(appendum)

4. oh yes and one more reason i love email - dad can send such wonderful talks to us as this one by elder holland. i have rarely been touched by a talk like i was by this one. so thanks dad for sending it along.

wonders of email

i really do love email - this is how it has come in handy the last months:

1. i was able to send out about 5 million job applications (a slight exaggeration... only slight).

2. today i was able to send out 23 different emails to editors of potential academic journals to publish my thesis (and that is no exaggeration). note: i am so thrilled that there exists a journal entitled the "African Journal of Reproductive Health." how perfect for my thesis?! they must publish it. c'mon.

3. friends can send pictures to each other with the greatest of ease: like this one i received yesterday from raakhi (which i love) that shows the absolute pure joy of me, toni, and peter after walking down to the exam schools on high street here at oxford to see our names posted on the large wooden boards with such fantastic results from the hard work of our exams/theses. raakhi took it literally moments after we saw our names posted - you can see the large white boards behind us.

look how happy we are :)

tributes 3 and 4

i HATE goodbyes....

tomorrow two of my dearest friends, peter and raakhi, leave oxford, and i'm so sorry to say goodbye to them.

this is the beginning of the end, really - it's all hitting me even more that this year at oxford is done, and what a pity how swiftly it passed...

peter and raakhi are a fantastic couple. peter lives right upstairs from me, and i'd often spend afternoons and evenings in his room conversing about various topics from jobs to relationships, and he was always so filled with kindness and wisdom. raakhi and i would frequent oxford coffee shops for similar discussions, sometimes throwing sartre, mozambican poetry, or other such literary topics in as well. there is absolutely no pretension in either of these individuals, nothing forced or rehearsed: they are entirely genuine and live true to themselves. i love to meet such people, who read l'etre et le neant or run a south african NGO simply for personal passion, and no exterior recognition or appearances. i'm tired of seeing people cite art movements or political statements in order to fit an "alternative" mold, and love when people do such things with real intent. not seeking originality or an image, but are instead critical and thoughtful thinkers and authentic human beings.

peter and raakhi have been such a blessing to me this year, i've loved our meals and conversations. they have crafted so much of my oxford experience. i have learned so much from our interactions, and been so enriched. they are both individuals that help time pass in a more meaningful way, but without pseudo-seriousness and self-aggrandizement. in other words, it was always delightfully fun to discuss meaningful topics with both of them, never lacking for a lot of light-heartedness and laughter. :)

i will miss both dearly.

tribute 2

you asked for it ginger, and it's true (of course) that i have to include the big parents in my great list of tributes. in many ways of course one's parents are the most obvious crafters of an individual's character. who else contributed more to my culmination than those who nurtured me from day one? and i don't want to separate mom and dad into separate tributes, because they do have such a wonderfully strong relationship and work together so brilliantly, that they are very much linked in my estimation.

so as to why they come now* - as i said in my last post, why i went to mozambique in the spring of 2004 with care for life warrants many tributes. but ultimately i can peg it down to mom and dad, to the way they raised me and the rest of us clan. and of course the practical issue of dad's willingness to accompany me all the way to southern africa to ensure my safety - thanks dad :)

i remember mom saying repeatedly, as she drove us to villa park elementary or cerro villa middle school:

orange county is not the real world.

it is perhaps this point of wisdom that stuck with me more than anything else from my childhood. but not only did mom and dad express such truths in words, but allowed all of us kids to see it for ourselves. they never shied away from taking all of their six children to the far reaches of the world, from japan to estonia, egypt to new zealand. it was this exposure from the earliest age which made me conscious of the vast nature of human experience and potential.

without the constant prodding of mom and dad to look beyond our own borders and way of living to those of others, i would not have thought to study and work in africa, or live and attend school in england. they did not want their children to be ignorant, especially in regards to the world around them. from what i saw growing up around me in the OC, few parents have such breadth of wisdom and vision to raise children in such a way. :) i am eternally grateful for mom's interest in egypt, and dad's will to take us all their when i was 15. it was that trip above anything that opened my eyes to the world beyond katella avenue, and instilled a burning (and sometimes obsessive) curiosity in me to engage in that world as much as possible.

