Go siame

So, it’s Thursday. Too bad there aren’t any songs about it, it’s really just an ordinary day of the week. I did think that Tuesday was Wednesday for some reason, and that Wednesday didn’t really exist, but that’s not the point here.

My point is that I leave in tomorrow. In 24 hours exactly, I will be either on my way or at the airport, waiting for my 10:00 flight to Jburg. Not the longest leg of my trip by far, but the first. I’m pretty excited to see everyone! I’m a little nervous about the mechanics of my trip- layovers and checking bags through and everything else. But, at the same time, I’m an airline brat and absolutely love all that flying entails.

Last night we went out with Knight (from the Barcelona game) to a Brazilian restaurant. It was absolutely delicious and we had a great time. There was this table who had been there since 11 am (we got there around 7:30 pm) and their bill was already 20,000 Pula. Knight was explaining to us that it’s no big deal, pointing out the businessmen and their connections. He is actually quite well connected. We had sparkling rose, which I was not super fond of. Acacia also got a free piece of tiramisu because she told the owner it was her favorite. I need to learn how to do that… When we were almost done, we saw a bunch of people going over to the window and looking out. Someone walked past us, muttering, “eclipse.” Knight jumped up to check it out, and finally our curiosity got the better of us and we went to look as well. It was pretty spectacular. Every time we go out to eat I’m shocked at the number of lekgoa who are there. Acacia said it’s mostly only ex-pats who go out to eat because the Setswana culture doesn’t emphasize food as a social thing.

Today is my last day, both in lab and Setswana. Shocking, really, to think about. This week has been great- we did Western blots and ELISAs, both of which I’ve never done before. Our Western blots failed, but our ELISAs were successful, and Kelvin said we could keep them. Super cool. Today we’re only doing another PCR, pretty easy stuff. It gives us time to go to lunch with bo-Phono (Phono and company) at a supposedly delicious restaurant called Sanitas. It also means that hopefully we’ll get back to the flat early so I can start packing. I thought about doing it last night, but then I realized I had to finish this online ethical training for JSD so I did that instead. I was also waiting for an email from Luke Burbank, host of TBTL. Last week he said there was a good chance he would call me for their segment Call-makers but I went to bed before I got the email. I didn’t get an email last night, so I’m pretty bummed I missed my opportunity. Oh well.

Tonight we’re having Kelvin over for fajitas- supposedly the most Mexican food he’s encountered yet. We’re all excited that he’s coming to LA next semester. Acacia and Perri are scheming of places to take him in LA, which of course I’m going to tag along with since I’ve never really seen LA either. It’s going to be a great reunion- maybe Nina will come over from UCLA to visit. Hopefully we’ll also finish the second season of Doctor Who- pretty impressive- 2 seasons in 2.5 weeks. We’ll definitely go a lot slower during the school year, when we actually have work. Work, lol.

I’m definitely starting to be sad about leaving Bots. Gabs is a city, pretty much like any other, although with considerably less ease of transport for 3 young lekgoa women. I will definitely be glad to be back in the US- living a big city for the first time. My AMGEN roommate, Megan, says she’s never been to Seattle before, so I’m going to play tour guide, lol. One of the other girls also started a facebook group and I asked everyone where there was free parking- a parking pass is $350!! Luckily, a few of the scholars are from UW so one of them said she’d show me where it is. NICE! Ugh I also need to read the articles that the post-doc/grad-student I’m working with in Maly’s lab sent me. There’s my work, I guess. Hopefully we’ll get to come back next year, and I’ll be able to do more travelling around Botswana. I’ll have to practice Setswana and keep it up to date. Our NC State roommates left this morning for a 2-week excursion to Maun and Vic Falls. I heard them leaving, but thought it was Acacia going to the gym. Before I realized it wasn’t her, it was too late to say goodbye. Oh well, we weren’t really that close, although Lauren was a sweetheart. I’ll facebook them, or something.

I had a dream last night where I was having a lot of difficulties the travails from the beginning of this trip, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s a theme. Before I left Edinburgh, I had weird dreams about that too- me leaving without packing up or saying goodbye. At least the other girls will be able to take me to the airport. Phono cancelled our lesson because she also has to get things ready for her trip to America.

In other random news about me, I tried to clean my computer with acetone. It worked really well, especially on the cord, except I realized too late that the acetone also took off all of the varnish. So now my computer is kinda rough instead of smooth and shiny. I really to get a case for it...

Also exciting, I found the bracelet that I braided at Catalina. It fell off my wrist during the first week or so but when we were walking to lab yesterday, I was looking at the ground and saw it! It’s basically as clean as when I was wearing it, but now it has African rain on it :D I also found and bought a bracelet that was really similar to the one that Mom sent me for Christmas in Edinburgh from her trip to Africa. That one fell off my wrist while I was moving out of my Sciennes flat. I think it’s a flaw in the design that makes the knot slippery, so I’m not wearing this one until I can figure out a way to make it stay.

We’re also thinking about coming back next year- I can’t remember if I mentioned that in the last post or not. We’re going to do more travelling than this trip- going around to different villages to do a cultural/anthropological study of the impact of vaccines, lumpy skin in particular. We would have done that this trip, except UB has a process to gain permission for that kind of thing and we wouldn’t have gotten it in time. It’s incentive for us to keep up our Setswana… I definitely think we will, and that we’ll continue to hang out back in Claremont. I’ve definitely bonded with Perri and Acacia much more than any of the Americans in Edinburgh. There’s something about 5C students, some quality, which brings us together. We really do belong to a bubble, but I really appreciate the friendships that it enables.

So yeah, that’s all for now. I might post another one once I get home, or if I have internet at the airport (doubtful). So, until next time, my lovelies, and it’s been real.

Go siame,

LeeAnn xx

Montaga di 13 tsa June

Hello everyone!

I hope your weekends were wonderful- I know mine was.

On Friday, we went to a [delicious] Portuguese restaurant and I had some delicious beef. We also split a delicious bottle of cabernet sauvignon and had a great time playing with the candle and toothpicks at our table [pyros]. When we came back to our flat, our NC state flatmates were getting ready to go out, which made us feel a little lame since we immediately got into our pajamas to start watching Doctor Who. Oh well.

