Well, I really don't have a decent excuse for not blogging--other than the fact that I'm pretty much exhausted/totally overwhelmed (although not unhappy) 24/7. I have so much work to do over the next month. Whew. Just need to keep on top of it. I finish my program on December 12th, then I head to Peru to hike Machu Picchu. And then I'll be home! By this point, I'm pretty excited to be home. I'm starting to miss people.
My vacation was wonderful- I spent a couple of nights with some family friends in London (Helen, who's been a friend of my mum's since they were kids, and her husband Bill), which was great. Helen and Bill were ridiculously hospitable and treated us so well. Zoe, Meg, and I spent some time just wandering around London, seeing the sights. On our last day there, Zoe and I stumbled across a movie premiere and waited outside for several hours (I won't admit how many) to get Leonardo DiCaprio's autograph. He's shorter in person. The three of us also went to Scotland for three days. Glasgow was kind of a drag- the city was nothing special, although we had a good time- but Edinburgh was awesome! I had an appointment with a Dean at the Graduate School of Geosciences there and it went really well. Maybe I'll end up going there for grad school. But who knows.
Buenos Aires is really cool so far, although I really wish I spoke Spanish. I haven't seen too much of the city yet, but--like Cape Town--it seems very European. Lots of very beautiful, very skinny women smoking cigarettes, an abundance of cafes, cobblestone streets line with upscale shops, etc. I expect that we'll visit the neighboring shanty towns sometime soon. I'm staying with Laura again, the same girl I lived with in Cape Town, and we get along really well. I'm happy about that because roommate selection is kind of a crapshoot. I think overall people are content with who they're living with, but I've heard a few grumbles. Laura and I are living with a pretty big family in an apartment on Santa Fe Av. in the Recoleta neighborhood. Our first night was a little rough, but I think the family is growing on us. Our host mum is actually an 84-year-old grandmother, who's a little senile, but she's pretty fresh.
I'm barely managing to deal with my workload this semester and I already have to start worrying about what I'm going to do next semester! I've got most of my classes chosen: Climate Systems lab, Junior Colloquium for Sociology, Work and Culture (Soc), and Quantitative Methods for Sociology. I don't think I'll have any problems getting into them. But I'm also hoping to take this Intro to Fiction Writing class, purely for my own interest. If I take it, I'll have a 19.5 credit courseload... Now that I think about it, that's probably a terrible idea. Especially since my grades are really important this semester. And, to get into the class, I have to come up with a decent 5-7 page writing sample by the end of this month. In addition to my IHP work. Geesh. I'll have to really think about it. And my other worry is housing. Hopefully--fingers crossed--I won't have any trouble getting a spot at ADP. Once I know for sure, a big weight will be lifted.
I wish all this traveling about was less stressful. I am looking forward to my hike in Peru though. And Rachel's coming!!! Can't wait to see her.
Oh, and I joined a gym. So I'll be headed there tomorrow for spinning classes (en espanol). Let's see how this goes.
Chau!
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