Out and About

A few days ago we walked all around Cambridge with our adviser/professor, Rod, and got a bit of a feel for the city. To be honest, I still have no idea how to get around much beyond the immediate area, but I'm getting more of a hang of it as we go. They don't really have street signs like we do, so you're lucky if the road name is on the side of a building, other than that, you just have to know, or guess! Rod seems very nice, and very knowledgeable in art, history, and English lit. He's teaching our Space and Time in Contemporary Art class. I got my other class assignments, Philosophy of Art for my individual and English Architectural History for my group, which means I am taking three Art History classes!! Crazy. I hope I don't get too sick of it.... We have to e-mail our professors to set up appointment times to meet this week, and then we figure out class time from there. Only 3.5 hours of class a week, which is weird, but apparently loads of reading. I found a few good coffee shops nearby (a necessity for me): one that's good for breakfast, with cheap coffee and good pastries (I had the butteriest scone EVER there. So good. But apparently I should be pronouncing it "scohn"...so...), and another one that is literally almost outside my door, with great pastries and a great Americano.

Two days ago we had a champagne get-together (I'd call it brunch but there was hardly any food) with us and some student leaders on campus, and our "parents," two students, male and female, designated to help individual "freshers" get accustomed to the college. We all just stood around and mingled and it was really good to meet some people who seemed happy to help us get acclimated, etc. My "parents" are Dave and Helen, he's a third-year Chem major and she's a fourth-year (super senior, because they graduate in three) Theology major. (Yay!) She said she'd help me find Religious Studies lectures to go to and things, so that's great. They both seem very nice and interested in helping me get settled and happy. I'm Dave and Helen's only "kid" this semester, but they've had other people from my school in the past. I met a handful of other people, but another that stood out was a girl named Alma, who was a member of the Jewish society and is my friend Andy's "mother." She invited me to services and Friday night dinner this coming week, and says the group is actually quite cool. Ironically enough, Jesus college apparently has the biggest Jewish population of all the Cambridge schools, apparently because they offer Kosher housing, which most of the other schools don't. And by large Jewish population, I mean, of course, like 15 or so Jews.... She and Helen are planning a dinner for our respective families soon, so that will be very nice, as well.

We also got inducted to the Library and IT facilities, got our Jesus College cards, went to the Jesus and Emmanuel bars (yes, each college has its own bar for the students), and met some more people there. Mostly, everyone seems quite friendly, and I'm enjoying getting to meet so many new people.

Now I'm off to go explore the town and get some food with Andy. I'm excited because it's reaching a whopping high of 40 degrees today! :-)