We got to sleep in the next day and Acacia made delicious, delicious cinnamon rolls. We were going to go to Mochudi, but Acacia got word that some care packages (sent in April) had finally arrived. So Perri and I went ahead to River Walk to get cash while we waited for Acacia. We got our money really quickly and went down to the restaurant area, where we found a small bazaar. We still had illusions about going to Mochudi, so while I saw a lot of things that I wanted to get for myself and other people I didn’t get any of them because I didn’t want to carry them. However, by the time Acacia joined us, we figured it would be too late to go to Mochudi. So of course, we started shopping. On our way back to the flat, we saw monkeys playing in the yard/trees around this one house, so of course nothing would do but to watch them for a little bit. After that nice adventure, we headed over to Bostwanacraft to get the rest of our gifts. Basically, Saturday was a really great day of shopping. I’m really excited to give everyone their gifts, and I hope I can get days off in August to go to Michigan. We also watched some really good episodes of Doctor Who that night. Just sayin’.

Sunday, I decided to go to Mass. It took me about 45 minutes to find the mass times for the cathedral in Gabs, and even then I wasn’t sure about the reliability of the site. It only had one time- 10 am. As I got there I see 7:30 English, 10:00 Setswana. So the entire mass was in Setswana, which I thought I would have been able to follow, but all the responses were sung so I had no idea what was a hymn and what was part of mass. It also took 2.5 hours. Amazing. I was really surprised to see the amount of young adults that were there though, both in the congregation and involved in the choir. I suppose it’s not that unusual for the States as well, but it did make me realize that St. Anthony’s is an older parish. I'm hoping to find a nice church by UW- if anyone knows of one, please let me know. After I walked back, we headed for Mochudi. The leather store was closed (bummer) but we went to visit Acacia’s mentor from her independent study project. He’s a traditional healer, although he used to be a physics and maths teacher. He seems like a great guy and Acacia had a great experience with him.

Today in lab, we did so many cool things- we made and ran an SDS-PAGE gel. I’ve ran them in Claremont before, but I’ve never made them. Unfortunately they take 4-6 hours to run, which means we need to go back in at 6:30 to start staining it :( We also just got back from talking to UB’s Research and Development office to start working on the protocol for introducing a more anthropological aspect to the project. We’re all excited about it and want to come back next year.

So, that’s all for now. It’s starting to hit me that these people are really far away from me, and that while I’m excited to go home, I don’t when or if I’m coming back. It’s kind of a weird tension between wanting to go home, feeling bad for wanting to go home, and realizing that I’m only now getting comfortable with this trip. Isn’t that the way it goes, though? I’m really glad that I’ll get to see Acacia and Perri next year, and I hope that Phono and Kelvin can come visit. Phono is coming right after we leave Bots, but I won’t be able to make it down to Cali because of UW research. I’m feeling much better about my roommate sitch now- we’ve exchanged a few messages and she seems really nice- as are all of the Minnesotans that I know. So anyways, less than a week til I’m stateside and my feelings about it are growing ever more confused.

LeeAnn xx

The quickness of time

I cannot believe I have less than a week left here.

Disclaimer- this post is quite long and unfortunately has no pictures. Sorry folks.

Cultural Lodge

So last Thursday, we went to Mgankodi and the Baharutsa Cultural Village. We took a bus there but the driver let us off one stop too far, so we started walking up a dirt trail. We walked for probably 20 minutes through the trail as it turned into a riverbed, passing a group of kids who were gathering wood. A couple of them followed us a little ways and then stopped, dancing and trying to catch our attention when we looked back. We finally stopped and Acacia called the ladies who run the village and realized we had walked way too far. Of course, we turned to the kids for help. They graciously walked us all the way back to the entrance of the village. The BCV was started by a group of Motswana basadi who decided that since the younger generations were moving away from the traditional villages towards the cities, someone needed to teach them about their culture. So we got there and were promptly greeted by 2 grannies (as they call themselves) ululating. It was pretty nervewracking, actually, because I wasn’t sure what they wanted or what my reaction should have been. So they welcome us in and we dumedisa (greet) the grandfathers and sit down. They start with a welcome dance and then throw bones to decide whether or not to invite us into their tribe. Luckily, we were accepted and then we each had to dance with them. Larry danced first with the two men and then Claire, Perri, and I danced with the grannies. They told us to imitate them, so I started imitating the oldest one, but I think she might have been doing a separate dance although she seemed happy to let me mimic her. Except for one, they only speak Setswana, and ours at that point was limited to a few different verbs and the greetings. So after the dance, they showed us what the traditional women of the village would do. We got to pound sorghum with them and then one of the grannies showed us how they would spread cow manure on the floor of the huts in order to clean them and keep away snakes. We ended with more dancing, and I got to dance with the best one there again.

Jazz festival

The next night, Friday, we went to Botswanacraft for a jazz concert. Botswanacraft is an organization that sponsors basket weavers and gives them an income in order to sell. They also sell a lot of other things- that’s probably where all of your presents are going to come from- and have a café and outdoor eating area. In this outdoor area, there’s a stage where they often hold cultural events/ concerts like the one we went to. We stayed for 3 of the artists, who got progressively better. The last one we stayed for, Acacia and I got up to start dancing. People were starting the electric slide and just dancing for fun. I started doing some Charleston and salsa and the photographers went nutso. I really wish I could stick around to see the pictures, but oh well. I can say that I introduced traditional American dance to people in Africa ;)

Wedding

When we were in Baharutsa, the Kgosi (chief) of Manyana, a village that Acacia stayed in, called to tell us there was a wedding the next day. So, of course we went, although none of us knew who was getting married. Acacia assured us it would be no problem, although it still made me a little anxious. We had an interesting time getting there- we took a bus to a stop closeby and then hitched the rest of the way. A lot of people did this, and luckily a couple with a huge truck drove by and stopped. So we all ran to cram into the bed of this truck and drove the next 10 minutes with the wind whipping our hair. It was pretty great. So we get to Manyana and can spot the wedding from the middle of town. As we head over there, I’m getting more and more nervous about this. It’s pretty normal for lots of uninvited guests to make their way to these weddings, but we would be the ones that stood out the most, by a long shot. When we get to the house, there’s a long line of the male elders from the village. So of course, we greet them all, stumbling over their questions in Setswana but they were happy to meet us and I think glad that we tried to speak their language. The bride and groom arrive from their church ceremony and everyone forms an aisle for them to walk through into the yard where the reception is. It’s traditional for the wedding party to do a choreographed dance into the yard and since the groom was in the armed forces, there was a guard. As the couple walked past each pair, their swords went down and the couple kissed, to much ululating from the matrons of the village. It was a great way to start the reception and celebration. As we made our way into the yard, we met two girls who were friends of one of the groomsmen. We were extremely lucky because they took us under their wing and got us into the tent. Supposedly, weddings are pretty casual affairs with people coming from all over and dropping by, but this was the most organized wedding Botswana has ever seen. There were invitations (which we obviously did not have), tables and settings, place cards- I felt like a wedding crasher. We learned later that some of the tables, including ours, were actually meant for uninvited guests so it all worked out. It was just awkward because we looked the most out of place. When we went through the buffet, we had to go past the head table, and the whole time I kept thinking that this couple has no idea who were are or where we come from. Everything turned out alright, and we got to eat delicious food and watch a group of traditional dancers perform. Unfortunately we had to leave to catch the bus before the reception really started- the bride had gone to change into her second dress- but c’est la vie. On the bus back, Perri and I attracted some little kids, who we taught to play slide and snag campfire songs- unfortunately I only got to the nest in Rattlin’ Bog before they had to go :(

