Catching Up

Hey Everyone,

Well, I don't know how many people actually read this blog, so should I leave off the "everyone?"  Oh well, maybe I'll do it next time.

Anyway, it's been a while since my last post, and a lot of things have happened since then.  I've had several midterms, a Fall Break that was depressing, a couple of belly dance classes that were great, started attending Buddhist lectures, and made plans to go shopping for a Fedora tomorrow.  So yeah, things have been a mix of good and bad and everything in between (as is usual for everyone, I think).

So I've finally finished with midterms, but I've got language classes that have tests next week so I'm not out of the woods just yet.  I mentioned that Fall Break was depressing, and it was because we had to put down the family dog, Herbie.  It turns out that after my weekend home, he had a stroke or something and when my family took him to the vet they found a massive tumor on his spleen.  That, and he lost his ability to get up on his own, so it took me and my mom to lift him up on his feet when he needed to go outside.  So we made the hardest decision: to end his suffering before he started to really feel it.  It was a rough week after that Thursday, and it took its toll on the entire family since he was a sweet dog with a lot of personality.  I can't express how much I miss my black-and-furry little brother in words, so I won't even try.  Though I did dedicate a candle in his memory, and hopefully he is happy wherever he is.

It was sort of ironic that the first Buddhist lesson I took in Carrboro was a meditation on death (a full week before Herbie's death).  This Buddhist center I found (the Kosala Center) follows the New Kadampa Tradition promoted and spread around the world by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso from Tibet, which is a branch off of the Mahayana tradition.  I've got the "Introduction to Buddhism" book from the center, and so far I like the lessons they offer.  They also include a meditation session in the lesson, and so far I come back a little more relaxed from that place because of the peaceful energy there.  The teacher's name is Gen Kelsang Tilopa, or Gen Tilopa as some call him, and he's originally from Scotland before becoming a monk and moving to the US.  This Wed. he wasn't there since he was at the international Buddhist Festival and Retreat in Brazil, but the fill-in teacher, David, was very good, too.  So far I like this class, and I might just stick with Buddhism for a while (since I've currently been having issues with the Catholic Church).

Anyway, about plans for this weekend, it's homecoming!  I'm not going to the game this year, even though I'm a senior.  It's going to be a pain to park anywhere near the campus for more than 3 hours without a permit, so instead me and a friend of mine are going to hit a tailgate party on South Campus for some free food and then head to Southpoint Mall to shop for decent Fedoras!  I would really like to own just one Fedora for the Celtic Thunder concert coming up, since it's a must for any proper Thunderhead (even though I'm not really a Thunderhead, I don't attend nearly enough shows due to financial constraints).

Also, Halloween is this Sunday.  Normally, people go to Franklin Street in costume and celebrate, but since it's on a Sunday the town is closing the street down at 11:30pm, a half-an-hour earlier than last year.  To be quite honest, the town's citing safety issues doesn't really justify the early hour, since last year there was a kid stabbed at a frat party after they closed down the street (by a man who wasn't a student, btw).  At least on Franklin, the police are there to stop or prevent any violence, but they're not always there at all the frat houses for their parties.  Since most of the kids would be heading to these parties, why the devil do they want to kick them off of a safely-guarded street to not-so-safely guarded frat house or house/apartment off campus?  Really?  They need to reevaluate their argument if they want to justify their curfew.

Well, I should probably stop ranting about all of the piddly stuff that happens around here and get back to work.  Like I said, I've got two language tests next week, and my Hebrew and Spanish subjunctive tenses are not in the greatest shape (aka, I don't understand them yet).  So yeah, back to the languages and I'll put another post up tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!

Maria