.10
Library Woes!
I totally forgot about this happening to me this week until I went into the library again today to kneed out some homework.
Last Wednesday I went to the library to read some commentaries for class on Thursday. They were on reserve, so I handed over my JTS ID in exchange for the reserved books. I spent about 2.5 hours reading and translating and taking notes, and I became so incredibly hungry that I snapped into zombie mode and completely forgot that half the books in my arms were from the reserve desk. I never took them back to get my ID, instead dropping them off on the nearest book cart, and bee-lining it back to the apartment for grub. Heading back to the building later, I noticed that the alarm went off rather than scanning it and letting me pass unbothered. The guards recognize me by this point so they just let me through. Same thing happened Thursday morning and I went totally unphased. Friday I made sure I had all my stuff for the Rally in the morning and took out ONLY my driver's license and debit card to take with me. I also forgot my stupid metro card in the process. As I didn't need my JTS ID, I didn't realize it was still missing. All. Weekend.
Then on Sunday I realized finally that it wasn't there. I searched every pair of pants I had worn, every coat, every bag, every hoodie. Nothing. Finally, I decided to retrace my steps and remembered, LIBRARY. RESERVE BOOKS. ID. OH NO.
Monday after all my classes (and signing in the "visitor's log book") I head to the library to retrieve my ID. I am told that it is in fact NOT behind the reserve desk, as one would expect after the librarians reshelved the books and realized, hey, this is a reserve book. Nope. Not only that, I was informed that the book then was my responsibility and I couldn't have my ID back until I found the book.
1. It was put on the book cart a week ago and it hadn't made it back to the circulation desk????
2. JTS's library is so unorganized I hadn't the faintest idea of where to begin.
I got the call number from the library and began the search. And search. And search. Oh, could I have possibly found the book? Lemme check. Librarian: No, this is definitely not the right book. But it's call number on the binder is actually incomplete, so thanks, I'll fix that. *grrrrr* I continued searching for about 45 minutes and was exuberant to finally find it in the reference section! Nope, just kidding! This is copy #1, you had copy #2. WTF!!!!!!!! Out of ideas searching through each circulating, oversized, and reference section, I desperately begin searching in the music library and other parts of the library that have nothing whatsoever to do with Biblical commentaries on the Hebrew of Isaiah Ch 6 and how it relates to the Jewish liturgy! Exacerbated and downtrodden, I return to the desk for one final plea to just have my ID back. The librarian looks at me and says, "Oho! Here's your ID! Someone else was looking at it and wanted to check it out! So I took it off your ID and gave it the book to them! Just so you know, don't do that again because we fine by the hour for books that are supposed to be on reserve."
=:O Why did I never receive an email saying, "Hey, you still have this book from on reserve and you're only allowed to have it checked out for one night!" Seriously? Well, good news being that I got my ID back! Yay! I didn't have to pay for a new one and get all the stickers put it on it all over again!
This weekend is Alli is Catching Up on Homework [and Hopefully Getting Ahead in Preparation for the Quidditch World Cup Next Weekend] Weekend!!! Yea, that's right, I said "Quidditch World Cup"! This year they'll be held in NYC in Dewitt-Clinton Park and a whole gang of us are planning on attending! So excited! So those are my plans for next weekend.
I'm also hoping to jump waaaaay ahead in class work because ASOR [American Schools of Oriental Research, i.e. the annual Near Eastern Archaeology meetings] is in two weeks. In Atlanta. Yes, I am going to Atlanta! I am finally going to see other parts of my own country! ha! Man, I have some serious work to do... I need to do some preliminary research for my final project in Bible... which I have decided to do something with the Samaritan texts. Yep, teaching myself another alphabet for an introductory level course!
Oh, and in other news, I'm pretty certain I annihilated my Hebrew Grammar Midterm yesterday! If I don't get at least an 85, I will be very disappointed. I know I have at least a 9/10 on my "essay" (WHICH, by the way, I managed to write mostly in Hebrew!), which I was super proud of. The teacher even complemented me when I showed it to her and asked her if the way I listed was an ok way to write it. ^_^
Alright, I'm starting to ramble, which means I need to go to bed! לילה טוב ("lilah tov" or good night, for those of you who cannot read or understand Hebrew...)
