The Past Week-ish

Last week was a good week, and this week has a similar outlook.  Here's why:

1.  I didn't leave my residence hall the entire weekend (with the exception of Friday night).  It was one of those times when doing ABSOLUTELY nothing was EXACTLY what you need to maintain your sanity.  I watched movies ALL Saturday with some hall mates.  I actually did schoolwork on Sunday, so the weekend wasn't an entire write-off.

2.  Monday night was "Whiskey Night".  Enough said.  :)

3.  Tuesday and Wednesday were a blur.  It wasn't because of Monday, but due to the sheer nothing notable-ness of the days' events.

4.  I met with my tutor on Thursday.  He returned to me the essay that I wrote for him at the last term.  He's an expert on sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV, so I was extremely nervous about his opinions on my summary of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and HIV co-infection (this is his specialty).  Needless to say, my worries were pretty much base-less.  In an academic culture that rarely gives "A's" or their equivalent, I was pleasantly surprised, and pleased, to receive a "B+"!  The grade didn't count, but it was important that I did well because I hope to work under his supervision (or that of one of his well-established colleague's) for my summer project.  We discussed further some project possibilities on the HSV-2/HIV-1 topic, so clearly the efforts on my essay paid off (it was really difficult doing the research because my tutor was an author on most of the sources that I used!).  It appears as if the most likely candidate for my study location will be Jo-burg, SA!!!!  It would be great to go back to South Africa (I wish it was Cape Town, though!), but only time will tell...

5.  The weekend was a blast.  I was with good friends the majority of the time.  Friday and Saturday night were "social outings" with my course mates and hall mates, respectively.  The fun didn't stop there; the weekend wasn't over yet!  Four of my LSHTM friends and I went to Cambridge on Sunday.  It was only an hour train ride away, so it was a perfect destination for a day-trip.  All we did was walk around the city, ducking in and out of the different colleges, and stroll along the River Cam (Cam+bridge, get it?!).  My course mates who graduated from the university told us to go punting on the river (it's a similar concept to a gondola ride in Venice, but the boats are wider), but it was rather cold and the punting docks were closed.  Boo.  We still had a good time, and were able to make it back to another one of our mate's house for a dinner in honour of Robert Burns (probably THE most famous Scottish poet).  Happy Robert Burns Night (yesterday!).  Grahame fixed traditional Scottish haggis!  I ate the vegetarian version, which was pig intestine-casing- and sheep organ-free.  

I also was able to Skype with my really good friends, Joye and Jim, on Sunday evening!  AWESOME!!!!  Haha.  

6.  The fun weekend, despite not getting a lot of sleep over the past few days, gave me a boost for tackling this week.  It should be just an average week, but it's always nice to have a reason to be happy when it starts!  Have a good week, friends!