dad's most famous phrase, "perspective," is also applicable here: he repeats the word so often, and it's uses are truly innumerable. in this sense perspective can be to see beyond your own self, to see all the others surrounding you and attempt in anyway to understand they are beloved just as much as you, that they are your equal in every sense. what a brilliant perspective to have! we should all work towards it.

so muchos gracias mom and dad, i would of course in no way be who i am without you. love you dearly.

*i can also think of no better time to write a tribute to mom and dad, after my results came out on my exams/dissertation here at oxford. :) mom's constant example of reading in our house, of getting her masters at cal state fullerton, how could any of us not be inspired intellectually in such an environment?

spain pictures I: granada

our first night we found some wonderful spanish guitar under the lights of the alhambra.

the cathedral in granada was the best i've seen in spain... spanish cathedrals can tend to be a bit over-the-top ("no one is more catholic than us!"), and this one wasn't necessarily "simple," but it was all painted white, which made is spectacular.

the alhambra: yes, all it's cracked up to be.

it was really hot. spanish women all use fans, and i bought this hot red number for myself. and then posed america's next top model style over the alhambra vista. you know you would do the same... :)

bethany in one of the many courtyards of beauty.

more alhambra (obviously)... we were the first tourists in that morning, so got fantastic light without huge crowds. it pays to get up early :)

spain pictures II: sevilla

the streets of sevilla were stunning - mostly pedestrianized, with gorgeous buildings and awnings drawn between to prevent from the ridiculously hot sun.

the real alcazar, amazing - why is this not as famous as alhambra? it was a gorgeous sprawling palace, with huge gardens that had typical spanish design, which is quite similar to southern californian styles...remember how mom always said the landscape of spain is just like southern california? yeah, she's right. BUT the OC does not have the real alcazar. or the alhambra, or etc etc etc. :)

more of the alcazar.

view from the giralda (tower) of the sevilla cathedral, overlooking part of the city.

bethany and i on the terrace of our hostel, which was by far the nicest i have ever seen - so clean, great location, and breakfast included! huzzah!

spain pictures III: madrid

the highlight of madrid: el prado. the entrance.

one of ribera's stunning portraits, all lined up and greeting you when you enter the museum.

my friend bethany (on the left) took an extended layover from uganda on the way back to the US and we went down to spain together, to visit julie (on the right) who lives in madrid with her hubbie.

bethany in one of the best restaurants i have ever eaten in: a vegetarian cuisine delight in the heart of madrid. mmmmmmmm

tribute 1 (and 1.5)

these tributes i plan to do are in many sense a way to map out my life: a way to see why i am the way i am, who has influenced my decisions, thoughts, ideas etc. because like i said before, i don't believe i am an original person, but instead a culmination - and i think that is so beautiful, to think that we all share and give to one another... that no one can really claim complete autonomy and originality.

so, i'm going to work backwards in a sense:

why am i here at oxford? why am i studying african studies? ok, these questions could warrant enough posts to overload blogger, but i will begin with simple answers:

1. dr. paul kerry. it was this professor whom i first encountered freshman year in his brilliant jews and the holocaust class that gave me the initial idea to do graduate work at oxford. he was leaving mid-semester to be a research fellow at queens college in oxford, and asked if i'd like to come over for a week during thanksgiving vacation to enjoy the university and its inspiring environment. it was that trip that planted the desire to study here. enough can't be said about dr. kerry's actual belief that i could study at oxford as well: it was his faith in my intellectual capacity that made me work towards oxford in the first place. oxford seems to be this mythical impossible place where only geniuses study - now i realize that it's a university like any other, that students and faculty here are down-to-earth, kind, and wonderful. i have enjoyed this past year more than i can say, and would honestly have not been here without the help and prodding of dr. kerry.

