Ending and Beginning

This has been a productive week. I've successfully finished Greek as well as my open water scuba diving license. 

The last week of Greek was interesting as we were all mainly working on our final projects. I spent a lot of time in the library, which made me remember how much I love looking up things in libraries. I explored all the reference books looking up the just two Greek words, and I had a great time doing so. It was also nice to get to know Hamma library, especially since I'll be spending a lot of time there both studying and working. 

My project went really well. It really did help me come to terms with the Mary and Martha story which I've often struggled with, and it made me excited about other exegesis projects I'll have throughout my time here at seminary. It was also interesting to see everyone else's projects and see the different ways they would approach the same problem. We had several interesting discussions the last few days of class, and then ice cream at the end to celebrate. 

Then this weekend I spent two full mornings at a nearby quarry completing my diving certification. This was the first time I was diving outside a pool, and it was really interesting. Visibility is not good in quarries, so as we would swim around the area we would come up on various interesting things rather suddenly. I saw a school bus, a Cesna plane, an ambulance, and several boats down there. Also tons of bluegill and one catfish. Along with simply practicing diving we had to do a few skills that we learn throughout the training which will come in handy if anything goes wrong whilst diving. I was pleased to realize that I'd improved on these, and other than taking a wrong heading on a compass everything went fine the first time around. 

The rest of my long weekend (my orientation doesn't start until Wednesday) I'll be unpacking and organizing my apartment. I worked on my vanity area (which is the top of my dresser) all afternoon, and I even got some art up. I'll continue the next few days and hopefully I'll have my apartment looking reasonable. 

I've enjoyed the last six weeks of Greek, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next two weeks when I get to start my regular schedule and get to take more than one class. Hopefully it will be an interesting semester. Another reason to look forward to the next two weeks is that Silas will be visiting over the next weekend! I'm looking forward to showing him around Columbus, and we have a lot of things planned already (my blog might show up at an odd time then). 

Now I'm off to walk the adorable corgi I am dog sitting over the weekend.

I'll write again soon!

I Got a Job!

I can't believe I've been living in Ohio for a month now.

Time is going by fast, mainly still because of Greek. We only have two weeks left and I've begun my final, which is an in-depth analysis of Luke 10:41-42, Jesus' rebuke of Martha. I chose these verses to study mainly because they are the culmination of a story I always struggle with, due to my strong identification with Martha. We'll see if I turn up any new understanding in the next two weeks.

I also started my first job this week. We have several retreats come to Trinity throughout the year and I am on the hospitality team for a retreat this next weekend. This includes cleaning, but also cooking for the retreat and making the visitors feel welcome while they are here. It's really similar to my old job at the Canterbury Center in Stillwater, and I love hospitality, so I think I'll enjoy this job. And making some money I didn't expect to make this month doesn't hurt either.

I did a couple more things to feel settled in this weekend. On Friday I went to a dive shop to get fitted for a wetsuit and gear for my open water training scuba dive in a couple of weeks. I'm excited to be finishing up my certification finally. After the slight discomfort of getting myself into a wetsuit, I was able to spend about an hour in the pool at the dive shop working on a few of my skills and remembering how much I really do enjoy being able to breathe underwater. I'm really looking forward to finally getting to practice in an open body of water rather than a pool.

On Saturday I took a trip to the Book Loft in the German Village, which is a house absolutely crammed full of books, many of which are on sale. I ended up leaving with a mystery and a knitting book about organizing and using yarn stash. I got inspired and now my couch is covered with yarn as I sort and catalog all my yarn. Having it in a organized, well stored place rather than just floating around in walmart sacks will make me feel more moved in and help me to use what I have rather than just buying more. My knitting skills will come in handy this winter, I think.

I'm continuing to meet new people here and get to know better the people I've already met. The sense of community I got when I visited here last year was spot on, and I find that I would have to try hard to not spend time with these people. My quiet weekends are nice for my introverted self as they give me a chance to re-charge from spending a week almost constantly with people. The only downside to my social life combined with my schoolwork is that my apartment may not be completely unpacked and settled into until fall break when I have more time off.

In a final bit of exciting news, today was the first time I was able to walk down the stairs in a normal manner rather than stepping on each step with both feet. A major milestone in the healing of my ankles! I've been avoiding yoga to keep from hurting them worse, and I can't wait until I can start again - I think it will be an especially helpful practice in the midst of my busy seminary life. That and my back and hips get sore with all the sitting hunched over Greek translations.

Tomorrow I'm leading morning prayer, learning about participles, and getting paid to clean an apartment that isn't mine. Should be a good day.

Kathryn