Hurricane Katrina was not much of a devastation in the area of Louisiana where I resided.  The hardship that I faced during Katrina was having to watch the news and see what was happening while knowing that some family members had not gotten out before it hit. On the other hand, Hurricane Gustav was the worse hurricane that I had to witness. I decided to go home because hurricanes did really get bad in that area (so I thought). Hurricane Gustav left us Donaldsonville, Louisiana without power for over a week. During the one week that I stayed home, I thought civilization was coming to an end. Gas and grocery stores began to run out of the necessary supplies. My local government was unprepared to handle such a disaster. I remember the radio saying that our mayor did not find Donaldsonville to be a disaster area. ( Maybe if all the residents were living lavish and had two generators I would understand his reasoning for that judgment.) Many people decided to call the radio station and give a difference of opinion.  I prefer not to go into detail about my hurricane story because it is not something I wish to relive, and I am sure that everyone has experienced the hardships (evacuating, personal devastation, etc.) of a hurricane. As of this point, I feel as though the class will not be as hard or demanding as it seems on paper (not saying that it will not be hard at all, just not as bad as it seems). When I first saw the syllabus, the words “reading intensive” and “writing intensive” caught my eyes. I must admit that I began to panic when I saw these words, but I now see that I can handle “intensive” work (well I definitely can handle partial “intensive” work). My expectations for this class are to become more knowledgeable of the bible, and other events related to the Christian faith. My reason for taking this course other than it being part of Xavier’s core curriculum is because I feel that knowing about a primary reference in Christianity will help to deepen my faith, and enhance my understanding. When it comes to my thoughts of the Bible and Biblical Studies, I do not really know what to say. I believe in the words that are written in the Bible; However, I do not always agree on the interpretations that someone may conclude from reading a passage. With that being said, I feel that is when Biblical Studies comes in to play. I want to be able to form an interpretation of a passage or better understand a priest based on my knowledge of the events. The background that I have had on the Bible comes from Catholicism classes (or religion classes, but it was not a deepen experience) and church . During the year I received the Sacrament of the Eucharist (or when I was in second grade), we did a lot of reading from the Book of Genesis. This reading was ultimately the first discussion topic every year after that class. Also during  the year I received the Sacrament of Confirmation (or my eleventh grade year), we did a lot of discussions about the book of Proverbs. I actually felt as though something was being taught to me that year. The classes in between those two years are of a distant memory for I have no recollections of what was being taught. As a professional vocation, I would like to become a dentist. I am still in the process of determining what I would like my specialty to be, but I am certain that I want to be in the dental field. When you really think about the significance of Biblical Studies and Dentistry, there may be a little connection. For me, the connection comes in to place while I would be at   work. Depending on my specialty, one mistake could mean someone’s life . I mean there is always a possible that things could go wrong, so I need to surround myself with God.  Also the fact that I hope to work with a multi-cultural cliental means I need to be conscience of the religions practiced by others.

   I have read the course commitments and feel that I can adhere to them. In regards to making the commitment of class preparation, I do not disagree with it, but it is kind of point less to read something that is hard to comprehend. I just find it challenging to read something that will sometimes phrase words in reference to biblical events. It will get done though.

   586 BCE is a key event in the Bible because it marks the exilic time period, in which the Babylonian army burns down the temple in Jerusalem. Lamentations occur in the same time period, and is located in Psalm 137 in the Bible. The Prophet Jeremiah (the weeping prophet) lamented for the city after its destruction. One specific parallel to the horrific scenes described in Lamentations and the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans would probably be the event with Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. The Babylonians killed Zedekiah’s kids in front of him and then poked his eyes out. Some people in New Orleans had to witness their parents or kids be killed for lack of preparation. In both cases, people were not able to properly defend themselves, which resulted in death. The Merneptah Stele is an inscription written on stone (which is shaped like a tombstone) by the 1213-1203 BC king of Ancient Egypt, Merneptah. The Merneptah Stele is the only known Ancient Egyptian piece that mentions Israel. This pertains to this course because Israel plays a major part in the Old Testament of the Bible. The point of showing the Babe Ruth movie clips was to show that you can learn a lot more about a time period when its produce than when it is actually portrayed. As time advances, we are able to use technology to help us get a more accurate depiction of what really happened.

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