Wednesday, February 23, 2005

sorry to leave you in the dark...

There really hasnt been a whole lot happening. everything is getting resettled now that the new semester has started. A bunch of new kids moved in and the last of the old kids have left. it was quite sad. i'm slowly making new friends though. its a bit more difficult because i still have old friends left so that sense of desperation is gone. i'm being more selective in my friends. but so far everyone is pretty darn cool. there are a lot of canadians americans and irish running around now. its fun. classes seem to be going okay. i think i'll like them. i have 10 classes. which is a lot. but most of them arent for the whole semester. instead they're for part of the semester... this week i have 10 hours of one class and then its over. its a really cool class too. its called Football Cultures and Identity. I'm learning a lot about football and at the end of the semester i have to hand in a 5000 word paper. just that is an achievement in itself! another class i'm taking is Gender Issues in psychology. that is only 7 weeks long or so. 2 hours a week. the prof is really interested in the material and the class is very interesting. I'm also taking a course in Greek, Roman, and Hellinistic Art and a Painting and Sculpture in Italy class. I'm taking mostly anth classes though. I've got Medical Anth, Feminism and Anth, Media and Anth and i think thats it... i'm probably forgetting some though.
Last night i went salsa dancing with my flatmates. it was a lot of fun. one of the clubs in paceville has salsa lessons every tuesday night. we learned a little salsa and had a really good time. I'm not a very good dancer as it turns out though and spent most of the evening tripping on my own big feet! it was a little embarassing but no one really kne what they were doing... so i was in good company. :-)
It hasnt rained here in a few days which is good news. it was pouring pretty hard for a while there. my room flooded a few times and the roads were swamped to the point that water was coming in under the bus doors. it made getting around really hard and uncomfortable. i didnt like it. but, for now the sun is out. and hopefully thats the last we will see of the storm clouds.
tonight my friend Chris is making dinner for everyone. We've been casually taking turns making a really nice chicken dinner for a large group. its really nice to sit down and have a real meal cooked by someone else. And tomorrow will be a lot of fun i think. we are going to Mdina. on a scavenger hunt organised by the international club here. we get free wine and pastizzi. i love pastizzi. its definatly my favorite. i'll miss it. and i'll miss the Fruity Multivitamin Juice... who knew a juice stored in the cupboard could tast so darn good?! it does. i need to drink more of it too, because i'm getting sick... again. :-( the new kids brought disease with them, i'm sure. thats all i have for now. take care

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Finals are over, the papers are handed in. a new set of classes are comencing. i hope it will be a good semester. The last of my 1st semester friends are leaving today. The weekend was all tearful goodbyes and promises to come visit. For the most part I didnt really appreciate all the new students standing around in the way watching everyone say goodbye like it was some kind of train wreck. But you know... theres only one tv and you have to do something Tonight we're going to eat pancakes (its a canadian thing i guess). and go to the parade in Valletta. it's the last day of carnival. we went to gozo and saw the first hour of their parade, mostly just set-up. it was pretty cool. Tomorrow we're going to the casino. Buffet for 1 lira! I'm there! the boys want to gamble but i think brett and i are just gonna eat. i hope its good. and thursday is the international student party so, hopefully i'll meet some of these new people. most of them are canadians and americans and they arent overly friendly. not like i remember being when i first got here. but maybe all 80 of them are shy. who knows. i did meet some irish and scottish kids though. they're really really white. and they're all really nice too. thats really about all. nothing terribly exciting. my house is FULL now. its annoying at dinner time. yesterday we blew a fuse. i think there are 9 or 10. i'm not sure. i know i walked into the kitchen yesterday and it was a circus. one of the dutch girls(Maryka), the danish girl(Johanna), the german girl(Steffi), and the french girl(Dounia) were eating dinner. then, the other dutch girl(Helen) came over with like 4 friends and i was trying to cook and there's no where to sit or stand that isnt in someone's way and it was really really frustrating and i got the heck out of there as fast as i could. and the canadian girls are letting one of their friends keep stuff in the fridges even though theres barely enough room for us all any way. and really, this residence is probably a prime example of how NOT to design a room. One girl who's here to finish her degree said last year she had 13 people living in her flat. so, i'm glad i only have 9 or 10. and i'm really really glad i have my own room. and, i'm welcome over in flat 123 when ever i want to sit down on deck couch. *whew*
I got my hair cut last week. i was walking home from school and thought,'i should get my haircut' so i did. its a chin length bob. its very easy. i dont even have to brush it! (dont worry mom, i do anyway) and thats all for now.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Almost there

I have my last exam today. I'm not too concerned about it. it will either be really easy or impossibly hard. i studied so i should do okay. Its raining really hard today. the sky is pretty threatening. if i was home i'd worry about a tornado.
This weekend was a lot of fun. The guys i hang out with turned their room into a dance club and the whole residence showed up. it was amazing! People are still talking about it.
I got two new flatmates. A dutch girl and a danish girl. they seem nice. I also met a new canadian. One guy, an american from seattle, is lost. He moved in and then he went to Valletta. his roommate, Adis, told him how to get there and what buses to take. this was monday. the guy hasnt come back yet. Adis reported him missing to the reception here and they called the cops so now the whole island is looking for him. how you get lost in a walled city is beyond me. i think he probably knows right where he is and what hes doing, but you never know. thats about all i have for now. exam is in 20 minutes.