WHEW 2nd week over and into a 3rd

HEY GUYS! Oh man so much has happened last week I don't even know where to begin! For starters my mother just had to skype me for her birthday last Monday. Mothers. lol anyways we signed for a bit taught her some stuff. She got my hilarious card and gift for the car or wherever she ends up putting it. Classes are going well. I am still lost a lot in my Black Deaf Studies class. Some of the students sign so fast! Ayy Also some of my classes keep moving rooms so then I have to find another room in another building. I'm still getting used to how the buildings are set up but at least I now know that names and where most buildings are the important ones anyways. My 930 am class was cancelled last week on Tues AND thursday so I got to sleep till 10 the whole week!!! awesome!!!!! I decided to rush a sorority this semester.....interesting I must say. I rushed Delta Epsilon sorority. Their colors were red and white. All the sorority girls were in a dark room with one very dim light. I had to sit in front of them and answer a bunch of questions. Sometimes they signed the question so fast I missed it then asked for a repeat and still too fast. Sigh. I dont know if I got in or not. It would be cool to be apart of one but its not life or death to me. Friday night was by far the most exciting. My friend who lives on my floor she introduced me to her international friends. Some were part of ELI which is English language institute where they learn basics english math science and ASL. Most english isnt their first language so they have to learn that first before they officially enter college at Gallaudet. Anyways we all went to see a movie. a really scary movie. called Cowboys or something it had aliens in it. freaked me out sooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad. I honestly thought I was going to have nightmares but something else happened that distracted me from that. I talked to many of the international boys and a couple girls and thats when I met Chris. Saturday we hung out for a few hours after eating dinner with everyone. Sunday I went to another deaf church. I liked it it was small and I could understand the preaching. The church was in Alexandria VA. I really liked the town. I will prolly still look at a few more churches before making a decision but I think I will got back to this one again. Sunday afternoon my new friends and I went to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year celebration. It was alot of fun really cold tho. I was huddled against Chris most of the time lol The dragons were really cool and little kids dressed up were so cute. I want a Chinese kid now!!  I have to say that was the best day ever since ive been here. Well that was week 2 in a nutshell. Love you all :)

Survived 1st week at GU!!

So the first week of classes Gallaudet went pretty well considering all the drama and headache. I had to drop a class because I felt it wasn't what I really wanted and i already felt a bit overwhelmed trying to keep up with ppl's fast signing skills in class. I am satisfied with my schedule now may be able to audit a class. I dont know yet. But on Mon/Wed/Fri my first class is at 11 :) and one class on Fridays. My Tues/Thurs however is a different story. Long days but doable at least so far.
God can be amusing sometimes Ive come to realize. Im so used to not hearing from him when I pray at least for a long time I dont get my prayer answered or He just says wait. Which I dislike. But this last prayer I asked for more friends. Rachel went AWOL and decided to study. I wasnt sure what to do and Im not blaming her. I found some new friends I enjoy hanging out with. If I had Rachel I wouldnt have gotten to meet them.
Ive also made a few friends in my classes so thats a plus.
Also on Sunday I went to a Deaf church in MD. I keep forgetting about Deaf time. I was hurrying because the bus was supposed to leave at 8:45...didnt leave till almost 9:30. Ayyy I could have slept a bit more. Everyone there was really nice. We had a potluck lunch after and they let the visitors go first :) Such good food!!!! Idk if Ill make it my home church. I understood most of what the message was but not all and I feel exhausted trying to keep up and second guessing a sign I dont know/ never seen before. But it was a great experience I'll definitely visit again at least. Alot of cool people some from CT and one even went to ASD! So cool! Many of the guys teased me left and right. I was cool with it and they gave me insight on GU so very helpful. I hope to chat with them more. :)

1st and 2nd day of classes

Made it through two says of intense ASL! I was so tried especially after my Media Lit class the students sign so fast! My biggest concern is making sure I can understand everything that is being said. The teachers I can understand for the most part. I may have to get an interpreter after all. We shall see. All my profs so far want us to actively participate in class discussions well its a problem when I dont understand whats being said!!
I know this is going to sound weird but I miss IC's stairs. I felt so awesome running up and down them three times a day or more. There are barely any stairs here at GU. :( I went to the gym for the first time today. So small and their rules confused me for a little bit. You have to sign in and if you want to use a treadmill you have to get a "key" which is basically a magnet that starts up the machine. Interesting... There are only five treadmills two ellipticals and three bikes. I hope I never get there when its busy.
Oh and I found out after I woke up AND went to the dining hall to get breakfast today that my first class was cancelled and moved to a different time and date. It is now on Thursdays from 7 to 10pm!!!!!!! I thought Deaf Culture was hard to get through ending at 8pm. My Thursdays are going to be LONG. My first class is at 930am. At least I have a few hours in between most of my classes all week and one class on Friday!! at 11 :)
I BOUGHT MY FIRST GALLAUDET ITEM!!!! one of many im sure. I want a sweatshirt and a belt I saw. I have to figure out what to get my mom her bday is coming up....