Last Wednesday I went to the library to read some commentaries for class on Thursday. They were on reserve, so I handed over my JTS ID in exchange for the reserved books. I spent about 2.5 hours reading and translating and taking notes, and I became so incredibly hungry that I snapped into zombie mode and completely forgot that half the books in my arms were from the reserve desk. I never took them back to get my ID, instead dropping them off on the nearest book cart, and bee-lining it back to the apartment for grub. Heading back to the building later, I noticed that the alarm went off rather than scanning it and letting me pass unbothered. The guards recognize me by this point so they just let me through. Same thing happened Thursday morning and I went totally unphased. Friday I made sure I had all my stuff for the Rally in the morning and took out ONLY my driver's license and debit card to take with me. I also forgot my stupid metro card in the process. As I didn't need my JTS ID, I didn't realize it was still missing. All. Weekend.
Then on Sunday I realized finally that it wasn't there. I searched every pair of pants I had worn, every coat, every bag, every hoodie. Nothing. Finally, I decided to retrace my steps and remembered, LIBRARY. RESERVE BOOKS. ID. OH NO.
Monday after all my classes (and signing in the "visitor's log book") I head to the library to retrieve my ID. I am told that it is in fact NOT behind the reserve desk, as one would expect after the librarians reshelved the books and realized, hey, this is a reserve book. Nope. Not only that, I was informed that the book then was my responsibility and I couldn't have my ID back until I found the book.
1. It was put on the book cart a week ago and it hadn't made it back to the circulation desk????
2. JTS's library is so unorganized I hadn't the faintest idea of where to begin.
I got the call number from the library and began the search. And search. And search. Oh, could I have possibly found the book? Lemme check. Librarian: No, this is definitely not the right book. But it's call number on the binder is actually incomplete, so thanks, I'll fix that. *grrrrr* I continued searching for about 45 minutes and was exuberant to finally find it in the reference section! Nope, just kidding! This is copy #1, you had copy #2. WTF!!!!!!!! Out of ideas searching through each circulating, oversized, and reference section, I desperately begin searching in the music library and other parts of the library that have nothing whatsoever to do with Biblical commentaries on the Hebrew of Isaiah Ch 6 and how it relates to the Jewish liturgy! Exacerbated and downtrodden, I return to the desk for one final plea to just have my ID back. The librarian looks at me and says, "Oho! Here's your ID! Someone else was looking at it and wanted to check it out! So I took it off your ID and gave it the book to them! Just so you know, don't do that again because we fine by the hour for books that are supposed to be on reserve."
=:O Why did I never receive an email saying, "Hey, you still have this book from on reserve and you're only allowed to have it checked out for one night!" Seriously? Well, good news being that I got my ID back! Yay! I didn't have to pay for a new one and get all the stickers put it on it all over again!
This weekend is Alli is Catching Up on Homework [and Hopefully Getting Ahead in Preparation for the Quidditch World Cup Next Weekend] Weekend!!! Yea, that's right, I said "Quidditch World Cup"! This year they'll be held in NYC in Dewitt-Clinton Park and a whole gang of us are planning on attending! So excited! So those are my plans for next weekend.
I'm also hoping to jump waaaaay ahead in class work because ASOR [American Schools of Oriental Research, i.e. the annual Near Eastern Archaeology meetings] is in two weeks. In Atlanta. Yes, I am going to Atlanta! I am finally going to see other parts of my own country! ha! Man, I have some serious work to do... I need to do some preliminary research for my final project in Bible... which I have decided to do something with the Samaritan texts. Yep, teaching myself another alphabet for an introductory level course!
Oh, and in other news, I'm pretty certain I annihilated my Hebrew Grammar Midterm yesterday! If I don't get at least an 85, I will be very disappointed. I know I have at least a 9/10 on my "essay" (WHICH, by the way, I managed to write mostly in Hebrew!), which I was super proud of. The teacher even complemented me when I showed it to her and asked her if the way I listed was an ok way to write it. ^_^
Alright, I'm starting to ramble, which means I need to go to bed! לילה טוב ("lilah tov" or good night, for those of you who cannot read or understand Hebrew...)
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