Too Busy to Write!

Hola!

Wow, it has been two weeks since I've written! I'm really sorry about that but I have not had much time to sit and reflect. My classes, homework, and various extracurricular activities have completely filled my time. Even now, there are a million other things I could be doing besides writing. But seriously, I need to clear my head a little bit instead of just pushing ahead with the work.

My classes are all going well still, which is nice. American history is a little bit boring, but at least it is not difficult or too demanding. We are talking about different people's perspectives on the Revolutionary War and the writing of the Constitution that followed. We (or at least I do) have a tendency to think that of course the Founding Fathers were right and completely justified. In reality, however, hindsight is twenty-twenty and what they did was truly radical and not everyone believed that they were doing the right thing.

Medevial Theology is going well too. We just started reading parts of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae. It is definitely not an easy read but at least his points are organized and fairly concise. Plus, the questions that my professor gives us really help mr focus on what is important. Also, I managed to find some pertinent books for my paper which is awesome. I'll probably start that next weekend (I have other papers to write this weekend).

Chaucer is moving along as well. We just wrapped up our discussion of "The Clerk's Tale" and will move onto "The Merchant's Tale" tomorrow. I am going to need to start the paper in the near future too (like next weekend probably). And for once the library was helpful with my research...go figure!

My senior seminar is going okay. She finally handed back the outline/notes of the presentation on which she gave me a B+. I'm not overly pleased with that grade because I'm a perfectionist but it definitely is not bad or anything. I also started the massive paper for this class over the weekend. I am currently about 6 and 1/2 pages of an (at least) 8 page draft (which, by the way, is half of the paper that is 15-20 pages). So that is much is good, although I'm not thrilled with the quality of the paper, but then I never really love any of my papers (until they come back with good grades one them, lol).

My Quixote class is getting on my nerves a little bit. The book is getting somewhat repetitive and dull (plus I do not have too much time to really read and digest it). And every week, when I present my chapter, I always end up feeling stupid because the professor wants perfection (I think) and I always feel like I disappoint him. But really I am doing my best and am not an expert on Quixote by any means. Whatever, I only need to focus on the test and paper for that class anyways.

Aside from classwork, my family at home is doing well:-) My younger sister is doing well at her boarding school and seems to be enjoying life.

I have also been trying to make going to the gym a more regular habit. I walked a lot in Spain and over the summer, but being at school really puts a crimp in my time. But I have been getting up a little earlier before class and spending a half hour on the treadmill. It's not much but it's better than nothing and I've been twice this week. Hopefully I will be able to keep this up even as the semester gears up and I become permanently attached to my computer.

I am looking forward to this weekend too. I do not have any fun plans, but Halloween is coming up and that always turns out to be fun. We have been decorating (our RAs put on a contest) but I think we have been outdone by some of our neighbors. Oh well, I really don't have the time or money to devote to decorating.

I think that is everything for now. It's finally about bedtime and I simply cannot wait to crawl under those covers! Happy Halloween!!! Hasta luego!!!

Another Week Has Gone By...

Hi:-)

I know I have not posted anything since Monday and really there is no good excuse or reason except that somehow the week got away from me completely. So here goes nothing as I try to play catch-up.

I had smooth transition back to classes and life here at school. Well, except for that Administrative Monday (this meant that Monday classes met on Tuesday) that the university decided would be a good idea. The good thing about this though was that I only had one class and I used the rest of the afternoon to get a few errands done. My one class was Amercian history where we talked about violence in the revolutionary war. We like to think of it as a civilized and justified war but there were definitely acts of violence that happened during that period, just like with any other war.

On Wednesday my week started to pick up a little. I had American history (again) in the morning and we talked about the role of France in the revolution and some of the reactions to the treaty. I had to stop by my professor's office hours to talk about Friday's discussion because I was assigned to lead it that day. So I just double checked my approach to the topic (why people chose to fight or not to fight) with him. Later, I had my senior seminar. Two other students did their presentation on another one of Heaney's collections (North). For dinner, my roommate and I ordered pizza and then settled down to do work.

Thursday was busy, as always. I had religion in the morning. We talked about Peter Lombard and touched upon his writings. We also got our midterms back...drumroll please...I got a 93! So I am quite pleased about that. In the afternoon, I had Chaucer. We discussed the Friar's Tale. It's a pretty good tale with a lot going on that the reader may or may not pick up on. But I can't say it's one of my favorites. My next class was Quixote. I did my chapter and the professor kept interrupting so it took half an hour to get through...ugh. We did get out on time though so I actually had time for dinner and got to my GRE Prep Class on time. We went over more math in class. Not my favorite thing, but definitely an area I need to work on. And really it is going okay.

