A Fresh Start

I moved into my apartment at school last Saturday, almost a week ago now. So much has happened since then.

Sunday night was the start of choir camp for University Choir and Orchestra (UCO), which I am singing in this year. That was a bit overwhelming. All of the returners greeted us with loud noises and applause as we walked into room 111, where rehearsals are held. It felt a bit like freshman year. Orientation for the freshman starts today, and when they arrive on campus they are met immediately by jumping, screaming, excited student leaders. Then when they get to their dorm, they are met by more of that from their RAs. That's more extreme than what I experienced on Sunday night, but it definitely reminded me of freshman year.

We started learning music that night. Rehearsal was three hours that night, and then on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we had twelve hour rehearsals. Each day was filled with singing, laughing, and getting to know each other. On Tuesday UCO joined Male Choral (all men) and Bel Canto (all women) to work on pieces we will be singing together for Dinner Rally, which is a huge fundraiser that takes place at the end of September this year.

Wednesday rehearsal was cut a little short, and the choir met in the evening at our director's house for fellowship and gelato. Real Italian gelato. It was delicious. The man who makes it is Italian and studied gelato-making in Italy. Need I say more? It was a very lovely evening. We sang a couple of songs from memory near the end of the evening, and then continued hanging out for a while more.

This is where it gets fun. Dr. Sutton, our director, lives in Altadena at pretty much the top of the hill. My car didn't like the hill very much. When I got in my car to leave, it wouldn't start. I thought it was the battery, so I went to find someone to jumpstart my car so I could be on my way. The two guys that came to help me said it didn't sound like my battery, but instead more like the alternator. I tried turning on the car again and it started, but it was definitely not making the same sounds it usually does. I checked the oil, and the dipstick was reading that there was no oil in the oil pan, which of course means NO DRIVING THE CAR. We had to go find oil and then go back and put it in the car. After I put three quarts of oil in the car, we left, and the guys followed me back to school to make sure I got there alright.

The next morning (yesterday) UCO sang at a faculty-staff kickoff bright and early, so I couldn't check the car until I got back. Ok, so, you know on a dipstick there are two dots, to gauge how full the oil pan is? I pulled out my dipstick and checked it, and the oil was one and-a-half inches above the top dot! I couldn't believe it. I checked it again just to be sure. Nope. I was reading it correctly. I didn't understand. Here's what my dad and I now think happened. When I checked the oil in the car on Wednesday night, the car was sitting on a hill, so that the driver's side of the car was higher than the passenger's side. The dipstick in my car (I don't know if this is true for every car) is on the driver's side. So, the oil must have sloshed to one side so that it wasn't touching the dipstick at all. Now I can't drive the car until I get some of that oil out, which I am not equipped to do. Plus, we need figure out what is going on with the alternator before I drive it very far away from school and risk getting stranded somewhere.

So this is a fun adventure. I spent the rest of the day getting things out of storage and then putting kitchen things away and decorating the apartment. There is still more in storage: a couch, our TV, my shower curtain. That's right, I still don't have my shower curtain. Let's just say it's been an adventure. And my bathtub is too small for my tall self. We are supposed to be getting the rest of everything out of storage tomorrow. And since today is orientation, I have the opportunity to get free food for dinner. Yay!

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah