The Wayward Travels of the Second Granddaughter Brennan

My Second "Last Semester"

2012-01-17T11:35:00.001-05:00

Today is the start of my last semester of my Master's program at the Jewish Theological Seminary. It is bitter-sweet - I am anxious for the completion of my second degree and move on to another and to a new beginning in my life, but I have made many great friendships that I will miss and am sad to leave a comfortable location and situation. I have come to thoroughly enjoy this city and my academic atmosphere but I look forward to being in a new place and experiencing a new world-view.

I have decided to allow myself some expectations for this final semester:

Enjoy each class, knowing that there will not be another opportunity to experience this unique setting again.
Spend some more time in the library. (This isn't so much an expectation as a certainty. With comps, final seminar presentation and paper, and summer research presentation at the Bible lunches, I will not be able to enjoy my time unless I spend some serious time in the library.)
Have fun with friends outside of class. This is my last opportunity to enjoy the fun things in this city.
Run a marathon. Yes, I am finally giving in to Katy's urgings and I will sign up for a small marathon!
Organize a kick-ass academic conference. Our committee is nearing the final stages of conference planning and I am seriously looking forward to it!
There will be tears and frustrations, especially in April. If I expect it, then maybe it won't be so difficult to accept. April is crunch time: comprehensive exams, final exams and papers, and the conference. I will be strung out for sure. So this leads into my next point:
WORK AHEAD AND SPACE OUT WORK! I must not be a procrastinator this semester! I need to put time aside every week just to prepare for my comps, which means less time for other things. Holy cow, 50 Bible passages means I need to prepare far more than one chapter a week to be ready on time. That realization is leading me to feel a little panicked. That's a good transition to my next point:
Plan for failure: Though I do not like to think I will not be accepted into any programs to which I applied, I need to be prepared to accept it and move on to something else, which is my last point:
Namely, working to promote social equality, volunteering my skills to improve the quality of life for all peoples world wide, working to end social and human injustices, and exploring a part of the world and a part of humanity I had not known previously. This I will do by volunteering through some kind of organization that promotes all these things, like the Peace Corps, or a similar program with an extended length of volunteer service. I want to participate in a program that will actually change my life and not just set me in a "fun" location for a couple months. I mean to work for this for at least a year. How can you feel that you've made some kind of difference if you don't even get to make significant personal connections or not see something come to fruition if you've only spent a few weeks doing it? That short amount of time only makes the person feel better about his- or herself and won't change him or her. I want to make connections with people!

This semester I will also be a part of wedding preparations for a wonderful pair of friends! I am really looking forward to this! And one of my JTS friends is having her baby soon - very exciting! All-in-all, this semester appears to be jam-packed and I expect a lot of ups and downs and some seriously high-strung moments. I need to remember that I have amazing friends and family upon whom I can rely whenever life seems too much. I imagine graduation day will be a sad moment filled with extreme relief.

Oh Jerusalem!

2012-01-14T14:32:00.001-05:00

A friend recently tagged me in a post on facebook, linking me to this New York Times piece called "Lost in Jerusalem". This, along with a good friend's blog about his current study year in Jerusalem (which I can't find right now but I'll add it to my blog soon) has me missing Jerusalem very much. It's such a hypnotic and amazing city. I really recommend you all read this article because it really gets down to the roots and beauty of the people living in this magnificent city.

The Last One's In!

2012-01-09T21:13:00.001-05:00

I submitted my final PhD application today to Johns Hopkins University! Now on to secure a back-up plan in the Peace Corps or some similar establishment. I have a week before classes start researching.

I had a great weekend with Julia, Ryan, Alex, and Laura. We hung out in the apartment, ate lunch at Tom's Diner, made delicious Mediterranean pilaf for dinner, walked around Chinatown, hit up Ferrara's Italian Bakery, and visited the 9/11 Memorial. We enjoyed ourselves!

Break with the family was nice, too, though I would have liked it to be longer, or at least without the extra amounts of work. I don't really feel like I had much time to relax and I'm just getting right back into work this week before classes start. I'm trying to spend some time romping around the city with friends while also working ahead on things.

I DID IT!

2011-12-15T17:52:00.002-05:00

Woo! Chicago, Berkeley, and NYU-ISAW are all in! That brings my completed app count up to 4/5! Johns Hopkins, I think you'll be completed over the break, even though you're not due until January 15th! Here's to hoping...

What an awful week. I'm so glad it's over. I couldn't even think of studying for my Hebrew final today. I think I did alright, but I could have done better if I had had the time to study. I don't think I did nearly as poorly as last semester, though. Oy.

Tonight I've decided to treat my roommate to a healthy homemade meal. We haven't been able to get to the grocery store and get good food for a few weeks now. Since I have nothing urgent on the agenda for tomorrow, I'm going to make some eggplant parm (minus the cheese) for Katy to help relieve her of some of her stress. Not only were her first three apps due today, she also had two Hebrew finals, and a paper due tomorrow by noon. After dinner, I'm going to take my time with my own papers until it's time for a well-deserved drink at the bar with a couple friends, but then back early to look over Katy's paper before bed.

Tomorrow will be spent at the library furiously trying to accomplish one of my papers to give me time for the other before going home!

Feeling Lost

2011-12-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

I am not particularly pumped about grad school apps right now. They are due tomorrow. I will submit them but my work will most likely reflect my burnt-out feelings on applications right now. Once the last of my papers is turned in for the semester, I will begin working on Plan B, which I am feeling is more likely to happen than a PhD program right now. Anything involving Cultural Heritage (perhaps the Peace Corps or something of the like) is what I'd like to do. And actually...I'm pretty into that right now. Perhaps I need a break from academia?

On another note, my Columbia prof approved my final paper idea, which I am super excited about: "female-friendly" sex toys. Yep. I'll have to read some feminist theory, thing theory, and performativity. How do "female-friendly" sex toys relate differently to the female body than perhaps "anatomically correct" sex toys? What I have seen so far from just looking at various objects is that they are more smooth, curvy, come in a variety of "feminine" colors, like rose, lilac, and turquoise, or have "extras" that involve "pretty" animals, like butterflies and bunnies. Many models are even made so aesthetically pleasing as to be intended for "display" in the home (one model even came with a display stand!). The more "anatomically correct" models, however, come in colors like red, dark blue, black, or "flesh-colored", with very few "extra features". I find this absolutely fascinating. I think I may argue how these "female friendly" models reflect a new wave in the sex industry to "take the grime" out of sex and promote equality in the bedroom. I still have some research to do on this, though.

Too Amazing

2011-12-09T10:16:00.001-05:00

My Akkadian professor sent us all an email to order our new Akkadian grammars for next semester from SBL because they were on sale, 30% off (originally $24, now $17!). When we all went to order this book, this is the screen we got:

At first this was an amazing realization, but we soon realized it just meant that the books are on back order. Sad day. Hopefully we will still get our grammars in time for next semester.

In other news, for those of you who haven't seen me yet, I got my nose pierced! Sometime before I went to San Fransisco.

Yep, it's sexy. haha. Hey, uploading photos since blogger changed their format is super easy now! Watch out blog-o-sphere! I just might add photos to my blog again!

Mid-Week Slump

2011-12-07T16:50:00.001-05:00

Ugh, I'm having a hard time motivating myself today! Perhaps this is because our Graduate School Conference Committee was so successful today, so I feel accomplished while having done nothing that actually needs to get done with my own work. I'm sure watching Paula Dean's Christmas special isn't helping, though it is quite entertaining.

Wait a minute...I believe this time last week I also hit a slump. Must be Tuesdays or Wednesdays...

In other news, I learned today that my brother has nearly completed turning in his own college applications. That does it, if he can do it, then I certainly can! My little brother has inspired me!

One Application Down!

2011-12-01T09:15:00.001-05:00

I'm glad I decided to write a Diversity Statement for my first application because it really helped me figure out how to end my statement of purpose.

One application done, 4 more to go! Woo! I feel much better about it all now...

Coping with Stress

2011-11-30T16:31:00.001-05:00

In order to cope with my currently extreme amount of stress, I am going to waste yet more time by writing a quick blog entry, inspired by my lovely fellow blog-writer, whom I cannot tag in this entry because I'm not skilled enough at blogging. I recently spent the past 15 minutes praying a million had left me interesting Facebook messages and taking note of recent updates to waste some time. I did just come out of a class, come on, gimme a break!

I have had quite a few failures this week which have dampened my mood, but there are times when one must say, "'Tis enough," and move forward. It began with my horrendous Hebrew oral recording first thing Monday morning. I was completely unprepared, as I immediately and horrifyingly discovered. --- I have just had the realization that I love using adverbs...I wonder if this is a bad thing? --- We had two readings to record and for some reason, perfectionism reared its ugly head. I did not finish both my readings in our designated time slot. I was mortified. It was all I could do not to lose it and run sobbing into the bathroom. This has never happened to me before with Hebrew. Somehow I managed to keep my cool - afterall, I had not thought over my options nor discussed them with my professor. If either of those near-future incidents turned sour, then I would allow myself the emotional punishment. I could not, however, keep myself from becoming detached from the lesson for the remainder of class. That stupid little sobbing bug kept biting me. But I made it through and told my professor that I hadn't finished the second recording. She was just as shocked as I was, "Alli, what happened?" I wanted to shout, "THAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT READING YOU COULD HAVE CHOSEN FOR OUR LEVEL AND I DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME TO PRACTICE YOUR STUPID READINGS! I'M APPLYING TO PHD PROGRAMS AN WANTED TO SPEND THANKSGIVING IN HAPPINESS!" But I more tactfully replied, "I was just being a perfectionist and lost track of time...hehe." She said that that was it and there was nothing I could do. That stupid sobbing bug came running back again, but I composed myself a second time and asked, "But what about the make-up date?" "Of course, that's what you have to do!" Oh, jeeze, thanks for making me panic, Prof; there was simple explanation the whole time. Luckily, I passed my first recording and the make-up is very soon. I was worried it would be held closer to the end of finals, like December 23rd or something evil like that.

Now I'm holding back panic attacks about my applications (the first one is due TOMORROW) and fear my writing sample isn't quite up to snuff. The last thing I want is for my writing sample to be the cause of my failure to become a PhD! So here I sit, in the fine arts library, pushing off the anxiety and limited time frame in which to fix up my writing sample while simultaneously completing my statement of purpose, Hebrew homework, and Akkadian translation. What I really want to do is scrap everything but Akkadian because Akkadian is my new love child and what I want to study for future research! Stupids...

San Francisco!

2011-11-16T19:58:00.001-05:00

Wow, right now I'm really glad I asked the front desk to give my roommates and me the highest floor available - something is happening out on the street and I do not want to be down there to witness it!

Anyway, I've been having a really great time bonding with my little cousin Mateo and seeing Maddy and Bob! Mateo attached to me pretty quickly, actually, which made me really happy! He's so damned cute!!! I'll put pictures up if ever I get the 30 minutes to do it. Maddy has shown me some fun times in San Fran and was even kind enough to drop me off at Berkeley for my meeting.

I think the meeting went really well, despite what could have been interpreted as a very discouraging moment. Luckily, I've had to deal with a lot of very intelligent and blunt professors who don't take fluffiness or excuses, so I didn't get discouraged when this Berkeley professor responded to my interests as "very boring". He stated what he thought would be more interesting and I responded with, "Well yes, of course, I guess I didn't state my interests very well," and added a few more things and he was much more receptive to them. Now I know how NOT to word things for my statement of purpose for Berkeley! He also told me, quite truthfully, his pros and cons of the various programs and what he thinks might be more appropriate for my interests, based on what I had told him. The prof then introduced me to another professor I would most likely work with and found some students for me to talk to. Everyone invited me to find them at the conference to chat with them some more, which I took as a very good sign! I'm very excited! I was very grateful for everything he told me.

All in all, I love this city and I love the school and I love the program! I love everything about this place and I really really really want to get in here!!! My visit has only reaffirmed Berkeley as my top choice!

I will post on my explorations with Maddy, Bob, and Mateo when I finally upload my photos! I don't want to give away the fun without the pictures. ;)

Academic Conferences!

2011-11-07T14:43:00.002-05:00

Not only am I attending the ASOR annual conference for the 4th time (and visiting with my big cousin!), I am also part of a committee that is organizing an academic conference for the spring for the graduate school. Suddenly I am super pumped about being a part of this, even if I don't feel I have any material that fits our topic ("Lost Texts"!). I have been put in charge of asking one of my Bible profs to be the keynote speaker! I'm psyched! Sadly, I've never worked with this professor, but if he agrees to be our keynote, it might mean that I get to work a little bit with him? Who knows. I just wanted to share my sudden excitement about organizing an academic conference!

The Downside of PhD Apps...

2011-10-31T11:53:00.002-04:00

Thanks to filling out PhD applications, I now know exactly how much debt I'm in from student loans! I still have five to nine more years to watch the interest accumulate and possibly accrue more student loans! I AM NEVER GOING TO PAY ALL THIS OFF! *SOB*

TELL ME IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT!

Got Marx?

2011-10-26T16:17:00.002-04:00

My theory class is constantly reminding me of how utterly lacking I am in so many things. Maybe I should blog about it each week. What else has Alli discovered she needs to read about?

This week I realized how little I can contribute to class discussions because I have never read any Karl Marx. What is the matter with me? Am I so entrenched in capitalist ways that I fear reading The Communist Manifesto? But it's not just his government theories, it's everything! He was such a brilliant and influential philosopher on all levels of society that his theories are still massively influential in anthropology, and therefore also in archaeology. I must read his works!

And anything on gender or queer theory. I need more of that...

On another note, I've recently decided that I want to know more about steampunk. We read about the Scientific Revolution this week and it made me remember a detective drama show I saw a few weeks ago - it wasn't NCIS...it may have been one of the more elaborate ones, like Psych or something...but it wasn't a comedy. I don't remember! What I do remember is that the murder was connected somehow to this underground movement (which does NOT condone murderous or violent behavior!) There is also an apartment in Chelsea that is decorated on this theme; you can see photos here. I want to understand more about this movement because it's so fanciful. Anyone have some good anime to recommend for steampunk? I know they're out there!!!

Christmas

2011-10-24T16:40:00.002-04:00

Writing this paper about my family actually has me really excited for Christmas. And I hate talking about Christmas before the start of Advent, or even before Thanksgiving - let alone I'm thinking about it before Halloween!

This is probably enhanced by the rich evergreen smell coming from the closet in the library because the sukkah has been taken down and it was decorated with evergreens this year.

Alright, I have 10 pages written and I would like to have at least 15. This needs to go out by midnight!

Migraines?

2011-10-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

I realized the other day that I think I might actually get migraines. I was complaining of a excessively lengthy headache and took off my glasses. Sometimes when I have a headache, my glasses feel oppressively heavy, particularly because my headaches tend to focus around my eyes and sinuses - even my eyeballs. As I took them off I remember exclaiming, "I'm even seeing those stupid little spots! I hate when I see the spots too!"

Then it hit me: I get migraines, damn it! I had never put all of that together before.

Well, right now I apparently am having another one. I've spent too much time in front of my computer today (as I sit here and type, heh) but I have a paper due! I think it's also from my repression of the PhD app stress in order to be more productive for my paper.

Also, I think I've added NYU to my list...still thinking about it, but it couldn't hurt to apply.

Now back to this amazing paper!

PhD Stress

2011-10-20T10:02:00.000-04:00

As any student applying to a PhD program will tell you, applications are STRESSFUL. I've been very nervous and immensely excited by all of it. I have pretty much limited my top schools to two: UCLA and Berkeley. Yep, Cali. They would provide me with the rigorous and theory-based archaeology I hope to master, along with study in the ancient near eastern languages and cultures. They are very strong and competitive programs, but I have been in contact with a few faculty members I intend to work with while I'm there. That should give me a leg-up while I'm there.

University of Chicago is still on my list, but I'm very wary of their program. It is so intense that it takes an average of 9 years to complete the degree. NINE YEARS, and students are only provided funding for the first five! I thought that maybe applying to the Anthro department rather than the Near Eastern Studies department would cut short my 4 years of coursework, but no such luck. Since I will not have a Master's in something related to anthropology, I will need to get a master's through their program before moving on to the PhD. I would therefore need to study for the same number of years regardless. That is far too long, but I think I'm going to apply anyway.

