The Grind.

Back in Cambridge after a whirlwind trip home. Although it was pretty exhausting, both mentally and physically, the unexpected joy of seeing 100% of my mom's immediate/extended family was pretty great. After the grueling study schedule I'd been keeping, an escape was both needed and welcome. The more time I spend with my family, the more I realise how awesome they are. Their presence was just what I needed.

The only issue was the state I found myself in after arriving back in Cam yesterday. Running on who knows how little sleep, the transition from being surrounded by 20+ loving relatives to being back alone in my room with nothing but impending exams to keep me company was tough. I went to bed at 8pm yesterday (English time - my body is so confused..) and feel better after a good solid sleep. For the past few weeks I've been so stressed falling asleep has been tough, even though I've been sleepy. I think it all finally caught up with me. I also had my last lectures of term, and thus, of my undergraduate career. A pretty bizarre concept really.

Now all that's left are the exams themselves! Yay. I have my Arabic listening exam tomorrow afternoon, and Arabic speaking/conversation on Friday afternoon. I'm pretty nervous, but at this point there's not much else to be done. The benefit and drawback of language learning is that cramming doesn't help much. There is always a bit of extra vocab to learn, but again you can only stuff so much in your brain.

For now I'm sitting back, doing a bit of light reading about the 'Abbasid caliphate, and planning on another early night. Tomorrow I'll do some more revision, and spend the day with BBC Arabic in the background - looking forward to 5pm tomorrow when I can take my new running shoes on a spin around Cambridge! (more on them later, but as a teaser - they're bright blue!) Tasty Kakes and tea are sustaining me, as is the thought that all of this will be over in less than three weeks. Totally doable, right?

This sounds really grim - I'm sorry! Things are not as bleak as this post makes them seem. Positive things: my parents sent me back with a suitcase full of food. And I mean literally full. American staples like Reese's Cups, Tasty Kakes, Peanut Butter Puffins, Sunflower Butter, M&M's, Love Grown Granola, Luna Bars, chocolate from the one and only Abington Pharmacy which has been a family staple for years, etc.

Plus, our trip to Philly included not only much needed family time but some delicious eats! First of all cheesesteak, of course from the classic destination, Jim's.

On Saturday we took the entire family to Ralph's - our family's traditional gathering place in South Philly. We've been coming here for as long as I can remember, but I'm not sure we've ever made it with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins at once.

We are many..

A toast, to an incredible group of relatives!

Followed by incredible eats - the classic mussels in red sauce -

I tried Chicken Sorrento for the first time, and man it was good - drenched in cheese, butter and white wine cream sauce. Om nom nom.

Some more tasty things..

And finally.. a cannoli. Apologies for the horrific photo, light was getting bad this late into the meal :)

Driving through Center City/South Philly is always fun too.

On Sunday the parents and I set out to do a little more exploring in South Philly. I was feeling pretty awful - tired and hungry, but the aforementioned cheesesteak cleared things up. Plus this guy made me smile.

We explored the old part of the city, which I loved. History nerd! :)

We visited a convenient store to stock up on the goods - Tasty Kakes! A Philadelphia staple.

I was equally excited to finally get to try the craze that seems to be everywhere in America, but no where in England - frozen yoghurt!

This was A.mazing. Cake batter, chocolate, peanut butter cup, and watermelon flavour yoghurt; chocolate chips, raspberries, mango, peanut butter chips, gummie bears, reese's cups, and more that got buried on top. So amazing.

Overall, not a bad way to spend a few days in the middle of Cambridge exam term, if I do say so..

Snapshots

Some brief glimpses of life recently. I've stayed true to my plan to work/live in the library, but that doesn't mean I still don't take my camera everywhere I go!

Sadly this means my little camera - the more I use the big guy, the more inadequate the little guy becomes. So sad - but I still love him!

Last Friday, Julia finished her exams and I spread out my work in the BA Kitchens while she celebrated the best way I can imagine - baking!

Julia made Nanaimo Bars - a Canadian specialty apparently.

