Tuesday, August 30, 2005
I biked to class, for I knew I could not hoof it from the foreign language building to the place where the beginning swimming class meets in under ten minutes.
First I went to the introduction to philosophy class, which is absolutely full of freshmen. I do need to reorient myself to a more philosophical manner of analyzation, so I suppose I shall remain in the class rather than substitute a senior-level German grammar class- grammar, schmammar.
Dann habe ich Latein, mit Dr. Holland. We began translating the first several line's of Cicero's prosecution of Verres. Dr. Holland is adorable, because he reads enthusiastically and with much feeling and emphasis on Latin as a vibrant language. Also, he knows everything. He looked right at the seven of us and asked, "So, what was the basis for the Roman economy during this period [80s-60s BC]?" I wanted to reply, "Ich kann nicht Englisch sprechen."
I genuinely like my six other classmates. A girl, named Adrian, and a guy, named Taylor, both took Latin during the summer with me. Jackson and Megan I had met and spoken with at various classics department functions. Jackson is more uptight than Cameron Frye, but he is amiable enough. Erik, who arrived thirty minutes late, is a little doofy and is apparently the person on whom everyone good-naturedly picks. Seventh comes Robbie/Robert, who works at the bookstore and with whom I took the ancient technology class last semester. When I went to scout out my books, we engaged in a lovely conversation, for he is a French major and, like me, essentially wants to learn every language on the planet.
Dr. Holland released us early, so I leisurely rode to swimming. I spoke with the other girls pretty openly about the small fact that I am going to be the worst-looking person in my swimming suit, which they all found amusing and made me feel better about being in a class with girls who are all more attractive than I am. And perhaps by the end of the semester, I shall look presentable as well. The instructor seems pretty good about getting people fit, without being a Nazi about it. She has a good sense of humor.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 5:49 PM]