Thursday

Well, Classical Egyptian I might just kill me.  Which makes me think Classical Egyptian II will also be brutal.  (The same professor teaches both.)  He focuses mostly on parsing verbs.  (Parsing verbs means describing them as completely as possible.  Example: He dances.  'dances' is the 3rd person, combined gender, singular, active, present, etc. etc.)  Normally,  I find parsing to be sort of fun.  But when it comes to Egyptian it's absolutely terrifying.  It's exceptionally complicated, first of all.  And I never actually learned how to do it.  My Egyptian classes focused more on learning basic grammar and vocabulary so you could gain quick reading ability.  It wasn't about analyzing the heck out of the grammar.  Of course, grammar analysis is what I'm most interested in, but yikes, I'm way behind.  Yikes yikes.  Oh well, it'll be fun.

After class I went shopping with the ISN board gals.  We were looking for shirts for our logo, and some sort of accessory to set us apart.  We looked in every shop in the Harlemerstraat, it seems, and finally decided on some shirts.  And bellydance belts!  :-)  We each have one in the colors of the ISN logo.  I'm the green one.  I was actually not the one who decided on belly dance belts, but I thought it was a fun idea.

I took a power nap, and studied some Egyptian in the Common Room before my 5 o'clock Mastaba seminar.  I was afraid that this was going to be my most boring class, but after the first class I'm pretty convinced it's going to be my favorite.  This is mostly because of the professor, Sasha.  He's from somewhere around India, and he's absolutely amazing.  He clearly loves what he does.  He's dead set on making sure we learn something, but he refuses to just tell us what to think. He wants us to look at the tombs and come to our own conclusions.  He just has such a refreshing professorial method.  Most professors have their idea, and will sometimes listen to your arguments, but will probably just dismiss them in the end.  This guy is just so much more open.  He's not just another dusty Egyptologist.  He seems wise.  Maybe he'll be my advisor.

He also has this funny way of saying very cliché things as if he's the first person to ever say it.  And somehow it really seems like he's the first person to ever say it.  It's like he can break down the cliché and expose the wisdom underneath.  

After class we had the Info session for the international kids.  I signed up a bunch of people for Dutch courses.  Then about 20 of us hung out in the common room for a while.  Mostly watching Joanjo or Jop, or Allen playing Fifa video games.  I also met a girl from Colombia named Laura who seems really cool.  I think she's a dancer and an actress.  She studies International Relations here.  She really misses her family.  She's only been here since Monday!  

Things are really starting to happen now.  I have lots of homework and lots of parties, and friends are starting to flood in.   

The weather today was perfect until about 8, when it started raining.  Jop, the one Dutch guy there said "You can't change the weather, so there's no use complaining about it."  Which I thought was wise, and probably explains why the Dutch are some of the happiest people in the world.

Wednesday

Today was supposed to be my major filled with classes day, but my seminar about mastaba tombs got moved to Thursday.  So now, my Wednesday goes from 9-11 and then I have a break until my 3:15 class.  Phew.  

I had my Classical Egyptian II class today.  Turns out the teacher is an American, and he was thrilled to have another American in the class.  He kept asking me questions about where I was from, and where I've studied, and under whom and this and that.  And he's super strange.  I don't think the Dutch kids have ANY idea how to take this guy.  First of all, he talks with and NPR voice, only he says really common things.  So, in his soft, NPR way he'll be like "Oh, look over here!  This is Djoser's pyramid.  And what's this?  Pepy's funerary temple."  Very very strange.  He also has an extremely odd sense of humor.  Very American in some ways (ie. mucho sarcasm) but still very very odd.  Most of the time the Dutch kids just sort of looked at him like he was sort of insane.  

During my huge long break I ate an AMAZING lunch of corn soup and a veggie Bami block (curried rice, veggies and chilis in a little breaded and baked square.)  SO GOOD.  I also studied Coptic.  In the actual Coptic class we mostly just attempted to read some words out loud, but we also learned some cool stuff.  Like, in Coptic the tense marker is often on the subject and not on the verb!  So, to say:  A boy biked  in Coptic you'd say:  edaboy bike!  Weird!  And that's just the second day!  Can't wait til we get past the alphabet!

After class I had a bit of free time, so I studied some more Coptic.  Then we had our first ISN-R board meeting.  It lasted almost 3 hours, but we got a lot of good stuff organized.  Afterwards we all went to International night at Café Einstein.  I met up with Joanjo (pronounced like Juan) and met a Venezuelan guy named Carlos who said he'd like to speak Spanish with me once I learn some verbs.  Haha.  I wish I could have stayed a bit longer, but I have class (Egyptian I) in the morning. 