I've also started to realize how much I absolutely love NYC and I don't feel ready to leave it. So I am also looking at NYU right now. Their Institute for the Study of the Ancient World sounds intriguing! I would only take one seminar course per "semester" (they don't really have semesters...) for 3 years. The rest is independently-based study. This could give me the flexibility to explore more theory and take advantage of all that the east coast can provide me (Boston to DC - think of all the universities I could still take advantage of!), all while still living in this fantastic city.

I also need to reach out again to Johns Hopkins, I think. I don't want to cut out options. Baltimore wouldn't be bad; I'd still be on the east coast! Notice how the programs I'm seriously considering go up and down the north east, across the northern mid-west, and settle on the west coast. Yep.

Alright, back to reading for my 20 page paper due Monday. I also plan to do my statement of purpose this weekend...

Are you going to San Fransisco?

2011-10-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

You can be sure there will be flowersh in my hair...

I've just purchased my tickets out to San Fransisco and booked the hotel for ASOR. Oh man, too much money spent in one night, but it had to be done! For the sake of my future professional career and the enjoyment of seeing my cousin, whom I haven't seen in too long! Why do I still have a sick feeling from spending so much? Ha, my brother would say, "You're such a cheap sob!" Still, I managed to spend less than $700, which I would say is kind of impressive. Hopefully my fellow grad school board members will accept my application for reimbursement from the graduate school. Seriously though, if I find a flight to SFO for less than $300 before I leave, I think I'll puke.

This is not to say that I cannot afford it - yay for student loans! I just don't like spending money...

How does a grad student live off less than $7k a school year (after housing and tuition)? I have no idea either, but I do it!

Other necessities to cross off my purchasing list:
new phone
new cable for my camera so I can FINALLY put pictures up here again!

Actually, I think that's it! Sweet!

******

I finally visited with Denise and Melissa this weekend! It was a great time! Even though it was Penn State's homecoming, we managed to successfully avoid rambunctious frat crowds (though the buses were pretty epic). Denise and I gorged ourselves with the infamous Berkey Creamery ice cream and made the best damned chicken parm ever to enter Melissa's mouth. Seriously, she begged us to make it again for breakfast - we said no. We even made some super delicious sweet and spicy baked delicatta and butternut squash!

We bought fresh produce from the local farmers market and hung around the local comic book store and investigated numerous "hippie" shops. We explored the some of the little museums on campus; there's a geology display and fine arts museum. We also attended the LGBTQA (Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Queer and Allies) group's Coming Out Week Drag Show (attended by none other than drag queen Lady GayGay). Denise and I were The last thing we did was walk around the Arboretum and see the Thespian Society's rendering of Animal Farm, which was fantastic! And of course, what weekend with Denise would be complete without TV marathons of Merlin and Doctor Who? I even managed to finish my Hebrew homework!

All-in-all it was a much needed break from school and meeting of the trinity! I miss my two-thirds. ;_____:

Nervous!

2011-10-07T15:35:00.004-04:00

I don't know why I am so nervous right now. I'm about to go to an "informal lecture" with a professor who teaches at Berkeley. I am not nervous about meeting this professor - she may be who I end up working with if (I mean, WHEN) I go to Berkeley - and I have many questions for her to help me in my decision-making. My archaeology prof right now says he'd be willing to introduce me to her. What am I nervous about then? Going to an informal lecture with a group of people I don't know. What is the matter with me? Really, I have some serious butterflies right now. Why am I more nervous about being with peers and colleagues I don't know than meeting a big name academic?

Oktoberfest!

2011-09-25T16:32:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to forget my camera, so I do not have awesome pictures from Katy and my adventure to Bear Mountain Oktoberfest! However, it was a very nice time, despite waking up at the butt-crack of dawn. We boarding a "cruise boat" (read: sightseeing ferry) at Pier 83 and headed up the Hudson River at 9am. It was a very enjoyable and mostly peaceful ride with a beautiful scenery of the beginnings of fall colors in New York. After two and half hours on the ferry, we docked at the foot of Bear Mountain and "hiked" up the "trail" to "the top" of the mountain. What really happened was we walked a paved foot path part way up the mountain.

Everyone kept telling us there was this steep trail to march up 15-20 minutes to the very top of the mountain that was almost closed off from being washed away in Friday's torrential rains. In reality there was a paved trail, completely free of debris, that took us 5 minutes to walk up. I do not call this a mountain trail, especially having just really hiked the Appalachian Trail. I kept hearing people say, "What a dirty trail! Look at all this dirt!" in disgusted voices and some women were wearing high heals and designer jeans with their expensive purses! All Katy and I could do was shake our heads in shame at the city folk's ignorance of what being in nature and enjoying a real Oktoberfest is all about. So sad.

However, the fest itself was wunderbar! A cute little lake park with an ovular roofed stone structure where the polka band played and the beer garden was set up. I had a bratwurst (I had forgotten what a knockwurst was and felt extreme shame and disappointment when I remembered how much more delicious the latter is) with sauerkraut and caramelized onions. Katy had some potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream and we shared a classic German potato salad. We each had two of the tremendously tasty Oktoberfest bier brewed from the famous Spaten München brewery. Oh how wonderful to taste the deliciousness of a true German beer!

We viewed some of the vendors set up around the site and I bought a new belt! I'm pretty sure the one I bought at the Army/Navy store for Gezer was snatched up by the Tel Aviv airport authority during my insane search when leaving Israel. So now I have a new replacement. :)

We also made a stunning discovery with some of the traditional German toys: They were selling "football noisemakers" that looked exactly like traditional Purim Graggers! During the Jewish holiday of Purim, Jews use "graggers" to drown out the name of Haman during the reading of the story of Esther. It was pretty crazy. It's always so interesting to me to see the similarities between Jewish/Ashkenazi customs and German customs. Another example is the potato pancake. We were served delicious kartaffelnpuffer (in German) with apple sauce and/or sour cream as a dipping option. Traditionally, latkes (Yiddish) are eaten during Hanukkah with either apple sauce or sour cream. IT'S THE SAME THING! I love seeing similarities between Jewish and non-Jewish customs.

Anyway, after a lovely afternoon of drinking, eating, and listening all things German, Katy and I returned to our abode exhausted and happy. It was a very nice day!

Best. Day. Ever!

2011-09-15T11:20:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the one of the best days I've ever had! It was totally ordinary but it was such a good day!

I woke up and realized I didn't have milk for my coffee, so I went to the corner store to get milk and bagels for Katy and I for breakfast. On my way out, I noticed the package list on our notice board. I saw my last name but thought, what the hell is wrong with my name??? It read: A. H.G. Davis. I knew immediately it was a package from Melissa! Who else would write "Holy Ghost" for my middle name? YAY!!!

Then on my way to class I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.She was an older black woman, maybe in her 60s, wearing very natural clothing and the perfect most beautifully groomed and styled afro I have ever seen, made all the more beautiful by the silvery gleam of her curls. I was awed.

In my first class, Maria walked in wearing yellow jeans. I'm going to refer to the color as "maize" because it was literally the nicest yellow I have ever seen. This was made all the more spectacular by the sheer courage Maria had to wear brightly colored pants. I was overwhelmed by the color and her courage. Amazing.

On my way to my second class, I saw the second most beautiful woman in the world: again an older black woman (again probably in her 60s) wearing lose-fitting clothing. Her beautiful silver hair was cropped close and she had a cloth band wrapped around her hairline. I have now decided older black women with silver hair are the most beautiful women in the world.

My archaeology class made me realize how thoroughly lacking in anthropological/archaeological theory I am, yet I am very excited (ravenous, really) to learn more.

I returned back to the room to the glorious smell of homemade honey-wheat bread baking away in our bread-maker. Delicious. It made my tummy rumble.

Also, I've been approved for my extra loan and it looks like it will actually be made available to me next week and not in 4 weeks like I was thinking it would. I should double check on that though...

Dinner turned out to super delicious, too. I cooked up brown rice and lentils and mixed in some onion, green onion, green peppers, carrots (yes, I ate cooked carrots!), garlic, and a little bit of spicy seasonings, chili pepper, curry powder, paprika, and ground cloves. It smelled delicious AND tasted delicious! I was super proud of myself. I made it just in time for Rachel and Katy to get home from a short run!

Like I said, really a very ordinary day made extraordinary simply by being aware of myself and my surroundings.

End of the First Week!

2011-09-09T09:57:00.003-04:00

Classes are going to be awesome this year!

Wednesday I had my Psalms and Archaeology classes. Psalms is going to be great, studying the various theologies therein and the hidden, edited or removed theologies of the popular religion, as opposed to the official religion, of the ordinary people (such as an extensive angelology - a hierarchy of angels and heavenly beings surrounding God). ooooo!

The archaeology class is called Social Production of Technologies, looking at what exactly is "technology"; how do our bodies relate to the technologies we create? We're covering an enormous breadth of time and space, looking at prehistoric civilizations and beginnings of animal husbandry and agriculture; moving to the Mediterranean with the Greeks and Romans; the Middle East and The Book; the Scientific Revolution and Western Industrialization; and finally ending with modern "technology", and how gender studies affects how we understand space and technology. Super awesome! I'm so excited to get back into archaeological/anthropological theory! There were so many people in the class (almost 40!) that the prof was saying he'd have to give preferential treatment to MA and PhD students in socio-cultural anthropology and archaeology. I was afraid I didn't fit those categories, as I am technically a Bible student, but I talked with him after class and he was very excited to have me in the class. Yay!

Yesterday I had my Akkadian class! We're going to cover the entire Law Code of Hammurabi! I can already recite the first three words! Shu-ma a-wi-lum a-wi-lam... "If a man [accuses] a man..." I added "accuses" even though it's not a part of the first three words because otherwise it wouldn't make sense to you all reading. However, that is the verb in the first half of the sentence. I just don't know the word for it yet. Dr. Marcus is so fun. He was saying how very soon we would all be a part of an elite group of scholars who can stand up and recite the first law code to each other; that if he called us at 3am, we'd be able to recite it in our sleep. haha. I am so pumped to be able to read the cuneiform! There is a massive list of the signs sitting right in front of me as I speak - and they're just the simple signs! The course continues with a second half next semester where we will read the annals of Sennacherib and the Descent of Ishtar!

As of yet, I cannot tell whether Akkadian or the archaeology class will be my favorite. By mid-terms, I might be saying Akkadian, if only because it will be significantly less work. haha.

Class Update!

2011-09-06T23:53:00.003-04:00

Classes went very well today! Hebrew started off a little rocky. It's been a while since I've been in an all-Hebrew environment, so I wasn't ready for the mind-set. Also, the prof has a really thick accent, nothing at all like Nadav's (former Israeli prof), so she was a little difficult to understand at first. By the end of class I was back on track!

Masorah was AMAZING. I arrive to the room to find facsimiles of the Leningrad Codex, Aleppo Codex and Cairo Codex of the Prophets. AWESOME! Oh man, I was nearly in heaven. It was a great day. Also, Dr. Marcus is just one of the greatest professors ever. I love having him as my advisor.

Tomorrow is my archaeology class at Columbia, "Social Productions of Technology"!! I'm nervous about taking a class at Columbia but I'm so excited to get into some serious archaeological study again. I also have a class on the theology of the Book of Psalms tomorrow. My biblical poetry is poor at best, so I'm hoping to beef it up with this class and the phantasmal knowledge collection that is Dr. Geller.

Still longing for my most looked-forward class: Akkadian!

I hope I'm not overloaded this semester!

First Day of Classes!

2011-09-05T23:14:00.003-04:00

Yay! First day of classes tomorrow! I start off first thing in the morning with Modern Hebrew and then a lat afternoon class, "An Introduction to the Masorah". In a simple explanation, "Masorah" refers to the little symbols and cryptic notes that were written into the margins of the biblical scrolls as they were copied through the centuries. I'm going to the learn what they are!

Unfortunately I must wait until my class section on Thursday to have my first lesson for the class I am most excited about: Akkadian! I can't wait!!

Back in NYC

2011-08-31T08:21:00.002-04:00

Yay! I'm back! I didn't realize how much I missed this city until I saw the skyline, well before we made it to the tunnels. I love being here, even with the bus/truck/horns/construction work out on Broadway right now that are rampaging in my apartment now and drowning out the music I'm playing on my computer.

My internet is not working in my room. Nuts. Fortunately, Katy and I were able to talk our RA into opening up the other rooms in our apartment to "air them out" *stealsomefurniture* and the internet in Katy's room is working. So I'm stealing her internet until they come fix mine. Everything was surprisingly clean! I'm not sure if that's because we scrubbed this place till it sparkled before we left or if they actually did clean it before we arrived. I was told that some people did stay here over the summer, but I don't know if it was this apartment.

Yesterday I successfully submitted my encyclopedia entry! Writing a 1500 character (including spaces) piece is insanely difficult. That's less than a page/two small paragraphs! But this means I'll be published (if they decide to include the piece)!!! I had to sign a contract and everything! I feel special, like I did something important, took one small step towards advancing my career! Now I just need to get the PhD applications rolling and all will be well!

Final Countdown!

2011-08-23T08:42:00.002-04:00

It's starting to come to a close! Just a few more days until I move back to NYC! I have a lot left to do (including some major Hebrew studying). There's not much to pack but enough to make me start feeling rushed.

I spent the afternoon yesterday with Cassie shopping. It was a lot of fun and a good time (and successful, even though I didn't get what I went for).

I still have three days left of working but you gotta do what you gotta do to get some money for school!

Alright, back to packing and studying.

Too Pooped to Poop but Ready for the Challenge

2011-08-05T11:36:00.004-04:00

Man, the last two weeks have left me EXHAUSTED. Six day hike on the Appalachian Trail followed immediately by a day of work and then three days at Cape Lookout, NC! I did sleep in more than usual this morning (9:45!) but I am still feeling out of it, even after two cups of coffee!

It was a really nice two week, though. I cleared my mind of a lot of things and set my emotions in check. I pushed myself to new limits and, though I didn't always meet them with grace, I know what I can do. I learned a lot about myself and further set myself on track. I was already feeling confident about the direction my future was headed after Gezer, but now I'm sure of it. I took back all my confidence and then some. I have overcome all my emotional baggage and am prepared for the extremely difficult six months ahead of me. Though I am not feeling particularly focused at the moment, my mind is set in one direction and I am ready for the challenges ahead.

There's a lot to do but I am organizing myself and I am not going to give up. I am feeling stronger than ever (emotionally and physically), my endurance is high, and my self-reliance is set. I will achieve what I want and I will find whatever way into it necessary, but I've made back-up plans because I still remember the pangs of failure.

The last two weeks have taught me to minimize necessities, be thankful for what I have, and appreciate the people in my life. These have been the most life altering and stone-setting weeks of my life and I will never forget them. I needed these experiences more than I realized.

Back in the USA

2011-07-20T20:54:00.002-04:00

Well I'm back. I wasn't quite ready to leave Israel because I'd been there a whole week shorter than usual. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and really missed everyone I was so used to seeing every summer. I'm really going to miss it since it's not happening again next summer. It's such a unique experience and it's starting to feel like a return home.

Now I'm just coping with some severe exhaustion and trying to get things together for my excursion on the Appalachian trail with Denise, Hazel and Mr. Flack! Hazel has informed me that Monday night calls for thunderstorms. Awesome. Luckily that reminded me that I need to get me a couple pairs of good socks.

Tomorrow I'm spending the day at the library yet again to get hopefully what is the last of the research I need for my little research project. I'm going to bed early tonight to try to catch up on some sleep and make myself get up early!

A Sort of Day Off

2011-07-09T07:49:00.002-04:00

Blah, I'm getting a soar throat from a post nasal drip! Stupid ancient dirt and air conditioning drying out my sinuses!

This weekend is much more relaxed. I'll be catching up on paperwork today (I also slept in!), maybe hitting the pool, since I haven't been there yet since I've arrive. Tomorrow we're all heading for a special tour of the recently discovered sewer system in the City of David and the newly renovated and reopened Israel museum. I'm feeling pretty groggy from sleeping in on some choppy sleep but I'm glad to have a small break.

It looks like I again am one of the supervisors who will continue digging after our official last day of digging (there's usually a couple areas chosen to keep digging for various reasons). This means that yet again I will be continuing paperwork after most everyone else is finished with paperwork! Good thing I got an early start and kept on top of things along the way this year.