Zebras

On Sunday we were going to watch the band from the wedding play at O’Hagans (where we saw the futbol game) but on the combi to Game City, we found out that the national Botswana football team, the Zebras, was playing that day. It definitely explained why we saw so many people in baby blue, black, and white. We went to Game City and shopped around for a bit- I got a new pair of shoes- had lunch and then headed back. It took us a while to get to the game because while the stadium is right next to UB, it was under construction. We walked all the way down the road to the UB field, just to find out that the ticket vendor was halfway back the way we came. So we turned around and by the time we finally got to the field, the guards weren’t letting anyone in, saying they had to wait until half-time. It was pretty frustrating, but we finally got in, standing room only, and watched the rest of the game. There were some pretty good moves but the final score was 0-0. It was worth it just to see the fans- they went all out. The Zebras just qualified for the African Cup for the first time so team spirit is pretty high. We ended the day by going out to dinner with Larry and Claire since it was both of their last nights. We definitely ended on a high note with them, which was nice.

During this week, we haven’t done all that much, although labwork is starting to pick up which is nice. We did some transformations, plating, PCR and gel electrophoresis. I’m really excited to do Western blotting and ELISAs next week because I haven’t gotten to do either of those techniques before. We’ve also cooked a lot of good meals- roast chicken and veg with the leftovers for soup, lots of yummy homemade bread, and this morning we made cinnamon rolls. There was also a really cool thunder/lightning storm one day and we had a perfect view from the guest room. It was absolutely spectacular. Last night (Friday) we went out for Portuguese, which was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure what the plans are for this weekend, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.

UW

One quick note about what’s going on with my next adventure- I found out what exactly I’m going to be doing in Dr. Maly’s lab and I still have articles to read about it… I also found out that I’m going to have a roommate, which I was not at all prepared for. She’s bred and raised in the Midwest, which will be interesting. I’m somewhat nervous and worried about it, but as Acacia and Perri assure me, I can get along with just about anybody and what’s the worst that could happen? I’m praying that it will be a learning experience, since I haven’t lived with anyone since freshman year….

So that’s all for now, folks. Sorry again about the really wordy and picture-less blog… Acacia was taking a lot of pictures for us at the Lodge and unfortunately my battery was dead when we went to the concert and the game and none of us wanted to draw any more attention to ourselves at the wedding. I’ll get them from Acacia at some point, I promise. Bug me about it when I get back to the States (and let’s hope I have a better time getting through customs than when I came back from Scotland).

LeeAnn x

Goings-ons

Weiseths

Before I left, my dad had mentioned to someone at work that I was going to be in Botswana. They knew of a furloughed Alaska pilot who is living here for two years with his family, so I got in touch with Pete before I left. On Tuesday, I went to their house for dinner. Pete is a pilot for an organization called Faith Aviation (or something like that). He’s in the branch that has contracts with other companies (they’re working on one with Air Botswana) and what he’s doing now is flying medic planes. It’s pretty cool stuff. Shelly is a biology teacher in the international school, teaching grade 7 through IB 1 and 2. It’s a lot of work because she has to make 5 lesson plans every day and the schedule is always different. Caleb is in grade 5 at the same school. As Shelly was tucking him in, she asked if I was a chick, a concept he was working on. He replied, “no! Chicks aren’t nice and they aren’t Christian and they don’t come to Africa to do good things! All chicks care about is shopping and looking pretty.” From the mouth of babes… Malena, who they adopted when they lived in Mozambique, is the youngest Weiseth. They were extremely thoughtful in the preparation of dinner, cooking spaghetti and salad, guessing correctly that I would be longing for American food. We had banana bread and hot chocolate for dessert while we talked about everything from racial politics to aquariums. I definitely hope to see them again. I’ve invited Caleb to see what my dad does- he wants to do aviation just like his dad (and his dad) so Pete wants him to see what other things there are besides piloting. I also invited Shelly to come see the lab here at UB when (if) we do something particularly interesting.

Cooking

So there is a natural transition here to mention that we finally got our checks for our meal stipends- got them and tracked down the people needed to sign them off to get them cashed. We went grocery shopping and cooked our first meal for Larry and Clair. As I speak, we’re heating up chili we made last night in prep for today. It took us a while to find a way to open cans- because a can opener is something I always forget about- but we got them open using Acacia’s plier/knife tool. Acacia’s baking bread as well- I’m pretty excited for this lunch!

Although this picture doesn't reflect it, I helped too!

Meatballs and Spaghetti

Lab

So the lab isn’t quite going the way the other girls thought it would be. I suppose I came in with lower expectations- it was kind of just my opportunity to come here- but they were looking forward to doing a lot of labwork. The problem is that there just isn’t that much to do. Our counterpart here, Kelvin, has been unsuccessful in either getting or looking for grants, so there’s not much money. We’ve started doing some projects but nothing groundbreaking, and it feels a lot like busywork. We’re going to try to do some internet research once we get set up with UB’s wireless system on grants and procedures relating to clinical trials. We might also start a cultural evaluation project travelling to different villages that Acacia’s been to and interviewing Batswana about the importance of cattle to them as well as their perceived needs relating to cattle. I’m really interested in doing this, because I kinda mentioned something like it in my grant from Scripps, plus it’s going to be a great project and opportunity to practice our Setswana. It’s kinda daunting though, especially since we only have 2 more weeks here. It would be an interesting follow-up project, however. We did do something interesting today though- we had a tour of the Botswana Vaccine Institute, which develops and manufactures vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease. It was kinda like the biotech company Althea that I visited with the Grill lab a couple years ago.

