Recovery and Regression February 12, 2007

As I have bemoaned to many of you already, I have been sick since playing in the snow last Thursday. After my gleefull romp in the Pennsylvania-esque snow drifts (which, by the way, had melted entirely by that afternoon), I crawled into bed at 4:30 PM with a stuffy nose, hacking cough, and shakes that could only be ascribed to a fever (thanks to the lack of thermometer, I can’t know for sure) and did not leave except to go to the bathroom and get more OJ until 9 the next morning.  It got progressively better from there – thanks to about 3 liters of orange juice, more bottles of water than I care to count, and some good ol’ American film (thank God for last-minute DVD grabs), I am now feeling almost entirely back to normal.

The rest of the world seems to be regressing back to an old, familiar normality along with my bill of health. The rain and clouds are back after a few days of brilliant sunshine and relative warmth. I’m back in acedemic mode (really for the first time since I’ve been out of the States). This week is a designated “reading week” in all 3 of my classes, and I have a 2000-3000 word essay on “filth, disease, and poverty in 19th century Britain” due Friday, along with a 10-source annotated bibliography for ethnobotany and an analytic paper for Anthropology of Religion. So may I say thank God for a reading week -even with only 2 hours of class a day, I think I need all the time I can get. I’ve been spending every day since Saturday in the library — which brings me to my next rant.

The library here has been dubbed by Rachel and I “The Library of Horrors.” And I quote: Rachel: “I passionately hate this library.When you have as little books as they do, it’s a cutthroat academic environment. ” Here’s why:

1.  It doesn’t open until noon on Saturdays and Sundays, and then closes at 7
2. It closes at 10 through the week – what about those of us who need late nights?
3. You can only check out 12 books at a time. For those of you not aware, I had over 30 out last semester at PSU
4. Selection is limited to say the least. I will remind you all that I could not find any field guides to native birds, only 3 separate 1970s editions of “Rare Birds of Malaysia”
5. Most of the books that you need are either restricted to the library, or can only be checked out for one night
6. There is never anyone at the info desk
7. The center is broiling. The wings are freezing. How would you rather like to study?
8. The computers are slower than the Root of All Evil (if you don’t understand, ask Karissa…;)

That will do for now – I think you all get my point. I am particular about my libraries, and perhaps spoiled, but books are very important. I like them available, readable, accessable, and comfortable. Books don’t like being cold anymore than you or I.

As much as I am back to the acedemic grind, I also am back in a pattern of play practices. We’ve been meeting nearly every day, and while the style of preparation is much different than what I’m used to (lots more improv-for-character-development), it’s still the same sort of rhythum. There are echos of familiarity all around me.

Someone asked me today if it was strange to be away from “my” university for so long, and I wasn’t sure how to answer. Do I miss my apartment? Kind of. Do I miss my classes and the campus? Not really, especially with the kind of weather it sounds like PA is having right now. Do I miss my friends there? Of course. But does that mean I miss Penn State? I miss many of the things that are there, but I was ready for something different, but I don’t miss it itself… yet.

I say ‘yet’ as though it is bound to happen. Is it? I thought I would be ready to come back from Greece last summer when the 6 weeks was up, but that ‘yet’ never arrived.  Will this one? I hope I’m ready to be back at PSU at the end of this – not saying I’m not anticipating tears at the end of this term, but I hope they are happy as well. I guess I’m thinking way long term here, and should probably stop. “Yet” is just an interesting word.