This past week a lot has happened. The most important is my discovery of the city of Annapolis. The past couple of days the weather has been a little cooler so I have been more willing to explore the city. About 2 blocks from campus is State Circle, which has the court house. It is SOOO gorgeous. The other night I sat on the rooftop of a friend's house and just looked at it. I almost let out a Charsh-like "UmH!"
Not only that, but a few blocks from the statehouse (about 5 minutes from campus) is a gorgeous dock area. There are so many yachts, kayaks, and sailboats and people there enjoying the area all the time. There are several adorable shops and such that are CRAZY busy all the time as well as some really interesting shopping locations. They will be nice on a day when I need a small pick-me-up! Yesterday was the first rainy day of the year, so I got dressed up in my rain boots, raincoat, and umbrella and walked around. It was interesting to see the historical district, and the houses around it. There are some really pretty houses that look very out of place in this area.
I am currently not napping because I have passed a very important milestone in my life--coffee. I have now successfully completely drank two cups of coffee in my entire life. I am so very proud of myself. However, I made a cup today that had so much milk in it that it was barely lukewarm by the time I took my first sip. Apparently it is a bad idea to drink a cup of coffee before your planned nap. But, hey! I'm learning!!
I officially got drafted to the girl's intermural league and I'm on the blue team, the Blue Barracudas. We lost our first game, but in our defense we had 3 less players on the field than the other team and no subs. We all played really well. I'm very impressed with myself because even though I am not very good at soccer, I am able to hold my own in this league. Last game I headed the ball in the direction I wanted it to go and the game before that I actually scored a goal! I'm SOOO proud of myself. Although, no one here seems to get that excited about sports. Oh well, small victories.
I've made friends with some people in the other freshman dorm and they're awesome! One kid, Vincent actually transferred from UD last year as well. He is HILLARIOUS and really fun to be around. Everyone here is a nerd in their own way, so it is cool to be able to be whoever you want to be. I've finally begun to come to terms with my inability to meet people, but I have been trying. Although I still do enjoy the peacefulness of my own room.
On Saturday the film society played their first film "Play it again, Sam" which was very good. Very funny. After that, I got dressed up to go to the Sock Hop, or "Waltz Party." The lessons on Tuesday nights are fun to go to because I meet people, and learn about dancing! Last week we learned to lean and to dip. It looks really cool once you know what you're doing, but I'm terrified of trusting guys that much to let them dip me. Also, my "tension" is incorrect. But, I'm learning. Yey me!
Tonight's Seminar is over books 9-16 of the Odyssey. After reading the Iliad, my seminar had a very difficult time discussing the Odyssey. However, hopefully tonight will be better. The last Iliad seminar was such an amazing experience because we were all so excited about it and were beginning to be able to talk to each other. Hopefully we'll learn to continue to do this, but last Thursday it did not work. For Thursday, we are finishing the Odyssey and then we'll read Plato's Meno for a week from Today.
I am also currently annotating Parts of Animals by Aristotle for lab, which is so super interesting! After our first lab reading, Theophrastus, I was a little annoyed and not excited for lab at all...even though they let me color for two hours. But, Aristotle has a very interesting way of thinking, and I'm very excited about it. It really does take me forever to read because I get distracted so easily. Hopefully this year I will be able to get my studies back on track and re-learn how to focus my attention.
Ancient Greek is my worst subject right now, but I'm hoping that I can take some time to really get the hang of it. I usually almost understand by the time the exercise is over, but it's not really cemented in my brain. Hopefully the repetition and building on the basics will help :/ I'm a little terrified; languages are not my strong point.
There is a lot of construction going on outside my window, which is not awesome and often very loud. It should only take about 2 months start to finish, but that is not going to be very fun for that entire time. But, the sketches look very pretty so I'm excited to see what it looks like.
Finally, I got posters up in my room and have started stealing posters to cover the white spaces on my walls. It finally looks livable!! Plus, I've got places to store everything so my room stays clean! (Yes, Dad, ACTUALLY clean.) That's about it. I'm going back to Aristotle and Homer now, wish me luck!
