note to self:

when you are enrolled in a masters course at oxford, you can't really take 3-day vacations in the middle of term.

i got back from paris at 2am this morning to a very, VERY full email inbox filled with academic obligations. oh, right - i'm getting a masters degree? i'm going to niger in march? for field research with top fistula surgeons? oh - i forgot in the midst of the boulangeries de paris...

needless to say i've been entirely stressed out today - the "best" little piece of news i got was from dr. idrissa - the head fistula surgeon at the national hospital in niamey asking if i had received permission to do my research from the nigerien ministere de la sante. DANG IT - i completely forgot about such formalities, and have absolutely no idea how to go about getting said permission, since each phone number i try (ever tried calling niger? yes, the country code is 227 - just fyi) is out of service. ha ha ha - this is all happening, and i feel sort of in over my head.

in other news, this lovely hyacinth bulb my friend stephanie gave me opened while i was in france! huzzah! that made me excessively happy. plus paris itself was wonderful - and despite the stresses of oxford life, it was still completely worth the trip. i <3 paris, what can i say. :)

ce week-end

it's supposed to snow in oxford this weekend.

but alas, i will not be here to see it as i will be in paris visiting a dear friend, alice. :) really the only consolation to miss such a potentially beautiful wintry scene.

home!

i got back to oxford a few hours ago - i admit i've rarely been happier to see a place in my life. the break was nice and relaxing (man i slacked off way too much) - and also filled with some incredibly delicious cuteness, as evidenced above. even if max was a little less than enthusiastic about snowboarding... :)

i'm so happy i got to see everyone (except leslie - what a bummer). and i'm also incredibly ecstatic to be here in the UK - i can't stop smiling. :)

i'll update more from oxford when i get the chance.

pictures of morocco

so here are some highlights of the week i spent in the lovely country of morocco. really, it's a fantastic place everyone should visit - clean, safe, user-friendly, and stunning!

i'm in sundance now with mom, dad, lincoln, and mimi - it is absolutely gorgeous and snowy. i'm relaxing and loving life. have a merry christmas everyone!

some advice

new piece of wisdom i learned the hard way: take a taxi to heathrow terminal 4 and don't trust the heathrow express train time schedule.

i am home in california. without my bag. :(

the whole journey was epically stressful. but i'm home. and annie, jack, and max are adorable. so life isn't all that bad.

i'll post more exciting things later...viz. pictures from morocco.

au revoir, oxford - see you in a month!

sisterly love

i have the advantage of having two of the best examples of strong, beautiful women in my own two sisters. today is leslie's birthday and i'm so grateful for her in my life! both leslie and steph have done more for me than they know - they haven't been afraid to stand up to me when i've been a little bit off my head...i owe them so much and love them dearly.

happy birthday leslie! and stephanie, my thoughts are also with you and stella. love you so much. good luck with everything and give stella a squeeze for me. :)

the pob

it's the end of term. i needed a change of hair.

last day

so today is my last day of my first term of oxford. it's already over!? CRAZY.

i have a presentation to give in a few hours on democratization and citizen security in kenya, and one more essay to finish off for next week, and then i can say goodbye to dear michaelmas term. it's been an amazing 8 weeks - well, technically i've been here for 11 weeks but the term is only 8 weeks long. i've done well which is exciting - in fact i had a meeting with my dissertation adviser this week who asked me to seriously consider staying on at oxford for a dphil. she said that everyone is 'really impressed' with my work here and 'we'd love to have you stay.' ok, to have oxford tell me that is sort of exciting. i couldn't help but feel slightly complimented. and then i got a distinction on my essay this week (the equivalent of a very high "A" i guess one could say). plus my dissertation itself is running along swimmingly - my adviser thinks i'm set out to be the next barbara calloway, aka the next expert on hausa women (hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in west africa and the main focus of my research). i don't know, we'll see...

so life is good. i'm excited to go home over Christmas and see everyone. i'm excited to go to morocco in a few days with friends from my course. and i'm very excited that i still have 2 full 8-week terms left at oxford. i'll post some more pictures of oxford soon - i must take some of magdalen college for everyone. it is stunning!

love to you all.

bath.