chika!

so remember my friend ngozi who ginger suggested i bring dinner to? well her baby, chika (meaning "God is great" in Igbo), is absolutely beautiful and stunning. i'm in love. she and ngozi are returning to nigeria tomorrow so we had a goodbye tea for them today, and i thought i'd post a shot of her yummy little head - along with the 2-year old daughter of my professor, helene. of course she was fascinated by the baby. :)

this made me so excited to see all the yummy grandkids in such a short time! especially sadie! mmmm i can't wait to squeeze her. and speaking of, i bought my flight away from oxford (so yes it is official i am actually leaving): july 26 i arrive in the great city of salt lake. i will see and hug you all then. love you!

black-tie

so when you walk around oxford at night, it's hard not to see at least a dozen people wearing formal gowns, for dining hall, balls, etc etc.

last night was my first time in formal wear however - african studies had a black-tie dinner to celebrate our dissertations - huzzah! it was a fab time, and i got to wear this lovely white vintage dress which was perfect for dancing. :)group shot of all african studies, students and professors - in front of the radcliffe camera, classic oxford. (i'm in the back)

the old library of vaults and gardens, at the side of the university chapel, where we had the dinner. gorgeous, eh? classic 16th century.

fin. (part 1)

i turned in all 14,948 words of my bloody dissertation this morning to the towering gothic halls of the exam schools. this is part 1 of completing my masters. so i celebrate by sitting in exeter college's garden on my laptop applying to junior professional programs at the world bank. like all academics, i have a less than favorable image of the world bank (mainly because of structural adjustment and their dealings with the IMF), but hey, you do more working from inside the institutions, right? at least the scenery where i'm sitting is beautiful (as captured by my ever-so-wonderful built-in computer camera). poor souls still re-working their own dissertations, trapped in the old stone walls of the library both in front and behind me in these photos. alas...



so now i just have to revise for my "epic" exams for the next 2 weeks. huzzah!


....ah, looking around me i can't help but think how sad i will be to say goodbye to this beloved place....

help?

i have a small request: a girl in my course just gave birth to a baby girl last week, and i want to give her an appropriate gift - but really want it to be useful. since i have so many excellent mothers who read this blog, would you mind suggesting something? what was it you really needed those first few weeks?

SUNday

it's been 70 degrees and sunny for the last week in oxford. i.e. HEAVEN. there are so many gorgeous parks and greens and gardens in oxford that are meant to be enjoyed on days like this. so today i will listen to general conference talks that i downloaded via podcast on my ipod in the magdalen college park and enjoy the sunday.

while it's not mother's day here in the UK (that was a month or so ago), i do know that today is mother's day where my mother and all my lovely sisters who are also mothers are living. i'm so grateful especially for mom, because i don't think i would have half the appreciation for the beauty of magdalen college without mom's example. we all know how much she loves not only england, but "old stuff" in general, and that love was instilled in all of us i believe. it's a wonderful perspective to have, one that i've realised is truly unique - considering how many students here take the gothic loveliness of oxford sorely for granted. so thank you mom for all you taught us, i would definitely not be who i am today without you. :)

and the rest of you - ginger, katie, leslie, and steph, i hope you find a moment of relaxing joy today!

happy sunday everyone!

since niger

1. i had a slew of visitors here in oxford :) here are some shots of me and my friends bethany, ali, and lauren who were here for college-touring and pub-crawling. it was lovely. elliott and ginger also visited - ginger posted some pics on her blog - which was so wonderful! it was so great to show people around this beautiful city that i love dearly.

2. i wrote my entire 15,000 word thesis on the research i conducted in niger. i had a first draft due on friday and i miraculously finished it, while also giving a 40-minute presentation on female circumcision.

3. i still have third-world digestive issues and have been living on immodium... i'm hoping it'll go away any day now, because dang, i am so over it! :)

oh yes and ireland

so after niger ali and i went to ireland for a quick relaxing exploration of countryside and ruins. it was nice to feel so cold again after the heat of the sahara. :) here are some shots of the trip. it was lovely! we stayed in a remote hotel in county clare, right next to some awesome neolithic ruins - ring forts and wedge tombs. super cool.

ok, back to writing my thesis...