Time Flies when you're in Greek Camp

Only one week of Greek left and then I'll be heading back to Maryland for vacation with my family at Deep Creek Lake. I can't wait to be in the mountains of Western Maryland swimming, fishing, tubing and hanging out with my family. I'll also get to spend some time in Annapolis before and after our family trip to visit with friends. Hoping to spend some time sailing on the Chesapeake, checking out the new location of the Mexican Cafe and I must get some crabs.

Our class had a nice 4th out at Professor Alsup's ranch. Our classmate Okan, who is from Turkey, went all out and dressed the part. He was quite a cowboy.

And yes, I did get to hug a donkey.

I also mentioned to Dr. Alsup on Monday that I had re-written the words to Willie Nelson's "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" for our class, so he asked me to perform it this week. I took my guitar in on Wednesday and opened up class with the help of our Teaching Assistant Doug, who accompanied me on his guitar too. Don't know that anyone who isn't in our class (or who hasn't at least taken Biblical Greek) will appreciate it, but it seems to have been a big hit with the class. Dr. Alsup definitely appreciated it. He kept making reference to it during his lectures this week. I wouldn't be surprised if I improved at least half a letter grade for the class because of this song. He even asked me to get together with some of my musician classmates to record it so we can give CDs to everyone at the end of the class.

I'll post the lyrics below, but a few things that are "inside jokes" or may be unclear to those not in the class I will explain first. 1. The method that Dr. Alsup is teaching us he calls RIT - Recognize Identify Translate. First we attempt to recognize the part of speech of each word in the passage. We underline verbs, bracket nouns, circle articles & pronouns, etc. Then we attempt to identify the conjugation, gender, number, tense, etc. We are not even expected to try to translate yet in this intensive summer course. 2. Hippos is Greek for horse, and is the name of a stuffed animal that Dr. Alsup keeps in the class for illustrations. 3. He also has a Pilsbury Doughboy and girl in cowboy hats, which are also class mascots used for illustrations too.

I Love My Definite Article

I grew up dreaming of being in Greek Camp

And learning those ancient ways

Pursuing to recognize and identify words,

I burned up my summer days.

I learned all the endings that John Alsup taught me

Don't you stress out and panic my friend

Just take it from Hippos or maybe the Doughboy,

And soon it all will be clear.

I love my definite article.

It's my best friend.

Helping to spot nouns and participles,

It's my very best friend.

Maybe someday, I'll learn to translate

But for now R and I are just fine.

Those definite articles jump right off the pages,

I circle them all the time.

Nominative, Genitive, Dative or Accusative

You help me know what is what.

So don't take away my definite article

And I'll make it through Greek Camp just fine.

Repeat Chorus

Once we've recorded it I'll post it here.

Another highlight of my week was being asked to be Austin Seminary's student representative to the PC(USA) Committee on Theological Education's Seminary Support Network. There are two conferences each year that I will attend along with one student representative from each of the other 9 PC(USA) schools. Traditionally it is the student body President that represents the school, but this year they decided it made more sense to appoint someone that can do it for two years since the President is usually a graduating senior. So I will represent our school for the next two years. I am extremely honored to have been asked and so excited to get to network with students from the other schools as well as being able to participate in some national level denominational work.

And it hasn't been all Greek this summer, we've also gone to see a UT baseball game, a couple AAA baseball games in Round Rock (the Ranger's feeder team), a community orchestra doing western theme music and last night saw a community theater performance of the musical play Footloose. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Austin is such a cool town with great things to do. Love it here.

4th of July Weekend

Well, we've got four out of six weeks of Greek and a Midterm behind us as we head into the three day weekend. Looking forward to some fun and relaxation, but no fireworks in most of Texas this year, thanks to the drought. I posted this video on Facebook the other day, but thought I should share it on my blog too. Stephen Colbert decided to address the ban.

On Monday our professor is having the class out to his ranch for a Greek Camp Picnic. The invitation that he passed out to us last week says "Come join us for hay rides, horseback riding, donkey hugging, and just having a good time." How can you beat that? Donkey hugging! Should be fun.

Le Tour de France also starts tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to watching that as I do every year. Such an amazing race. Not to mention the amazing shots of the French countryside, little villages, castles, cobblestone streets, and spectacular climbs in the Alps and the Pyrenees. I can't wait.