And I am getting out!

Long time, no post.

Everything has been heating up at this point of the semester. I'm in the last week of rehearsals for Maker of Dreams, as next week is Spring Break. Hugely stressful time. We've got a lot of work to do. My cast is working extremely hard, it's just... significantly bigger than Tongues was. I feel like we're taking a lot of risks with this, and some of them might not pay off.. but, then, they might. We'll see, and that's what school's for. It's a weird piece.

After church on Sunday, I was taking a nap in the Tisch Common Room. I woke up surrounded by PHTS students, one of which immediately said, "Your rehearsal will be great, everything will be alright," and gave me half of his black-and-white cookie. I know good people.

I do not believe that I posted here about my study abroad applications. For years, I wanted to study abroad in Florence, first semester of my senior year. It was either Florence or Paris for me, and the classes Florence offered seemed more suited to me, as did Italy vs. France. However, after hearing some things about the Florence program, looking at estimated expenses, and rethinking my study abroad goals, I realized that Florence is more a place I would like to go on vacation. I eventually decided to apply to two study abroad programs. One of them was through NYU as a whole, meaning I'd be doing an "academic" (non-theater) semester, one of them was through Tisch specifically, meaning it's a more focused program.

The Tisch program is Playwrighting in London.

The NYU program is NYU Ghana.

...which are really the exact OPPOSITE as far as location goes. One of my teachers pointed out that my shaved head suggests Africa while my bowler is clearly London, so I guess this combination makes sense. Because they're two separate programs with different admissions processes, Ghana's application was due far before the London application was due, and thus, only two days after submitting my application for London, I was accepted into Ghana.

The reason I applied to Ghana was that I felt that most European locations would be too safe. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. My education has been very North America/Europe centered, and while there are definitely huge differences in cultures in Europe as compared to America, nothing would be as drastic as going to Africa. And that drastic change scared me. Which is why I decided to apply. I can visit Europe. My second choice after Ghana was Berlin, which I can definitely visit because I already have a background in German. But the opportunity to live and learn from the culture of Ghana probably won't present itself again, and it's harder to do that without a program than it is in Europe.

Also, I could take African Dance in AFRICA. (All PHTS first years take African Dance.) Also, I'd imagine the aural landscape to be completely different. And a fun fact is that the two dorms there are called Church Crescent and Solomon's Lodge. My preference based ONLY ON THE NAME is Solomon's Lodge, because Song of Songs is also called the Song of Solomon, and because there's that wonderful anthem, "Come Dwell in Solomon's Walls" which I could immediately change to "Come Dwell in Solomon's Lodge". Another fun fact is that I have a friend from PHTS who will be doing a semester on a boat (Semester at Sea) where they... live on a boat and travel the world. She's planning on doing site-specific boat theater. And in late September, they'll be in Accra, which is where the NYU Ghana program is located. So, you know. Visiting with people in Ghana.

What London really offers is the program. Yes, architecture, yes, history, yes, Fleet Street, yes, fantasy novelists, yes, bowler hats, yes, tea, yes, a huge huge huge background in Voice and Speech (one of the main draws for me, actually), yes, a massive theater scene. But based on location alone, I'd go with Ghana. Having gotten back into playwrighting this semester, and loving it, I think having a semester specifically focused on playwrighting will help me with my theatrical development tremendously, particularly with my dramaturgical interests. The difficulty is, I know several people who've gone to NYU Ghana--I don't know anyone who's gone to London for playwrighting. I'm working to scout them out. Also, I've been told that there will be an interview for London (which I have NO IDEA how we'll schedule because I think they expect that I have time, which is not the case). I plan to use that time for interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing me, to find out more about the program, and see whether the benefits of that can outweigh the benefits of Ghana.

But, no matter what, this means that I will definitely be studying abroad next semester.

I will be leaving the US for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.

And since I'll probably be flying out of Dulles, not JFK, what this also means is that I will be leaving New York on May 22nd or 23rd, and not coming back to it until January. That's seven months away, which will be the longest I've gone without being in New York since before August 2005. There was a four month stretch in 2006-2007 where I didn't go to New York, and I remember that was huge. It's strange walking around the city knowing that I'll be gone for so long. I'll have more thoughts on that, I'm sure, as the semester draws to a close. Also, being away from PHTS for a semester is sorely necessary (different experiences are vital and will only help me bring more to PHTS when I return), but it's going to be odd and a bit saddening, too. I will deeply, deeply miss everyone there.

Spring Break is coming up, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Since my show is not rehearsing, I can give my time to all the other shows that I'm working on. And read a lot of theology. I met with one of the rectors at Grace who suggested Bonhoeffer.

I should also really clean my room. My parents are coming up to see Maker of Dreams, and thus my room needs to be clean.