and by the way dr. kerry was also the most inspiring academic professor i have ever had. i ended up taking 3 courses from him at byu, and all stretched my mind to places i never thought possible. i owe him a great debt for teaching me how to think. i mean truly think. my academic and personal life would in no way be as rich without his presence in my life. he never forced ideas on his students, or demanded a regime of thinking or study: but instead inspired you to find your own voice, passions, and methods of understanding the world and connections within it. connections between past and present, between individuals, between historical events and artistic expressions.... everyone should be lucky enough to be moved so much by a professor.

(1.5. dallas graham. i know this may seem random - but i was an art history major at byu, having just returned from a beautiful time in mozambique, and met up with dallas at a party in the fall of 2004. [why i went to mozambique itself warrants many other posts and tributes to come...]dallas mentioned he had minored in african studies whilst studying at byu, and recommended i do the same. it was that simple recommendation that solidified my study of africa - moved it from a personal interest to my central academic and professional focus. so thank you, dallas. i owe you a great deal.)

(p.s. photo of me taken at the alhambra in spain 3 days ago, a preview of spain posts to come...)

i've been away

sorry for the complete drop-off in blogging. i was hard-core revising for exams (well in theory), then taking exams, then playing in spain with dear friends bethany and julie.

so to start off, here are some pics from our victorious departure from the massive medieval exam schools our last day 2 weeks ago: as you can see, whilst taking exams at oxford you must wear full "sub-fusc," or gowns. at the end of exams the oxford tradition is "trashing," in which everyone throws champagne, water, flour, silly-string and other such things at the emerging students. thus the pictures:

it's also tradition to give balloons, flags etc. - so here's a pic of my good friend paul with his celebratory balloon - i thought it gave a good idea of what these ridiculous gowns look like. :) plus check out the beautiful gothic architecture of oxford in the background.

toni and me, so happy to be done with exams! i look so tired in this picture...haha, not too far off after 3 days in the exam schools. :)

peter, martin, emma, toni, anais. all lovely friends and fellow african-studies-ers.

ok, i'll post spain pics soon as well - because my goodness it was so so stunning! and i'm glad i finally had the opportunity to catch up on all the family blogs. and may i just say that sadie is so so beautiful. parker grandkids really are the cutest in the world (if i do say so myself).

an introduction

i have my first exam tomorrow, leading off 3 full days of exams that will then end my masters degree.

i'm mostly looking forward to the "blank" weeks afterwards, in which i plan to write things that are very close to me (pseudo-essays of sorts), and read more of the humanities that i sacrificed for the social sciences this past year (though i don't regret that decision).

but on the brink of what will no doubt be a splendid time in such an inspiring city as oxford, which has housed and nurtured some of the most stellar minds in history, i must first give credit to the heaps of individuals who have bit by bit crafted who i am today. i really do believe that we are all simply culminations of those around us, both intimate acquaintances and centuries-dead artists.

so as i was walking out of my room through the beautiful st. cross quad today, i realized that i want to make a bit more public the many people whom i feel have culminated in who i am today... i stand in awe of more people than i could ever recount in what i hope to be frequent blogpost tributes over the next months... but at least it's a start.

so my brief tribute today is to my dearly beloved chopin: thank you for etude opus 10 no. 3. and nocturne no. 1. and ballade no. 1. and and and and i could really go on eternally, he is truly my most played composer. there are few things which make me feel more, i mean truly completely feel and indulge in feeling to the very pit of my stomach than chopin's music. i turn to chopin in every emotion, and he always answers with flying colors. also, i find he is the perfect companion to exam-revision (which i have done much too little of, i'm afraid... especially compared to my comrades in african studies...).

so chopin, thank you a thousand times over for all the moments of transcendence you have given me.


more tributes to come, and to people i actually know personally....