I still need to make some time for a short visit with some Israeli friends and a trip back to Hebrew University or the Albright for some final research on my little publication project!

Hmm...I think I need some time at the pool...

Galilee

2011-07-03T13:08:00.003-04:00

To begin, all photos can be seen on my facebook album: click here

This weekend the family took a trip to the Galilee region.

Let me backtrack. By "family" I mean the little family I'm a part of here at Gezer: mom and dad are Marcella and Trey, and then there's the 5 children, Lesley, Jared, Ryan, Kirsten, and me. This has so been named because Marcella and Trey were the only ones old enough to put their names down as drivers for our rental car and there are 7 of us total who wanted to go in on a car together for travel. A purple Kia Carens with a third row of seats. It's cramped but has been a ton of fun.

We began our weekend trek with a stop off at Caesarea Maritima to see the Roman ruins and swim in the Mediterranean. Herod the Great had built a great harbor and city here. We were hoping to get in some snorkeling, but the water was too rough and they weren't letting anyone out, not even to dive. I do not have photos of this spot, but I'm sure someone has tagged me in some awesome pics on the FB. Next we wanted to see Mount Carmel. Unfortunately we ended up getting lost in a Druze village and it was quite late by the time we found our way out. At least I got to practice my Hebrew directions three or four times. It was so late by this time that we realized we had to get to our hostel for check-in. We were too exhausted for anything else, and the parks were all closed anyway.

We stayed at the well-hidden and fairly okay Tiberias Hostel. At least it was fairly clean, offered us private rooms with private baths, AC and a TV. After a very late dinner on the boardwalk and a deep deep night of sleep, we set out Saturday for our next adventure.

Jared realized he'd left his sneakers at Caesarea the day before and wanted to find somewhere to get new shoes. Unfortunately, the only places to go on Shabbat are Arab villages, which can be few and far between when you're looking for something specific. We made a stop at Rosh Pina only to find out everything was closed. Fail. We moved on to our next destination: Tel Dan, the beautiful nature preserve. We enjoyed a lovely hike through a familiar and cool forest, finishing it off with a quick game of Pooh Stick between Lesley and me at the freezing cold spring beginning the Jordan River.

Then we were off to the fortress at Nimrod, the largest fortress in all of Israel. It was so high and so crazy! Trey got some awesome panoramics of us. I'll have to see if I can steal some of them. We then made a very quick stop at...I can't even remember the place. Wow. We had to run through the site. It was a synagogue complex made almost entirely from basalt stone... It'll come to me.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the AC, watching VH1's Best Soundtracks countdown, and eating pizza on the boardwalk.

This morning we made a quick pit-stop at Bet-She'an to climb to the top. Most of us had all seen this site before (Roman city destroyed in an earthquake) but had never climbed up to the highest point where the temple was. I'm very glad we did this because I did not know they had preserved an Egyptian governor's mansion! This is the first time I have ever seen evidence on a site of Egyptian habitation in Israel! It's always removed and placed in museums all over the world, but there were Egyptian hieroglyphs and stelae!

And that was my very busy but very enjoyable weekend! Check FB for photos!

So Tired but Having a Blast!

2011-06-23T08:03:00.002-04:00

It is so refreshing to be working back at Gezer! I'm so happy to be back! I've been going non-stop but I wouldn't have it any other way. Alright, maybe an extra hour or so added to my day to spend some time at the pool.

I got an email from one of my professors who is an editor for a biblical encyclopedia and he asked me to write a teeny article for it! If I just spend a day at Hebrew University's library in Jerusalem, then I think I could do it, no problem! It would be pretty kick ass!

People are finding things all over the place on the Tel except me! I guess this year fate has given me time off from finding cool things and having mountains of paperwork to do! Still exhausted when I go to bed each night, though. I love falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Busy Week

2011-06-14T10:10:00.002-04:00

Last week and this week have been so busy. I only have two days where I'll have time to pack for Israel and gather together the last lose ends for my look for Kim's wedding! GAH! I also desperately need to finish the last chapter and final summary of the Hebrew book so I don't have to take two Hebrew books with me to Israel.

This weekend is going to be SO EXCITING!

One Year Down...

2011-05-08T19:43:00.001-04:00

I have successfully completed my first year of graduate school! It was successful, I've made a ton of new friends and connections, and I've broadened my mind more than I have in a long long time.

This last semester was the roughest I've ever had to go through but I've made it and now I can focus on my summer and planning for PhD applications in the fall!

I'm so glad it's all done...what a relief...

Procrastination...it's a bitch!

2011-04-28T19:25:00.004-04:00

I have 3 papers all due next week grossing over 50 pages and what am I doing? Updating my blog! It's okay, at least I do have one page for each of them started. ;)

I went to an art gallery opening tonight at the JTS library and I know two of the artists in residence! It was a lot of fun, especially since I know so many people there. Graduate school really is so much...different than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely amazing and I imagined that it would be amazing, but not this kind of amazing.

People are so warm and friendly and welcoming. I managed to make some really great friendships and everyone really supports the heck out of each other! I mean, come on, grad school's tough! I didn't imagine there would be this much comradery! Everyone is so supportive and caring; everyone's there for the same thing, but what the hell, we need to make the most of it, too!

Today was also the last day of my lunchtime reading program. My child was pretty upset that we weren't going to see each other next week or for the rest of the summer. But I told her I'd make sure we were paired up together again next year. It's nice that the program let's us do that.

Today has been very strange, weather-wise. But right now the view is absolutely gorgeous.

I also emailed a woman in charge of group visitor volunteering at the MET (thanks to a lovely friend with whom I went to school and is currently volunteering there). I don't really need a museum internship but I figured at least being able to get in there and do something, anything, would be good. This would be for next school year. Looking forward to hearing back about that!

Alright, I only have maybe an hour left of time alone in my room, so I better make the most of it by being as productive as I can!

An Awkward Experience

2011-04-15T21:38:00.006-04:00

I had the most awkward and semi-frightening experience in my life tonight. We decided to go for a late night dinner at Tom's Diner and of course I got a milkshake. mmm. Near the end of our enormous and delicious meals I noticed a very animated figure looking into the dinner at me through the street window. It was the homeless guy who frequents the diner, waiting for diners with extra change in their pockets. He was laughing and pointing wildly at me and my plate of fries. I tried to hide my face in humiliation as I desperately tried to explain why my face was suddenly red without moving my mouth in case he could read lips! Katy nearly squirt her milkshake out her nose she was laughing so hard. He taunted me for a good 5 minutes before walking around the corner, cigarette dangling out his mouth, laughing and pointing, and finally disappearing from view.

WHY ME?!

Looking forward to the summer!

2011-04-11T14:12:00.002-04:00

Yay! I have work for the summer! Looks like my summer will be equal parts work, play, and study!

Work = working at the home and digging!
Play = digging and Israel!
Study = Hebrew, German, and French independent language study!

This summer is going to fly by!

2011-03-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

Stuart is currently back in the USA and sleeping off a 30+ hour trip home.

2011-03-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

He's leaving. He just bought a ticket to LA and from there he'll get a ticket home. Thank God. Just, thank God.

Alright

2011-03-15T09:20:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's been way too long since my last post. I didn't really have much to update on other than school. There were a few fun parties but not enough time to update because of the enormous amounts of school work. I managed to pull off a rather amateurish presentation on god-king relationships in Ancient Near Eastern cultures as a comparison to the YHWH-Moses relationship, at least a face-to-face relationship. Hm, maybe rather than focusing on horn-imagery I'll may look more in-depth to various levels of the god-king relationship... I think I like this idea. Good thing I'm meeting with the prof today.

Outside of school-work, life has been rough. Stuart and I had a long rocky time which ended with...an end. To top it all off, the earthquake and its currently horrendous aftermath have me constantly worried. He doesn't have the money to buy a plane ticket home, but I told him to go to the embassy and see what they can do for him if things get to a breaking point.

I've just been taking things one day at a time and throwing myself into doing a million things to keep myself super busy. I don't think there's been a day so far this semester where I haven't just let myself sleep until waking; I always wake up to my alarm. I wouldn't finish any homework otherwise.

Crap, speaking of homework, I forgot that I didn't finish my homework for today. Back to work...

Volunteering for Little Kids

2011-02-03T13:32:00.004-05:00

As much as I decided that I am never going back into teaching on any level below collegiate, I find myself missing the little kids. Last semester I signed up to be volunteer for a program called "Everybody Wins: Power Lunch", where an adult volunteers to spend their lunch hour reading with the same child one day a week every week in public school.

Today was my first day! I'm reading with a second grader and she is just adorable! I had such a good time with her. After filling out a get-to-know-each-other form provided by the program, we decorated her journal book, and she picked out a book to read, "Rumpelstiltskin." She did a very good job reading and seems very excited by the idea of reading. We didn't get to finish the book this week, though. We got up to the part after the king marries the miller's daughter for spinning the straw into so much gold, when she has the baby and Rumpelstiltskin returns to claim the baby and gives her three days to guess his name in order for her to keep her baby. We just got to the second day, ending at a very interesting spot. We're just about to reach the climax! Oooooh maaaaan. I felt so good leaving, too.

Since leaving my little teaching job I've really missed not being around kids or doing any kind of volunteering. But now I'm back into volunteering AND being with kids, so I'm feeling really good. I was so nervous about meeting her, too! But I think it's going to be a good second half of the year with her. :) I can't wait till next week when we finish our book!

Though I did have some horror memories come back from the lunch room! I had to actually walk through the lunch room in the school to get to the reading room. I definitely did not envy the teachers who were desperately trying to get the kids' attention to form orderly and quiet lines in preparation to get back to the class rooms and resume work.

This is going to be a busy semester...

2011-01-20T08:46:00.001-05:00

This semester is going to be very challenging! I have a lot of work for two of my classes and the end of the semester is going to be VERY rough. I must plan ahead. My 5 classes are:

~~Moses Traditions~~: We'll be discovering how the Bible portrays Moses as a political/military/religious leader for the Israelites and as a Divine figure (but that he is NOT God); What he Egyptian or Israelite?; How he fits into the Hero motif of the ancient Near East as a whole. This class will be a TON of reading (Garfinkel has literally 7 or 8 pages of bibliography that we will be reading. Thank GOD he's putting them up on blackboard) and a TON of preparation of various Torah passages, consisting of translating directly from the Hebrew with the help of various Bible commentaries. NO TEXT BOOK! YES!

~~The Book of Job~~: We have a visiting professor from Princeton Seminary; his name is Leong Seow ("Seow, rhymes with 'meow'") and is currently a part of Princeton's intense collaborative work on a new collective Bible commentary. He's writing one for Job, which is why he's teaching the class; it's currently at the publisher's and it's 1500 pages. We'll be dissecting the first part of the Job story: it's language, forms, poetry, meanings, etc. Seow informed us that it is the single most difficult book of the Bible to understand, the old rabbis absolutely hated talking about it and therefore wrote very little about it, and yet everyone heralded it as the most beautiful work of literature ever created, from religious scholars to famous authors. We will be reviewing large chunks of it at a time. We'll need to prepare each section by translating, considering the difficulty of the language and questioning it's forms. Then we'll use Seow's commentary (which he'll be putting up on blackboard!) and then other commentaries for whatever we're having trouble with.

~~Hebrew 1101~~: Not as awesome as when we had Nadav because our new teacher is not a native Hebrew speaker. Way too much of our first class was in English. However, Nadav is our lab teacher, so we will still see him once a week! I've already finished all my homework due for Monday. It's going to be the same thing, lots of busy work that is actually quite simple and I'll be finished quickly.

~~Classics of Jewish Tradition II~~: This is the second half of a required course on various writings throughout the history of Judaism on the religion and the Bible. Our first class was filled with a lot of emotion and personal feelings on belief and belonging in Judaism. Pretty much that meant I felt quite left out. Ha! But that was what the first class was planned to be like, apparently, and hopefully the rest of our classes will go the way the professor wants it to go, which will be the professor lecturing on the historical background of our reading for class and then a discussion of the reading. I'm hoping it will be much less emotional. Again, no text book, the readings will be posted on blackboard.

Aramaic of the Dead Sea Scrolls: This is the class I am most excited about and of course it's the only one I have not had. It starts on Monday and is only on Mondays, as all of my classes are only once a week except Hebrew. I am not sure what to expect, other than learning how Aramaic is different from Hebrew and reading lots and lots of DSS!!! *squeeeeeeeee!!!* Not sure if there will be a text book, but I am expecting at least some kind of workbook or binder explaining the grammar and idioms of Aramaic. This is also my first class with my adviser, which I am absolutely psyched about! He's such a sweet old man and I'm looking forward to the chance to forming a better relationship with him, because I am quite at a loss about how to focus my studies here and what I'm going to write my thesis on.

Well, there is how my semester is expected to go: a TON of work! But I was expecting that anyway since I'm actually taking 3 graduate level classes plus a required class plus Hebrew, whereas the normal grad student is taking 2 Hebrew classes plus 2 maybe 3 graduate level classes.

Time for me to get some breakfast and head off to the library to get a huge chunk of work out of the way before heading home this weekend!

Friendly Drunks

2011-01-14T01:34:00.002-05:00

Last night Stuart and I went in search of a local bar. We walked towards Narima and found some kind of bar that was supposedly open, but looked so dark and quiet we weren't sure if it was even open. As we were pondering entering or finding a different place, the door opened and a lady with big poofy hair warmly greeted us and motioned for us to come in. There was a man sitting at the small but nice-looking bar with a warm friendly face and said with an enormous drunken slur, "Where you from?" "America..." "Amewica?! Come in, sit!"

The rest of the evening was filled with this guy telling us all about his two years in the United States - "Nineteen sewenty-sicks, smaw cowege in norf cawowina" - and his opinions on the importance of learning and teaching English - "What is Engwish? Is not Engwish da Japanese want to weawn, is AMEWICAN!" - and sharing his bottle of whiskey with Stuart, and the four very pleasant women working the bar trying to get us to sing karaoke. They very pleasantly gave us some nice (and evidently expensive) sake to sample. For the entire evening, the only people in this tiny little bar was this 50-something business man and us.

The women ranged widely in age: a very old woman who smoked ravenously and cooked the small bowls of stew we were served; a very proper-looking 50-something Japanese woman, who's eyes politely smiled at us and said very little; and two middle aged women, one of whom wore large shoulder pads under her ugly sweater and had a huge permed hair. She was the most enthusiastic to learn about us and kept jumping up and down saying, "Sensei! Keshon!" which was her attempt to say "question". At one point the proper-looking lady brought out a little machine and a microphone, placed it in front of me and said, "Sing! Karaoke!" NO! My worst nightmare in Japan had come true!!! Luckily, the progressively drunker gentleman sang probably 5 songs, including pieces from The Carpenters and "Bi-Jo" (Billy Joel).

It was a very interesting time, but the awkwardness and bill at the end promptly made us decide to never visit there again. haha.

Toshimaen Onsen & Happy Adult Day!

2011-01-10T05:13:00.003-05:00

Today Stuart took me to Toshimaen Onsen, a new hot spring in Tokyo. Our way there was interesting because Stuart realized that today in Japan was actually a holiday. It's the day when all the people who turned 20 in the past year celebrate their adulthood. It's called Seijin-no-Hi. They dress up in traditional kimonos, which are absolutely gorgeous. All of the women were wearing kimonos but most of the men just wore suits, though some of the men wore traditional kimonos. I was so upset I didn't bring my camera because we ended going to the actual gathering place of one of the districts' celebration! I didn't bring my camera, though, because I thought it'd be weird bringing a camera to a hot spring where everyone's naked. haha. So HERE is a montage video I found online of pictures of the new adults dressed up! It also provides some information, which is nice.

Being at the hot spring was really awkward at first, but it was actually really enjoyable after I got used to being naked around everyone (and by "everyone" I mean "other women"; the sexes are separated). I'm glad I decided to check out THIS website to check up on what I'm supposed to do and the proper etiquette. Otherwise I would have been completely lost as to what to do. It was really nice, though. It probably would have been more fun if I had had a friend with me so I could talk to someone and relieve some of the tension about whether I was doing things properly. It was really a rather enjoyable experience! The outside hot spring was the best because the water was SO hot and have the freezing cold air on my shoulders and face made it feel perfect. My face was red for a couple hours afterward, though. haha.

Then Stuart and I went to get him a futon, which in Japan is really just a pad to put on the floor to sleep on. It was a lot of fun picking one out and then trying to distinguish blanket cases from futon cases. Eventually we found something that nearly matched in dimensions and assumed we had the right thing. Fits perfectly so I guess we got it right! Now I can sleep without making one entire side of my body going numb!

Tomorrow we're planning on going to the Imperial Grounds! I'm really excited! Yay! And for anyone who doesn't know my facebook, HERE are my photos so far from the trip! Hopefully it updates automatically and I don't have to keep reposting the link. It's faster to put the photos up on facebook than in here, and unfortunately Stuart's computer is a bit too slow. Enjoy the photos!

Japan

2011-01-07T07:09:00.002-05:00

Well readers, I've made it to Japan! The flight was uneventful, save for one or two very turbulent spots, and I watched two movies and an episode of NCIS, haha. The flight headed west, over Canada, into the Arctic Circle, and over Russia. The Arctic Circle was AMAZING. I got to see all the floating ice chunks! I've always wanted to see the ice in the Arctic Circle. It was beautiful.

Japan looked so beautiful flying over it. At one point I saw a large river coming in from the ocean with about five fishing nets set up. Interesting to see. I easily worked my way through the airport to the train station and had a quiet and uneventful train ride. The landscape to Tokyo was positively breathtaking. There were so many little villages and farms. It was honestly the beautiful thing I've ever seen while traveling, and I'd only seen 30 minutes of it. The city of Tokyo is so many things to describe. It's very clean for so many people, and I've seen very little trash cans. The city is constantly busy and full of people without feeling rushed. I have no idea how that can be, but everyone takes their time.

The area just outside of Tokyo I'm staying at with Stuart is just the opposite. Still exceptionally clean, but barely a person in site. I have never felt more comfortable but more foreign. It is so easy to become acclimated, I feel, but I don't understand any of the language, so I'm very awkward. I just try to keep remembering to bow (thanks, Heather! ha!).

Stuart and I haven't done too much so far. I gave Stuart his Christmas present (a wonderful pair of mocassin slippers), which he absolutely loves. He says they're so nice, he's too afraid of wearing them outside in case they got dirty, but he hasn't taken them off while we're inside. He also gave me my Christmas present - a brand new iPod nano!!! Now I can listen to music in the subway! When I got in, we immediately went to find dinner at a little local noodle bar. Super tasty but I felt so awkward because everyone else who came in were by themselves, ate and drank the scalding hot food faster than I've ever seen, and finished every last bite. These were some very large portions of food, and I have no idea how they managed to finish all of it. I burnt my mouth so much while attempting to imitate how they ate. I felt so rude leaving so much food left in my bowl. I refused to leave until most everyone else had. haha. Stuart tried to persuade me that I shouldn't feel so embarrassed, but I really was! This "culture of shame" works far too easily for my easily guilty conscience.

I immediately fell asleep when we got back, which was like 7:45, and I slept all the way until 9am! I am still very tired even now, but Stuart is doing a very good job at forcing me awake. This morning we got coffee at Stuart's favorite cafe. It was very good coffee! On our way back to the apartment, Stuart took me down some side streets to show me the little shops and the small local shrine. We saw a little tea store with beautiful tea pots. Stuart bought me one! :) We also went grocery shopping, which was a little interesting, since a lot of the food was very foreign to me. Also, Stuart only has a hot plate for cooking so our cooking options are very limited. After I broke his computer and then finally figured out how to fix it again, we went out to see some of the real city. It's like a giant version of Times Square...it's just a bunch of large shops with bright lights everywhere. It's not even that specialized, just enormous stores full of everything you could think of buying.

We ate dinner at a bar Doma-Doma in Izakaya (spelling?). Super cheap but very tasty. I ordered raw horse meat, which is not super tasty. It's very stringy. The sauces they put on the side made it taste alright, though. I ordered what I think was a dragon fruit soda. I thought it would be alcoholic, but it really was just club soda. They gave me a whole half of a dragon fruit with a juicer so I could put my own juice into the club soda. It was actually really good. Not sweet at all, but it was refreshing.

Stuart made me get us home then, so I know how to get back tomorrow. Stuart's working tomorrow and I plan to do some exploring on my own. I managed to get within a block of the apartment before I had no idea which way to go, but I think I'll be ok for tomorrow. I still am not sure what I'll be up to then, but I at least know how to take the subway back and walk back to the apartment! That's all that matters!

Now to look up some of these places I want to see and not go to bed for a while! I MUST get used to the time zone difference!

Somehow Mothers Always Know...

2010-12-17T10:49:00.003-05:00

I spent some significant time at the library Wednesday to get work done on my final paper. Before even looking at any of the books I needed, I decided to organize my papers and look through readings the professor gave us throughout the semester. I was on the verge of a panic attack like no other because what I was expecting this to be a simple and quick 3 essays began looking like an impossible task. Then I get a text. Mum: love u.

Just enough to kick my butt in gear and get those books and say to myself, "Oh, ok this really is as easy as it looked before..."

Thanks momma. <3

Interesting...

2010-12-14T11:20:00.002-05:00

It appears that I have equal levels of productivity in paper writing when I am in a library and when I am in my room listening to music and distracted by the internet. This is good to know, for when I am sick of being in one place, I now know I can be at the other location and still manage to be productive! However, I cannot get work done when I am in the living room...

Procastination Post!

2010-12-13T08:27:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe I am in my last week of my first semester of grad school. This is ridiculous. And not nearly as stressful as it should be. And by that I mean, I am not stressing out over this paper and take-home final like I should be. GET IT DONE, ALLI!

I have a 10 page outline for my paper that still doesn't include archaeological evidence from Mt. Gerizim, and my paper only needs to be 10-15 pages long. ...I think I've succeeded. Now it's just putting all that into sentences and then making them make sense. If I can finish writing it TODAY then I can have it all ready for the editing process...WHO WANTS TO EDIT MY PAPER! And by edit, I don't mean, "Oh that sounds so nice, good job!", I mean, "Paragraph 5 makes absolutely no sense, fix it; I went through and made all your long-ass sentences into multiple sentences; you don't make enough support for your thesis through your approach in historical critical analysis; etc." Or even really just someone to tell me my paper makes sense and points out all my run-on sentences, because I apparently really like to make run-ons.

If I can finish this paper today, then I have 5 days for my take-home final and I'll feel comfortable taking the bus home on Saturday without worrying about having a crappy take-home final that is evidently my only grade in this class.

Today is my first final: Hebrew grammar! A couple of people from my class joined me yesterday morning for a 2 hour power study session, and we felt really good afterwards! Yay! I can properly conjugate infinitives in all the binyanim and gizrah! That means 7 x 8 = 56 difference ways to conjugate all the verbs in Hebrew. WOW, I never realized that before...AND I CAN DO ALL OF THEM! woot! Hey, I'm feeling pretty accomplished! Now I just need to learn the vocabulary and I'll be a Hebrew MASTA!

Alright, I woke up early specifically so I could work more on my paper. I should stop procrastinating and do that now. Aww... :(

Whoa..too long...

2010-12-06T08:17:00.003-05:00

Holy crap, two weeks left of the semester! Really, there's only 6 days left of classes! This is going the fastest school's ever gone for me! This is ridiculous. I'm not ready! I only have one paper and then a take-home final, so there's nothing for me to complain about, but I'm not ready!!

I had a very accomplished weekend: I read through 3 books for my paper and had all my homework for this week completed by Friday at noon. As a treat, Katy said we should see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza! Rachel had a dance competition (which she did VERY well in!) and her mom came out for it. So last night we all had dinner at our favorite Asian restaurant (which doesn't serve Japanese anymore! so sad...) and hopped the subway down to 50th! UNFORTUNATELY my camera has decided to crap out. I think maybe I just need a new memory card but it's just not working. I couldn't get any pictures of the tree or all the lights and decorations about. We also ended up going to Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake and Desserts for dessert and hot chocolate! Super tasty!

All in all it was super productive weekend and I hope the rest of my week goes as well! I'm getting some ideas on how to map out my paper and I'm even getting things together for writing my take-home final. It's silly, the paper is due on the 16th but my take-home is due the 24th. haha. I'm aiming to have my paper done on the 15th so I have the 16th and 17th to do my take-home before going home on the 18th. If not...I'll be shut up in my room desperately trying to finish, but I think I need the library to do it. We'll see. Maybe I can have my paper done by Monday...

Atlanta and ASOR

2010-11-23T07:46:00.002-05:00

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...

haha, I'm such a moron sometimes...

2010-11-17T09:18:00.002-05:00

*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...

WHYYYYYYYY?!

2010-11-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

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...

Pickin' Up the Pace

2010-11-11T07:38:00.002-05:00

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!!

Library Woes!

2010-11-05T00:25:00.003-04:00

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...)

Thinking Ahead...

2010-10-26T08:31:00.002-04:00

As a Master's degree should only take about 2 years, I have to start looking ahead already for what I want to do post-MA. Here's the question: will I know enough of what I want to do to get me into a PhD program, or do I need to consider a second MA before moving on to the PhD?

Financially, a second MA is a terrible decision. I need to plan out my next 3 semesters very carefully to get into a PhD program with enough under my belt. Therefore, I need to compile a check-list of things I need to look into before papers and projects start weighing me down:

Check out CUNY to beef up my German knowledge to "academic" level. If I can handle it, maybe also attack French. ;)
Look at next semester's courses for JTS, Columbia, and Union (maybe even NYU and petition to take some classes there?)
Buy those books on Ugaritic! Just waiting for the second half of my loans to be deposited...

Why is it especially loud this morning? Everything keeps echoing through my window!

Last night Katy and I went to a talk at a synagogue in the middle of Chinatown (ha), coincidentally on the topic of our group project for Bible class: Wisdom Books. The panel was more about his translation of the books of Job, Proverbs, and Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes for those who don't read the Bible in Hebrew). It was still fascinating and I still got a page worth of notes for our project. A little bit of elbow rubbing on my part got us his email address in case we have questions for him. *SCORE* Katy did some elbow rubbing herself and schmoozed with a Jewish artist who made a series based on this professor's translation of Genesis. Katy is now seriously considering using this woman as her subject for her final paper in Feminist Jewish Art! Go us! Which reminds me, I need to send him an email thanking him...

Today I'm going to lunch with my Hebrew class to one of our classmates' apartment! Apparently her upstairs neighbor is the new player for the Nix! haha. I have no idea who that is because I don't follow basketball at all. But I am really looking forward to it!

Tonight Simon has finally planned out the dinner he promised he would make for us! A tasty Indian dish, apparently! He even made cheese and yogurt yesterday for the dinner. Sounds promising!

Creatures in the Kitchen...

2010-10-23T11:04:00.003-04:00

It's no unknown fact that living in a city as large and [dirty] as NYC brings with it a number of little critters. For instance, rats in the subways (accompanied by signs in the subways warning passengers of the rodents), cockroaches, and mice. We have now experienced all three.

Rat in the subway [check]
Cockroach in Danielle's room [double check] (saw it once, successfully killed it the second time with the help of a fellow neighbor - thank you, Andrew!)
Mouse in the kitchen [check]

This final experienced occurred last night. Right after hanging up the phone with my family, I walked past the kitchen towards the living room. Of course, I turn my head and glance in the kitchen - just in time to see a little furry vermin scurry across the counter top and over the stove. I emitted an audible shriek, jumped sideways away from our doorway, and glanced back in. No mouse. I requested a flashlight and began the search under the fridge, oven, and behind the oven. Ewwww...it was so gross behind that oven! No wonder the mouse was there!

I scrubbed the counter and stove top and began a furious search through all our drawers and cabinets to make sure no little mouse turds were in existence. For now we're safe. Katy was freaking out because she's never experienced a mouse in the house. I'm ready to take this cute little guy down. Even though our heat has been officially turned on and the little guy has the right to find a warm place to live, it will not be in OUR apartment! The hunt begins with the informing of our RA and the request for some [non-lethal] mouse traps!

LET THE HUNT BEGIN!

Grad School Ponderings...

2010-10-22T14:16:00.004-04:00

I made some chocolate chip whole wheat pancakes for my roommies + Simon after our group run this morning! They were super tasty! Danielle made some fruit topping for them, too! Be on the lookout on DARK Meals for that tasty morsel!

The cool air is really starting to get to me while running. It's only 50 and I think I need to get myself a face mask already! It felt like my nose was burning and was causing my windpipe and lungs to burn. Stupid cold. Though I got much further today than I have so far! :) So did Katy. She kicked our butts today!

Katy, Rachel, and I are working on a joint project together for one of our classes on Wisdom Literature in the Bible and its Near Eastern parallels. Pretty cool. It'll be a simple project mainly because we're supposed to just improve upon an already established Wikipedia entry. The page is horrible but we're going to make it awesome!

I need to start thinking about my final project for that class, too. It's either a final paper/project or an exam. Um, yea, I'll take the paper, thanks. I never understood why people preferred exams to papers. At least you know with a paper that you're 100% correct because you get to look it all up in books! I prefer writing papers to studying any day. I think I might try to do something with the Dead Sea Scrolls or other apocryphal manuscripts, just so I have an excuse to go into the rare book room and look at all the awesome books and manuscripts up there. *dreams*

I've registered myself for the ASOR conferences in Atlanta this year! $220???? I'm becoming a member after I get the rest of my loans deposited into my account and purchase my plane tickets. No more of this expensive registration! And then I can present papers at the conferences, too! *squeeeeeeee* Luckily, I don't have to get a hotel by myself. Marcella's going too! Yay! I'll have a buddy! We have a staff meeting for Gezer while we're there, too. One of our staff also sent out an invitation for us all to go out and party it up one night. whoop whoop! We all started teasing one of our staff that he was going to pick up the tab for us all. haha.

One of my fellow Zebrew students (oh, "zebrew" is the old name for the bottom level of Hebrew...Hebrew Z, or "Zebrew") invited us all to lunch at her apartment on Tuesday. Totally in on that. That was so sweet of her. We're all becoming good buddies in that class. Better be, we're spending 6+ hours together in class a week.

This weekend there's an Israeli Queer Cinema Festival and we're hoping to get enough work done to go check out some of the films! That'll be cool.

On another note, my iTunes shuffle playlist has been bringing up a lot of my German music. I wonder if it's telling me to work on my German some more. Hmm....

Schedule Conflict

2010-10-19T16:54:00.002-04:00

The other day we were emailed the final exam schedule. All I took note of was that the only two classes I have exams for were scheduled for the same day: the first day of the exam schedule. Hellz yea! Then yesterday I looked at it again. Yea, they're scheduled for the exact same time. Stupid.

So I went to the registrar's office to sign up to reschedule, and the only day available for make up exams is Dec 23rd! I went to talk to the lady in charge of the exam schedule to see if there were any other arrangements I could make. If I could talk one of my professors into letting me take the exam with another Hebrew class, then I could still come home way earlier! yay! Now to have a chat with Nadav....

I'M GOING TO SEE MY STUART!!!!

2010-10-15T11:16:00.002-04:00

I just bought my round trip tickets to go visit Stuart in Japan!!!!!!!!

I'll be in Tokyo January 6 - 15th!!!!!! OMG I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MY STUART!!!!!

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Studies Update!

2010-10-14T13:10:00.003-04:00

It is so nice having Fridays off. It's even nicer when my last class on Thursdays ends before noon, and so my weekend begins at noon on Thursdays!

Last weekend was so nice; got to see a significant portion of the fam - though I missed my daddy. :( We lost some people on the subway but made it to Four & Twenty Blackbirds for some tasty fall pies! A long day of walking around, but all in all a very nice time - even if the teenage boys were acting like....teenage boys. haha. It was nice to see them, though. Made me laugh and miss them.

Working my butt off on homework Friday and Saturday really worked in my favor. Katy, Rachel, and I spent literally at least 7 hours on our Bible homework. Pulled off, though, because class topics have fallen a little behind and the only homework he assigned for next week is the optional homework we did last week! This means we have all weekend to work on our group project! haha. In fact, I have to go meet with that professor soon. He wants to get to know everyone in the class so he had us all set up meetings with him to discuss what we each want to get from the class - and so he could learn our names. haha.

