getting blown away on the bayou

Well, here's the thing: I now live in hurricane country. In other news, it's Wednesday evening during my first week of grad school and by some lucky series of events (which will soon be revealed), I am done with class until next Wednesday at 3:00. Fabulous much? Yes. Well here's an update on life:

1) I had my first grad school class Monday night. 6-9. "Old French & Medieval Literature." All hopes that the class wouldn't actually last until 9 were shattered when our professor lectured for 3 hours. Good news: It seems interesting, and I haven't read a whole lot of medieval literature before. Bad news: We have to read medieval literature in the original Old French. Which, by the way, doesn't look like French at all to me. It looks like Latin to me. Upon my first impression, the words don't look French, the grammar doesn't look French, therefore to me, it's not French. It's not my French. It's foreign. Oh and I had to order a totally new dictionary and grammar for it for 62,33 Euro, which is a good indication that a) if the language requires a new dictionary and grammar, it's clearly a whole new beast and b) I'm now poor because 62,33 Euro is a lot of money in American moolah. Anyway, this class intimidates me and it is going to cost me a whole lot of time and effort... but it'll be an experience!

2) I had my second grad school class today. 3-6. "La Carte du moi: Mapping the Self in 17th-century France." All hopes that the class wouldn't actually last until 6 were... not shattered. We pretty much just introduced ourselves, talked over the syllabus, and went over the fact that "if there's a hurricane next week, we'll meet the week after that, just do the readings!" Fantastic. I'm not in Kansas anymore...or North Texas, for that matter. I've traded tornadoes for hurricanes... we'll see how I feel about that. Anyway, class totalled about 45 minutes, and then it was done! Wonderful.

3) I still don't know what I'm doing for work yet, other than the fact that I've been chosen for "Friends of French Studies." Apparently, it's an organization of people in the university and the community who love French, for one reason or another. There's one student who works with Friends of French, and now it's me! Surprise! So that's pretty exciting. I like friends, I like French. Done and done.

4) My Friday class is cancelled for the first day... and Monday is Labor Day... so no class until next Wednesday! Friends of French tomorrow, and that's it! Fun times USA.

5) Hurricane Fay blew her lovely rains all up in Baton Rouge on Sunday, and now our good friend Gustav is apparently headin' on over. Marvelous. I went to get gas tonight, and they were out of regular gas. I had to get plus. I'm probably going to get blown away when Gustav arrives this weekend... but don't worry. If all the woodland creatures start heading for higher ground, I'll refugee myself somewhere safer. Oh and by the way, I won't have to look far for woodland creatures. I've got enough spiders in my room and even a lizard somewhere around here (that I cannot find in order to catch... scary?) to give me a fair amount of warning.

Over & out.

new places, new faces...

Here I am, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, living in a teeny, expensive apartment with Magnolia trees outside located not too far from the school which in 4 days, I'll attend. The unpacking is STILL coming along, and I take comfort in the fact that eventually it will be done and the first place that has ever been completely and totally mine. Feelings so far? a) I'm absolutely loving my independence and living alone. I think everyone should do this at one point or another. b) I'm feeling a bit melancholy about the fact that I really am not going back to Lubbock. I mean I've "known" it for a while, but I've caught myself several times this summer saying "Oh, when I go back to Lubbock for the fall..." and now it's really hitting me. Graduating early = all my friends are still in Lubbock, and I will miss them all so much! My old apartment, my roommates, my friends from all groups, my classmates and professors, my coworkers and office... it feels so weird to know that all of that will just go on without me while I'm a zillion miles away. Okay, this one's getting sad, so next emotion... c) I'm nervous about classes... first day of grad classes? I feel too young to be doing this, unprepared, like I'm going to completely forget the last six years of my life during which I've been learning this little thing I like to call the French language. I'll probably forget the word for "cheese" on my first day of class or something terrifyingly humiliating like that, but we'll see how it goes. And finally... d) I'm excited about the fact that I get a fresh start! New place, new people, new life! It's a world of new and I'm ready to take it on. I've already been warmly welcomed by the other students in the department, and I'm excited to meet more people in the French department and otherwise! So on this super-long initial post, let's end on that happy note: while I'm so thankful for everything in my life up until this point and I miss all the people who've influenced me and played a part in that life (DFW, Lubbock, and elsewhere... ), I am excited and ready for all of the new I'm about to encounter!