Dr who/projects/homesickness

Since there’s no wireless internet in our rooms, these book-y projects aren’t really something we can work on in the evenings. Since there’s not that many things to do in Gabs, plus it’s pretty unsafe for 3 women to be walking around at night and expensive to take cabs all the time, we’re pretty much stuck hanging out in our flat. Which is actually completely fine with me since it is the start of summer, after all. I’ve introduced the others to Doctor Who and we’ve watched the first two episodes. They both really like it, which makes me happy J I’ve also started making a photobook from my semester in Edinburgh. I’m going to put my blog entries in it as well. Acacia does a lot of crafting- sewing and scrapbooking, etc- and it’s inspiring me to start all of these projects. I should probably start downloading and reading my lab articles for UW as well L Oh well.

I’m starting to get pretty homesick, mostly because I’ve realized I won’t have an opportunity to spend a lot of time at home for a while, if ever again. Since I’m living at UW, the most time I’ll get to spend at home is a weekend, and then a week at the end of the summer. I suppose I’ll be spending a couple weeks at the very least over Christmas break, but it’s still not as much as a summer. It seems like the older I get, the more I want to go home. I also hope I’ll be able to get a few days off from UW to go to Michigan. I’m sure it will all work out. So, I’m super excited to go home, although I’m having a great time here.

Anyways, we just pulled the bread out- so I’m off to eat a delicious lunch!

xx

Mokolodi

It was so cold. Acacia must have been dying.

Clair

Larry

Perri

Acacia

Me! OMG.

:)

Dumelang!

Good news y’all. The blog restriction is 30 minutes per day, not for the whole time :D Hehe.

Picture Incident/Hotel Gaborone/ Mma Ramotswe

Friday, we went to look at the government buildings. We had to walk through the Main Mall to get there. The Main Mall is a polyglot of street vendors that lines this huge walkway with established stores on either side. During the weekends, there are sometimes performances in a couple open spaces along the drive. As Larry was explaining the meanings behind the symbols, I tried to take a picture. As I did a security guard walked over to us. After exchanging the greetings, he explained that we weren’t allowed to take pictures unless we had a special permit. I offered to delete them, which I guess he figured was a reasonable enough charge. I mean, what could I have done with them? At any rate, we turned and walked back through a little park area to the Mall. We had tea (well, afternoon beverage- I had tea) at the Hotel Gaborone, overlooking the Mma Ramotswe tea corner. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series has definitely been embraced here.

Mokolodi/Cheetahs

On Saturday, we got up super early to go to Mokolodi Game Reserve, about 15 minutes from UB. We saw a few different types of animals, mostly various species of antelope as well as a few ostriches. However, highlight of our trip was by far getting to pet cheetahs. They felt a lot like a normal housecat would, although I could never forget that these cats were way different in temperament from normal housecats. Larry didn’t seem quite as wary as we were- a couple times I really thought he was going to get swiped. Our guide was very nice and helpful and it was overall a great experience, although I didn’t get to see that many animals. Everybody’s going on safaris with their moms right after this, although one girl is going with her whole family, so they are all excited to see more animals, but I won’t get a chance to do that since I’m starting UW pretty much right away. Plus, Mom did her safari thing last year.

Football Game/bar

Saturday night, we ended up watching the Barcelona vs Manchester game. Acacia and the two other girls from her spring semester program had been interviewed on the radio. The radio guys kinda folded them into their clique and had been hanging out with them a lot and invited us to watch the game. I was thinking we were just going to be in some sort of bar/pub – the place, O’Hagans, is a bar that is supposed to resemble a British pub- I guess it succeeded. When we got there though, there was a massive queue and the radio DJ we were with just walked to the front and gestured us through. We then went into this VIP room where all the media and Heineken suppliers were sitting. The tickets our DJ hookup had gotten for us were VIP tickets, entitling us to 6 Heinekens each. I definitely didn’t drink that much since we were only there for a few hours but it meant we got free Heineken for the entire time we were there. Pretty sweet. The game was, of course, riveting, and we were in the minority cheering for FC Barcelona. I started the Ole, Ole, Ole! cheer after one of the goals, which I’m pretty proud of. It was a great night J

Jar Jar Binks?

Kgola Hill

Sunday morning we got up to climb Kgola Hill. It starts near a quarry and then goes up. It reminded me a lot of Arthur’s seat, although the path is way rockier and less established, although it’s probably hiked just as often. Oh, and there are definitely no BABOONS on Arthur’s Seat. I was trying to figure out the best way to deal with a baboon attack. They’re pretty vicious, but luckily nothing happened while we were there. We got to the top and had a nice sit-down with some gorgeous views. While the mountains aren’t very tall where we are, there are a lot of hills that I wasn’t expecting. Our professor is pretty athletic and competitive so he was going pretty fast up and down. Perri and I took our time on the way up and Clair joined us on the way down. The path was really rocky and I definitely didn’t want to sprain an ankle or worse if I misstepped and slipped. Larry says next time, he’s going to run it. Jeez.

Me, at the top

The quarry

View from Kgala Hill

View from Arthur's Seat

The similarity is astounding, no? Well, except for the bush/city difference. No big.

New Flatmates

We also got 2 new flatmates this weekend from North Carolina, Lauren and Caitlin. They’re really nice girls on a program designed by their school. They’re taking Setswana, International Public Health Policy, and International Communications, and get to travel to Maun, a village in the north, to stay for a couple weeks. It sounds like a really interesting program. We had dinner at the cafeteria with Lauren last night and got to know her better, and she invited us clubbing with her group. Apparently, they have a van that’s dedicated for their use. Nice.

The Fate of Africa

I started reading this book that Acacia has called The Fate of Africa. It’s really good, explaining about modern politics in Africa starting from the early mid-20^th century and the independence struggles that most of the countries faced. I’m only a few chapters in, but I would definitely recommend it.

Lab/Setswana

We started our lab work yesterday after our Setswana lesson, although it was really after tea after our Setswana lesson. It seems like we’re not going to have that much to do since none of us have our own projects. It’s basically 5 people (Kelvin who’s a grad student here at UB, and the 4 of us American girls) doing one person’s job. Clair (and Larry) is leaving in a week so that will alleviate it a little, but it still is going to be interesting. I might see about getting my computer set up with the campus’s wireless internet (which doesn’t reach this far) so I can do research while I’m there, if that’s something Larry wants us to do. I expect we’ll have a lab meeting at some point, although he’s been in a lot of administrative meetings, trying to find funding, cutting through red tape. It’s hard for him to adjust to the fact that everything moves much more slowly here- he’s still pretty uptight about timing and it’s driving Acacia, who’s been here for 4 months already, nuts. She is definitely on Botswana time and is getting used to that schedule.