I definitely approve - they were crumbly digestive biscuit, almond, coconut, cocoa powder base, some kind of custardy, creamy, sugary middle layer (my least favourite part..), and then a chocolate layer on top - all stuck in the fridge and then cut into bars. Delicious.

The same day I received a surprise in the mail!

I have excellent parents :) Inside were M&M's, Reese's Eggs, Peeps, and LOVE!

On Saturday I took a break from the books to celebrate a tried and true European tradition - Eurovision. Vaguely similar to American Idol, except it began in the 50s! Every country in 'Europe' (extremely loosely defined - Azerbaijan won this year..) submits an act and the rest of Europe vote on their favourite. Both ABBA and Celine Dion began their careers with Eurovision! This is now the third year I've watched, and it is great. Some truly terrible songs, costumes, and talents, so we really watch for the spectacle rather than the music. Plus after each country has performed their song, they go through the votes again by country, and the geopolitical dimension of it is amusing. For example, Britain votes for Ireland, Cyprus votes for Greece, Portugal votes for Spain, etc..

Julia brought the Nanaimo Bars out, and by the end of the night I was scraping out the middle layer to get more of the chocolatey bit. :) Naughty naughty, but they are good!

I always cheer for Greece, of course. There they are, slightly blurry..

Plus, a few weeks ago I was harangued into going down to the river to bankparty one of our men's crews for a race. Not such a bad way to spend an hour or two - cycling leisurely up and down the river, watching instead of rowing.. In the end we had a small emergency that resulted in me having to jump into a boat myself and row a 4k race in denim shorts and a t-shirt. Not ideal, but hey.. At least it was sunny..ish.

No photos of me, sadly. Not one of my finest rowing moments in any case so I'm fine with a lack of documentation..

 

Finally, on Sunday the Student Union Welfare people hosted some kind of relaxation afternoon. I wasn't going to go, but met a friend who was on her way, as I was on my way to (guess where! it starts with L!). So I turned around and just went to see what they had conjured up.

 

Yes, that is a bouncy castle! Across the river were inflatable Sumo suits - I'm not sure how to describe it.. 

You can vaguely see the people in the massive suits. I think the point is to hit each other with something, but obviously wearing an inflatable sumo suit is unwiedly.. I have no idea, but it was funny to watch from a distance.

And, on that slightly bizarre note..back to important questions like the religious fabric of pre-Islamic Arabia!

Hold the Bus.

(First of all, I'm sorry if this appears twice anywhere. Blogger has clearly been having some issues.)

The above expression was something my high school geometry teacher used to say. I always thought it was weird, and I still do actually. But it works sometimes. Like today.

Something happened today that I never expected. And in my last post I said nothing interesting would be happening in the next month - ha!

Anyway, I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat in anticipation. Allow me to set the stage. I dragged myself back to my room at 1 this afternoon after an hour of Arabic and two hours on the Sunni Revival of the 10th century. Hungry, braindrained already and dreading the two hours of anthropology ahead of me in the afternoon, I made myself a cup of coffee. One of my exam term presents to myself was a lovely little French Press coffee thingy, so I can caffeinate myself in style. Anyway, I have a designated tea mug and a designated coffee mug (the cafetiere doesn't make enough coffee to fill my giant Starbucks mug I use for tea). Today, however, the coffee mug was in the sink to be washed so I made do with another coffee cup. I filled it up and realised the mug was too small to fit my usual generous portion of milk.  I figured I would just man up and sip it down and then could top it up with milk. I took a sip. And. It wasn't awful. Actually (and this is where things get life changing) I enjoyed it! I'll say it again - I drank black coffee and it was good! What has happened to me?!

To top off this incredible experience, I did something even more radical. I put a marshmallow into my coffee. Why? I have no idea what possessed me. But it was a good decision. Yum. And on that note, back to the pious Shi'i women of Beirut. Joy of joys.

Sad Face

That title is a little dramatic. I'm sorry. I'm not actually sad, but this post is a little less upbeat that usual. This is simply because of the E word. Exams.

Cambridge exams are a beast unlike any other really. The entire degree structure is different, and exams occupy the central position. Throughout the year we do receive assessment, but it's all unofficial feedback to prepare us for, you guessed it, exams! What this means is the official academic result I will leave with is the product of five written and one oral exams over the course of a week in June.

