new term, new activities

I'm no longer a rower. I'm a quitter.
But a well rested one at that. :D

Other than sleeping later, not much new to report. I took John out to dinner last night at a Chipolte wanna be called Manna Mexico (2 for 1 burritos = cheap date)! For being so far from the southern border, it wasn't that bad.

AND last week at badminton, I was one point away from winning my first game. Not bad, ay?

Here's a photo of my desk, looking more cheery these days (although the daffodils are dying! I think I better stick to catci and ferns)



So, all in all, its been a good week.

One and a half kleenex boxes later - I'm feeling much better. Thanks for the good vibes (and care packages will STILL be accepted!).

Nothing too exciting to report - back to the reading and the writing, and the obsessive drinking of the Diet Coke and the Buttery's blueberry muffins (which are almost as good at Jewell's blueberry scones).

The crew lists for rowing came out last week, and I didn't make either of the crews - but no worries. I wasn't surprised or disappointed. Rowing is a lot of fun, but I'd rather it be an occasional hobby than a full-time activity - which is what it is becoming for the crews (lots more races this term = lots more training). I'm still on the fence about how involved I'll be - right now I'm still training with them (I need my beach body for Greece, you know), but I'm only a sub for the outings - which is fine except that I'll still have to pay the $50 in subs to stay involved, which seems quite pricey considering the amount of time I will actually be in those expensive boats . . . hm. I have a few weeks to decide, so we'll see.

Anna and I went to a debate at the Union last night - This House believes that Britain should keep American close, but Europe closer. It brought up a lot of interesting points about the sovereignty of nations, and England's differing views on the EU. As a member of the EU, Britain is semi governed by an international body and bound by its laws - which was seen as a good thing by some (Europe is the new frontier!) and a bad thing by others (undemocratic! tyranny!). And of course, it wouldn't be a international policy debate without some anti Americanism - apparently the USA lacks the same values as the English - as in we still have the death penalty - and two states can still kill a criminal by firing squad! Oh please - just because its legal, doesn't mean its in practice - it was a completely misleading shot (haha i love puns . . . ). It was interesting, all the same. In my own opinion - I'd keep America closer - the UK is a good mid point between the US and Europe, and we all know that their egos are too large to completely submit to the being "just another member of Europe". Plus - we may be an ocean away, but we smell better than the French.

much love.

sneeze

I've caught a miserable cold.
Your sympathy and care packages would be much appreciated.

I also bought three new plants - two begonias and a daffodil. The cactus survived winter break.

much love.

nose to the grindstone

By the Cambridge calendar, which starts and ends on Thursdays, I'm still in week one, meaning that the weekend is a fake break in the early part of the school week that only pretends to be a time of peace and relaxation, when instead it is full of guilt regarding the pile of books sitting on my desk that I need to be reading. It's Sunday, and it's time to put my nose back into them.

Here's some useless knowledge for you - the origin of "nose to the grindstone" comes from the practice of knife grinders who would bend over their sharpening stone, keeping their faces near the action in order to keep the blades close to the stone. I wonder how many lost nose hairs (or noses) in that practice . . .

I'm working on Samuel Richardson's Pamela right now, which is 500 page novel from a million years ago made up of letters from a servant girl to her parents. I think it's supposed to be a romance and have a happy ending, but all I've suffered through so far (in 250 pages) is many acts of attempted rape by the man that apparently loves Pamela. What . . . ? Yeah, I don't get it either.

Other than the books, I've been busy with rowing (today is the first day off in a week!) and watching the first two seasons of Weeds. As for rowing - I'm pretty sure I'm still one of the weakest members on the team, but I did better on my 2k than I thought I would, so I'm happy with that. I also had badminton yesterday, and I was quite rusty. It's the worst when you get the shots you think you would miss, and then you miss the birdy when it lands basically at your feet. Shameful, really. As for Weeds - you should watch this show - its HIGHalious. (that's a pun - I love puns - you get it? because the show is about selling drugs? haha - you're amused, I know it). But it isn't afraid to show anything and everything on TV, so perhaps don't watch it when you are babysitting and the like.