The ISN-R girls and I are going shopping at 11:30 for some sort of accessory that will distinguish us as ISN-R at parties.  There's apparently this very complex social network among student organizations.  Each group organizes what's called a constitutieborrel (constitutional drink they call it in English) which is a very strange and complex party to celebrate (as I understand it) the formation of the new groups.  Each student organization comes, stands in line for hours to sign up to give the host organization gifts, and then waits for their name to be called to give the gift.  Apparently there's also a guy with a huge stick who bangs on the ground and calls out the names of the organization.  Every body dresses up and schmoozes while they're waiting to be called to present the gift.  We were all given written instructions on how to act!  Intense!  But totally something I'm going to be good at!  ;-)

Lolpod:  I was headed to the Plexus building to get lunch and study, and I pulled around to the bike parking area where I always park my bike.  I got there and stopped and was really confused for a moment and didn't know why.  Then I realized:  I was on foot.  No bike.  Sigh.

Strange Moment of Universal Alignment:  I was listening to an old NPR podcast about the first day of the Olympics.  They were talking about a special area where blind Chinese people could gather and "watch" the games.  They had special sound equipment, and even a commentator who gave blow by blow coverage of each event.  I thought it was an interesting story, so I stopped what I was doing for a moment to glance out my window and listen.  Just as the story ended, a blind Asian man walked down the street outside!  I can't say for certain that he was Chinese, but what are the odds of a blind Asian man walking by just as you're listening to a story about blind Asian people?!  I mean, really!  

Thank you Universe, I'm paying attention!  :-)

When the Student is Ready

Today was absolutely gorgeous.  The sun shone ALL DAY.  Not a cloud in the sky.  All Day!  Gorgeous!  Julia and I sat in the café in the courtyard of our building and talked for a long time.  She's so great!  I'm glad the Universe brought her to me.  :-)

After hanging with Julia for a while, I went to the ISN Common Room to answer e-mails.  I met Fei, the Treasurer of the ISN board and we hung out for a while.  Then some international kids wandered in.  Helen from Scottland, Miguel from Mexico.  And a Spanish guy whose name I simply cannot pronounce but is spelled Joanjo.  We had a great time chatting, talking about how weird Holland is, and trying to figure out what Joanjo wanted to say.  His English isn't great, but he's determined to learn, so he just keeps talking.  Of course, he immediately went from "So what do you study" to "So who will win the election!"  Haha, love it.  After ISN closed, Joanjo and I went to the Plexus building for some coffee and chatted some more about life in Holland.  Turns out he lives in my building.  I think I'll meet up with him, and possibly Julia and Vanessa, maybe Susanne, Yohann, who knows, and go to International Night at Café Einstein.  I think working in the Common Room is going to be the most rewarding thing I do in the Netherlands!  I can't wait!

I went to Wushu afterwards, and it felt amazing.  I just can't get over how concentrated I get during Wushu, and how focused I can be.  :-)  Afterwards, I had a very Zen Kung-Fu movie moment.  There was an older Chinese woman watching the class and helping out, giving suggestions.  A real Wushu master.  After class, I was standing outside alone waiting for the rain to stop and she came up to me and said "I was watching you in class.  You're very flexible.  You must come to my Tai Chi class."  I nodded and then she left.  So, I feel like I totally have to go to her Tai Chi class.  :-)  When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.  

The rain didn't stop, and in fact, it only got harder, so I just rode out into it.  I've decided that there must be something growing in my soul that needs a lot of water.  It ended up feeling great, and I got home refreshed and feeling good.

First Day of School

First day of classes!  The school year begins!  Woot!  I only have one class on Monday:  Sahidic Coptic.  

Coptic is the last of five stages of the ancient Egyptian language.  (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic, Coptic)  Coptic was spoken in Egypt around the time the Greeks and Romans were hanging out there (think Cleopatra, give or take a century or two) so, it's written with Greek characters, plus seven or so characters that derive from hieroglyphs.  Since Coptic uses the Greek alphabet (which has vowels) we know the vowel system of Coptic, unlike in earlier stages of Egyptian (which don't have characters for vowels.)  Coptic stopped being spoken as a vernacular at some point but it was still used as a liturgical language within the Coptic Christian church.  Is still used by the Coptic church.  So there you go.  :-)

The class is going to be interesting.  It's Egyptian, written in Greek characters, the book is in English, but the professor teaches in Dutch....  Phew! But there are only like 8 of us in the class, and the prof said I could ask or answer questions in English if I need to, so it shouldn't be soooo bad.  Still, phew.  I'm beginning to think I have drawn the attention of the god of random combinations of languages.  I don't know if I've pleased or angered him though.  :-)

After class I went home and watched Black Adder, and listened to NPR.  Then I met up with Susanne and had a coffee and chatted for a while.  Then I went to Wushu.