Dr MLK Day

So today Rachel, Doug and I went to the Washington National Cathedral for an MLK celebration. The cathedral was HUGE! Looked like Notre Dame in Paris. SO AWESOME! And I found out that the Washington National Cathedral was the last place MLK Jr preached. I thought that was so cool! They had different kinda of choirs sing a wide variety of songs from spiritual to hip hop. They had children's choir come sing too. So cute. Also a bunch of dancers who were really awesome. I wish I could dance like them. One of these days I'm taking a dance class. Anyways afterwards we went to explored the cathedral. SO many different chapels within the cathedral and it also had a crypt. Not that scary. The elevator ride down there was the scary part. The tombs had carvings of the person in 3D on top of the casket. Pretty neat. You could also sign your name in your state's book so say that you've been there. Of course I signed in CT's book.
I found it weird that when we went off campus today I saw people talking and immediately thought to myself "Oh people talk?" That was weird. You are all probably thinking "Yes Ruth. You're a meathead! Yes people talk!!! " lol
Chaz still not here. She is supposed to arrive tomorrow now.
My first class is at 930 :) ahhhhh! I hope I dont get lost. It's my biggest fear. I still dont know what the buildings look like inside so I will be walking into a maze. Hate mazes.
Last night alone yay. I think. It's going to be weird having a roommate now being by myself for five nights already!

First stop of church hopping

So today was the first Sunday I went to a new church. I will most likely be trying out different churches for a few weeks. So since meeting Rachel and finding out she is a Christian and more importantly bible believing not those "Oh, I'm a Christian cause I go to church sometimes" kind of person. So it was really cool that we were both on the same wave length. She met a guy named Doug last summer who goes to a church called Capital Hill Baptist Church in DC. He offered to pick us up which was really nice of him. He lives around the corner from the church and the church is about five minute drive from GU. How awesome is that. So he picked us up this morning. Really nice guy. He's a grad student studying law and graduates in May. Going to be a lawyer! WHOA lol Anyways the church was HUGE! I mean like HUGER THAN THE SUN! lol not really exaggerating a bit. But believe me it was big!!! There had to be at least 150 morning service. Nice church building. I really liked the message and the preacher. Really strong in his faith. He decided to take us on a journey of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in an hr. Never heard a preacher do that before. He was explaining where we came from, what it means to be a Christian, the things you can say to other when they question the Bible, what Christ's death and resurrection means and also His promises. After the service there was a College student lunch. They have a huge program that has bible studies throughout the week and different things that do each month on the weekends. The guy in charge talked a bit about his personal life and it mirrored mine a little bit. I'm still struggling with the fine line of being a Christian and wanted to act like it. I act like it some areas and not others. Its something I know I need to work on and friends have pointed this out and have tried to help me but Ive been having a hard time with it. My problem is finding an alternative that wont make me feel terrible or bored. We went back to the evening service as well since we didnt have anything better to do but it was nice. About 80 people showed up to that. More prayer than preaching. Personally Im not a fan of public prayer but thats just me. The assistant pastor preached on trusting God. I like having control and it can be hard for me to let go of things. Rather than handling it on my own. I need to trust Him with my relationships. Thats the big thing on my mind. Also trusting that this experience at GU will be fulfilling and that He will show me which direction He wants me to go. Writing or Teaching. In my mind I say teaching mainly because I know I will get a job doing that. Solely writing means praying that my books/stories will sell. I can do both but its the question do I put writing my own stuff on the side. What should be my focus?
My roommate should arrive tomorrow. Mix feelings: sad and excited. I hope she likes me and that we get along. I havent had huge issues with roommates before so Im not that concerned but still...you never know.

3rd - Last Day of Orientation

So today stated off with two more presentations about Life at Gallaudet. Nothing exciting to tell unfortunately. I did get to know some more people though so I am making slow progress. Some of them sign so fast; I am lost after three sentences! The best part of the day came after lunch. We went to CHINATOWN!!! YEA YEA! The student leaders talked about how to ride the metro. I had forgotten the DC metro was so nice and had soooo many escalators!!! Good Grief! I still dont really like it but I do feel a tad safer than being in NYC's subway stations. I still find it a bit confusing but as long as I carry my map and read the signs I should be ok. Hope I never have to ride it alone. That may take awhile till I get used to doing that. We ate at Vispiano. I think thats what it was called. Really good pasta! Yum. I think I will take people there when they visit me. :) I had never seen that part of DC before. I didnt realize how alike NYC and DC are with all the shops, restaurants, movie theatres etc. DC has everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So unlike my Ithaca. I kinda miss Ithaca. I knew where everything was there. I could feel safe walking around the Commons and such. Here by Gallaudet. Never walk alone. Even in the day time its creepy a bit to me. Oh well. Still full from my dinner at Vispiano. SO much food yo! Oh and one of my friends lives on my floor!! yayyyyy. I had never seen her before on my floor till today. So funny! So one person on my floor at least till Sunday when everyone else arrives. I love how JB is watching me type this :D hehehe