My Texts in the Jewish Liturgy class is getting really fascinating. I may not know much about the liturgy but I am learning how various Bible passages made it into the liturgy - which a few times has come as a horrendous surprise to some students in my class. Almost appalling them. Just how, well, some things maybe were copies wrong and so changed the meaning, but the rabbis thought it was awesome and so included it. I don't know, I can't think of a specific example. But I also love it because the professor pulls in Near Eastern parallels to explain the possible origins of the texts! He even gave us a copy of a Dead Sea Scroll to compare how it was different to what is found in the modern Masoritic Text (the texts eventually accepted into the Hebrew canon). That is what I want! I want to study what is found outside and see how it compares to what we have. This also happens to be what I'm doing in my Bible class...

Grammar is getting pretty tough, but I'm learning more words and becoming quite proficient in writing in Hebrew script! Even when she explains everything in Hebrew, I'm still understanding it! yay! Baby Hebrew has reached a point where I'm falling behind in vocabulary, so I bought myself some index cards. Time to start studying some flash cards!

After going to a lunch last week for the Bible program, I have decided what I'm going to focus my studies on...for now. I didn't know where I was going to start, but now I do: UGARITIC! Oh yes, I am going to get myself some Ugaritic books, teach myself some Ugaritic, and start reading Ugaritic texts!!!! I don't know where I'll go from there, but I just know that I want to learn about as many ancient Near Eastern cultures as I possibly can - and I now have a starting point! I'm sure after I've done some sufficient study into Ugaritic, I'll find my next stepping stone. I'm going to check out classes at Union and Columbia for next semester and see what culture classes they offer. SO EXCITED!

Tonight the roommies and I are going downtown for an exhibition opening on "The Jews of Morocco"! I'm pretty stoked. However, my dear roommies don't get out of class until 5 and the exhibit starts at 6:30. Since I am finished with class, I'm going to be making dinner tonight! :) I'm such a good roommie.

Tomorrow night, we're still debating, we might go to a showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show!!! I've never been to one though I know a lot of what the audience is supposed to participate in, so I'm pretty excited. If we don't do it this weekend, we'll be going next weekend. We found out it happens every Friday and Saturday, so we have plenty of opportunities to go. It's more fun (or so I've heard) to go around Halloween.

And THEN a huge number of JTS students are going to the Rally to Restore Sanity in DC and taking the FREE Huffington Post bus!!! We have to be at the Mets Stadium at 5:30 in the morning. We're wondering if all of us packing into a taxi would be better than the hour plus subway+bus ride we'd have to take. hmm....

Whoops, the last of Trinity Weekend Pt. IV

2010-10-14T12:52:00.004-04:00

Well, when one is as busy as this grad student, one may forget to add the last pictures to one's blog. So here it is: The San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy.

First we went to eat at Lombardi's, the first pizzeria in America! It has some super delicious pizza, too! mmm....crispy crust....

We took a picture with Mr. Lombardi.

The San Gennaro Festival was in full swing, too. And only a block from Lombardi's. They had deep fried oreos!!!!!!!! mmmmm..... There were also these strange corn patty fried mozarella sandwiches, too. oh man, that was delicious too. There were all kinds of super tasty Italian sausages, etc, but we had already had our fill of Lombardi's pizza.

Deep fried oreos... *drools*

There were also carnival rides, which we felt were severely dangerous to place on city streets. LOOK HOW CLOSE THAT FERRIS WHEEL IS TO THE BUILDING! LOOK AT IT!

Oh and this one was even better. Yea, only a couple feet from that ELECTRIC WIRE! Holy crap.

This one's even better. You can really see that wire...

haha, now it looks like it's walking upside down.

It was still pretty cool, though.

Apparently my mom makes cheesecake now! "Special" cheesecake!

Ok, I want to take a poll: Are these singers men or women? They appear to be dressed as women (Melissa swore up and down they were women), but they look rather mannish to me. Denise agreed with me. Your opinions?

FINALLY! I've finished putting up pictures from Trinity Weekend!

Trinity Weekend Pt...III?

2010-10-03T13:38:00.006-04:00

Continuing to update about my Trinity Weekend with Denise and Melissa. Next up is the Sony Wonder Technology Lab! It was super awesome and located at 56th and Madison. Unfortunately, we were ill-informed to closing time. The website said normal closing time was 8pm, but for some reason this day it was 5pm; we had arrived at 4:15. We had to pretty much take it at a run. It was super fun, though!

This isn't it. This is Trump Tower. We thought that was awesome.

Ok, so once inside, you're handed a little card and have to take a picture of yourself. As you explore all the funs of virtual reality, your "identity" transforms and new avenues are opened for you!

There's Denise.

One of the fun games was to program and control your own robot! This one's Melissa!

Where's Allison?

There she is!

Then you chose an animated character and get to change their body position and facial expression to match some kind of event.

There were lights on the floor that followed your footsteps, and when you got close enough to someone else's light, they merged! But Denise used the flash, so the lights didn't show up.

For some reason that made me really mad. Melissa just wanted to pick her nose.

Melissa cheering me on as I race an animated car that I created!

This was the coolest part of the whole thing! There was a screen with the image of falling colored beans. But when you stood at a certain spot, you could interact with the falling beans! See how they fell around me as if they were really falling on my head?!

Melissa wanted to make it look like she was eating them. I helped by pushing the beans in her direction.

haha.

At the end we got to print out our own personalized certificates. :)

Then we had to map out our next route, which was downtown to Lombardi's original pizzaria and the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy!

There was a Hello Kitty sculpture along the way. haha.

Well that's all for now. Next up, Lombardi's and the San Gennaro Festival which all it's amazing delicious goodness!!!!

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

2010-09-29T16:09:00.022-04:00

And now to update on our trip to Brooklyn and the Botanic Gardens! Denise, Melissa, and I went there on Saturday.

First stop: lily pads and lotus flowers!!! There were fish and turtles in the pond!

OMG IT'S A TURTLE!

Denise is seriously pondering those lilies and lotuses...

These were the coolest lily pads I'd ever seen!

Denise and I found a little niche to take a pretty pictures in!

Silly face time...

haha, the plants spell out "BBG"

Then we saw something that excited me so much I ran off our planned course directly to it!

HOUSES MADE OUT OF TREEEEEEES!!!!!

Notice my bee-line. They looked like the things in Where the Wild Things Are!!!!

These kids kept inviting Melissa and I to join in their game amongst the architecture. haha.

The roof isn't very efficient, but it makes for a pretty view!

Melissa was a little awkward, as usual.

I was taking it all in, of course.

Denise wanted her usual crazy pictures.

Melissa demanding her godly worship.

Where's Denise?

BOO!

"haha, I scared you guys..."

"Pose, Allison!"

IT'S A PAGODA TREE! THAT'S SO COOL!

Melissa decided to be adventurous.

I wanted a photo shoot.

Work it...

...beautiful, dawling.

"Allison, stop hiding in the plants!"

"But I love hiding in the plants!"

Melissa does a jig.

"What the hell is that? Is that sap?!"

Awkward Melissa pose.

Denise's turn to pose.

Walking through the rock garden.

I loved these flowers but I couldn't find their name plate!

"Man I love cranberry juice..."

"IT'S REFRESHING!"

Denise wanted more pictures of herself.

"Wait...there's somebody behind me, isn't there?"

"Oh God, who's behind me???"

"Surprise!" "Oh, it's just Allison!"

"Haha, I scared you!"

"Ha, oh Allison..."

We likes the name of this plant....

Melissa attempting to enjoy nature.

This tree was so cool.

LOOK HOW BIG THIS TREE IS!

I fell in love with this tree...

Melissa: Man, these are some crazy plants.
Allison: ooooo, I like how these big leaves feel!

Denise: These are my faaaaavorite!!!!

"Allison! Stop running off the path! You're gonna get lost!"

"I'll save you, AL!"

"How the hell did you get there so fast???"

I found another hiding place with a brook and bamboo!

Of everything in the gardens, this was the one tree we wanted to see. Can you guess what it is???

It's big...

It's fuzzy....

IT'S THE...Giant Sequoia? Aren't they supposed to be bigger? Yes, yes they are. This is just a baby.

This tree was so weird...

...and had the coolest name, "Monkey Puzzle Tree".

And it was sharp...it pricked me...

"I just don't know what to say about this..."

Can you guess which one of these three shrub-like trees is the "real" one?

The large one claims to be a "Small False Hinoki Cypress".

The middle one a "Hinoki False Cypress".

But the smallest was the true "Hinoki Cypress"....

A "Men" tree????

We decided to enter..."The Fragrance Garden". It smelled nice. :)

*sniff*sniff*

Oooooh, a "Touch-me-Not"....

"...what happens it I touch it?"

HOLY CRAP!

IT CLOSES UP!

These were interesting looking...

It had a funny name...

oooo, the Japanese Garden had enormous koi fish!

dun dun dun dun, can you see the one swimming with all its might right for us? AAAAH, RUN!!!

Look at that huge white one!

Oh no! Little turtle, watch out!!!! They're coming for you!!! SWIM! SWIM WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!!!!

VROOOOM. They just swam around him. *Phew*

Trinity Shot!

Oh, we saw the Statue of Liberty, too. Apparently she was moved to a parking lot in Brooklyn....

The Brooklyn Public Library is the coolest looking library I have ever seen!

A crazy looking arch in Brooklyn...

Winged Victory???

Ha, we were at 3rd St and 3rd Ave! How cool!

Of course, I had to take them to the amazing pie place, Four & Twenty Blackbirds. Denise recited the whole poem:

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

We got Salted Carmel Apple, Plum and Gooseberry, a mint iced tea, a house soda, and a cider spritzer! It was perfect...yum.....

You heard the sign! It's delicious! Denise ate their last Salted Carmel Apple. We should have also tried the Lemon Verbena Nectarine. I don't know why I didn't get it!! I've never regretted something more in my whole life!!!!

So that's Brooklyn with Denise and Melissa! Next up: meanderings in Manhattan - the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, Lombardi's Pizza, and the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy!

Greenwich Village Walking Tour!

2010-09-27T19:30:00.012-04:00

Melissa brought little presents for Denise and me: I got a little "wristlet" type thing from some Middle Eastern country that Melissa can't remember the name of, and Denise got a cool bag from India. I loved my wristlet!

Melissa got a lot of crap for wearing my Israeli Defense Force shirt throughout the day. haha.

*************************

I'm splitting up the days spent with Denise and Melissa into what we did on each day. First up is our free walking tour of Greenwich Village! It was hot but our tour guide was really good! So here's what we got...

We got to our meeting place really early, so we stopped for a place to eat called "Papaya Dog"!

It was super delicious cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries, and exotic fruit smoothies.

You heard the sign!Oh, how nice. I'll make sure to buy some. They had signs hung up like this all over the place.

This is where they treated people for the small pox epidemic, or something. Edgar Allen Poe went here for a migraine once. A lot of the rich people from New York fled to this area because it was still separate from the city and thought it was far enough away from the epidemic to escape it. They were dead wrong. Excuse the pun.

This is the Stonewall Inn, home of the famous "shot heard 'round the world" for gay rights. It was a gay "night club" during a time when it was illegal to have one. They got around it through some loop hole or another and hosted drag shows and housed the local gay community on late nights. Somehow the Mafia was involved with its protection, which kept the police from raiding it (the cops were paid off by members of the Mafia). The rumor is that the cops weren't getting paid enough to keep out anymore, so they set up a line halfway through the night and stop letting people in. This upset the people inside and there were angry shouts from all sides, but all around it was fine. Then there was the mysterious beginning of the fight.

The follow story of events comes directly out the mouth of our tour guide, paraphrased. Rumor is that a drag queen slapped a cop in the face with her purse and the cops rushed the bar. Drag queens were shouting and slapping, butch lesbians were beating up cops, others were throwing out of the bar people they were mad at. There were surges back and forth until the police finally managed to get everyone pushed into the bar and started arresting people. However, instead of people running out the back door and fleeing, they ran out the back door and looped around in on the cops and turned the tables. They barricaded the cops into the bar! The fight lasted 3 days before it broke up.

It is still to this day a prominent gay night club, which hosts numerous drag shows. I plan to attend once. haha.

This is the smallest taxed property in NYC. The building that used to be here was bought and demolished to make the subway system, but they were only allowed to destroy as much as they needed. This meant that if they only needed to remove part of a building, they could only remove that part and had to leave the rest. This is the only part of the property they did not need. It still belongs to the family who originally owned the building and they still pay taxes on it. Now it's just about principle.

This is the facade of the apartment in the TV show Friends. They did not film inside this apartment. They filmed at a TV studio.

This is the oldest wooden house in NYC.

I don't know why I needed a picture of the street names, but I did it anyways. Story about this continues under next photo.

The building covered in scaffolding is being worked on because it's a special building. This is 86 Bedford St, home of Chumley's, the famous speak-easy! It was full of nooks and hidden doors, which coined the phrase "86 it", meaning GET OUT FAST THE COPS ARE HERE.

The oldest BRICK building in NYC.

Its front...and it happens to be right next to....

The narrowest building in NYC! 75 1/2!

Apparently someone famous lived here, but I didn't recognize the name...

This is the facade for the Huxtable House in the famous Cosby Show!!! I had no idea they lived in Greenwich Village!

This would have been the "real" setting for West Side Story!

A very odd tasting and textured yet famous "rainbow cake"! Denise is in love with it.

Cafe Wha? The famous starting place of nearly every famous musician, including...

Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix!
The [questionably] oldest tree in NYC!

The Washington Arch, built in adoration of...

George Washington the statesmen, aaaandddd.....

George Washington the General! There was some crazy story about the architect who designed the arch, something to do with some famous stripper and he was put to death for it. I don't remember how it went...

And the best name for a food vending stand ever.

Well, that was Greenwich Village. It literally took me 2 days to finish this post. It's going to take a while to get all these pictures up. *sigh* Alright...better get to work...

Check it out!

2010-09-27T09:53:00.002-04:00

If you're at all interested in knowing how it is that I am able to survive in a household which needs to be as kosher, vegetarian, low-dairy, and gluten-free as possible, check out the new blog I started about the delicious dinners my roommates and I are making for ourselves!

Simple yet Complicated Meals with DARK!

Melissa's Birthday Weekend!

2010-09-27T08:49:00.002-04:00

Denise and Melissa came up this weekend so the three of us could celebrate Melissa's birthday as our Trinity. :) We did so much stuff: walking tour of Greenwich Village, checked out thrift stores, saw the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, ate some sweet and tasty Brooklyn pie, visited the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, ate at the first pizza place in America, and celebrated for part of the 11-day San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy!

I do not have time now to put up photos on the blog (I'm wasting some time before class, ha), but I will be sure to update soon.

_____________________________

In other news, I am also going to start up a new blog about the delicious dinners my roommates and I have been making. I've been taking pictures. haha. We pretty much just wing it and turn out some uber delicious (and healthy, I might add!) meals. I'll post a link when I actually get around to creating it. haha.

I Forgot!

2010-09-20T12:39:00.003-04:00

I nearly forgot to post about my Catholic adventures yesterday!

I finally had a Sunday full of nothing to do, so I decided to check out the church next door (literally, it's the building next to my apartment, how lucky!) called Corpus Christi. It was a most wonderful experience! The mass was a bit of a special one, as it was a memorial mass for a recently deceased priest and a celebration of Pope Benedict XVI's beatification of the Venerable John Henry Newman, but I hope it's the same every week because it was wonderful!

All parts of the mass are sung in Latin (by a professional chant choir), something I have never experienced as a post-Vatican II child of the church. The church itself is a fairly modern take on the Medieval cathedrals of Europe, on a much smaller but just as ornate scale. It was almost reminiscent of Greek Orthodox or Armenian in its decor! The only reminder of its modern origins were the square ionic-capped pillars, simple and white in a very early American Protestant manner. Incense burned the entire time, the choir was hidden behind (but amplified by) a choir box situated to the left of the alter, and people wore a mix of jeans and church hats. I LOVED the Latin! Even though I've never taken a Latin course in my life, it really wasn't too difficult to follow. The "replacement" priest was a fresh, young, Oratory scholar (who's founder was Newman himself!) and he presided with the main pastor. His homily was impressive, and as a fellow Bible scholar I readily felt connected to him. He did a wonderful job at connecting the late priest with John Newman and making it very personal for those who knew the late priest without having ever met the man. The congregation was friendly and welcoming; I was quickly recognized to not be a member of the parish. No one pointed this out to me, but I did receive warm smiles and quick greetings.

