Last Week in Oxford!

I am officially done with exams - what a great feeling! All finishers wear red carnations and walk out the same entrance to meet cheering friends. My housemates brought confetti, American flags, a Union Jack balloon, and a cowboy hat for me - awww. Then we had creme tea, then a college end of the year garden party. It took me a while to fully relax, but now I feel great. Just running errands and leisurely exploring Oxford!

Yesterday we had the Rotary scholar wrap-up, and it was lovely to have a proper good-bye for all my fellow scholars. I am getting quit emotional about the entire year ending, but I am so grateful to have had this experience!

I will post pictures, but our college has cut off our internet (usuing a general computer lab right now) so I won't be able to do it until I get home after July 4th. I'll also give a more thorough update on the last weeks!!

xoxoxo

Let's do this!!

How I spent the last hour: a white American reading about West African portrait photography in the Japanese library.

This is why I love Oxford!

Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts - it makes all the difference. I am excited to take my exams tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday, and then to have time to reflect on this crazy, amazing year.

I love you family!

Updated Colors

I have changed my blog to prettier colors because it seemed the thing to do. Let me know if you can't read the font. Pinkish-purple reminds me of my grandmother and sister! xoxo

It's In!

I turned in my dissertation today, a full 2 days early! Thank goodness I did not wait until Friday because the binding store was already busy, and the formatting came out wrong at first, and then I had to change a page. But it's in now!!! Walking into Exams Schools, I felt sort of nervous about handing over 50% of my grade, but walking out, I was massively relieved! As soon as a I got back into my room, I put away ALL of my dissertation notes, binders, articles, etc - they're hidden in boxes and behind dressers, and my room looks fabulously clean. I could not bring myself to throw away my sticky notes, but they've been hidden too. (I will have to use some of this for studying for exams, but that's another day :) ).

After the big moment, I met up with friends for lunch, shopped for a mask for the Venetian Ball on Saturday, and now am going to the gym with Nadia. Tonight, we're having a house showing of The Apprentice (British version of course). And no work at all!! And it's warm enough to wear a sun dress! Overall, an incredible day. I am waiting to cross off "Turn in Dissertation" from my planner until I can really savor the moment (actually I get to do it three time because it's written on three days, just in case I could possibly forget haha).

Ok, I can't write any more, but I do want to say thank you to you all for your support and prayers over this entire process - from my very first meeting with my supervisor. Love you family!

Champions!!!

The Chihuahuas are Women's Indoor Football Champions!!! 3 tough games today, but we completely dominated! Hahaha We may not field the top full-sided team, but our best five are better than anyone else's! It was glorious - and I'm obviously still on the high. Lots of team bonding and hugging and cheering, plus a fantastic workout (could hardly bike home), plus a championship. Great day. Even more, the Blues captain was there (Blues is like Varsity - not at the level of FSU, clearly, but the top team here) and she pulled me aside to ask if I am going to be here next year because she thinks I would do well on the team. I'm not going to be here, but it is cool that I could play Blues! And I think we are going to have a team dinner on Friday to relive our glory :) And the sun is still shining today!

Ok, back to work.....

Student Drawings

Sorry, too tired to edit, but you get the feel! Incredible, yeah?

Happy Memorial Day!

It's been a lovely day here in Oxford - blue skies, sunshine, a light breeze - honestly could not be better! The weather makes such a mental difference.

And we had a big Chihuahua victory today: 4-3 over Keble College (a game we lost in full-sided, so this was sweet revenge hahaha)! We play again tomorrow at 1:40pm. Not cool because I lose work time, but so worth it - I love the team camaraderie, adrenaline rush, exercise. Had to carbo-load tonight :)

And fabulous news: pictures do NOT count in my dissertation word count, which is good because I want to put in drawings done by students (in each school I held competition under the title 'How do we prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in our community?' and then used the drawings to begin discussions - a popular technique esp with youth and when dealing with sensitive topics because it allows the respondent to focus on an object instead of having to make eye contact, think of the 'right' answer, etc). I should post some so you all get a feel for the submissions! This was one of my favorite parts of field research. Yes, I'll do that now.

Love you all! Hope you had a lovely Memorial Day!