Posted 7:47 PM by Pamela Holland
Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks for me as all of you probably know. I have been through a bunch of stuff, but it all seems to have turned out ok. I ended up dropping my printmaking class. It was a torturous experience, ending in one very long day in the studio (3pm-2am!) and ink that never dried (not to mention the complete destruction of my french manicure). The story is quite long, but at least it is over now. My other classes are going well though, we haven't learned a thing in polisci, ethics and philosophy are just a lot of discussions, and Italian is going well, if a little confusing (prof speaks in Italian the whole time).

I have been getting out of the dorm more, forcing myself to talk to these people around me :-) Everything has improved a good bit and I am finally settling in. I visited with Josh, Kristi, and Cade--who are all doing well. They have a nice little house in La Place, LA--I'm still not sure where that is, but I think it is about twenty minutes away from downtown. Cade is just as cute as can be, even though he looks a little funny with still no teeth. I had dinner with them and spent the night. We went to church the next morning, which I must say was a bit different from my usual traditional religious experience, but it was interesting to say the least.

So, just as I am settling in, I am heading home for the Yom Kippur weekend--I love these Jewish holidays. I am mostly gonna hang out with Simon and the family--I am looking forward to hugs and good food. The food here is OK, but it, of course, gets old. UnfortunateIy, I think I may have lost a little weight, but I cannot tell because my scale malfunctioned about a week after I got here. Crappy scale. Anyway, there is not much else to say, except that I love mail and I appreciate all the mail I have received. The little yellow package slip has amazing powers. Since I have a digital camera, I have been taking pictures of everything, so I will try and post a few different ones every day or two. Here's the first:


We encountered this gator-mobile on Oak Street when hunting for a hardware store. The hardware store was not open, but we saw lots of cool stuff on the way. I don't know if this kind of advertising actually makes me want to eat the "real nawlins food," but it makes a neat picture.