Class Is In Session

So, since my last post, a lot has happened. I sat in my first classes of the university semester. At the moment, I am auditing* two courses - an undergraduate course in radio skills (College of Journalism) and a graduate course in performance and culture (American Studies).

My rationale for taking these two courses is that I engage both my production interests in radio but also my research interests in popular culture. Whether I'll be able to manage the heavy reading load of American Studies AND the radio course remains to be seen.

In the meantime, there have been positive developments on the home front. On Thursday I moved into my apartment in Summit Hills, Silver Spring. On Friday I went shopping for essential items, and I can now report that I have a bed, a desk and an office chair. My room is even colour coordinated! My roommates, Grace (from Kenya) and Rosangela (Brazil), seem very happy to be sharing with me. And I think we'll get along just fine.

I'm hoping to have internet, cable television and a landline telephone at the end of this week. This will mean I can receive calls without heavy cost from South Africa and I can Skype to my heart's content from my apartment.

On Friday night I was invited out to a 'funk night' at a small venue in D.C.'s U Street area. I really enjoyed the rare funk tunes that were played, even though the crowd was a bit sparse. And I got to talk a lot about hip hop record collecting with my host, Paul Karatsinides. What was a little weird, however, was that the women company in our party were rather reluctant to converse with me. It was explained to me later in the evening that because I had a wedding band on my ring finger, I was considered out of bounds. And there I was thinking I could make friendly conversation...

Well, that's my life lately in a nutshell. I need to do some shopping and then get stuck in the books.

Out.

Eitan

* Taking a course for audit means that I participate in classes and related activities but I am not graded for the class. I may decide to switch from audit to credit in the performance and culture class if all goes well.