Well, I got fourth chair in the grad student orchestra! Between that and passing out of remedial music theory, I'm actually starting to feel like I belong here. In other news, Anna is visiting this weekend! I'm going to a meeting about a conference on human rights here (focusing on the US policy on the AIDS epidemic), and then taking the train to pick her up at the airport. Who-hoo!

Whew, just finished my placement audition! It went pretty well (I was nervous), and now I just get to wait and see where I end up in the orchestra pecking order. I passed out of theory (I'm glad my 2 1/2 years of UA theory weren't totally wasted) and I just found out last night that I have to teach 3 nonmajor viola students! I'm freaked out that they'll be unhappy, because I've never taught before really and at least two of them sound pretty good. Whatever, I guess I just have to pretend I know what I'm doing...

Well, I'm all moved into my new condo in Evanston, IL, right outside of Chicago. It is hella humid here, which I don't really appreciate, and while it is fine to live in Chicago without a car it is quite a bit harder in Evanston. The El is about 3/4 of a mile from my house, which is a bit when you have groceries with you, and the bus system is so far a mystery to me. However, I have hope that things will improve. I am practicing more, which is really good, and Anna is coming to visit soon so I'm looking forward to that. It's so weird, all the trees and squirrels running around everywhere! And I accidentally ran into a Great Lake today in my search for the library.

Goodbye Arizona! I'll miss you, but I'm off to flatter places with far less cactus. :-(