So. Another start to another year here at Notre Dame.
I haven't been on campus since December, and some things have changed - there's a gorgeous new male ... dormitory, scaffolding all over the Basilica and modern bathrooms in Cavanaugh (finally).
Some of the more unfortunate things I remember from campus, however, remain the same.
When I was in Rome last semester, I loved (almost) everything about the vibrant city life - the open-air markets, the cafes, the constant activity, the people.
The Eternal City, however, was home to eternal traffic - motorinos and Vespas going 100 miles per hour and unnecessarily honking at all hours.
Considering that my bedroom in my apartment there was three-quarters windows, those motorcycle noises were particularly irksome at night, when I was trying to sleep. My roommate resorted to earplugs.
Imagine my excitement at finally returning to the Midwest, to a beautiful, clean campus that, most of the time at least, is quiet at night.
Much to my dismay, I was awoken my first night (or morning, rather) here by the sound of various trucks near LaFortune delivering things.
My bedroom in Cavanaugh, with its one window (now open, to encourage air circulation) becomes filled with the dreaded sounds I thought I left behind when I boarded my trans-Atlantic flight: the screeching of tires, the beeping large vehicles make when they back up, the droning of engines.
These noises followed me to Indiana. And they wake me up. At 6 am.
Every day.
Except Sunday. Even delivery trucks have a day of rest.
With this new year comes a new schedule. Now, I've found, when rising with the delivery trucks, I have about four extra hours of my day to fill.
I could exercise?
Maybe this is a good time to take up running. I'm really embarrassed to run outside. I could go around the lakes in the cool of the morning, when it's unlikely I'd be seen.
I could read?
Who knows how many of those great books that everyone claims to have read (but really never has) I can get through in a semester if I read for all those extra hours a week.
I could write?
Forget reading those great books, maybe I will be struck by inspiration and write the great American novel in the mornings before class.
I could knit?
I can knit a pretty sweet looking scarf. Unfortunately, that's all I can knit. But when the weather changes and my window is no longer always open, I could wrap up in all the awesome scarves I would make.
I could learn some unique trade? I could spend the hours trying to come up with cooler things to do to pass those hours?
I'm probably not going to do any of these things, though.
I'm probably going to go back to sleep.