Weather

The weather is pretty amazing- its really chilly in the mornings but hot in the afternoons. Our apartment is quite cool, which is nice. I woke up this morning to a sound that was rain-like, and since the sun wasn’t quite up, the sky looked grey. I was worried it was raining for a second, especially since I didn’t bring my rain jacket, but the sky is blue now and the sun is out.

I’m starting to feel a little homesick, but also really excited for what we’re going to do each day and a little more comfortable here. I’m not sure that I’m falling in love with this city/country/continent (I think Edinburgh already stole my heart) but it definitely is a comfortable and nice change of pace. I’m really glad that I was able to come here, and I love talking with Acacia and Perri. Overall, I would say that I’m doing really well. Or in Setswana, ke tlhotse sentle (I am spending the day well).

Bisous! xx

Pictures from Dubai

Good news y'all! It's 30 minutes of restrictions per day, and this port I'm in now doesn't filter at all! Hooray!

Dumelang bo-rra le bo-mma!

It was a long journey, but it went by really fast. I ended up watching a ridiculous amount of movies on the plane (no judging). The “overnight” layover in Dubai was not really as cool as it seems, although I did end up getting to go on a night tour of the city. Dubai reminded me of Las Vegas, although without the gambling and drinking. The tour was basically a lot of hotels, plus the tallest building on Earth, plus the owner of Emirates Air’s house. Well, it’s actually two houses, because he has two wives, and they’re both covered in streams of fairy lights.

Luckily, I met up with another girl, Claire, who is with our group at LAX before we got on our first plane. We were on the same flights, except for the short one from Johannesburg to Gaborone. Since we got to Gaborone at different times, we had trouble finding the driver who was taking us to the University of Botswana. We went outside to see if we could find someone, and almost immediately two guys who organized the taxis started hitting on us. Record?

We finally found the girl who was supposed to meet us and got to the University, where we met up with Perri (another girl with our group) and Larry (our professor). Perri, Acacia (the 5^th person with us), and I are in a flat at UB because we’re all staying to about the same time- although Acacia and Perri are doing safaris after with their respective families. Larry and Claire are leaving really soon- they’re only staying til the first week of June, although Claire is going on a safari after that as well. Acacia has actually been here since January since this is where she was studying abroad. It’s really nice to have a local with us- she knows Setswana already and where everything is. It’s been really cool to hear about her experience, and still almost makes me wish I had come here for study abroad. I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to though, because I probably would not have chosen to go to Edinburgh on my own.

So the first night, Perri and I just went to get dinner (we’re eating at the Uni’s cafeteria until we get our grocery stipends) and tried to keep each other awake until it was a respectable time to fall asleep. We got up the next day and went around the uni to where our Setswana classroom and lab were going to be. Then we went to a mall to get some things for our flat and took a combi (a van-taxi) to Botswanacraft, a store that sells souvenirs and art. We had our first Setswana lesson today, which Perri and I were SO excited for. We learned a lot of random vocab and greetings. Our teacher is so nice- Phono. After class we had bread and tea and went to an outdoor stall mall- the main mall. I got in trouble, kind of, for taking a picture of the seal on the Parliament/capital building and the guard came over to make me delete it. We also had an afternoon beverage at the Botswana Hotel, which some of you might recognize from the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

I slept almost 12 hours last night, so hopefully my jet lag is gone by now. It’s a little overwhelming to be here, but I think it will get better once I know more Setswana. Our routine of Setswana lesson then lab work will start on Monday, so that will also help. I keep trying to superimpose my Edinburgh experience onto this one, made a little easier by the fact that Botswana was originally colonized by Britain and still carries a lot of British traditions (including tea and driving on the left side of the road!). I keep having dreams about Edinburgh though, which is quite confusing and sad.

One last thing- apparently UB doesn't trust their students, or something, so I might only have 30 minutes of internet that I can use for blogs for the entire trip, and I think they're in 10 minute chunks each time, so I might not be able to blog very often/if at all. I'll try to spread my next couple out, or delete cookies or something. Le sigh.

Bisous!

LeeAnn

Botswana!!

My friends, we meet again. I returned safely to Edinburgh from my amazing ski trip and then returned safely home, although have decided I hate Chicago airport with a passion.

This past semester was amazing- full of new opportunities and adventures. I fell back in love with Scripps and CCBDC, and was sad to see my seniors graduate, although they're all off to bigger and better things!

Some of those new adventures are beginning NOW. I just got back from Catalina Island where I was doing a weeklong summer conference with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a group that I am involved with at school. It was amazing, but also made my schedule a little hectic/ stressful.

So we got back from Catalina on Saturday, had dinner and saw a movie, and then returned to our leader's house for a sleepover. Which is when I realized that I hadn't remembered packing my passport. Which wouldn't have been a big deal, except I'm going to Africa. Today (Monday). So yesterday I went home, searched my entire room, then frantically flew back to Ontario, CA with my mom so we could look in my storage unit. Mission, accomplished, thank God. This meant that we were left in LA overnight, so we drove down to LAX, returned our rental and got a hotel for the night. My mom left at 4 am this morning, but my flight isn't until 4:45 PM tonight, so I've still got lots of time. To spend alone, at the airport :( The worst part is, my mom had a really cool birthday happy hour celebration planned for me :'( Oh well, as she said, I have the rest of my life to drink. I'm mostly sad about not getting to see anyone- I hardly had time with Dad (and it was all stress-filled) and I didn't get to see Malcolm at all... I guess God just wanted to remind me how wonderful of a family I have- everyone was super helpful with tips and organizing everything.

So anyways, I'm in my hotel room, all lonely-like, chilling until I have to go back to that awful airport and wait for my flight. I also realized I forgot to pack my Pokemon game in my haste to find my passport :( Now what will I do when I'm listening to TBTL?!