I'm excited to go back again next week to see if it will be the same.

Just in Time!

2010-09-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

This weekend I finally ran out of money. Katy was pretty close, too. We were both panicking and hoping the refunds were coming this week.

INDEED THEY HAVE! WOOO! I am no longer poor! :) However, I still need to look for a job!

Fridays OFF!

2010-09-17T10:37:00.002-04:00

One awesome thing about going to a Jewish seminary is that there are no classes on Fridays. Downside - the whole building is closed on Fridays and Saturdays, which means no library and no computer lab. Thank God for the consortium with Columbia and Union so I can use their libraries!

I have some epic amounts of homework to do for one of my classes, the last class I went to: Biblical Texts in the Liturgy. I'm going to have to seriously brush up on my Biblical Hebrew vocabulary. Good thing I brought my flash cards! Smart move, Alli. Oh yea. What's going to make this class so much more difficult is that it's assumed we're all Jewish and therefore already know the parts of the "liturgy". Liturgy is in quotes because it's not really referred to as a liturgy like Christian services are. Luckily, we don't have class for the next two weeks, so I have some time to find something to learn the parts and what they're all about. I could go to synagogue services, but since we're in the High Holy days (the reason why we don't have classes for the next two weeks from Wednesday-Friday), all the services I assume will be special ones the won't follow the typical formula? oooo! I could grab one of the books from the Moadon! Alright, sweet, glad I thought of that. The Moadon is the name of the lounge in our building, named after some important people who donated a significant amount of money. There are a TON of books in there all about various Jewish topics, including service books. Sweet, I'm going to look at those.

Other than my Liturgy class, I don't really have a very difficult list of classes. My Intro to Hebrew Bible class is going to be a lot of busy work, but not difficult at all. It's all stuff I already know how to do so I can do it easily. YAY! My Hebrew grammar class is going to be tough but the work load is super simple. I'm going to learn Hebrew really quickly. The professors all write on the board in Hebrew, all my grammar rules are given in Hebrew, and any reference to the Bible is spoken in Hebrew. It'll be interesting. Pretty much I'm going to know how to say a bunch of things in Hebrew but not know how to say it in English. haha.

_________________________________________

My roommates and I made a strange concoction for dinner last night. We wanted to do stuffed peppers with a meat substitute (which ended up being a wheat-soy product) and quinoa instead of rice. However, we realized that we didn't have any whole peppers, but we DID have the equivalent of 3 peppers partially slices. We decided to do a twist to the stuffed peppers and saute up the peppers and mix it with our pepper stuffing. Turned out nothing like stuffed peppers at all, but it was super tasty! Quinoa is very strange, but pretty tasty.

At about the time we started cooking dinner, we saw the sky turn from gray and overcast to positively menacing. I was excited for an impending thunderstorm, and it came raging in! Thunder, lightning, strong winds, and a raging downpour that lasted all of 15 minutes. There was one really HUGE bolt of lightning that must have struck somewhere uptown, maybe even in the Bronx, but it was huge and loud. Immediately after that the sirens started - from every direction. It was like we were surrounded by sirens. It was crazy. They didn't last long, but for about 5 minutes it was deafening. Then I read about the possible tornado that ripped through Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. Holy crap! Another reason I'm glad I'm on the inland side of NYC!

Last night we also went to Tom's Restaurant for some late night eating. Yea, that's right, the diner that's in Seinfeld! The milkshake was pretty tasty.

So yea, that's my update. Pretty long, but there it is. I've decided to take pictures of the dinners we make, so soon I'll start putting up our meal photos. haha. ok, Let the weekend begin! And hello Yom Kippur!

2nd Day of Classes

2010-09-15T08:33:00.002-04:00

My second day of classes went well. I am LOVING my Intro to the Hebrew Bible, though I'd like to find myself a Tanakh with English translations so I can follow along a little easier. It's going to be a fun class, either way. I wish there was a Hebrew class that was halfway in between the one I'm taking now and the next level. Like, next semester's Hebrew this semester. I'd catch up on the vocabulary, but this is so elementary and I'm zooming ahead because I already know everything he's going over!

I have my Hebrew grammar class again today. We'll see how I did on the homework! The only thing I didn't understand...nuts. Tomorrow I'll have my last class finally: Hebrew Texts in the Liturgy.

Tonight a bunch of us are going to see American Idiot (I'm not too proud). Yay for new friends! This is a musical based on Green Day music. BLECH. But it'll be good times with friends, so I'll suck it up. :)

Alright, time to get ready for a run with Katy.

First Day of Classes

2010-09-13T16:35:00.002-04:00

All I have to say about the first day of classes is that I am SO glad I learned how to write in Hebrew script prior to taking these classes. Thanks to my wonderful roommates for helping me with it! I would have been COMPLETELY lost.

As it were, I was a little more ahead in my Foundations of Hebrew but a little behind in my Hebrew Grammar. I picked up quickly on saying introductions in Hebrew. [Shalom! Ani Alli. Mi aht? Na'im ma'od! Ani m'Pennsylvania. Ma'im aht? Yofi!] A couple of students began a furious debate with the poor teacher of why they were required to learn modern Hebrew when they felt that Biblical Hebrew would be a much more appropriate requirement for at least most, if not all, the programs of study at JTS, and why they needed to even bother learning the Hebrew script, for that matter? Um, hello? You're in a Jewish school, on the graduate level of course, and most of the programs of study are relevant topics emphatically discussed in Israel as well as other Hebrew speaking peoples, and therefore will have to read many many academic papers, essays, theses, magazines, etc in modern Hebrew! How can you seriously expect to keep up with course topics if you refuse to learn modern Hebrew?? Ok, so you won't need to know Hebrew script if all the academic literature is typed. However, your professors will be writing things on chalk boards in Hebrew, correct? They're not going to write in block letters, they're going to use the script! Oh, and learning to converse/listen in modern Hebrew? You're most likely going to hear things spoken to you in Hebrew: lectures and professors explaining certain things. Come on! Seriously? Thanks for ruining my first day of Hebrew, jerks. I was super psyched about class until that popped out. Idiots.

Then I went to my grammar class. Holy crap. Thank God I learned ALL of this material, or I would be SO lost! When our teacher came in, she started talking rapid-fire Hebrew and all I think was, "Crap, I'm in trouble." She went in and out of Hebrew and English, so I was picking things up. Luckily, though, she'll be teaching in English. However, we're learning all the Hebrew grammatical terms. I get lost until she says the fancy English grammar term, and then I can make a connection. haha. Of course, our homework for the first night is the only topic she covered that went completely over my head. Guess that's good, though! I'll learn it quickly!

So that's my first day of class! We'll see what day #2 of baby Hebrew and Intro to the Hebrew Bible will bring!

Heading Home

2010-09-10T07:50:00.003-04:00

Packing last minute to catch a bus home! Man, I've been doing a lot of updates. There has been nothing planned at all for this week, so my roommates and I are really just kind of not doing too much. A little exploring of the city, but not much. I think I have to ask Rachel if she can print out my ticket for me. I forgot it's Friday, so JTS is going to be closed up. :/ No printing today. I have to be out of this building by 10:30 to make sure I'm there on time! haha. I have 2.5 hours.

Yesterday I got to experience a Rosh Hashanah lunch and then we did this tradition that I can't remember the name, of course. Chalah bread is eaten on this holiday, and then we took the left overs for the sin-washing tradition. Basically there's a little tradition where every time you sin, you're supposed to collect pieces of bread. At the start of the "new year" (a.k.a. Rosh Hashanah, which is literally the Hebrew for "the new year"), you take your collected "sins" and throw them into a moving body of water, allowing the water to "wash away" your sins, and also hope that some water creature will consume the bread, turning a bad thing into a good thing! It was fun. We ran into every Jew in the Morningside Heights area when we did this. haha. We threw the bread into the Hudson, which really smells like the ocean, and I wasn't expecting that so much. We still had a whole loaf of Chalah leftover, so we wandered up and down Broadway to find a homeless person to give it to. We did end up finding someone begging outside a restaurant, and he wished us a happy rosh hashanah when we gave him the bread. Very nice. We all felt warm and fuzzy.

And now I guess I'll get back to packing! A big thanks to my poppa, who is picking me up directly from the bus terminal so I don't have to buy a train ticket! I shall see many people this weekend at a special party for a special couple! ;)

Happy New Year!

2010-09-09T12:14:00.002-04:00

Today marks the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah. One of our friends in the rabbinical school is hosting a potluck lunch and my roommates and I were invited. We were asked to bring apples and drinks. Katy and I have found a nice bonding point: Fall is our favorite season! There is absolutely nothing bad about fall that we can think of. Even the overcast days mean no more glaring sun or deadening heat! The wind is cool while the air stays pretty warm. The rains are refreshing and the colors are beautiful and subdued. It's cool enough to need a jacket or hoodie, but still warm enough that you push the sleeves up.

We walked past the farmers market along Broadway and they had gourds, apples, and cider out. We got so excited. We made plans to make apple dumplings at some point. Anyway, I'm really excited about fall. It's really starting to feel like it. Makes me happy! ^.^

עברית

2010-09-08T18:46:00.004-04:00

Yay! Katy put Hebrew as an option for typing on my computer! My title just says "Hebrew" in Hebrew. Nothing fancy because I don't really know anything yet. But I will need it for my studies. Macs are awesome like that.

Things are going great. I have my schedule figured out. Hebrew 1001 (a.k.a. "baby Hebrew"), Hebrew 5009 (grammar), Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, and Biblical Texts Used in the Liturgy. Awesome part about grad school is that most of the classes are only one day a week. Baby Hebrew is 4 days a week, Hebrew grammar is 2 days, but Intro to Heb Bible and Biblical Texts are only one day a week each. I'm taking 2 classes a day, essentially. Sweet. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really looking forward to it all! Katy, Rachel, and I are all in Intro to the Bible together, and so worked on our initial homework together. Various exegetical questions regarding a specific biblical quote and then a comparison of the Tanakh (the short name for the canonical Hebrew Bible) and the Talmud (a rabbinical commentary on the Tanakh).

So far this is the only class I need to purchase books for (the Intro class). Four books in total, I purchased 3 from Amazon because they were cheaper. Loans don't go through until next week. :/ I just need to get myself a Tanakh with Hebrew and English. Another student is giving me his Hebrew text book so I won't need to buy that. However, my grammar and liturgy classes do not have a book list. Not sure why. Oh wells. If so, then I will have spent less than $100 on books this semester!!! Cha-ching! More money in my pocket once the loans come through!

Ma roommies and I have also been doing some serious cooking. By "serious" of course I mean "cheap but still tasty"! We've been out to eat only twice! We're getting really good at finding cheap, organic, kosher food, which is about impossible to find, but not in New York City!!!! Watching the Food Network whenever there's nothing to do also helps to give us fresh ideas. Because we all have such opposing and unique dietary restrictions (by "we" I mean just my roommates because I have none), we don't eat too much meat or protein-rich foods, so I've been packing my lunches full of peanut butter. YUM! I've grown quite fond of peanut butter, I must say. Maybe it's the lack of protein. But we always have a super delicious meal, so that makes up for it all!

I still have not gotten used to the car alarms, car horns, and sirens, which blare about 2/3 of the day, despite living in a pretty residential area of the city. If it weren't for those sirens, I'd near forget I live in a city...

New Update

2010-09-04T21:21:00.002-04:00

It's been a while so I thought I'd update.

On Friday Katy, Rachel, and I started a morning run together. I was really proud of myself because we ran for 20 minutes or so straight without stopping. I was sore the rest of the day, but it felt really good. It was still pretty warm on Friday, too, which makes me feel even better about it all.

Denise arrived Friday morning, too! Yay! She told me to put on my tourist hat because she was going to make me do touristy things. We went down to see Ground Zero, which has been fenced off and there's not much to see. There's a little path nearby which shows pictures and models of what they're building and is higher up so you can see the construction. There's nothing really formed yet, from what we could make out. We saw a little strip of sidewalk with plaques and such, which were emotional to see. No protesters, though. If we had walked by the "mosque" we probably would have seen them, though. We went out for dinner really late with Katy at a little bar nearby that really tasty veggie burgers. It wouldn't stay together, but it was still super tasty!

We got up early again today to go running; this time we ran from about 20 blocks straight! According to Katy, that's about 1.5-1.7 miles? AWESOME! I'm already picking things up! Though I did push myself to the brink on that one. If I'd had gone any further it would have been bad. I love running in that little dog park! Makes me want to get a dog.

Denise and I headed down to Central Park today to do one of their many free walking tours. We ended up arriving 2 hours early, and since the Natural History Museum is right there in the park, we decided to make a "short" detour to the museum. We ended up getting so interested in the museum that we decided to completely skip the park tour and pick up a tour of the museum. haha. Guess what we found out?? A lot of the animal specimens were hand-picked and killed just to be stuffed and put in the museum!!!! A whole herd of African elephants! Though, this did happen in the 1800s... still sad. The tour guide was cute, she said, "You may think it's cruel, and yes, it is." haha. The guided tour took us through the African mammals, Ocean Life, North East Native American, the Sequoia tree ring specimen, and the Dinosaur exhibits. I think she was a paleontology student because she was most excited and most knowledgeable when talking about the dinosaurs. One of the fossils she showed us was of a fish that had drowned because the other fish it was eating was too big for its mouth. haha. So it was a fossil of a fish eating a fish. It also houses the first T-Rex skeleton ever found. I don't know if it's just the first complete one or the first one ever found, though. Still cool.

I insisted we see the Human Origins exhibit, too. haha. We spent the most amount of time there. Then we headed for the Central and South American Peoples and Asian Peoples exhibits. We had to pretty much run through the Asian Peoples because we only had 20 minutes left before the museum closed.

Sorry there are no pictures of any of this. I completely forgot my camera and then the batteries died in Denise's camera before she could even snap a shot of a panda.

Tomorrow we're definitely doing the walking tour of Central Park's castle. We're not skipping it tomorrow! And hopefully we can squeeze in a trip to the Statue of Liberty. If not, we're doing it first thing Monday morning before she leaves. I have never seen the Statue of Liberty, except from a plane or driving into the city.

So that's my update. I still don't have classes scheduled because I have a conflict with some of my required courses and my Hebrew course. I'm waiting for a reply from the Rabbi on whether I can skip one of my 4-day-a-week Hebrew classes to take my 1-day-a-week Biblical Grammar course. *crosses fingers*

********Stuart in Japan Update

Stuart is really loving Japan! Since he got his alien registration and Japanese bank account, he's on a mission to get a REAL Tokyo apartment! haha. He started training yesterday with a bunch of other new English-teaching employees, which is about 9hours long for 3 days. ugh. But then I think Monday he starts teaching! He's not at a school. He'd be working one-on-one with employees from the business who want to learn English to improve their ranks, I guess. He has to wear a business suite and everything! haha. He's looking forward to starting, but the heat is intense, he says. At least HE has air conditioning!

Nerd Alert!

2010-08-31T15:09:00.002-04:00

I had a total nerd breakdown today when I went to see JTS's rare book collection in their library. They have over 11,000 actual manuscripts! Primary sources galore!!!!!! I just about died as the cutest and most knowledgeable old man ever pulled out book after book after book of 9th century manuscripts, the Genoa polyglot bible, a Czar Alexander III nobility paper for a Jewish physician (complete with his actual signature and official seal!!!!!), and little tiny personal scrolls (some of the oldest in existence!!!). Holy crap, it was the most fantastic thing I've ever seen and it is the single largest collection of original manuscripts of Jewish history, if not in the world, at least in the whole United States. I'm pretty sure it's the most extensive in the world. JTS's library is the most extensive collection of Jewish literature outside of Israel.