2nd day of Orientation

Here we go again. Orientation continued starting with a fire alarm at 830AM!! i woke up and walked outside not really thinking we'd be out there long. Much to my chagrin we were out there for at least a half hr. All I had on was my tshirt and shorts. Short shorts I wore to bed. AYYYYY. Later in the afternoon we had to sit though some very long information sessions. Dull although some of it was really interesting. Gallaudet has many cool traditions like Rock Fest which is where we party lol and the Rat funeral - at the end of freshman year the freshmen bury fake rats in a grave somewhere on campus. Apparently you can see the grave markers if you look carefully. Each class has its own traditions. Junior class (MINE) get to create class jerseys :) I cant wait!!! Anyways to end the night I played basketball with some new friends including a one on one with Abdul. Really cool guy and cute too when he doesnt have his HUGE red and white headphones on - which was pretty much all day except while playing bball. We played knockout for awhile then just dribbled around. Then a guy named Matthew came over and the two of us decided (this was his idea) to slam the ball into the floor to see if it would bounce into the basket. I got mine to go in TWICE!!! He was so upset lol Boys will be boys whether they are Deaf or hearing lol He was really funny; found out he used to be a volunteer firefighter. Cool huh? Almost no hair but not bad looking either. I figured out where the laundry room was yayy! Did my first load tonite. Not used to having to use quarters. I miss IC's laundry room but at least at GU there are five washing machines and six dryers lol compared to three washers and two dryers at IC. I really liked not using my voice but there are times when people are signing really fast and I have to rely on the interpreter. That I dont like too much. I really cant wait till I am fluent. Another great day at Gallaudet concludes.

1st day of Orientation

OMYGOODNESS YOU GUYS!!! GOD IS AWESOME!!! Well I hope you knew that before but just a friendly reminder. Anyways so this morning I woke up around 845....ok 915 but thats not important. I got read and was about to go out the door around 10 and I realized I forgot to do my devos. I was really nervous about today. The whole signing 24/7 and meeting new people on top of that. I barely ate my cereal bar for breakfast. I sat down to do devos and it was about fear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt a little better about the day and walked to register and get my orientation schedule and such. About an hr and half later I met a girl named Rachel. You will meet her later :) We both had to take the ASL placement test. SOOOOOO long. I put the stuff I learned in Kippy's class to use. (Shapes lol and placement of objects in a room). Anyways I ate lunch with her and her mom and aunt. After being with her the rest of the day I found out that she is a Christian, from MD, wants me to go to Capital Baptist with her on Sunday, its her first time living in a dorm and shes a visiting student! Is that awesome or what?!!? So we are going to be the best of friends!!!! Dont worry Tyler and LGE you are not replaced. Yall just have to come visit us! :) WHOOO! I have a good feeling about this :) I feel bad but I was thinking last night that I may not like it here. I never seem to listen to the phrase "Dont judge a book by its cover". After being left here on my own last night I was getting a little on edge. :( but now Im so glad I choose GU! Love you guys :) Thanks for all the prayers!!!!!

Arrived!!

Hey guys :) I arrived at Gallaudet University around 4pm. After running around finding out where I am supposed to receive my keys and official Gallaudet ID card my mom and I finally hauled my stuff to my room in Peet Hall 219. I had an awesome time at my bff's Tyler's house and enjoyed getting to know his friends and family. Miss them already. Tears. I am really really nervous right now because I am one of three people (that I have seen so far) on my floor. The showers are really nice btw. lol I have finished unpacking and said my goodbyes to my mom before she headed to my Uncle Paul's house in Newfield NJ. I am alone in my room right now sadface. My roommate Chazlynn will be here on Sunday. Meanwhile praising God that I have arrived safely and pray that I will learn alot and that He will show me if this is the world I belong in. I have my JB poster hanging over my bed and I can see him as I am typing this yay! I dont know what tomorrow will bring but hopefully a fun filled day getting to know the other visiting students during orientation. The international kids are here now but have been shy. The food here is pretty good. Not much is open so I cant really give a really good assessment of it as of yet but I will :) Thanks for all your prayers. Check this blog often for more updates!! LOVE YOU :D