Hebrew Day 3

Tonight I'm nowhere near as hopeless as last night.  People keep telling me that this week is the hardest, so I have room for optimism.  I got my first two quizzes back today- an 87.5% and a 82.5%.  Normally, I'd be somewhat horrified, but I've taken the advice I've received to let go of my grades to heart (or at least really tried to).  I was actually elated with those scores.  It would be different if we weren't cramming so much into every day.  My brain can only handle so much, so I'm satisfied with my B's.  I am going to the registrar tomorrow to switch to Pass/Fail though!

I'm still adjusting to this weird transitional period I'm in.  It isn't adjusting to seminary, because this isn't really what the next 3-4 years will look like.  For one thing, Brent will eventually be here.  So will the rest of my belongings!  Not only that, but we are in temporary housing while the new apartments are being built, so I can't get too cozy here. 

Here's some snapshots of my new life:

 This is how I've been studying.  My desk is too small for all of these papers and I don't have a table right now, so I have re-purposed my yoga mat as a study mat.  No worries, I'm still using it for yoga too.  I've been doing yoga on yogaglo.com and last night there was a free, if very intense, yoga class on campus.

I only have one small pot, two small frying pans, and a pizza pan, so I have gotten very creative with my cooking.  It's very humbling.  This is how I made broccoli tonight.  The pot was being used for canned goodness, so I had to use a frying pan with the pizza pan as a lid.   

This is my room.  It may look like a real bed, but that's an inflatable mattress that is ruining my back.  I relinguished my TV tray to the plants, so everything else goes on the floor.  Notice the study materials all over the place.  I'd be ashamed if I had any time to pick them up and any place to put them.  Brent packed the Christmas lights for me half jokingly, but they actually brighten my mood.  I have them in the living room too.  I'm too lazy to hang them up and one of my favorite yoga studios has them like this on the floor.

This is what I eat!  Canned goodness with some real goodness on the side.  I'm really trying not to gain any weight because my wedding dress will not fit if I do.  However, eating is a fantastic distraction from studying.  It's a hard adjustment though.  Brent and I split cooking duties, but both of us love to cook really good and mostly healthy food.  With limited kitchen equipment, time, and resources, it's hard to come up with a convenient meal that is satisfying, nourishing, and not terrible for me.  I'm doing my best :)
My folks insisted on getting some paper plates when we went shopping.  I haven't used them in the past few years but I'm thankful for them now.  I have enough dishes to do as it is.  I promise I won't buy more, but they are giving me more time to review my Hebrew nouns and prepositions. 

I'm trying to remember how I survived the first two years of my undergrad as a single student.  First, I lived in a sorority where we had a chef and a cleaning lady.  Then, I had an awful year getting by on "free" bagels from my work study job.  Hopefully I can do better this time around.

My new mantra = This is only temporary.  (Say it over and over until it sinks in).