There were a lot of new people this week.  I haven't done any jumping around or Kung-Fu in the past few weeks (though I did trek around in Spain a little bit) so I was a bit concerned I would wuss out, but things went well.  Better than well, actually: we learned some sword forms!!!  We just did the first, basic, level zero forms, but I felt so powerful.  Feel so powerful.  So in control.  Ahhh.

Afterwards I went to the ISN Common Room and met with Grace, the president, to get info about my new job as ISN board member.  Apparently, I'm in charge of a whole lot of stuff.  I'm the secretary, first of all.  On top of that, I'm Project Manager.  This means I'm in charge of projects.  Like signing students up for Dutch Language courses.  And making an F.A.Q. folder for the students.  And a scrapbook of news articles of interest to International students.  And making up and compiling the results of a housing questionnaire.  And the results of a questionnaire to various professors about their various policies toward international students.  There are apparently a LOT of differences between professors, and departments when it comes to international kids, and whether they're allowed extra time on Dutch exams and/or dictionaries, or if they're allowed to ask for tests in English.  We're trying to get some overarching guidelines, but for now we're just asking each study advisor what their policies are, and posting it for students to see.  And I'm in charge of that.... I'm also supposed to go to as many ISN events as possible.  Forced to go to parties, rough life!  :-)

So, phew, I've got quite a bit on my plate right now, but I think it's all going to be wonderful.  

After talking with Grace, I rode my bike home and watched Boondock Saints.  I love that movie. It's entirely too violent, but there are some really beautiful parts.  Good stuff.

 

I rode my bike home from ISN and was just filled with the beauty of the night.  It's fall now, there's no doubt.  The air isn't just cold, it has that bite to it that autumn brings.  And I just let it fill me.  The light dancing off the canal.  The faces of people, laughing and drinking wine, blurred through the wavy restaurant windows.  I wondered for a moment why I so fully embrace the chill in the air now that it's September, but resented it so completely in August.  But I let that thought slide away with the rest of them, and just felt and appreciated the air.   

Reset Button

My friend Joan was experiencing a cascade of annoying physical symptoms -- mediocre digestion, mild headaches, chronic congestion in her ear, itchy skin. None was terrible, but together they were a big distraction. After two trips to her regular acupuncturist, there was little improvement. The acupuncturist decided it was time for more drastic measures: He was going to try a dramatic treatment that was akin to pushing a reset button on a machine. Success! Joan was freed from the nagging ailments and experienced a thorough rejuvenation. I suggest you seek out the equivalent treatment, Libra: Push the reset button. 

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Something I Have Recently Learned

Once the thing you were most afraid of has happened to you, you have the opportunity to live completely free from fear.

As the plane touched down, my heart started glowing, and the faces of the passengers were lit by the dancing points of red made by my heart light shining through my tears.

Super Extra Mega Long Entry

Well, I didn't get taken off to the Casbah.  Too bad, if you ask me.  But Spain was amazing anyway!  I'll try to give an interesting run-down of what I experienced.

On the 29th of August, I flew off to Spain.  My flights were sort of nerve wracking, and I was pretty convinced at one point that we were all going to die.  The landing in France was pretty awful.  As soon as I got to Madrid I got lost.  My hostel was located in a perfect location, right next to the metro, but sadly next to the line that was being worked on and was therefore closed.  Haha.  So I wandered around Madrid for hours trying to find my hostel.  The streets are sort of twisty, and I didn't have a map.  Though, I also didn't really feel any rush to get to the hostel, so I took my time.  The place itself was nice, and I met a few Swedish girl who were also nice.  The night was rather rough since the windows were open (the AC was out, and most of the girls in the room couldn't take it) and there was a club across the street.  PARTY ALL NIGHT!

The rest of my time in Madrid was unremarkable.  I've been to Madrid 3 times now, and I'm just not that impressed.  It's a big city.  I had a good time wandering the streets though, and I did meet some rather interesting folks.  A nice night of card games with a Dutch girl, a German girl, a Brazlian and an American guy who now claims Canada.  Then off to Salamanca!

