We are now nearing the end of our penultimate week here at Oxford. I think almost everyone feels the same way- we have loved living here for a while and really getting to know the city, but we are ready for classes to be over and to start seeing exciting new places. On Monday and Tuesday, St. Giles' Fair was here. I went on Monday afternoon with a couple of friends, just to look at all the rides and games they had set up. There was one tent with a bunch of arca...

Our weekend in Wales often depended on the kindness of strangers. Like, for realz, the Welsh are the nicest people ever. They are just friendly in general, and on more than one occasion did someone offer to help us find where we were going or tell us which bus stop we should be at. And they only laughed a little bit when we tried to pronounce something in Welsh ("Um, yes, we need to get to Tongwynlais, please?") On Thursday night at formal dinner, ever...

3 days in Dublin. My initial reactions: 1) Ireland is probably the most beautiful country I've ever seen. The countryside is pretty in a different way than Scotland or England. Scotland is very wild and free with dark rolling hills. England is like a patchwork quilt of quaint farms with the yellow hay fields and light green sheep fields, separated by dark green rows of bushes. But Ireland takes your breath away. It's this picturesque mixture of bright green and...

We have all been pretty stressed out here this week. I mean, I'm trying not to complain too much because, after all, better to be in Oxford writing papers and studying for tests than having to do those same things back at Rhodes. Still, it's not very fun. Plus I haven't been feeling very well the last couple of days, so I just want to lie in bed. The last thing I want to do is write a paper on Le Morte D'Arthur and another one on the Lollard movement and then hav...

I had an awesome weekend with Andrew visiting. He got in on Thursday at lunchtime. His guest room here at Lincoln College appeared to have been built for a hobbit. That first afternoon, the two of us climbed the tower in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. We took pictures, and I pointed out where some important things are in the city. Then, a group of us went punting. Andrew and I were in a boat with Cristina and Ali. It was slow-going for a while (we ...