I'm sure you can imagine how unpleasant this is. The entire year's material - three hours for each exams, three questions, one number, one result. That's it.

In the last three years I've been here I have pretty much come to terms with this system. It's not great, but that's how it is. So the sad face isn't really accurate. I'm working a lot, but finding it pretty satisfying to get the chance to consolidate everything I've learned. The only issue is we're still being taught new material, for the next three weeks. (This is a complain against my faculty, not the university. Most courses have already stopped teaching. Grr.)

Anyway, the point of this rant is to apologise for my blog absence. To be honest, there is nothing interesting happening in my life. I've decided not to row this term, as it just took up too much of my time at bad times of the day. I'm now in the groove of lectures, library, classes, eating, running, sleeping. That is pretty much all I do, but I don't really mind. I've been pretty much cooking for myself and living in my room, but I'm enjoying being completely independent and not being accountable to anyone except myself for how I spend my time.

So that is the situation. The 'sad face' in the title is not related to my work, but rather the holiday coming up tomorrow in the US, Mother's Day! We already celebrated 'Mothering Sunday' in the UK, and it happened to fall on the day I went home, so I did in theory get to spend a mother's day with my mom. However, that doesn't make me much less sad that I can't spend tomorrow with my most marvelous mummy, who I love very much. (I think she knows this, but just in case: Hi Mummy, I love you!)

And just on the subject of awesome women - I was lucky enough to have the two best grandmothers anyone could ask for.

Happy Mother's Day!

On Royalty

Apparently there is some kind of big something happening tomorrow. Someone's getting married..?

I know the Royal Wedding has escaped no one. But everytime I think about it, something gives me pause. My strange perspective as an American in England has allowed me to see both the American and British build up to the whole thing. Basically, everyone is excited. What's strange to me is that along with this excitement is something else, which I think could be called embarrassment.

Hear me out.

While I was home for a week earlier this month, I was legitimately surprised at how coverage of Kate and Wills was literally everywhere. I knew that Americans like the royal family - I remember the reaction when Princess Diana died. But I really didn't know it was on this scale. I'm sure everyone knows what I mean - magazine covers, mentions on every news show in existence, etc..  But while everyone has noticed this proliferation of memorabilia and stalker-like coverage, no one will admit to being part of the intended target audience.

Follow me now across the Atlantic to England. I honestly think there is just as much coverage here, if not more. I don't watch the news, so I have no idea how things compare on that front, but the BBC has a designated Royal Wedding page, any shop that sells anything gifty has Union Jack merchandise displayed in the window, and this morning on the river I saw a pleasure boat cruising with a Kate and Wills flag billowing behind it. I get it. I think. It's their royal family, and they love them.

The Queen herself was in Cambridge yesterday, and there were certainly crowds here to meet her. (Note: these photos aren't mine. I had a class :( But I made sure to give my camera to a friend who was going to go and try and catch a glimpse! )

However, a lot of my friends/classmates were grumbling about how they closed the roads, it was so inconvenient, etc..

 

There she is!

(obviously not my photo)

One of the reasons I wanted to go to university in England was just because I love this country. However, my enthusiasm for the royal family/wedding is really not anything remarkable. My friends consistently make fun of me for a) taking pictures of everything and being a massive tourist and b) getting excited about little things. So, my excitement about going to the wedding has been the target of many a British joke, but what annoys me is that they won't admit their own excitement. Plus, my excitement isn't limited to the royal family - I want to experience this because it's a once in a life time chance, not because I love the monarchy.

Of course, it really doesn't matter why people show up. But both my British and American acquaintances are poking fun at the hubbub. Why? I don't know what's wrong with admitting that this is something fun and interesting. For Americans, monarchy is the stuff of fairy tales. For the Brits, it is an essential element of their identity. Either way, what's wrong with embracing it? I have long ago relinquished all dignity, and plan to fully embrace the experience.

Off now to catch a train to London, stay over with a friend who lives there, and catch a night bus to the first train of the day into Westminster - look for me on TV!