I just realized I've not even said what my flight is for! I'm going to Botswana to do vaccine research at the University of Botswana in Gaborone. I'll be working in the same lab that I worked in after freshman year. Here's a little blurb:

A new method used in this lab for making vaccines for various diseases involves the tobacco plant. Epitope sequences code for the attachments to the virus’s coat proteins that are recognized by the host animal’s antibodies. These sequences can be inserted into the sequence for the coat protein of the tobacco-mosaic virus, which is used as a scaffold to express these antigens, using PCR. This creates a vaccine that presents very few side effects for the host. This process is very inexpensive, fast, and can be done on a large scale. What I worked on in the summer of 2009 was researching epitope sequences for rabies and rift valley virus. I also assisted students in their endeavors to successfully express epitopes on the tobacco-mosaic virus for lumpy skin disease and rotavirus. This summer, I'm continuing this research. Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a bovine disease which is similar to foot-and-mouth disease. This disease is a huge problem in areas like Botswana, where cattle is a main source of wealth, because there is no current treatment for the disease. The Vaccine Development Institute is collaborating with the University of Botswana to develop a new vaccine for LSD to prevent the economic losses caused by it. My project proposal is to design two new epitope sequences that can be used as vaccine candidates for LSD. I would then order the DNA primers necessary for the PCR process in the United States before travelling to Botswana to work with Dr. Sununguko Wata Mpoloka in the University of Botswana’s lab. While in Botswana, I would perform the gene cloning steps of the vaccine development procedure and insert this vaccine into tobacco plants to begin manufacture of the vaccine. Prior to my departure, I expect to be able to extract these vaccines and begin testing their viability as vaccines.

Haha yes, that was taken from one of my applications. At any rate, it's pretty exciting stuff.

I'm not sure what my internet will be like when I get there, but since I am at the University, I think I'll have internet at least part of the time. Au revoir, my friends, and bon voyage til we meet again.

LeeAnn xx

Academics, I vanquish thee.

I just got out of my final final. All of them (Chem, History, and Cell Bio) went decently. I'm pretty sure I'll get As in Chem and Bio but I'm really not sure about History. I know I wrote decent essays for the exam but we'll see. And at this point, who cares?!

I am totally, completely, and utterly brain-dead.

Also, a ski bunny :)

My parents sent me ski gear as part of my Christmas present. There were two envelopes in the box as well, but I think I'll wait until Christmas to open those.

Aggghhh I almost don't even know what to do with myself now that exams are over. I could start packing up, go to the gym, walk around, go shopping, chill at home, go to a coffee house.... The possibilities are endless!

Can't wait for the rest of my vacation here :)

xxx

LeeAnn

LIBRARY

I think I should change my permanent address to the library. I spend all of my time here now...

In fact, there's practically nothing to say because I've done nothing other than revise. Here's the highlights- but are they really lowlights? I'm going to do a round of Awesome Not Awesome for you all. This is a segment from TBTL- if the thing is Awesome, it gets a "RAWR" and if it's Not Awesome, it gets a "C'MON!" Here goes:

Chem final RAWR

could have gone better (the practice tests online were easier than the real tests) but I think I still got an A (which is a pretty easy feat in this grading system for science students, actually)

Working out after Chem final RAWR

Spending 12 hours in the library on Wednesday C'MON!

The beautiful natural light is the only reason I tolerate this place.

Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception RAWR

Getting a pinched nerve in my thumb from writing so much C'MON!

it's kinda getting better and I'm pretty much done writing for revision. On the plus side, my notes are beautiful- look at the pretty colors!

Skyping yesterday with Tasha, Marissa, and Faith (seperately) RAWR

Inheriting things from Tasha RAWR

I'm getting her fridge, hot water kettle, fuzzy blanket, lamp, and lounge pillow while she's abroad :D

Discovering the leak in our flat did not get fixed C'MON

the security guards came by yesterday and said the flat next door had a leak, which was supposedly fixed last week when they disabled our shower. They are not doing that again-they can wait a gd week until everyone leaves for Christmas break and noone's home.

Christmas episode of Glee RAWR

Snow partially melting C'MON

as much as I'd love to see the snow gone, this leaves a layer of water over the refrozen ice, making walking about a million times more difficult than it was yesterday

Recurring dream about leaving C'MON

in this dream, which I've had 3 times, I find myself at home having left the UK in a hurry. None of my things are packed properly and I've not said goodbye to anyone

Scripps housing crunch C'MON C'MON C'MON C'MON C'MON C'MON

this gets a millions C'MONs. Scripps needs to get their act together. Noone wants to live on south campus Pomona. This whole problem could have been avoided if they stopped admitting so many gd freshman and started using the waitlist more. SERIOUSLY. I had better get a room on Scripps, even if it is a double.

So, it seems that I've done more than I thought, although I really have been spending all my time at the library.

This is my "Finals Bemuse me Face." I'm off to get a coffee from the library cafe...

Long Time, No Blog

Hello my peoples.

I am very sorry I have been remiss on posting to my blog- so much as been happening! I will try to be better about it from now on.

Sooo- I will be posting a few blog posts all at once, to be found under this one. I know- SO OVERWHELMING.

Here's a recap of the new ones (this list is least recent to most recent but they're posted most recent to least recent, ie "Nat visits" is on the second page- scroll down and click "older posts"). I recommend reading them in the order listed below:

Nat visits

Maria visits/ St.Andrews

Spring at Scripps

Dad visits

Audrey visits

SNOWMG

Revision

Christmas Homesickness

I now invite you to kick back, put on some Christmas music (that's what I'm listening to), perhaps pour a glass of wine or tea, have a seat by the fire, and catch up on my goings-on.

Or you can stay where you are and just skim them, looking at the pretty pictures. It's up to you.

Love,

LeeAnn xxxx

Christmas homesickness

On Friday we had our IFSA-Butler (that's the American program that my school goes through) farewell tea. It was kinda bittersweet because I realized I wasn't going to see most of my casual acquaintances from that program again. It was also bittersweet because everyone kept talking about how soon they're going home.

Most people are leaving by the 18th December because that's when exams end. That was my original plan (Plan A) too, until my mom convinced me to stay overseas for the holiday, since I was going to be there anyways.

Then I thought, why doesn't my oldest cousin come to meet me and we can spend the holidays with our family in Europe? Following Plan B gave me an arrival date in the States of 5th January- still a week and a half at home before semester at Scripps starts on 18th January.

However, Plan B quickly gave way to Plan C at the urging of Sarah, Zoe, and Alice on Halloween. Plan C now involves a ski trip in the French Alps (!), but means I won't get back until 12 January. The obvious problem: I have 3.5 days at home before moving back to Scripps on 16 January.

This would have been fine because my original arrival time was going to be in the early evening (dinnertime), which gave me another half day. But then, after recalling my dad's travel problems, I realized this wasn't going to work. To save money, I booked a round-trip flight from Chicago O'Hare to Edinburgh. My plan was to fly Alaska to and from Chicago. Coming here, I stayed in Chicago for a few nights with my uncle and his family (see wayy below).