Only, thanks to the construction I arrived at the train station 15 min after my train left, so I had to wait almost 3 hours for the next one.  I was bummed, so I bought some dumb novel in English and read for a while.  Such poor writing!  Then a Spanish guy, Stalin (though pronounced something closer to Eh-Stah-leeeen) came and attempted to have a conversation with me.  Naturally, he spoke no English, so Spanish it was.  Which meant, it was a VERY interesting conversation, since I know Sesame Street Spanish.  He also spoke super fast and mumbly, so there was little hope for me.  I think we talked about music and movies and boyfriends, but, wow, you know, I could be completely wrong.  We had a great time though!  Hahaha.  

Spain is painfully beautiful.  It's all yellows and greens in this part, all yellows and greens and short beautiful trees and tall beautiful mountains.  The trip from Madrid to Salamanca is just breathtaking.  Hard not to feel a pull from this country.  

I arrived in Salamanca and met up with Rob and Berni.  The first hours were dedicated to finding Berni an apartment. We stumbled upon this perfect place filled with Spanish people who were super nice.  They had a cat though, and Berni's allergic.  Still, we hung out for a while, and the Spaniards had some American buddies over and everyone spoke Spanish that was thankfully almost completely understandable.  Even I managed to speak a few sentences!  :-D

Berni started his language courses on Monday, so Robert and I dropped him off there and checked out the city.  Salamanca rocks.  Gorgeous cathedral which brought us both into a calm mood.  We also managed to find a really nice garden overlooking the river.   

My days have gotten confused now, and I don't remember all that we did in Salamanca in order anymore.  There was a lot of walking around, and a whole lot of speaking Spanish.  Berni found an awesome apartment with a bunch of Spanish guys.  Very crash pad.  Ping-pong table in the living room.  Next to the back seat of a car....  Huge pig leg on the kitchen counter (it's apparently normal in Spain to eat entire pig legs, and apparently also to just leave them lying around.)  All Spanish all the time.  And I could understand them! ;-)  

On Wednesday Robert and I decided to check out Portugal.  So we jumped in the car and drove west.  Portugal is like (a whole nother country!) an entirely different planet.  I hadn't expected the landscape to be so different.  It's just strange.  Huge round rocks everywhere, often stacked on top of each other.  Lots of shrubby bushes, and rocks.  Beautiful though.  We arrived in a tiiiny little town called Espinho, and immediately ran to the beach.  The waves were huge and crashing, just beautiful.  It does my little water spirit good to see the ocean now and then. 

We also managed to get to Porto, which is a decent sized town just north of Espinho.  Porto was amazing.  Imagine the twisty streets and jumbled buildings you'd expect in cities in South America.  Laundry drying on lines strung above the streets.  Cats curled up against rock walls, or lounging in crumbling window sills, or running down stone steps.  Beautiful, really.  Just beautiful.  

This weekend there's also the Red Bull Air Race in Porto.  It's a combo-airshow/race thing, and it apparently attracts ridiculous crowds.  They were expecting 2 million people this year!  Which is a world record, apparently.  Fortunately, we got out just in time.  After a few days of lazing around, watching the Portuguese rain fall in Portuguese torrents on the strangely jungle-like Portuguese forest, and of course, splashing in and being splashed by the Portuguese ocean, we packed up and headed back to Salamanca to chill with Berni one last time.

Then we headed on to Madrid, but didn't make it that far.  We stopped in Ávila, which is a smallish town just between Salamanca and Madrid.  Such a cool town.  It still has it's medieval walls, and it's just cool.  We found a place to stay, and hit the streets.  It was about 10pm, and there was a Ren Fair (or, as Robert corrected me, a middle ages market) taking place in the city, so we joined the party.  

Everyone was dressed up, from the babies to the old folks, and the costumes were beautiful.  There were even lots of medieval Arabs around!  There were mini-parades with music, and once they even dragged a prisoner through the streets complete with flaming torches.  There were stands selling everything.  Handmade jewelry, loose tea, herbs, handmade candles, swords.  A man was making shoes, another was writing Arabic calligraphy.  There were huge grills filled with cooking meat, and a huge pot filled with boiling water and octopus.  There was a stand filled with toys, and lanterns and trumpets hung from the ceiling.  Just a great festival of movement and music.  Robert bought me a pair of handmade poi, and then we danced and danced in a huge crowd to a group of drummers and pipers.  Truly an amazing night.

This morning Madrid.  Airport.  I'm home.