I had my first outing back on the river on Friday morning, and it wasn't terribly cold out - especially considering it's January (in fact, the grass is still green here, and flowers are still alive - its very strange to see) - but it started raining the moment we got the boats out, and didn't quit until the afternoon. Rowing in the rain isn't so bad, you're preoccupied by the exercise and all, but cycling back in the rain? Miserable. Poor Cat rode back with me, and had a bike collision with another woman, and landed in the mud. In her words - "this couldn't get more miserable, Kathleen!". Needless to say, I decided the lectures on Spenser weren't worth another 20 minutes in the rain, and retired to read modernist theory in sweatpants with numerous cups of tea and biscuits. I think that's the only way English survive their weather - warm caffeine and chocolate. Or they are sneaking drugs behind my back. Either or.

And in even better news than tea and chocolate - I had Jewell visitors this weekend! Rachel (a Zeta) and Andy are studying at Harlaxton this semester, which is about 2 hours away by train. Rachel came in on a school day trip, so I got to show her around and catch up on some gossip from home, and Andy stayed the whole weekend and filled us all in on his Wheel of Fortune training - he's flying home to be on the show next week. Crazy, right? Did you know I applied for some game shows to finance this year abroad? No call backs. I'm assuming they were to terrified of my intellect to challenge me. That must be it.

Mucho love. Mucho misses.

Cambridge in Numbers

4: number of kleenex boxes I bought
1.5: number of HobNob packages I have already eaten
4: cups of tea a day - avg.
3: number of days it has rained here at Cambridge
3: number of days I have been at Cambridge
5: number of books I have to read this week.

my bargain wonders

Cambridge students aren't allowed to work during term, probably because they don't (or shouldn't) have the time. This rule has led me to earn money via medical research, which leads to events such as this: I donated my DNA (via saliva) for 10 pounds. That's the easiest $19.50 I've ever made (the exchange rate went down - you can celebrate, if you like. I am!).

I was as excited as only a poor college student living in a crazy-expensive country can be, and spent it all on wonderful things like Kleenex and face wash and hand soap. Beautiful. 

Lea didn't share my happiness, and told me she would be worried to donate her DNA - what if they cloned me? But really, could the world be any worse with two Kathleen Adams walking around? I think not.

In other money saving news (I'm making you proud, Dad!), the rowers had a back-to-school dinner at Bella Italia when it was half-price night, and by sharing a plate with a friend, I had dinner for 2.75 pounds.

I may be cheap, but England isn't, so I think it evens out.

Rowing starts up immediately. We had ergs this morning at 8:30, and our crew test (2k on the rowing machine) is next week. There aren't enough girls for three crews, meaning that some will be cut. I think I will be fine with whatever occurs - it's nice to be in shape, but it has definitely dropped in temperature here, and I can't imagine that the Cam is very pleasant at 7 AM these days.

Until my camera is replaced, you will have to be content with old photos stolen from other people's Facebook albums. Here's a night shot of us rowing - the building behind us is the boat house we share with Trinity College.

Back to school . . .

More photos:

http://jewell.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012655&l=e430a&id=125300053
http://jewell.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012658&l=99041&id=125300053

I'm typing this at my desk in Cambridge, and minus the empty bookshelf (which will be full in a few days, I'm sure - once I hit the libraries), it's creepy how natural this feels. I was not looking forward to coming here - school work pales in comparison to being home and relaxing and traveling Europe, and as I'm sure you can imagine, it's not even a pretty color of pale. School work is an unhealthy, translucent, dead fish color of pale when it stands next to those aspects of winter break. But now that I'm here, it's just . . . routine. And that's nice, especially after the chaos of traveling for two complete weeks out of a heavy backpack. I really enjoyed dumping that backpack out, and hiding it in my closet.

Visiting Oxford (where I spent the past three days) was wonderful. Janeane (and all the Oxford Overseas students) live in houses, so we cooked real meals, and I did THREE loads of laundry while I was there - in a machine and everything. Lovely. I barely left her house - I needed some hermit time after the go-go-go pace of Italy, and it was almost as good as being in the US. I'm sure I'll go back to Oxford in the spring and see more of the city than Janeane's house, two pubs, and a Gap, but as of right now - no regrets. It was a good transition from world traveler to uni student.

We got into Cambridge today at 12:30 PM, and lugged all of our luggage back to school, dropped it off, and then me and John took the bus to Tesco (their "Walmart", you could kind of say) to stock up on some food. I spent 40 pounds, but my cupboard is completely full of delicious food, and I can't wait to get hungry again. I'm going to try harder to make real food this term - (no more toast lunches, I promise, Mom!) and I've already started with a container full of curry chicken salad. Awesome. (AND Diet Coke was on sale (!!) - so I now have two ten packs in my wardrobe, and life doesn't get much better than that!)