However, going back was just going to be a simple layover. I though, nbd- two hours is plenty of time. Until I realized that since my flight reservations weren't connected, AND the international terminal is different than the domestic terminal, it would be a lot harder than originally thought. I would have to clear customs in terminal 5, get my bags from baggage claim, get to terminal 3, re-check my bags at the Alaska counter, get through domestic security (and Chicago is the WORST for getting through security), and get to the Alaska gate. I started to realize that 2 hours from arrival to departure was NOT going to be enough time. Luckily, there's more flights that will get me from Chicago to Seattle that day, preventing an overnight layover. My choices: straight-shot that arrives at 10:20 or via Portland which only saves me an hour. I think I'll end up opting for the straight flight because it gives me more time (2 extra hours in Chicago). I really have no idea how long this switching process is going to take, and I can't think of anything more stressful than running around the airport like a chicken with it's head cut off after traveling cross-Atlantic. Sooo, that means I'm really missing out on the entire evening at home.

When I discovered this in the library, I almost cried. Well, a few tears escaped but I managed to keep it from becoming a full-blown sobfest. To be fair, I think this also had to do with my choice of music: Rascal Flatts is pretty emo for a country band.

Anyways, I'm better now and I have a LOT of things to look forward to: Christmas on Islay with Christy (and a real family!), maybe visiting Robbie on his farm, New Year's in Edinburgh, the ski trip, and a chance to say goodbye to all my uni friends here/my Scripps friends coming for spring semester since I'm leaving after term starts. Even so, exams are putting me off of happy thoughts and making me realize how long I've actually been here- 12.5 weeks. It's a long time to be away from home, and even though I think I talk to my parents more often than when I'm at Scripps, it's unusual that I haven't been home yet for the semester. And there's the entire US and about miles of water separating us.

So, my mood's a bit melancholy at the moment, but I'm almost positive it will pass once I get past exams. Plus, Robbie's taking me to see the Secret Gardens at the Festival Theatre this Sunday. Since he's a bartender there, he gets free tickets to shows. YAY! If it was the Nutcracker, it would be perfect, but this is going to be pretty good as is.

ALSO, today I made a realllly pretty Christmas ornament at the National Museum of Scotland, for FREE. The museum liked mine and my flatmate Giulia's so much that they took our picture with our finished ornaments. Pretty cool, eh? Maybe they'll put me on the website.

Pretty awesome huh? There are 4 sides, but those two are my favorite.

Anyways, mucho love to all of you!

LeeAnn xxxx

Revision Revision Revision

Revision: British for studying.

My new favorite place is the library. I seem to be physically unable to study in my room without getting distracted by my computer/everything, so I've been spending literally hours per day in the library. I've got favorite spots, but unless you get there early, don't bother because all of the individual study desks are going to be taken. For a uni of more than 20,000 students, you'd think they'd have more room to study in their library. I guess to be fair, they're redoing it a floor at a time, so the entire 3rd floor is under construction and unusable. But still, it's kinda ridiculous.

The exam schedule here is so different- there are two weeks worth of finals and since there isn't a universal class timetable, all the finals have to be carefully crafted not to overlap. My first final is Chem on Tuesday, followed by History next Tuesday, and Cell Bio the day after. My general revision plan is to go through all the notes from the lectures. Luckily, I started looking at the past exams and got a pleasant surprise. For chem, there were 5 sections and there's a question on the final about each of them. Not surprising, but you only have to answer 3 of them. That means you only have to study 3/5 of the course and you could still get 100%. How ridiculous is that? I'm still pretty nervous about the Modern Scottish History final- the lecturers for that course were awful and rambly and I don't feel like I retained the main ideas. One of the girls in the course is organizing a study group, which I hope helps. I guess I could always email my tutor as well for questions. I really wish we just had to write another essay or had to do a final project for history because I have absolutely no idea how to take a history final.

The other thing going on while I was studying away is that there were people doing construction on our bathroom to fix a leaking pipe. This means I didn't have a proper shower for a couple days, which was excruciating. And, it made our flat smell. But everything's good now.

I kinda had a day off today (I'll explain in the next post), so after the student mass tonight, I'm going to get down to it and head to the library when it opens tomorrow (7:30, uggghhh) to get my favorite spot.

SNOWMG

So you may have read from my last blog post that it started snowing like CRAZY basically as soon as Audrey came.

Well, that was Friday and it didn't stop snowing until a week later. Edinburgh is surprisingly ill-equipped for snow. Apparently, they don't get this much (we probably got a good foot and a half) and definitely not this early. It's kinda got a lot of people worried and stressed.

It started getting warmer yesterday, though, and the snow is starting to melt and people are starting to get their act together. The streets and sidewalks are finally getting cleared. I mean walking on the snow was fine when it was hard and packed, but it started getting to be the consistency of sand. And walking on sand is f-ing hard. It started taking an extra 5 minutes to walk anywhere because each step you took only took you half as far as it normally would. The snow was really pretty though (until recently) and a lot of people took advantage of it to go cross-country skiing through the Meadows.

I can't decide if I'm happy about it melting. I guess it's not so bad except I don't know if it melting and then icing over if it gets colder is going to be worse than if it kept snowing a fresh layer over everything.

Ah well, we're Walking in a Winter Wonderland indeed and Baby It's Cold Outside.

Pristine :)

Om nom snow :)

AUDREY

Sorry guys, I'm running out of creative titles... :(

So last weekend (wow it seems so much longer ago than that), my friend Audrey came to visit me. Audrey is a fellow Scrippsie studying abroad for a semester at University College London (UCL). The Friday before she came to visit, I went to Robbie's sister, Katie, flat for a get-together for her birthday. She's a psychologist so she has a lot of doctor friends. I had a really good chat with one of them about what it means to be Indian having been raised as Caucasian. I think we're probably related in some way because his family is also from Madagascar and speaks Gujarati. Robbie and I also chatted with a really nice older couple. Anyways, then we went to Sam's for a flat party and I slept in suuuppppeerrr late the next day.

But, I dragged myself out of bed in time to meet Audrey at the train station- I had perfect timing, actually. Unfortunately, it had started snowing on Friday night so everything was snowy and kinda hard to walk in.

We had grand plans for what we were going to do that weekend, but then it kept snowing and snowing. I got up early to a beautiful snow-covered meadows and went to mass at the university chapel. I really, really enjoyed it. Then, I reconvened with Audrey and we went to the German market set up on the Mounds. It was rather less exciting than I thought it was going to be. Only a few stalls were really based on Christmas and the rest of them sold things I could find in the States. We did get a pretzel though, which I had been craving for a looong time. Delish! Then it started snowing again, so we went back to the flat in order to study/hang out.

