Marathon training, honors thesis, and looking forward to internship

I've reached the point in my marathon training where I'm doing long runs in the double digits. This weekend I'm doing 14 miles, and the weekend after that I'm doing 16. Oxford is a fairly small town, so my training partner Adrea and I are having to get creative with our long runs. At least it is more interesting than just running the same streets over and over again, and we have actually gotten to see some gorgeous English countryside.

Obviously this is not my natural running pose. But isn't the countryside beautiful?!

Running with a water belt on a 13.5 mile run and not ashamed.

In other big news, I've decided to pursue an honors thesis. At Wellesley theses are optional, but anyone who meets a GPA minimum and gets department approval can write one. It is a yearlong process. If a student completes the thesis and passes an oral examination in the 2nd semester of her senior year, she is awarded departmental honors. So, I've decided to write a thesis in the religion department. I have a general idea of what I will write about, but still have to do some preliminary research before I can formulate a research question. I will keep you all updated as I make progress!

Finally, this term (the 2nd of 3 terms) is almost over, and then I have a 6 week break. For the first week I will be doing some thesis research at Oxford, but then for the 5 weeks after that I will be working an internship in Rome! I will be interning with a non-profit organization that works with the Italian government to train diplomats and compile research on international relations. I am so, so excited to return to Italy (I was last there when I was 16), improve my Italian (I have taken 2 years in college) and have a chance to work with what sounds like a great organization.

One last thing: because I don't have too many pictures to show you this week, here are some my parents have sent me of our dogs, Gioia and Argos, who I just think are so cute.

Mansfield Ball, Dori's visit, and formal hall

I'm officially the worst blogger ever...some of my friends manage to post every few days and my current track record is every few weeks. So my apologies!

In my (admittedly pathetic) defense I have been really busy with school. Our terms are only 8 weeks here, but they are very intense! Since arriving back at Oxford in mid January I have already written 9 papers, ranging in length from 5-9 pages. I am really loving my work despite the fact that it is so demanding. I am especially enjoying my class on New Testament: Paul. Last week I wrote about Paul's view of the state.

But now for the more interesting stuff--Oxford events! I've attended a few black tie events since the last time I posted. First was the Mansfield Ball a few weeks ago, which only happens every 3 years. It was weirdly kind of like prom but with incredible food, a way better location, and live music.

Left to right: Rachel, Maggie, Bella, Evelyn, and me

Leah and me

Sophie and me

Near the end of the night and totally exhausted: Sarah, Raul, and me

Dance floor: Amy, Sarah, Erin, me, Adrea, Emily, Hyerin, Haley, and Reem

The weekend after that, my dear friend Dori from Wellesley visited me. I met up with her in London and then we came to Oxford. In London we went to an open food market and then the Tate Modern. After that we took the bus back to Oxford and I showed her around Mansfield. Dori's friend Brett, who is doing an MPhil at Oxford, also showed us around her college (Corpus Christi). It was a blast!

The Globe Theatre in London

Corpus Christi College

Dori and me in front of the Radcliffe Camera

Finally, last night was another formal formal hall and Champagne and Chocolates. Formal formal is a four course meal with black tie attire. We had mushroom soup, ham and chutney, sea bass, and sticky toffee pudding. It was delicious

Sarah and me 

L to R: Adrea, me, Sarah, and Erin at C&Cs

Snow and marathon training

These first two weeks back have been madness, and I apologize for not posting sooner! I promise this entry will have lots of news and pictures.

It snowed for the entire first week. Oxford looked even more magical than usual! It didn't snow more than 4 inches but the town of Oxford did not know how do deal with the snow. Not at all like Boston, or Eastern Washington! The sidewalks remained treacherous for most of the week.

Roses outside the Radcliffe Camera

The side of the Sheldonian.

Front of the Sheldonian.

Hertford bridge.

Mansfield in the snow!

New College. The streets were quite treacherous!

I began official marathon training right at the start of the new year. Fortunately I have a training partner, my friend Adrea, to suffer along next to me. It is actually going pretty well and we are sticking to the schedule my college coach John gave me. The only tough thing has been the weather. Our 8 mile run two weekends ago was essentially slipping and sliding over ice and snow. The snow has now melted, but the trail we used yesterday was pure mud. So we were again slipping and sliding. Neither of us fell though, so that was good.

