“School’s Out for The Summer.”

Thank you, Alice Cooper, but the fact is it begins tomorrow.

I’ve been in a state of denial that I am back from Portugal, now a month. I still attempt to use Euros for all cash transactions, order dinner in Portuguese and try to sleep in otherwise occupied Airbnb’s. Such is life.

But life moves on and so do I. School starts tomorrow and my 15 credits of classes include:

HIST 3492; Hinduism: Traditions, Texts, Politics. This class I will eat up. It is taught by Ajay Skaria, whom I had a few semesters ago for another class on India. I know I will inhale this one.

HIST 3505; Survey of the Middle East. This one starts with a review of the Middle East from the decline of the Ottoman Empire around 1890. Timely and hopefully informative with a neutral perspective.

ENGL 3027W; Essay Writing Intensive. This fulfills one of my writing intensive requirements. I’m hoping to submit haikus which are much shorter and much easier to grade. 

PORT 1103; Portuguese. This is the bane of my existence. I’d love to learn it—and I need it to graduate—but it is sooo hard to remember all the conjugations, vocabulary, and idioms. But I have no choice.

A few final thoughts on Portugal.

Simply, go there. The countryside is magnificent, the food is spectacular, and the people are wonderful. It is inexpensive and Lisbon is everything you would want in a European city.

That’s it for now. 

School starts for me tomorrow at 9:05 AM on the East Bank with Portuguese. More later.

Yip yip.