So far this semester...

So just a quick update on what's been going on so far this semester. Last week I found out that I had made the blind wine tasting team for Edinburgh University. We will be competing against St. Andrew's on March 18th, and the grand prize is a trip to Champagne, France. Obviously I will be training myself hard!

Here is a picture from the wine society dinner that we went to while the bro was visiting.

We had our first tasting team meeting/training session/practice last night from 8:30 to 11:30 pm. A late night, but definitely worth it. It's fun being able to argue through wines with all people my age! The debates follow the lines of "well a Sauvignon Blanc would have higher acidity" "yes, but it smells like a Sauvignon Blanc" etc.

Other than wine, it's mainly school work. The Msc requires that I do a 15,000 word dissertation, and this requires some original research, a feat that cannot be done just during the summer session only. The first part of this semester was consumed with trying to figure out what I wanted to study. Again- to my father- I am sorry for all my waffling and panicked emails during this period. I've settled on looking at a couple of London collections of sub-adults for the metabolic disease rickets.

Yes, it's that horrible wobbly bone disease that little kids who don't see the sun get. So put down that x-box controller and get outside!

Classes are going very well. I'm currently taking one on Skeletal Pathology, Bioarchaeological Topics, and Research Methods in Archaeology. When I'm not trying to catch up on all the work that I missed while being sick (like I am this week), I also attend classes on animal bones. I also am working on a volunteer project that takes up what little free time I have available.

In a typical day, here is my schedule (we can use today as an example)

7:00 am: Wake up before the alarm goes off, try rolling over, but give up and get out of bed instead.

7:10 am: Do some morning yoga and light stretching (Good Morning Body!)

7:20 am: Make breakfast, this morning it was oatmeal with a tablespoon of peanut butter, some brown sugar, handful of raisins, and a small banana. Also had some instant coffee (gag), but since I'm avoiding the market and was out of tea it was the only caffiene choice.

8:00 am: After breakfast and finishing the daily LA Times crossword I get dressed and catch up on emails. Because of the time difference I tend to get USA emails while I'm sleeping.

8:45 am: Leave for class. We had snow yesterday, so everything is really pretty! This is the little park that's right outside of my flat. Arthur's Seat is in the background.

11:00 am: Back from class, cold icy day with a little sun peeking through. Quickly throw on my gym clothes and head out again!

12:00 pm: Back from gym, stretch, shower, etc.

1:00 pm: Lunch. I had a pita pizza, and what I'm going to call "My Mom was a Hippy" Salad.

I thought it was so pretty that I took a photo. Spinach, oranges, cucumber, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and balsamic. Note the awesome dishes which almost look like my faux fiesta ware from home.

2:00 pm: Should be getting back to the lab to work on the volunteer project (updating blog instead).

4:00 pm: Normally this is when I will finally leave the lab. It's hard to sort fragmented bone for more than a couple hours straight. Upon getting home I plop down in front of the computer and start working through various articles and readings on whatever topics we will be talking about for the next week. Right now it's Infectious Disease and Growth.

6:00 pm: My friend and I meet up for dinner every night at six. Simpsons are on, and it's nice not to be alone for dinner.

7:00 pm: This is about when we get tired of the other dreadful TV shows and each go back to our own rooms. I set back to the articles for at least another couple hours.

9:00 pm: If I've done a lot of good work, I'll watch Bones or the Office. Recently I've been behind so I keep working until 10 or so.

10:00 pm: In bed, reading a book for an hour before I actually turn the lights out. I technically live in a dorm, so it's loud until 11. Right now I'm reading Omnivore's Dilemma. It's making me very happy that I'm trying out being a vegetarian right now.

So there's a typical day. Not too shabby. Some days I have wine tasting, some days we go out to dinner. On the weekend we try to do something fun, but my day is about the same (sans class).

Hopefully that helps with understanding my life here!