It was super awesome. Ok, I just had to nerd out. O^O

NYC and Jewish Life

2010-08-30T13:27:00.003-04:00

Things are going really well so far. Immediately after the family left I felt a little lonely and tried to find things to occupy my time. Shortly, though, I began a kind of bonding with my one roommate, Katy. She's the other non-Jewish girl in my apartment. We went out for a cheap Indian meal for dinner and today we explored JTS's main building together and searched out the cheap, warehouse-like grocery that was suggested to us. Man, that place is cheap! Everything else around here is so damned expensive. I think part of the reason the two of us have bonded so well is because we're both equally poor at the moment. It was nice shopping with her and the both of us trying to figure out what was kosher and still cheap. We both kind of already unkoshered our kitchen, but neither of our other roommates seemed too upset. *phew*

I now have my ID card, know where the library is, and sort of have a little understanding of how the building is set up. I just got out of my Hebrew Oral Placement, which was very entertaining. Rabbi Roth told me he was so glad to see me so that he could finally put a face to the placement exam that had so incredibly baffled him. He told me that I showed "advanced understanding of grammar but absolutely no reading or vocabulary comrehension". Also, I didn't use Hebrew script but the Biblical block writing, which made him think I was a Bible student. Yep. This makes my course placements a whole lot easier to understand!

He had put me in Hebrew 1001 - the very bottom level of Hebrew! I'm in preschool Hebrew! BUT I was also registered for Hebrew 5009 - a pretty advanced grammar course. After I take the grammar course, I'm set for taking the Biblical gramamr course, which I really really wanted to take!

Now I still have some more things to accomplish, such as filling out a loan request for spending moneys and making sure my deferments have made it in!

I was a little nervous at first about being here and not really knowing anyone, but now it's all going so well - even the conundrum of a kitchen we have going on! I'll have pictures of the apartment up on facebook soon, but I'll share the link on here so everyone may see them!

The Going Away...

2010-08-25T20:26:00.002-04:00

Stuart has made it to Tokyo! I found out through email at 10:30am (11:30pm Tokyo time) that he had landed, made it to his apartment, and had already been to the grocery store! We skyped tonight/Tokyo morning. He just woke up and looked surprisingly refreshed, probably because he had been to bed at midnight utterly exhausted and slept straight through till morning. Good for him, no jet lag! He said that the train from the airport into the city was breathtakingly beautiful and he's in a very nice neighborhood outside the busiest part of the city. I'm so glad he's made it just fine and doing so well!

Now I just have to work on packing and getting my stuff together. Luckily, I'm allowed to forget some things because I'll still be in a familiar enough place to know where to go for things. Or I'm also pretty close to home still. Well, the night is still young, I have a lot of packing, and I get to sleep in tomorrow before going to work! woo! Alright, back to packing...

New Urban Setting

2010-08-16T13:20:00.004-04:00

Something that's been getting into my head a lot recently is how I'm going to react to the busiest and largest city on the East Coast. The little country girl already lived in an urban setting before, but that was only for a couple months. Also, Berlin doesn't really count as a serious urban setting; there's far too much green and far less traffic than NYC. I'm really glad I'm only 10 blocks from Central Park, so I at least will have an easy escape when I get too overwhelmed.

I just read an article from the New York Times about 5 neuroscientists studying the effects technology has on the parts of the human brain related to anxiety and lack of focus versus how we relax in natural settings. Such a coincidence because I had really noticed how much I had relaxed and felt less inclined to check my email after my family's little vaca to the mountains. The same thing happened after my remote vacation with Stuart at the beginning of summer. The article mentioned how even just an urban setting can increase anxiety and lack of focus and decrease our learning ability. Rather, walking in a wooded area increases our learning ability and relaxation. Surrounding ourselves in nature changes how we pay attention to what's around us: listening and seeing differently.

I absolutely love being outdoors though I am looking forward to the convenience of city living. Luckily, the Upper West Side is a little greener than most of Manhattan; I could easily take walks in Central Park, lose myself in the nature without realizing I'm in the Big Apple. I hope. We'll see. One thing is for certain: I will never ever allow myself to get a Black Berry or any kind of mobile device that causes me to be more absorbed in technology. I often just check my email because I'm bored. But what did I do on my vacations without all that stuff? I had the most wonderful time. I went on walks, swam, read read read and read. Hopefully since I have some active roommates (and by active, I mean, they actually exercise) I'll get a little more into that kind of active lifestyle?

Church Search

2010-07-29T17:11:00.002-04:00

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...

2010-07-23T07:13:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-07-10T07:20:00.002-04:00

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!

Trying out a new template...

2010-06-19T15:35:00.003-04:00

I had a lovely time out with Kimmie last night. That is until the mussels caught up with me. Kimmie, I hope you didn't have the troubles I did last night because I wouldn't wish it upon anybody. I was in so much pain and was so sick that I woke up my mom to ask her for her nursely advice. We decided to see if I could wait it out, but if it got worse that then we'd go to the ER. Thank God it did go away. Omg, I didn't feel that bad when I had the FLU. Anyway, it's over, and I'm still recovering. I'm skipping out on our family Reading Philies game because I don't want to push my luck. I went to set up the tent to see if anything was needed before camping with Stuart, and that was enough to bring on a wave of nausea and I had to lay down to 30 minutes before I felt revived enough to continue with my next thing. There's no way I could survive a baseball game.

So now I'm trying to work myself up to a point where I feel comfortable driving to the store to get some more camping supplies. I need to go through the shed and get a pot and a pan and other cooking supplies we have stashed away for camping. At some point I also need to take the tent back down, but I may make my brothers do that. I need to clean my fish tank too! Crap! Man, I don't feel like doing any of this...

To top of the plans for camping, though, the weather forecast calls for chance of thunderstorms ALL WEEK. However, it's only "scattered" or "isolated" or "intermittent", meaning there will be a t-storm for 10 minutes and then everything will be perfect again (a.k.a. sunny and 90). :) I'm really excited about this! My dad gave me a good idea to go buy a large wagon to help bring everything onto the beach. That way there's a lot less we need to carry. ooo...I should call them and make sure that's ok to bring onto the ferry or something...hmmmm.

Well, I'll be MIA for a week online. Hope everyone else has a good week and I'll see you next week!

A Sad Loss

2010-06-04T16:01:00.002-04:00

Tonight Fatty is going to be put down. :'( My fat cuddle cat that we've had for 10 years. He has kidney failure and the only thing that can be done is to prolong his life and nothing can be done to heal him. I'm glad he'll be put down before he really gets bad. I don't want to see him suffer. It's hard enough seeing him walk around really weak, getting thin, and not eating for over 48 hours. Fatty's been our longest living cat. It's going to be weird coming home and not having a horrendously large orange blob pop it's head out the cat door to our basement and emit his raspy, piercing meow to ask for food; not hearing the ridiculously loud and constant purring, or the strange grunts he makes when he gets annoyed or scared; not being greeted by the hard head rub demanding undivided and infinite attention; or never again seeing that funny face he makes when you scratch just the right spot behind his ears - the one where one eyes pops out real big and the other goes into a miniscule squint, makes a little snarl lip, and digs his claws into whatever material happens to be beneath him.

My poor Fatty.

The decision is final...

2010-05-13T19:49:00.002-04:00

After a short visit to the Jewish Theological Seminary, my decision was made: I'm going to JTS! I was leaning heavily towards them before visiting just because they gave me so much financial aid, but I wanted to make sure they'd be a good fit. I knew the instant I walked through those doors.

The area of Manhattan is just perfect: produce markets, coffee shops, falafel places, and green green green. The Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University are withing walking distance, and so is Central Park. Not to mention, I was told, it is the safest area of NYC. The campus is intimate and cozy with a tiny enrollment size (there are only 55 undergrads graduating this weekend!). I felt so comfortable and was warmly welcomed by everyone I met, and they were all so willing to go out of their way to help me get to where I needed to be or what I needed to know. AND there is housing a-plenty for me to live on-campus! The lady I met in financial aid even told me to make sure I put in for "entertainment expenses" when I anticipate how much of a loan to get! haha. Everyone had something wonderful to say about the area and the great things that are provided for students and anyone working at the school. I was told that I'd know every student by the end of my first semester.

I think I've made the right decision. :) Now to do the paperwork and formally notify them of my decision!

And so begins May...

2010-05-05T13:37:00.002-04:00

Well May is finally here and it is SUPER busy! I'm not going to get in teaching everything that needs to be taught to the 7th grade. When I mentioned it to the other teachers they said, "Oh well, teach them off the exam because we get that soon." Well alrighty then. May is just packed full of field trips and play practices and concerts! phew! I get to go to the zoo on Friday with preschool and kindergarten! yay! I'm really excited about that.

I now have a summer job working with the same company only a different house for their summer camp! That should be fun! Unfortunately I need to put in for a house transfer and can't get a hold of my house because they have the fax set up. All I get when I call is SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!! Deafening.

Did you know that my automatic spell checker says that the word scrapple doesn't exist? Weird.

Next week I'm going to see the Jewish Theological Seminary! woot! I received an email from them last night saying they'd have all my "meeting times" set up by tomorrow and were wondering if I wanted a tour of the graduate housing. SHA-WING! I hope that means they have space available and I don't have to look for an apartment in Manhattan!

My little brother is now home from college too! I missed my widdle brova. ;) His graduation is this weekend and we're all going up to Jordan's cabin for a party celebration!!! I'm excited. Then my dear little brother will be home for....a really really long time! Just like me! haha.

Well, time to try the house again and then back to work for the afterschool program! Today was payday, too! I'm only $100 away from my new laptop now!!!! I hope I can get it by the end of June so I can start learning how to use a Mac. lol.

DC Life

2010-04-10T12:05:00.002-04:00

Visiting with Catholic U was pleasant and informative. Financial aid wasn't too helpful, and the department chair told me that there isn't much offered in the way of financial aid because CUA is a "poor" school. Great. They also told me that as a grad student I can expect to pay up to $50,000. I was too shocked at the price to ask for a breakdown of that, but I'm going to call and Monday and ask about it. They also told me that I was "awarded" $20,500 in Stafford loans. Oh joy. More loans! They also told me I can take up to the rest in grad PLUS loans and Direct loans. Sweet. I'll try looking for more ideas. I also went into Housing and asked about student housing. They said that there's maybe one opening for graduate housing for next year, but they did give me a nice book full of apartment options in DC and the surrounding counties in MD and VA.

So that was really the only bad news. Everyone at the department was really nice. There's maybe only 20 students in the whole department, and the Akkadian class I sat in on had 4 students. They told me that nearly all the classes for the department are taught in that room. The department is in the basement, or "garden level" of the Library and they have their own library down there with them. The professors told me they have a special little connection with JHU, too, so I could potentially take some courses there, as well.

The students said that you can expect a pretty rigorous curriculum and that there's a close connection with the professors. This is good. One of the students was older, maybe late 40s, early 50s, and she didn't seem too thrilled about everything. She said that if she had the choice like me she would have chosen NYC. She said there was too much of a political atmosphere. She didn't seem to get along well with the other students and the one professor, though, so I'm thinking it was maybe just her. Anyway, I wouldn't mind the political atmosphere, I'd feel I was a part of something and I'd actually maybe get to keep up with current events! haha.

The campus was gorgeous, too. Of course the basilica is the main highlight, but the rest of the campus was just as beautiful. Everywhere that I would be is all located right in the middle of campus and next to all the administrative buildings, which is so helpful. I really enjoyed the Arabic poetry reading I attended, too. Arabic sounds so awesome. I really want to learn it. The speakers handed out Arabic and English translations of the poems. I was actually able to pick out a couple letters! This pleased me. I figured out the "-ee" sound and letter "s", both when they're at the end of the word. Awesome!!! I was so proud of myself for figuring that out! I was trying really hard to work out Akkadian while in the class, but that was a little more difficult as they're different combinations of wedge-shapes that make up sounds instead of letters.

Overall, there were parts that made me more attracted to the campus and parts that made me less attracted (especially the money). But looking through the little book for apartment hunting makes me really excited to live in DC. However, I really need to take a look at JTS before making a final decision. It may end up that money decides it for me, as they've already given me 1/4 tuition scholarship, which could be up to $5,000, and they're tuition is already 2/3 of the price of Catholic U.

As far as exactly what I'm hoping for in my education, neither really gives me exactly what I want, namely, some archaeology background and a stronger focus on other Semitic languages besides Hebrew. I love Hebrew, but I want to know just as much Akkadian and Ugaritic or anything else, not just lots of Hebrew and some of the other stuff. I want to know them equally, and I may not get that at either school. However, CUA has that connection with JHU. If I went to CUA and made an impression with JHU profs, I may have a better chance of getting into a PhD program there. Again, JTS has connections with universities in Israel. Buuut...I don't want to just be in Israel, either.

I'll have a clearer decision once I see JTS! ...Let's see when THAT'S going to happen. I don't think anytime before May. :(

The Beginning of a Big Decision

2010-04-08T20:23:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I go to Catholic U! I'll meet with financial aid in the morning. I guess I should have made an appointment, but they said that I didn't need one, I could just walk right in. Oh well, I'll make sure I get in there with a lot of extra time before my meeting at 3:30 with the department faculty! They invited me to join them for an Arabic Poetry Reading and to the reception afterward! There I'll mingle with various students (I hope I can get up the guts to approach them...maybe one of the faculty will introduce me?) and see what a student's perspective of the department is.

Then I'm meeting up with Laura for drinks under the cherry blossoms!!! haha. I believe last weekend was the cherry blossom festival, so they should still look quite beautiful. Though after the violent rainstorm the whole North East is expected to get, there may not be much left to them. boo. I'm also meeting up with Melissa sometime Saturday evening. I would say afternoon, but I doubt she'll be up and ready before 5pm. haha.

The Week:
I've also had a big week, and even last weekend was crazy. Last weekend at Bally was horrible. First another aid and I put diesel in the van when it took regular, then we lost the stupid gas card and receipt, and then Monday another aid accidentally took the keys home with her and the supervisor needed the van for the next day for an appointment. It was a complete disaster.

But I started teaching 5th and 7th grad science this week. I also took over the CARES program for good, since the 5th grad teacher had her baby. The 5th grade science class is going really well, but I feel like I'm starting to flounder with 7th grade already. It's tough science! I severely dislike biology, and even more so when it's on the cellular level. I can't wait to get through the Plant Kingdom and start talking about Ecology because I can understand that so much better. I must have like 6th grade science level, haha. Except in Earth Science. Kick butt there. That's stuff's awesome!

My days are really long (at school by 7:30, don't leave until 6pm), but the work isn't too hard. Not like it is at the home. I am totally stoked for that first paycheck, though. haha. I can buy my new laptop by the end of the school year now, instead of seeing if I can scrape something up by the end of the summer. And by new laptop, I mean a Macbook. Oh yea, goin' Pro. It's really nice being home in the evenings too, even if I am so exhausted that I don't want even want to think about lesson plans. But I must. Especially, I should be working on them NOW but I can't make myself do it!!! uuuuugh.

Alright, enough of this, printing out my directions and then I'm working on these stupid lesson plans!

YAY YAY YAY!

2010-03-26T07:29:00.002-04:00

While my parents were listening to phone messages last night, they heard one from Abby Eisenberg of the Jewish Theological Seminary telling me I was accepted with a fellowship for 1/4 of my tuition!!!!! Now I need to set up a visit with them too. I'm gonna have to look for a day I'm off from the school...hmm...

Stuart came over last night, too. We had a nice time, went to an Asian restaurant and had some tasty miso soup and sushi. Then we rented The Men Who Stare at Goats. It was an odd movie but it was funny. I really enjoyed it.

Ok, I need to get moving so I'm not late for work!

Hopefully the letters will start rolling in now...

2010-03-19T06:47:00.004-04:00

Well, I got an email from Brown. You automatically know you're not in if they email your letter to you. Ok, they didn't email reject me, they emailed me to check my letter on their website. That's how you know you're not in. Alright, whatever. It was Brown.

Sorry Melissa, no Emma Watson. haha.

But I'm starting to get really excited when I think about living in DC and going to school at Catholic U, so I'm ok this.

EDIT:
Yep, they're rollin right in. 'Nother rejection from Johns Hopkins. But like I said, I'm getting more and more excited about Catholic U. The rejections hurt a little less when you at least know you won't be thrown out in the cold again.

Now I just need to hear back from UPenn, Boston, and the Jewish Seminary.

Second Grad School Letter

2010-03-08T14:39:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately I was not accepted into Bryn Mawr, my number one choice for graduate school. That's alright, it was doctorate program and I'm sure they were looking more for MA students. I'm slightly disappointed but not so much because I at least know that I will be going somewhere in the fall. I have at least one place I can go.

