Alright, I'm starting to twitch...
To begin, my 4 days at Smith was EXACTLY what I'd needed. I had become rather depressed and I really think I just needed to touch base with my current comfort zone, and the knowledge that I wouldn't get to (plus that I might never see some of my friends again--those graduating) really upset me. However, now I am feeling pretty content. I got to go to Convocation (not every Smithie gets FOUR of those!!! I was excited) and as the theme was "Classical Capen" Alex, Carrie, Santina, Karen, and I put f-holes on our backs and super hot makeup, and I wore my new shirt with a Mario graphic on it, trying to combine a number of "classical" ideas without wearing a toga. I also got to go to Harrel's (the local ice cream shop).
The next day I went with Alex to Music Theory (which didn't confuse me as much as I had thought it would, although I could tell that EVERYONE in the class was ahead of me...it was all boring review for them, whereas I was dredging through Bunger Choir class memories from junior year trying to stay a fraction of an inch ahead of the prof. I did however retain a good deal from that man's methods, so I'll give him the props I owed him. Anyway, I went to Alfonso's Dante class to absorb some Italian that afternoon, but I'll be a monkey's second-cousin if that man doesn't make me fall asleep EVERY TIME. And he was talking passionately about DANTE. geez. I left at the break, probably to his confusion. It gave me some hope though, because I think the class was mostly seniors and I was following his chatter quite well. I passed out back at the house because I'd woken up at 5 and gave up on sleeping by 6:30 to go to the gym. *shakes fist at night shift adjustment* I also got to go to Banshees practice that night, which was AWESOME!!! Alex can't go because she has class at that time all semester (and what really sucks is that Natalie Haas will be in NoHo in a couple of weeks at the SAME TIME, so she can't go to that either unless she feigns illness...the level of awesome may tempt her to do just that), but she made it for the last five or ten minutes. There are a BUNCH of new people, wich is awesome, but most of them are really classically trained, so the old members are going to have to work on loosening them all up to play Celtic music.
Friday was my down day...Alex had class all day, so I read the rest of the Count of Monte Cristo (I'd had about 150 pages left when I got there) and had finished by the time everyone was back in the house. I napped again (6:30 awakening instead of 5), and then at 7 went to the Kosher Kitchen with Alex for the weekly Sabbath gathering of the Jewish org. I like the food, the company, and the singing, but I really want to learn Hebrew so I know what they're saying.
Saturday I came home, and surprised myself with a feeling of resolve, and actually no tears this time. (the exit from New York was not pretty for me) I took my grandmother to church on Sunday, the pianist and I had lost my music, so had to quickly find a song for me to sing, and during the service I sang "Morning has Broken." I like that one. The preacher was joking around and saying I should do the next one in Italian, so we're going to surprise him next week. All I have to do is find an Italian song I want to sing and give the pianist the chords/music. ^_^ After church I packed all of the clothes I'll need in Italy, minus the ones in the dirty clothes basket, which will be washed in a few days.
I worked last night, and although a few delayed tears from the Smith trip escaped during the hours of solitary cleaning, and thus reflection, it was pretty uneventful. I'm really glad I figured out how to feed the TV sound through the speaker system though. Much more interesting. I work tonight, tomorrow night, and then that's it... Something tells me you'll get one more post before I'm in Italy, and then hopefully I'll get to continue my weekly updates. I really think I should be terrified still because I don't know what I'll be doing when I get there, I don't know who my family is, I don't know really anything about anything, other than when my flights get in, but I am so super calm about it all, and so very ready to be there, that I'm not even flipping out that I'm leaving in 8 days.
The next day I went with Alex to Music Theory (which didn't confuse me as much as I had thought it would, although I could tell that EVERYONE in the class was ahead of me...it was all boring review for them, whereas I was dredging through Bunger Choir class memories from junior year trying to stay a fraction of an inch ahead of the prof. I did however retain a good deal from that man's methods, so I'll give him the props I owed him. Anyway, I went to Alfonso's Dante class to absorb some Italian that afternoon, but I'll be a monkey's second-cousin if that man doesn't make me fall asleep EVERY TIME. And he was talking passionately about DANTE. geez. I left at the break, probably to his confusion. It gave me some hope though, because I think the class was mostly seniors and I was following his chatter quite well. I passed out back at the house because I'd woken up at 5 and gave up on sleeping by 6:30 to go to the gym. *shakes fist at night shift adjustment* I also got to go to Banshees practice that night, which was AWESOME!!! Alex can't go because she has class at that time all semester (and what really sucks is that Natalie Haas will be in NoHo in a couple of weeks at the SAME TIME, so she can't go to that either unless she feigns illness...the level of awesome may tempt her to do just that), but she made it for the last five or ten minutes. There are a BUNCH of new people, wich is awesome, but most of them are really classically trained, so the old members are going to have to work on loosening them all up to play Celtic music.
Friday was my down day...Alex had class all day, so I read the rest of the Count of Monte Cristo (I'd had about 150 pages left when I got there) and had finished by the time everyone was back in the house. I napped again (6:30 awakening instead of 5), and then at 7 went to the Kosher Kitchen with Alex for the weekly Sabbath gathering of the Jewish org. I like the food, the company, and the singing, but I really want to learn Hebrew so I know what they're saying.
Saturday I came home, and surprised myself with a feeling of resolve, and actually no tears this time. (the exit from New York was not pretty for me) I took my grandmother to church on Sunday, the pianist and I had lost my music, so had to quickly find a song for me to sing, and during the service I sang "Morning has Broken." I like that one. The preacher was joking around and saying I should do the next one in Italian, so we're going to surprise him next week. All I have to do is find an Italian song I want to sing and give the pianist the chords/music. ^_^ After church I packed all of the clothes I'll need in Italy, minus the ones in the dirty clothes basket, which will be washed in a few days.
I worked last night, and although a few delayed tears from the Smith trip escaped during the hours of solitary cleaning, and thus reflection, it was pretty uneventful. I'm really glad I figured out how to feed the TV sound through the speaker system though. Much more interesting. I work tonight, tomorrow night, and then that's it... Something tells me you'll get one more post before I'm in Italy, and then hopefully I'll get to continue my weekly updates. I really think I should be terrified still because I don't know what I'll be doing when I get there, I don't know who my family is, I don't know really anything about anything, other than when my flights get in, but I am so super calm about it all, and so very ready to be there, that I'm not even flipping out that I'm leaving in 8 days.