Now, its 10:27, and everything is unpacked and ready to go for term. Tomorrow is pretty slow - there's a rowing meeting and I've got to figure out my lectures and get some books, and things really start on Tuesday. So I'm milking the rest of break until Tuesday, you better believe it.

Much love, and I miss you all!

photo album

Blogger takes ages to upload photos, but Facebook is much quicker. Here you can see my latest photo album on Facebook from Rome and part of Florence.

http://jewell.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012649&l=9fc99&id=125300053

quicker than typing

Here's 4000 words worth of photos for you. :)

fly cheap means fly crazy

After an hour-long, bouncy boat ride leaving Venice, we arrived at the airport. I'm not sure if you are well acquainted with low cost airlines, but they basically promise to get you there, with no extra frills, for cheap. You have to pay for any checked baggage, and forget the free peanuts, but I really have no complaints. Faster than trains, anyway (can you even imagine going from Italy to the UK on a train? I love them, but not that much).

The seating is also all up for grabs, so picture this: a couple hundred or so people crowded around the gate, waiting for their boarding letter to be called, and having no desire to move for those who can board before them. From there, you get on a bus, which takes you to the train, and once those doors are open, it is a sprint.

I'm completely serious when I tell you that I saw business women in heels running to get the seat they want on that tiny plane. That made me feel like I needed to run (I wanted to fit in), even though I don't care where I sit. I got approving looks for my row 4 window seat though, so I guess I passed.

We're safe and sound in Oxford now - after an hour-long boat ride, two-hour plane ride, and two-hour bus ride (now just get me a horse, and my diverse transit means will be complete). We'll rest here for a few days with some friends from school, and then head back to Cambridge for the books and things.

Much love.

last day in italy

This trip has been really enjoyable, and compared to the first leg of our Europe adventures - much more dry. In numbers:

8: the number of cities we visited (Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Florence, Sienna, Pisa, Venice, Verona)
15: the number of gelato cones I ate (strawberry "fragola" is my favorite, expresso "caffe" was my least)
10: approximately the number of pizzas I ate here
.50 = the cost in Euros of the cheapest Diet Coke I bought in this country
2.50 = the cost in Euros of the most expensive Diet Coke I bought in this country (hey, when you need it . . . )
0 = the number of coffees I had
25 = at least the number of espressos and cappuccinos John had
12 = number of nights we had in Italy
3 = number of nights we had in Italy where we had our own private bathroom (it's some sort of heaven to have to walk less than 5 feet to your own bathtub).

We were told not to spend more than two days in Venice, as while beautiful, it does gets dull, so we saved all of our sightseeing adventures for our only full day in the city. We started in Piazza San Marco (with the pigeons) and took the "secret itineraries" tour of the Doge's Palace (the head governmental building of the Venetian Republic) and learned how Casanova escaped (with the help of a priest, and a piece of iron). From there, we had paninis for lunch, some gelato, wandered the closing markets at Rialto, walked over to the suburb in Venice where people actually live (Santa Elena), and took a break at the hotel. We're off to have dinner at a wine bar, and then back here to pack up. We head to Oxford, UK tomorrow at 10:30, and after we spend a few days there with some friends from Jewell, it is back to the Cam for school. Boo. Traveling trumps studying, I believe.

Much love.

where for art thou . . . ?

We went to Verona today, where Romeo and Juliet are "from". You can walk down the street Capello ( = Capulet) and see Juliet's "house", although don't forget she's pretty fictional. I love tourist traps like this, but it was closed for renovation (the curse of the off season).

Otherwise, the city was beautiful and we had great weather. Love graffiti is big here - the walls of Juliet's house is covered in X heart X and love notes, and you can visit the "posso dell' amore" (well of love) where the young-and-in love buy a luggage lock, write their initials on it, and lock it onto this closed up well. We saw locks like these in Florence too, Rick Steves (our travel guide book friend) says its a revived fad.

We also went to a funky wine bar. I am my mother's daughter - at 3 pm I ordered a dessert wine (to the shame of John!). The owner gave me a weird look, but we also woke him up (at 3 pm) so his judgement is nil to me. :)

Tomorrow is our last day here in Italy - we're spending it all in Venice, and then we're back to the UK.

Photos are taking ages to upload, so you'll just have to wait a little longer.

Much love.

masks and canals

I love Venice.

We're in a hotel that is music themed, and we're in the Elvis room. Aren't you jealous?

The city is beautiful, and the breakfast was free. Awesome.

We're off to Verona today.

Much love.