That actually ended up being the rest of the weekend for us- lots of Christmas music and studying. We tried to go to the Castle since it was free in honor of St. Andrew's Day, but it was closed because of the snow. Monday night we did go out to dinner for my friend Sarah's 22nd birthday. That was an experience- we ended up walking back in the snow because there weren't any taxis around because of the snow. It was quite an experience, filled with snowball fights and lots of slipping and sliding.

All in all, I'm kinda glad that we didn't end up doing more of the touristy things. It was nice to just hang out with a friend again. I do feel kinda bad that Audrey didn't get to see more of the city... I guess she'll just have to come back! ;)

It's Daddy time!

Sorry about the title, it's a spin off a TBTL audio drop called "It's granny time!" and I couldn't come up with anything better, really.

Anyways, this post is about my dad's visit to Edinburgh. After a rather harrowing journey here involving many missed connections, confusing building numbering conventions (finally, someone understands about the STUPID street name changes), and amounting to an extremely long two-days of travelling, my dad met me at his bread and breakfast. The accommodations were alright, although the matron could definitely have been nicer. Since I haven't dealt with many customer service people, I can't be certain that it's not a difference between Scottish and American hospitality but from what I have seen here, I think she was just crabby.

As I've mentioned before, my favorite pub here is the Greenmantle, a friendly neighborhood pub. On Thursdays, they do live folk music, so of course that's where I took my dad (after he had a chance to eat and rest, obviously). We got to hang out with my friends Sam, Megan, Alice, and Robbie. It was really nice for my dad to meet everyone who I've been talking about.

Friday, I had morning classes but my dad wasted no time in exploring on his own. After we met up, we basically walked around the Royal Mile and Princes Street Gardens, exploring the main tourist areas. That was my first time walking around there so extensively, and I'm really glad we did- it gave me a better idea of the city. To this day, I'm still discovering new areas of Edinburgh and all of them are delightful. That night, we had to do some bar-hopping, of course. We sample a few different whiskies and I had a chance to get some more of my mulled wine from the Reverie :)

My dad got some pretty good images of the city walking around on his own- this is

Edinburgh Castle.

He was pretty impressed by the old water wells in the Grassmarket area.

Saturday, we had a traditional Scottish breakfast- haggis, black pudding, a fried tomato, a tattie scone, baked beans, bacon, sausage, a hash brown, and an over-easy egg and of course, breakfast tea. It was all decent, except for the blood pudding. That was disgusting. I've had haggis a few times before this, and have actually enjoyed it. We hiked this heart-attack-on-a-plate off at Arthur's Seat, a volcano in the middle of the city. We took the steeper route up and came down the other side, where there's the ruins of an old cathedral inhabited by hermits. Fittingly, it was named after St. Anthony, the same patron saint of our home parish in Renton. Following the trail down put us at the bottom of the Royal Mile next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland) and the new Parliament building. The Parliament building is pretty controversial- it was designed by a Spanish architect who wanted to incorporate the landscape of Scotland into the design, but it ended up going way over budget and being a somewhat Louvre-ish situation (in terms of the pyramids designed my IMPei). We walked up the Royal Mile again, semi-souvenir shopping as we went. We met a really nice girl working in one shop who was also studying in Edinburgh, but at a different uni. We started to explore the castle, which lies at the top of the Royal Mile, but we decided to come back the next day to truly explore it. As we started to venture north towards New Town and St. Mary's Cathedral for vigil mass, we came across a shopping mall and I discovered my new favorite department store: John Lewis. It's like a cross between Macy's, Nordy's, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. Basically, anything I could ever want. The cathedral itself was pretty as well- one of the oldest places of worship for Catholics in the city- but it was undergoing construction to one of it's wings, so we didn't get to see all of it. Mass was nice, though, and much less rushed than my previous experience the week before. We had dinner in a rather dodgy fish and chip restaurant before heading back. We did another pub-crawl, this time with my friend Christy. She did a double-take when she realized the whisky was for me and the beer was for my dad. Apparently, I'm made of stronger stuff than she thought. This is good because I'm going home with her for Christmas and on her home island of ~1000 people, there are also 8 distilleries, making it a major whiskey-producing region of Scotland. Pretty amazing ratio, huh?

At the top of Arthur's Seat. We're at the highest point in all of Edinburgh!

The debating hall at Parliament. The part at the bottom is made from exclusively Scottish oak. One of those beams actually fell shortly after Parliament opened, interrupting a session.

Sunday, we started out with a late brunch, and continued to the castle. Dad was really fascinated by all of it. I was really fascinated by the crown jewels ;) We followed this with a tour of the Scottish Whiskey Experience. They had this weird barrel ride/ animatronic video thing that explained the distillation process. After that, they did a really good job of explaining about the different whiskey regions in Scotland and what makes them distinct, and we got to taste a whiskey from one of the regions of our choosing. My dad chose one from Islay (where Christy lives) which is reputed for really smoky, peat-y whiskeys. Too strong for my taste! This museum (?) also houses the most extensive whiskey collection ever, bought from a collector who lived in Brazil before his death. There were a TON of whiskeys in that room! We finished the night with a nice dinner at an Argentinean steakhouse in between my flat and my dad's B&B. I miss Mexican food SOO much!!!

There was an exchange of stuff- my mom had sent some new clothes (I love them!) and some food- tea (for a place that drinks tea all the time, they only have a couple kinds), peanut butter, and popcorn. I sent back some clothes and coats that I didn't think I'd need anymore. I still don't know how I'm going to get all of my stuff home...

Dad left on Monday morning, and had another tumultuous trip- ending with him sleeping in his office since Washington was hit with a snowstorm! Aggghhh the travails of travel.

For my part, I allowed myself about 5 minutes of crying/homesickness/frantic calling to my friend Audrey who is in London studying for the semester before I got myself together. It was harder than I thought to say goodbye to Dad, especially since he had brought all the news about home. It's little things like businesses closing and neighborhood gossip that you never realize you miss til you're gone. And it's not like I'm talking to them less this semester than normal. If anything, we talk on a more regular basis than when I'm in Cali. It's just knowing that I'm really far away and not just a 2-hour plane ride that really makes the difference.

And on that melancholy note... haha. It's better now- I still have a lot to look forward to this semester. More on those things to come! xxx