The final exciting thing I've done since being back is going to the very formal Burns Supper. A Burns Supper celebrates the Scottish poet Burns, and has some specific requirements, like serving haggis and whiskey, reading some of Burns' poetry, and listening to bagpipes. Our Burns Supper was a black tie event held in the chapel. It was magnificent! The food was great, even the haggis, which I actually enjoyed. Afterward, we had Mansfield's twice termly champagne and chocolates, which was held in the Junior Common Room.

My friend Sarah and me at the Burns Supper.

Haggis and parsnips.

Very formal place setting--good thing my mom believes table etiquette is important, or else I wouldn't have known what to do!

Dan and Tom at Champagne and Chocolates afterward.

Sarah and me at C&Cs, I've still got my formal dinner gown on.

Returning to Oxford tomorrow!

My 6-week vacation is over, and time absolutely flew by. Tomorrow I commence a 24-hour journey, with three flights and one bus ride. I will arrive in Oxford sometime in the afternoon of January 12.

It is impossible to fully describe my vacation in its entirety without writing a novel, but I will give a few highlights (and a lowlight). 

Highlight #1: Spending time with my family and dogs. Christmas is a very special time for my family and we take it pretty seriously, so it was wonderful to be together. Last night we all saw Lincoln together, which was brilliant. I hope Daniel Day-Lewis wins an Oscar for his performance. Although I do find it funny that a Brit & Irishman portrayed one of the greatest American presidents so effectively.

Family & dogs, photo courtesy Steve Lenz.

Lowlight: We had to say goodbye to our dog Holly, the Rottweiler in the picture above. She had been struggling with bone cancer for several months. She was 10 years old--she had been a part of the family for half of my life! I am glad, though, that she is no longer suffering.

Highlight #2: We got a new puppy. We were so devastated at the idea of being Holly-less on Christmas that we got an adorable English Cream Golden Retriever puppy. His name is Argos, after Odysseus' dog in The Odyssey (can you tell my mom is a literature professor?).

Highlight #3: Spending time with my boyfriend of 1.5 years, Mark. We mostly just relaxed, watched movies, played bananagrams, and went out for dinner. It was wonderful. 

Mark's parents gave us matching sweatshirts for Christmas.

Highlight #4: A ski trip to Mount Baker with Mark and several friends over New Years. The snow was incredible (deep powder), and unlike the same trip last year, there weren't any injuries. Woo! Afterward, we all saw the Hobbit, which was excellent.

Mount Baker ski area.

Sleeping arrangements.

Hanging out with Mark and Sam (and Hallie's feet).

This just about hits all of the major events of my vacation. I will post again once I am back in the great UK!

Home for the Holidays

I am officially back in the USA! The term ended rather abruptly about a week and a half ago with a philosophy paper about the coexistence of God and evil. I relaxed for a day or two and then began the packing madness. I flew home last Monday, and was greeted at the SeaTac airport by my lovely mother. I spent the night at my best friend Liz's house. Liz left a few days ago for a 3-month trip to Argentina to do organic farming.

On Tuesday my mom and I drove home to Walla Walla, where I was greeted enthusiastically by my two dogs, Holly and Gioia. I missed them so much! Since then I've just been attempting to get over jet lag. I am making progress and no longer wake up at 6 am, but I am still not on my normal schedule of waking up at 10. Perhaps that's a good thing?

I have also been doing some reading for fun--right now I'm reading Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh, an ethnography of Chicago's urban poor with a focus on the Black Kings gang. It is so nice to be able to read at my own pace instead of having to wade through 300 pages of Hegel in less than a week. In addition to reading, I've spent time with my friend Rina and cousin Shannon. Last night Shannon and I made gingerbread cookies!

The one thing that I've gotten to do in the USA that I cannot do in England is eat great Mexican food. It makes sense that there isn't any in England--I can't imagine that there are many immigrants from Central America to the UK. But Eastern Washington is a feast of great Mexican food, which I've enjoyed about half of my nights back home.

Gioia (left) and Holly waiting for me!

I've missed these rolling hills!

Gioia

Holly