So, here I sit on a Saturday afternoon, at the kitchen table of my apartment, listening to good music, reviewing for looming midterms, and thinking.
This semester has been going really well so far. The work load is more than I imagined it would be, but the people in my program are all so unique, quirky, spontaneous, deep, and caring. I love them all so much after 5 weeks - we are all like a big family. There is Brendan O'Leary, who lives in the boys apartment across the hall, and plays the bagpipes and the penny whistle. There is David, who is in my lab group, and loves to beat-box. There is Sara, who can knit anything (and has got us all on our own projects - even the boys). My roommates are awesome, and so is my lab group. After class we usually go running, biking, or swimming in the ocean or a Beebe Woods in Deep Pond. On the weekends we relax and watch movies projected on the blank wall in the boys apartment, and go contra-dancing. Last night Brian gave me 251 new songs, and so I've been listening to them, and also pondering the mid-term study questions: How has CO2 and O2 varied in the atmosphere over the last 3 billion years?
It is a beautiful day - I went biking this morning, and I wish that I could study outside. I'm having a little trouble focusing because both my roommates are away, and so I'm alone in my apartment, with out other people to tell me to focus. I've also (as always) been thinking about how much I miss Colorado, and the friends that I made there. I've been plotting how I could get back there after I graduate. I'll definitely look for job openings in Aspen, or maybe I could do a NOLS program out in the West somewhere. I had such an amazing summer, but I think I'm finally starting to be able to focus on the fun I'm having here instead of day-dreaming about the road-trip to Yellowstone.
Cape Cod is beautiful in the fall, and when I run, it makes me miss Cross Country so very much. I miss the team, and being so in shape, and doing so much more than sitting in class all day. But this program is really interesting. In a lot of ways, to me, it feels like the summer science programs that I used to do when I was in middle and high school. But much more intense.
I just wanted to write to tell you all (well, at least Jessica, whom I miss tons and is the only person I know reads this)that I am doing well. And also I wanted a break from work. I hope that you are enjoying the fall as well!
