Back To School

Greetings, fellow readers! Fall semester at the University of Florida is in full swing, and as I suspected, I am buried in textbook readings. It's all ok, though, because I'm taking classes I'm super excited about. To give you a quick overview, I am enrolled in:

Special Topics in Shakespeare's Tragedies

American Literature before 1865

Pompeii Archaeology Lab

The Power and Limits of Persuasive Speech

Programming Fundamentals 2 (aka C++)

Since it's the first week of class, we've mostly been covering introductory material and the necessary background to provide context for our work over the course of the semester. However, I have already read Pericles, Venus and Adonis, and the sonnets for my Shakespeare class, and some very interesting documents about the Salem Witch Trials for my American Lit class. Will keep you posted with more reading updates as time goes by.

Last week, I finally got around to doing something I've wanted to do for a while: get my Alachua County library card. I went with my friends Jordan and Alison (my scene partners from Shakespeare in the Park, if you're new to the blog), and we all got our cards, then proceeded to pillage the shelves. I restrained myself to checking out only three books, including a choose-your-own-adventure-style adaptation of Hamlet. It's been quite entertaining so far: I played as the ghost of Hamlet's father and became a posthumous oceanographer, and as Hamlet and Ophelia. Surprisingly enough, I not only survived the story both times, but also lived a long and happy life--go figure!

I have also been reading The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, upon which the recent film starring Helen Mirren is based. I have not seen the movie yet, but if it's anything like the book, I know I am going to love it. The story follows a young chef, Hassan Haji, and his family on their journey from India to France, and their clash with Madame Mallory, a rival chef from the small French village in which they settle. The writing in this book is delightful, and the descriptions of the food are so vivid I can almost taste them (which, by the way, is an extraordinarily difficult thing to write well).

That's all I have for now. Until next time, dear readers!

Anna