Italy is for lovers . . . and other things

For your enjoyment - a poem composed by moi.

"How to Know You are in Italy: A Couplet"

The people are kissing on the street
But the toilets have no seats.

Yesterday, we traveled to Sienna (it's where the color "burnt Sienna" comes from - it's the exact color of their soil) and then headed to Pisa today. Sienna was beautiful and Pisa was very, very wet - we only saw the tower and high tailed it back to Florence.

I also bought myself an Italian leather purse ($$$ but oh so beautiful) and John got himself some snazzy shoes.

Tomorrow, we are off to Venice, where we'll do two day trips to Verona and Padua, then back to the UK.

I won't lie - I'm not ready to go back to school. Italy revived my love of travel - minus the thieves, it's a wonderful, wonderful country.

Miss you all!!!!!!!!

Florence / Firenze!

We're safe in Florence - it was a great train ride. Italy is beautiful, even in January.

Florence is wonderful - a nice break from the craziness of Rome. We saw the David (it is HUGE) and walked around. Don't have much more time to say more, other than I miss everyone and love you all even more!

Vatican City

(Me and Janeane at the Vatican)

Things are good here!

We explored the other side of Rome and went to the Vatican, which was neat, although I've seen things that I thought were more impressive (minus the size of St. Peters, that is). It was a good way to spend three hours, though.

From there, we walked along the Trevere River, and saw the Piazza Polopo, did some shopping (Janeane sprang for some Italian leather shoes, I went with a coin purse), had lunch and gelato, and saw the Patheneon again. Nothing too exciting to report, other than tomorrow John and I are going to Florence and Janeane is going back to Oxford.

Miss you all terribly!!

Pompeii

(Me and the Roman Forum)


We took a train from Rome to Naples today (2.5 hours - Italian trains are cheap but dirty, although the view was great), and then from Naples to Pompeii (half an hour) after having pizza in Naples (that's where it was invented, you know).

Pompeii was neat - it's really large, which I guess I didn't expect, even though I knew it was a city. This is the city that was destroyed when a volcano blew up in AD 79, killing almost everyone, but preserving a lot of the city and people. The city ruins are pretty well preserved, considering they are thousands of years old, but the streets are made up of these huge cobblestones that are painful to walk on. We spent about three hours there, and then made our way back to the train station. It was a long day, but pretty neat.

We're going to the Vatican tomorrow, and hopefully seeing the catacombs. Me and John leave Friday for Florence, and Janeane is leaving Friday night for the UK, so we have a lot to fit in still - including some shopping. I hear the call of Italian leather, perhaps in the form of a new, chic purse? 

Love!

Rome!

Well, it's day three in Rome, and I have to say - it is a neat city, but you HAVE to be on your guard.

We've encountered lots of persistent street vendors and beggars, and Rick Steves warned us about pickpockets. It was good advice, albeit unheeded, because I WAS pick-pocketed. And I'm so angry about it.

We made some friends at our hostel, and they invited John, Janeane and I to join them downtown to celebrate New Year's Eve. I will say, the atmosphere in downtown Rome is great - really chaotic, but pretty amazing. Everyone is speaking different languages, and popping champagne bottles, and setting off fireworks (However, no bathrooms - when in Rome, use an alley!). 

Once we got to the main piazza, it was very crowded. Nonetheless, we were in a large group, and circled up, so everyone felt safe. I transferred my camera from the front pocket of my purse to the main pocket, thinking it would be safer, and only took two pictures downtown - those photos were not worth it! When we were trying to leave, a fight broke out on the street, and the crowed started to exit, and it got a little (and then a lot) pushy. Once we were out of the crowd, I realized that my purse had been opened, and my camera was gone -

With all 200 Rome photos on it.

It is so terrible, because my photos were REALLY wonderful - we had done a ton of sightseeing on New Year's Eve, and the lighting was fantastic. The thieves didn't even get a good deal out of it, because without the recharger, the camera will be worthless in 30 minutes, and one of the buttons didn't even work anymore! So it's not even like they will make money off of it - so pretty much, its a crap deal for all involved.

To make the day worse, a bird also pooped on my head. Icky.

So until I can replace it, John is letting me drive him crazy by borrowing his camera every few minutes. And today, we backtracked a bit to "replace" some of the photos, but everything was closed.

Other than that - Rome is a neat city, and the food is delish. We think we're going off to Pompeii tomorrow, which will require an early morning, and the Vatican Thursday.

Mucho Love!
Chao!