First Full Day as Seminary Resident

Yesterday was my first full day as a resident on the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary.  My day revolved around unpacking, which doesn't make for an interesting blog post, but it must be done.  I will have space for everything, but I already knew that.  So far, I haven't figured out how to hang anything on the cinderblock walls.

The stove works as I expected, even though it's a bit rickety. And wow, is it a small little stove.  But it works.  I won't be cooking elaborate meals.  I had to call the director of housing when I couldn't figure out how the shower works.  I wasn't sure of the protocol--do I call an RA?  Happily, the housing director was able to tell me that the diverter was a ring right at the edge of the faucet accessed by reaching under the faucet--turn the ring, and voila, a shower!

I decided to use my morning walk to go to Wegmans, a grocery store a mile away.  They don't have plastic bags, so I walked back with a paper bag tucked under my arm.  I bought broccoli, carrots, parmesan cheese, cut up cantaloupe chunks, and butter. I walked back a different way and was pleased that I could get back to Mass. Ave., where Wesley Theological Seminary is located. I walked long city blocks, and only after I got home did I realize I'd been carrying about 5 pounds of groceries.  

I was able to get my parking sticker and the key to my mailbox.  My brief trip across campus to the administration building was my break from unpacking.  When the weather gets cooler, I want to take an afternoon walk, but there were heat advisories yesterday, so I decided not to push myself.  Plus, I had plenty of unpacking to do.

I'm still not done unpacking.  I know that I'm the kind of person who won't do much reorganizing once things are put away, so I want to think things through as I unpack.

I had my first seminary class last night.  My main frustration was with my new laptop.  I've noticed that when I'm on a Zoom call, I have to turn the volume up to 100%, so I bought speakers.  Last night, I couldn't get the speakers to work.  I knew it was not a problem with the speakers because the two sets of headphones that I had nearby also did not work.  As I tried to troubleshoot, I knocked over a glass of tea.  Happily, I had a lid on it, but I still spilled some, which left me a bit frazzled.  It was before the class started, so I'm hoping that my classmates didn't notice too much.

After class, I was hungry, but I don't have too much in the apartment.  I roasted some pecans in a pan and salted them--the perfect bedtime snack!  I was still trying to troubleshoot the speakers, so I went to YouTube and selected a full recording of George Winston's Autumn.  Suddenly, the speakers worked for reasons that aren't clear to me.  I just sat and let the music wash over me as the sky got fully dark (just because of night descending, not anything more sinister).

I finished the day with this Facebook post, which is a good way to finish this blog post.  I need to get my walk in before the sun gets too high in the sky (yep, back to that kind of climate, but with more trees than South Florida).

From the window of my seminary apartment, I can see at least one American University dorm stretching to the sky--lots of lights on. Most of us have had at least one class of our new semester today. I'm listening to George Winston's "Autumn," which I used to play constantly during my first year of undergraduate school; I made a cassette tape of my dad's LP, but tonight I'm using YouTube (probably technically also a bootleg recording). Here I am, living in student housing, not sure what year it is anymore.