Initial Report

Well, I survived the first week, no thanks in large part to some sleepless nights hunched over the Eclogues and a Latin dictionary, and the copious amounts of alcohol that entered my system for Happy Hour Friday night and Girls Night Out on Saturday. Here's a quick, hopefully witty, account of the past week's experiences.

Greek, an eccentric place to start. The professor: an elderly, German prof who somehow relates everything we read/see/do to Aristotle. Most likely due to the fact that he just finished a massive tome on said subject. The more distracting aspect: his constant throat 'tick' and his thick German accent. He's been teaching here how long? Oh well. We're reading Xenophon, exciting since he's good prose, quite easy to understand. It's even a love story, however that can come across with halting translation and butchered pronunciation, we have yet to see. The first day we translated 4 words. The second, one whole whopping line. Friday's class went at the breakneck speed of 3 lines. I nearly had whiplash. This promises to be interesting.

Latin will beat me into a bloody pulp and leave me crying in a corner for the entire semester. I'm probably exaggerating. We don't have to translate that much, close to 50 lines a class, but it's the subject and vocabulary, Virgil's Eclogues. I mean how many plants and animals do I have to know? Is it really necessary to know 3-5 different words for nanny-goat or a shepherd's pipe? Honestly?! At least by the time Christmas rolls around, I'll be able to sing a few songs in Latin: pear trees, turtle doves, chestnuts and the like. What fun!

Aegean Art & Archaeology: I've practically taken this class before. Whoo prehistoric Greece and Crete and Cyclades! Woo the domestication of livestock and einkorn wheat. Exciting stuff, exciting, especially at 4pm. The company is mixed and perhaps not totally on the ball. I mean, what is stratigraphy really? A trench? What use could that be? Why do we need to date artifacts? I think this will be a sleeper save for the reading. At least the prof is energetic.

Tragedy will be fun, if only to analyze all the existential dilemmas facing me in my life as a citizen. Ha! No seriously this will be good.

But thank the gods for Friday Happy Hour. Strong pitchers of margaritas for next to nothing. Good company. And a scathing recount of undergrads to kick off the weekend. Saturday was even better. Dinner and drinks with the girls, Superbad, and the bars. Unfortunately, though I did find a semi-decent dive bar, I felt incredibly old. I mean, when 21 year olds are hitting on you with the fact that they were in an Abercrombie and Fitch poster, it feels kind of pathetic. I think we'll have to go to Denver for a more 'interesting' and 'eligible' crowd. There's always next weekend.

Now, back to the grind. Sigh. O Meliboee!

Raucous Beginnings

Last night I went to my department's "Welcome Party". I was a little nervous, but ready to meet some people. Sitting here in my apartment is driving me absolutely mad. I know what you're thinking: "Why are you sitting in your apartment? You're in Boulder for Christ's sake! Get out and hike, bike, go hippy!" All I can say is that I'm working on it. I think I'm still going through the transition, trying to get used to the idea that I have moved to a completely new place, reconciling the friends I've left behind and the ones I've yet to find. Anyway, suffice it to say, I was nervous.

So was everyone else, apparantly, at least in the beginning. The few people there were quiet, we made superficial chit chat, until the alcohol started flowing, then things became a lot easier! I found my group of archaeologists, just the first years in the beginning but soon the second years joined the group. They seemed relieved that there was such a significant number of us, that philologists didn't dominate the group. We had a smashing good time and I felt more and more at ease as I found students who would be in my classes, students, who I wanted to be in my classes.

I even chatted up the professors. Hopefully I wasn't too brash. Hopefully I didn't interrupt them in mid-speech, but they were drinking as well, they hopefully didn't notice. But it was self-affirming, knowing that I can chat with them, be on their level, really express an interest, without losing my breath, without my heart pounding, without being forced. I was proud, now I'm excited to start. It will be tough, it will be long, but I have people who have to struggle through it with me, and who just might help me along the way.

As a parting thought, I saved my shallow mentions: those eligible bachelors, who really seem to be lacking! I'm shallow, I'm okay with that. I want someone remotely goodlooking. But I think the Fates with to thwart me in every way up here in the Rockies. Every male I found somewhat appealing....wore a nice shiny ring on his left ring finger. Damn it! I can't win! I suppose I really will have to start stalking the law students or the MBA's.

Welcome to Suburbia

I didn't sincerely believe that people lived the American dream. I couldn't conceive that families lived in perfectly planned neighborhoods where houses centered on cul-de-sacs, kids rode their bikes without cares, young families strolled in the evening, and a park was never more than 15 steps away. I'm not naive. I know that there are communities and many center around parks and schools. I just never thought it was as idyllic as portrayed in movies, magazines, tv shows, etc.

It exists in Colorado. West of Denver, in the booming suburbs, sprawling neighborhoods with white picket fences dot the landscapes of green lush grash. They go on for miles upon miles! And in the evening, it's a rush to the nearest park. Kids on bikes, teens playing baseball and basketball, parents with strollers. Straight from Horatio Alger himself. It makes me sick!

Why would you want to live such a boring life. Is this what we've been brought up to desire? The cookie-cutter house, the mid-size family, the fuel-efficient SUV. I wouldn't be able to stand it. Where's the excitement? Where's the character? Where's the challenge in trying to live a unique existence or suffer through lean times with a sense of accomplishment. Instead, everyone wants to have the same life and share the exacty same dream.

How dreadfully boring...