Other bad news was getting an email from the Jewish Theological Seminary saying they're missing 2 of my recommendation letters AND my GRE scores. I had sent a reminder to everyone who I asked to write a recommendation letter at the end of February when I submitted my application to make sure they all emailed the recommendation. Much easier for them to do than snail mail, that's for sure. Dr. Knauth's email was the only received recommendations and Dr. Gaber told me that she had already submitted her recommendation. Dr. Johnson's was the second one to be received but Dr. Cagle and Dr. Gaber's still haven't arrived. As for the GRE scores, I was hoping they'd arrive by March 1st but wasn't counting on it. Having heard that they still haven't received them, even though I got a receipt from ETS last Wednesday confirming that they submitted them, concerns me. I emailed them back to let them know about the paper receipt I got from them and where exactly they sent them to in order to make sure they weren't just misplaced. Stupidness.

But I have been busy - I submitted my FAFSA, and since I've already completed my federal return, I don't have to worry about a thing as far as "fixing" anything. I included all the schools I applied to (minus Bryn Mawr, since that's the only negative answer I've heard so far). Oh, and I didn't send it to UPenn either, because apparently they don't exist, according to the FAFSA website. No matter what combination of searches I included ("PA", "Philadelphia", "UPenn", "Univ of Penn", "Univ of Pennsylvania", etc) it did not show up. Well, whatevs. If I receive an acceptance letter from them (though I'm not too certain I will) I'll just have to ask them for their federal school code.

Ok, time to get ready for work tonight.

I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!!

2010-02-25T15:13:00.003-05:00

Best. Day. Ever!!!!!!!!!!

First, half day of school due to snow, no school tomorrow already because of the expected snow, and now THIS:

Dear Ms. Davis,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the M.A. program in the Department of Semitics for the Fall Semester 2010. [contact info...enrollment info...]

On behalf of the faculty of the School of Arts & Sciences, I welcome you to graduate studies at The Catholic University of America.

Sincerely,
Hanna Marks, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies

I am so happy! Now I know that I will at least be going somewhere in the Fall! Now I just need to wait for 6 more letters!!!! All my applications have been sent and everything is squared away now for just waiting!

Plan B

2010-01-14T13:26:00.003-05:00

Man, I need to update more often...

I'm still not too confident about grad school, though I really think there are three I should be able to get into. But if March comes around and I still don't have a place to go to in Fall, I'm joining the Peace Corps. I'm done sitting around and waiting for something to happen, I'm done working at a job that I don't really want to do. Even though I am doing something I'm enjoying, it's not going to keep me happy for very long. So...

Plan B: Peace Corps.

Just about to send out application #5.
UPenn - DONE
Brown - DONE
Bryn Mawr - DONE
Johns Hopkins - DONE
Boston - ALMOST DONE
Catholic U - Feb 1
Jewish Seminary - March 1

And then it's waiting time. Though, since the last two are due out so much later, I'm hoping it won't be a long wait.

On another note, my computer decided to breath its final breath. Just when I need it the most, of course. I'm hoping tomorrow to take it to DE Computers and have them just remove all the files from my hard drive and put it on my external hard drive. There's just some files from the past few months that need to be transferred; I've already done most of it. I'm hoping that means it won't take them long, which will hopefully mean it won't cost me too much. I don't want the damn thing fixed...unless it's really cheap and easy to fix. But I see this an a full scale opportunity to purge as much money as I can into my ING savings for a new MacBook Pro!! I'm done with PC's, they always crap out on you. I've never heard of someone's Mac crapping out. Though...I guess if it does, it's going to cost A LOT. But that's why I have a super smart computer literate brother with a Mac of his own, and if he can't do it, he has a friend who's even more computer literate with a Mac. And if THAT doesn't work, my best friend Denise has a super awesome brother-in-law who knows aaaallll about Macs who would hopefully be super nice and take a look at it for me?

Anyways, week's almost over. Momma says she'll go shopping with me tomorrow night so I can spend my $100 in gift cards to Kohls so I can get new shoes and pants! ^-^ Then it's movie night with ma high school buds Saturday night, then off to visit Stuart, and no school on Monday!!!! YAY!!!! I could use another day off. This week has been especially tiring.

Bills and such

2009-12-02T12:53:00.003-05:00

You know, for as much as spending all your hard-earned money (and I'm saying, literally ALL moneys) on car payments, student loans, and health insurance sucks, it sure does feel good to say, "I'm doing it all by myself." Sure, I'm living at home and mom and dad are still paying for food and cell phone usage, but I'm building good credit for myself already. My first three loan payments have all been early. :)

Here's to hoping that I may actually have enough money for Christmas presents!

The Future is Bright

2009-10-26T20:58:00.003-04:00

Just had a meeting with the professors at Bryn Mawr College's grad school Archaeology department and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I just felt like, "eh" after my meeting at Arcadia, but at Bryn Mawr most of the faculty made it a point to come and meet with me and talk to me. I sat with five professors that I might be working with and they questioned me with all kinds of things I wasn't quite ready for. It was much different than my meeting at Arcadia. It made me realize that...I really really really really want to stick with Archaeology. I love it too much to stay away. I had a blast just chatting with the professors.

Then they actually introduced me to some of the students already in the program and I sat and chatted with them for a bit. Bryn Mawr doesn't have just one library. It's awesome. I'm sure that all Universities with grad school programs are like that, but I was so excited about it. The archaeology, history, and classical studies department all share the library. It was full of all kinds of awesome books that I was ravenous to grab up. It was really nice to chat with the students. I learned a lot from them.

Overall I think the whole thing went pretty well and Bryn Mawr is definitely staying at the top of my list!! XD

Worst Day of Work Ever

2009-10-22T13:33:00.002-04:00

I feel so horrible. Lunch was going really well today until the older kids came in. It was picture day so everyone got to dress down and wear whatever they wanted so I think they were a little hyper. Well, 8th grade cleaners who wipe down the tables after lunch everyday were spraying some of the other kids and so I had the entire class stay up in their homeroom with their teacher to talk about it. They all got checks. I've had to tell mostly everyone at one point or another. All of them. Got checks. It's Paul's first check (surprise, mom) and it was from his big sister. I'm sure it was Isabel's first check, too. I actually sat in my car and cried about it for about 5 minutes afterward. I don't think I can give another check again.

I always use it to threaten the kids and yell at them when they're misbehaving, but I've never used it ever, and now I never will again. ;___;

2009-10-13T06:49:00.002-04:00

You know, I believe I have made the right choice as far as choosing a job goes. I don't dread waking up and going to work. I only dread working at the school all day and then working at the home all evening because it's just so tiring. I've been nervous about certain parts of working at the school, for instance, today. I'm subbing for the Language Arts teacher for the 6th, 7th, & 8th grade. She also teaches Tech. I haven't had to teach any of the older grades yet. Little kids are easier to teach. I really enjoy what I'm doing, but I think I enjoy it even more by believing that this time next year I'll be well into the swing of grad school instead of working again.

However, I shall never turn down a substituting opportunity, for it adds greatly to my income! Yay for finally feeling comfortable about paying back student loans! It only took 2 months, but I'm not a-scared of you anymore, student loans! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Now if only I could strangle the insurance company into cooperating and giving me my damned health coverage back!!!!

2009-09-30T13:28:00.002-04:00

It appears I am working myself into a routine, finally. I just need to find a way to keep myself from spending my money so fast. I don't really get it because the only thing I spend money on in gas and food. Ok, so this past weekend I did spend quite a bit, but it was for Melissa's birthday! And actually, "quite a bit" is relative to how much money was actually in the bank - I spent most of it, but I really only spent maybe $60? For a drive down to Maryland, then riding the metro all weekend, buying dinner, and going to a comic convention, I think that's pretty damned good. Especially with Melissa's help in using her Cost Co card for gas that was only $2.12 a gallon! woot woot! However, I think there will be less weekend spending than that, usually.

Last night I did some mega cleaning. It was weird! haha. My mom asked if I could either dust or vacuum when I got home from work and she would do whichever I didn't. I dusted. When the boys got home, I made them do the windows and empty the dishwasher while I made spaghetties. After dinner...I vacuumed. Everything. Couches, corners, my own room. My room REALLY needed to be vacuumed. haha. There were actually piles of dog hair, blech. The dog never really came into my room before, but now that I'm usually the only one home for points during the day, she insists on keeping me company by sitting next to me while I'm on the computer. Silly doggy.

I'm so excited, I talked to my boss about my work schedule for October, and I now have the routine of working every other Saturday instead of every Saturday. Yay! I don't want to be a loser and work every weekend! My weeks are still gonna suck, but hey, what can ya do. Money's gotta come in.

I need more books to read. I really need to try to get to the library. Anyone have any good books they're willing to lend me? I'm going to make Stuart bring a couple when he comes over on Sunday. haha.

DENISE! um. I guess we should try to get together on Friday sometime. Damn, I work 4-8:30. um. We'll figure it out. Morning would probably be best. :/

EDIT: Actually, I think I may be getting sick of this. I want to get out. Fast. I want to be back in a university setting and I want to keep learning. A message on facebook from a former professor reminded me how much I really really really want to go back. Application researching NOW.

2009-09-09T14:16:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been quite a while. I did not realize that it's been nearly a whole month since my last post! Work is going well. I started today as the lunch room supervisor at the grade school. It went well, though we'll see what happens when kindergarten joins them! It's always a nice relief to have the other kids come in. You don't have to look after them, walk around as much, they're more laid back. Monday is my first full day working there. I'll be the art aid! Yay! I love art!!! heehee. Tomorrow is my first experience working two jobs in one day - we'll see how tired I am by the end of the day.

Does anyone have some good books for me to read? My supply is quickly dwindling, and the one I bought of Amazon two and half weeks ago has until tomorrow to arrive before I send an angry email demanding my $9.98 back! I have other books I'd like to buy. I just finished the one my grammom lent me: Sarah's Key. Boy, if you're looking for a real cry fest, try this one out! I'm going to try out the local libraries. I've avoided them for about 8 years now because they were always horrible. If I needed research for simple 5 page papers in high school (nothing too scholarly, something one should be able to find in any library) it was completely non-existent in these libraries. Maybe their pleasure-reading material will be better. Though the stuff I like to read may not be there. I'm especially hoping to read up various religious theologies, and especially east Asian books on meditation. I miss my Kendo meditations. I need to start them over again. Right now I'm especially looking for a Buddhist author named Thich Nhat Hanh. I have no idea how that is properly pronounced.

I've begun my serious investigation of new graduate schools. My list consists of 11 (it would be 12 but I've already crossed one off). I'd like to have 15 to narrow down to 8 and then apply to those 8. Better save up the money for that! Some places are only $50 for an application, but others can be up to $90! I've really only looked thoroughly into Catholic University, but I'm working on it!

My list is:

Catholic University in Washington, DC - Department of Semitic & Egyptian Languages & Cultures (THEY HAVE AKKADIAN AND UGARIT!!!!)
Johns Hopkins University - Northwest Semitic Languages & Literatures
Bryn Mawr College Graduate Program - Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology
University of Pennsylvania - Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC - Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages
Arcadia University
Georgetown University
Yale University
Cornell University
Boston University
Indiana University of PA

That's what I've got so far. Working hard at it. Now all I have to do is look up scholarships and such. I'll be looking into my various honors societies (Phi Kappa Phi, Theta Alpha Kappa, Phi Sigma Iota) and become a member of ASOR and SBL and look more into Fulbright scholarships/fellowships, and then I'll have 6 places where I can get financial aid from besides the university and the government. Maybe I'll read up on Obama's speech and see what he had to say, lol. I haven't heard it yet.

And you know what else? Working isn't so bad afterall. I was afraid of starting to work. If you find something you at least enjoy, it's not all bad. All I could think about was work that I didn't want to do, but what I have now isn't too bad. I'm just not going to settle in because there is NO WAY I'm not getting to grad school next year.

Alright, I'm getting back to work now. tooles.

The real work starts...

2009-08-14T20:36:00.002-04:00

I had work again today. Man, what an initiation. Everyone was doing exceptionally well and there was actually a lot of lag time. We even put the Phillies game on. Then it hit. At 7:30 we started putting everyone to bed. 7 out of 8 had the WORST dirty diapers you could imagine! OMG, it was horrendous.

My supervisor laughed and said, "Well how's that for your initiation!" haha. I go back again tomorrow for my first full weekend shift. We're taking the kids on an outing to the carnival in Emmaus! The aid I worked with tonight is working again tomorrow. Everyone there is just so pleasant to work with, I'm so glad. It has it's drama, of course, but it's really very tame - the worst of it comes from the consumers' families.

Tonight my parents went out for dinner with the Washko's and the Sounder's and the Washko boys are spending the night here. I'm going to see if they haven't found the oreo ice cream yet and try and eat it sneakily before they notice I have it. >.<

(Grammom: that smile face is supposed to be someone squeezing their eyes really tight - "><" - and pursing their lips - "." hahaha)

Oh! Speaking of Grammom! We went to Washington, DC yesterday! It was a blast. I'll have to put the pictures up soon! We went to Arlington Cemetery and saw the Kennedy graves and the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldiers; Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, Vietnam memorial, WWII memorial; and the Museum of Natural Sciences - my favorite #nerd alert!!!

The Beach The Beach The Beach!!!!!!

2009-08-10T23:04:00.000-04:00

Yay!!!! I'm going to the shore tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited!!!! I haven't been to the Jersey shore in 2 years!!!! I miss it! We're just going down for the day because we don't have enough money to stay for more than that, but that's ok with me. As long as I can sit on the beach and go swimming and walk on the boardwalk and get ice cream and boardwalk fries and salt water taffy. We're planning on leaving bright and early - by 6:30. Eric's been giving it a hard time and arguing against going down so early, but he's always a scrooge, especially when it comes to the shore. I set my alarm for 4:30 so I can shave and make coffee and breakfast because I want to get down there asap!

Today was also my first day of work at the Bally house for LifePath. I was pretty nervous because I've never had to care for people before. It was actually really nice. My fellow coworkers are super nice and great to work with. They did a good job teaching me everything and after about an hour of showing me around the house (showing me where charts, meds, equipment are, etc) and showing me all the paperwork, I dove in with feeding the consumers. At the end of the shift, I also helped change diapers before bedtime (totally need to work on that) and helped put them to bed. They are such pleasant people to work with, I'm so happy. And the consumers are very responsive; I think I'm going to get attached real easy.

When I came home my dad told me that Mrs. Schleeweiss had called for me. She's the principle at St. Philip's. She wants me to help out as an art aid and on lunch duty this year - she even said that she already has like, 4 dates where she knows she needs a sub and wants me to do it! I'm calling her first thing Wednesday and telling her YES! That means I'll have a job and can stop trying to look for something and can actually start a very in-depth search for a loooong list of grad schools to apply to. I was feeling quite overwhelmed having to look for a job AND grad schools at the same time. Maybe now I can sign up for some night classes at MontCo for French/German/PoliSci courses to boost up my transcripts.

See? Things always find a way to work themselves out. You just have to keep hope! :D

FIN!

2009-07-14T08:13:00.003-04:00

WOOOO! We just finished our last day on the Tel!!!! We finished with enough time for Lesley, Marcella, and I to pull a prank on Cameron and Adam (we took pottery from our dump pile and filled Adam's bag). haha. There was even enough time for him to prank us back and put it all in my bag. booo. Sweeping was tough, though I got to sweep some in the "sondage" area. Man, those ramparts/glacis are pretty sweet. You can see everything around the tel from that view. I should have gotten a photo... I still have tomorrow, I'm one of the "gazelles". haha. We leave at 5am.

"Gazelles" are what we call the small, agile people who are taken up to the tel for final photos. They're chosen for size because they give a good scale for what is found (and don't make pillars look like little rocks), and also for agility because they have to hop around the fields on stones/rocks/etc without leaving footprints. I've always enjoyed being a gazelle. You get to see an essential part of the publishing for the excavations.

I'm patiently waiting for my milk shake... Dan took a group to Elvis Burger and didn't invite Lesley, Marcella, or me, so we talked him into getting us milk shakes if we gave him the money. I can't wait! mm...coffee milk shake...

Anywho, I'm just so excited that it's all done and all that's left is paperwork! I had to give a brief update. You most likely will not hear from me until...next Monday, unless I seriously seriously need a break from paperwork. I just want to blow through it all as fast - yet tediously! - as I can.

Mom, dad, grammom, anyone else: If you would like to contact me, email me! It's the easiest way at this point. :) Love you all and I'll be home in5 days!!!! wooooo!!!!