Friday, glorious Friday, finally arrived after what had been a long four-day week. I had American history in the morning. The discussion went fairly well although no one really seems to like to talk in that class (and so I find myself participating a lot because I feel bad when the professor asks a question and no one says anything). We got our papers back...another drumroll please...I got an A-. I was sort of hoping for an A, but I'm certainly not complaining. I spent the afternoon doing laundry. Later on, my friend and I went to CVS. When my roommate got back from her awesome new internship, we all went out to dinner and did some shopping at Pentagon City. Afterwards, we ended up going out to Kelly's Irish Times because other friends of ours were there (even though we weren't dressed for going out). We hung out for awhile and saw half of our school there (I guess it's alumni weekend and also homecoming).

This morning we slept until like 10am which felt marvalous, by the way. We hung out and did homework all day. At 5:30 we headed out to Chinatown and walked around before seeing a movie (Elizabethtown, in case you're wondering). And now we are seriously contemplating bed because we are exhuasted. So, good night! Hasta Luego!

Home Sweet Home:-D

Buenas Noches!

I know it has been awhile since I've posted a new entry here. But this past week was definitely the week from hell. I had something due or a test/quiz in every class.

I wrote about Monday, so I'll start up again here with Tuesday. I had religion in the morning and Chaucer in the afternoon. In religion, we reviewed for the midterm (since when was the first week in October halfway through the semester?). In Chaucer we discussed the Wife of Bath's Prologue and did some group work. And because this was the week from hell, I had the honor of reading aloud a passage from the tale, in Middle English, to the class. It was hard, but I gave it my best shot and I think I did a fairly good job. After class, I came back to my room and started working on my paper with the goal of finishing it. Despite many interruptions, like having a friend over for dinner and having to make chicken parmesan, I managed to accomplish my goal and get the thing done by about 8pm. This was just in time to get ready and head over to the Howie Day concert being held on campus.

Wednesday was another full, crazy day. My first class was American history. We spent the hour discussing some of the reading and evaluating the British response to the colonial restistance. My next class was my senior seminar and it was my day to teach the class. I had a partner and we divided up a selection of poems from Seamus Heaney's Wintering Out. It was a stressful thing to prepare but since the teacher kept interrupting and whatnot, it went quickly and we did not get through everything we planned. I then spent the rest of the evening studying for my religion midterm.

Thursday was super-crazy (what else is new?). I had my religion midterm in the morning. It went pretty well considering the fact that I did not have too much time to study. My next class was Chaucer. We had a quick reading quiz and then continued talking about the Wife of Bath's Tale. In Spanish, we went over more chapters in Don Quixote. Then, after the fastest dinner ever, it was time for my GRE Prep Course. We spent the two and a half hours going over Kaplan's Strategies for the verbal section. They are helpful, but since the verbal section comes so naturally to me, it's not quite as necessary.

Friday morning came and suddenly everything was much better. All I had to do was hand in my history paper, sit through class, and catch my train home. The perfect ending to the week from hell; sleeping in my own bed and seeing my family:-D

Well, the weekend was a good one. The weather sucked but we did some shopping, I got to see my grandmother, we saw the new Wallace and Gromit movie, I saw the new church, and I got to spend some quality time at home. Now I'm back at school, a little more fortified for a new week. It's bedtime now, so buenas noches!

Unreliable Internet:-P

Hola!

I know it has been a long time since my last post (5 days, to be exact) but the internet here in my trailer has not been working. In fact, it is not truly working now. I just happen to be lucky enough to be picking up a wireless signal (but who knows how long that will last). Hopefully the school tech support will have this sorted out today, but then they were supposed to be here yesterday so I'm not exactly holding my breath.

Anyway, I have been very busy lately. Mostly, I have been doing homework. But I did manage to see some friends over the weekend and we had some fun. We went to Cosi for dinner and then to the movies on Saturday night.

Yesterday, it was back to the old grind of juggling classes and homework. I had American history in the morning. We talked about Thomas Paine's famous pamphlet Common Sense and how it influenced the Declaration of Independence. It was very interesting to see how one document could change so much about the attitudes of the colonists. Of course, it wasn't the only thing that drove them to seek independence, but it was a large factor in garnering support for this radical change in the status quo.

Afterwards, I had DC Reads tutoring. One of my students is an adorable little first grade girl who does not speak any English. Teaching her the basics of reading in English is going to be a major challenge, but I can tell she is smart and knows some of the basics of reading in Spanish so hopefully she will catch on. Plus, she is still very young and learning languages at that age is relatively simple. My other student is a fourth grade boy who seems to know his alphabet and simple words really, really well.

I came back and immediately settled down to do homework. I finished preping for my presention on Wednesday and got some reading for my Chaucer class done.

We made soup and grilled cheese for dinner. The only trouble was, I used the wrong pan so the grilled cheese stuck to it but oh well.

I spent the rest of the evening writing my history paper. I now have 2 1/2 pages which is awesome. Hopefully I can finish that today so I am free to study for my religion midterm on Thursday (not to mention my Chaucer quiz that same day!).

Well, I think that basically catches me up and makes up for those lost days. Hasta luego!