The semester students have been on campus for almost a week, getting ready for classes. They participated in the university's international student orientation program this week, along with students from more than a dozen other schools, mostly from Europe and North America. Classes “start” Monday, but only six of fifteen Calvin students have completed the registration process. You can’t enroll in classes that have not been “mounted.”
This morning, we smelled smoke at the flat. Now, it is not uncommon to detect the stench of smoldering grass and wood in the air, but it was particularly noxious today. Turns out, the fire was in Commonwealth’s garden (lawn), less than 100 feet from our flat! I guess the only surprising thing is it didn’t happen earlier with only 50 drops of rain since our arrival. Amost all vegetation is brown and dry.
Funny thing was, nobody seemed troubled by the burning garden! We observed several pedestrians who paid no attention whatsoever to the flames. The Hall porters acknowledged they knew about the blaze but didn’t know who started it, or why. One wandered (slowly) to the steps to investigate. “Probably someone had some stuff to burn.”
In a parched environment, it's not a brilliant move to start a fire on a windy morning. But, thankfully, the fire got only slightly out of control. (We saw some shrubs burst into flame. We should have removed our sandals!) As of this evening, you can still smell smoke, but the fire has burned itself out. There appears to be no significant damage.
—Matt
