Aside from driving to Greensboro on the weekend and a trip to Wendy's for a salad earlier in the semester, my trip to Raleigh for my Arabic class is the first time I've used my car since moving on campus.

And I'm really enjoying not having to drive everywhere.

I knew I wouldn't have time after our trip to Raleigh to park my car and take the bus from south campus if I wanted to make it to my LFIT class, so I planned to get back shortly before 2pm, park on South Road near Fetzer Gym at the meters, do my lab activity, drive back to south campus and park, and then catch the bus back to north campus for a late lunch.

So, that's what I did. More or less. I put in enough quarters for 1.5 hours, more than enough time to get changed after LFIT and walk back to the car and allow for any additional time the lab took.

Only, after my class (50 minutes) and getting changed, I forgot I had my car with me.

So rather than walk back to my car with time to spare as I intended, I decided I was hungry and walked to Lenoir to get some food. I had a nice salad from Subway, and took my time to relax since it had been a hectic day.

After I got done eating, I decided I should probably get some kind of sweatshirt since it's been getting cool in the evenings and so many of my nights seem to involve me walking from the library to Franklin Street for dinner and then waiting on the bus.. so I headed to the student stores, where I spent a good half hour or so browsing what they had before finally deciding on a tshirt/hoodie combo deal with my 25% off coupon from Fall Fest.

I also decided to go to the on demand printing service to ask them to make me a copy of the course pack that Todd Austell uses for his Organic Chemistry classes, which took probably 20 minutes or so, and then decided I'd head back to the dorm and pick up my Biology stuff so I could study before completing the quiz that was due at 11.

I waited about 10 minutes for the U bus, and got on. Only once I got about half way to Ram Village did I have an "Oh shit!" moment where I realized my car was parked on South Road at the meters and I had probably gotten a ticket!

So, I got off the bus at the next stop and walked as fast as I could carrying all my crap to my car.. and as I was approaching it, I see the meter guy seemingly doing one of his last runs of the day walking towards my car.. so I pick up my pace, and as I get there I look at my meter... blinking 0:00 ..but no ticket on my window!

Somehow I lucked out. I don't know how, I don't know why, but somehow I managed to avoid getting ticketed for the extra few hours I was parked there.

Needless to say, I'm going to do my best to avoid having to park anywhere I have to worry about a ticket.

Yesterday my Arabic 101 class had a trip to the Al-Iman School and the Islamic Association of Raleigh and I really enjoyed both.

I was lucky to be able to go, my lifetime fitness instructor was understanding and allowed me to attend another section of the class to do the scheduled lab.

First, we met with the principal of the school and took a tour, where we were able to meet with the principal and some of the teachers, talked a little with some of the children in the younger classes (Pre-K, Kindergarden, and 1st Graders).. who we found out were all far more advanced in Arabic than we are at this point.. and their books have better pictures too!

The school meets all of the NC standards requirements as far as curriculum, etc, but in addition it teaches the students how to read and write in Arabic, and as many Christian schools do, incorporates religion into their curriculum. Overall it seemed like a positive experience for the children.. The class sizes were small and each had more than one instructor, ensuring that each student would have plenty of personal attention.

The school was decorated by artwork made by the various classes, much of which was about Ramadan.

Afterward, we walked to the Islamic Center of Raleigh and were given a presentation on Islam, what it means to be Muslim, how they incorporate Islamic principles into their every day life, culture, and were able to ask questions. We were given assurances that our questions wouldn't offend anyone and we shouldn't hold back if there was anything we ever wanted to ask a Muslim or wanted to know about Islam..

Both were interesting and informative experiences and I'm definitely glad I was able to attend. I'll be posting pictures in the Gallery soon.

We have another event coming up, where we'll attend Iftar at Professor Isleem's house this Thursday.. which I'm excited about.