Ships and Grades and Parental Units

I feel like it's been a while since I've written... at least a week. So, I'll start back at last Sunday:

I visited the USS Constellation. And it was fantastic.
 

I went on a day much like the rest of that week: cold, cloudy, and perpetually either raining, or about to rain. In other words, perfect museum weather. Unless you're going to and outdoor museum.

Ah well.

I think I already gave you a quick run-down of the ship's history, so I'll try not to go over that too much again. But just to recap: there have been four ships by the name of the Constellation in American history. The first was built in 1797, but torn apart in 1853. The ship I visited is the 1854 USS Constellation, which is most famous for its exploits in disrupting the illegal African slave trade. It was restored in the 1990's, and smaller restoration projects on the ship have been ongoing since then.

While we were there (I dragged my friend Nina along with me), they held a demonstration of firing the guns. They only used 1/8th of the amount of powder that would have actually been used in firing a gun to kill, and... well. It was still quite loud, we'll put it that way. Given that in a battle, one would be using the actual amount of powder, all the other guns on the ship would be going off, all the guns on the other ship would be going off, and that theoretically, one could be doing this on a regular basis, it's easy to see why sailors went deaf.

 The Captain's quarters

Everybody else's quarters

The medicine cabinet. For some reason, I don't have pictures of all the tools they used for amputation, but... yes. As if I wasn't already hesitant about the whole sawing-your-arm-off thing.

Now, I know this is the wrong period (USS Constellation is a Civil War-era ship, as opposed to Napoleonic War-era), but throughout the entire tour of the ship, I couldn't get the Master and Commander soundtrack out of my head. I should go back and re-read those books... again...

Anyway.

That was a great visit. I really had a lot of fun. I just wish... well, two things actually: a) I wish I'd been able to spend more time there, b) I wish the museum itself had been more specific. How do I explain that...? Well, the presentation of the ship was very much "Here's what life was like in the US Navy during the Civil War," as opposed to "This is what was going on, and this is how the ship was connected to it." Ah well. Who am I do critique? It's a great site, and if you're ever in Baltimore, I would look into it... it's part of a museum that shows two other ships as well, so if you're into Naval History... yep.

Okay, I'm done now, I promise.

Things have been going... well. I'm still very happy here, and I'm still loving all my classes (except Philosophy, which you all probably know by now), and I'm doing very well: we've all been getting our "progress reports" back over the past few days, and... well. I'm getting a B in Film and Literature, A- in Philosophy, A in Historic Preservation, and A+ in European History. So... not terrible. I haven't gotten my Anthropology grade back yet, but I'm very excited to see that. But anyway, excuse my bragging, and let me get back to what I was saying: I'm really happy in terms of my academics, and most other things, but... I dunno. I'm coming down off the first-few-weeks-of-college high, and sorting through a few things. Prioritizing, I guess, would be the best way to put it. Things are already looking up, but it's been a strange week. Most of it feels like a dream.

And to top it off, this past weekend was Parent's Visiting Weekend! Which was wonderful... I was really happy to see Mum and Dad again. I'll talk more about that later, since a lot of what I have to say goes along with the pictures my Mum took, and I haven't gotten them yet. But it was a great weekend: my parents got to meet Kaira (my wonderful roommate who I can't say enough nice things about), and I got to meet her Mum, so that was nice.

It's odd... for the past few weeks, I've been in this mindset of thinking that I should feel more like an adult, but I don't... does that make sense? Probably not. But since my parents visited, and since they left, that has gone away. I suppose I've proven to myself that I can take care of things on my own... which is a great feeling. It's one thing to feel independent because you're parents aren't there to tell you what to do, but it's something else entirely to feel independent because you can stand up for yourself and decide what's best for you, on your own.

That being said, I did need Dad's help in opening my bank account. And in getting the right train tickets. So. I'm working on it.

My love to all,

Tasha

ps. A few birthdays I have to mention:

Happy Birthday to Sam (again)! And a belated one to John Lennon as well. It's difficult to overestimate how influential he has been, both musically and as a celebrity, even to those of us who were born after he died.