It’s now
Easter break which means I actually have some free time to update the blog…
On Monday
the 24th I attended a PoLIS lecture titled ‘The Politics of
Migration’ concerning the refugee crisis. It was quite interesting and there
were speakers from other Universities also taking part, in person or via Skype.
It was interesting to see what they had to say and the comparison between what
is going on now and other fluxes in the past, I just wished it had been longer!
That afternoon I skipped bootcamp because I was feeling under the weather and I
thought it would do me good to go back home and rest. Joel and Amélie had not
been feeling great and I really didn’t want to get ill, so better be safe than
sorry. Fortunately, I managed to avoid falling ill.
On Tuesday
we met up to discuss and plan our Italian Culture presentation on Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore by Luigi
Pirandello. It was a very demanding group presentation and it took lots of time
and many meetings and reading, but I think we did quite well. Because the group
was so large and the topics intertwined, we had a bit of trouble splitting the
themes amongst us but we managed in the end! After class I was meant to meet
Anny to talk about Siena but she was ill so we had to postpone it. Instead, I
bought some carrot cake (bloody cravings!) and did some work at home. Beryl
came over to check the shower because the water wasn’t flowing properly and
managed to solve it. And afterwards I chatted with Lara on Skype. It was only
meant to be a short conversation but we ended up talking until quite late. And
adding Antonio to the conversation didn’t help.
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| Women's Day chocolates provided by Joel :) |
The next
morning, I came downstairs and there was a massive leak in the toilet’s
ceiling. The night before it had rained a lot and the water had managed to
creep through the cracks and was falling relentlessly. Beryl had left her scarf
behind the day before so she was coming over anyway, which was fortunate. I
ventured into town despite the rain and did some shopping, sifted through my
things to set aside stuff to take home and then did some more work. Beryl came
over in the afternoon and by that time the water had dried, but we’ll have
someone come and look into it soon. And then at night I skyped with Sara.
On Thursday
I had a résumé test for French, which did not go amazingly well but I did what
I could. I’ll just have to work harder next time. And on Friday we met again
for the presentation and I stayed in the Library after class to finish
homework. It honestly forces me to be efficient to go to the Library on the
Friday because otherwise I’d get home and do nothing with the excuse of it
being weekend… In the night, I decided to watch ‘The True Cost’. It is a very enlightening
and thought-provoking documentary film about the consequences of the fast
fashion industry, and I think everybody should watch it. Here is the trailer in
case you are interested (and you should be): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGp5_Sfbss
During the weekend
I didn’t do much aside from working and studying. I had to prepare my part for
the Pirandello presentation and try to get the write-up done too so I wouldn’t
have to do it after the actual presentation (basically, getting anything I
could done before the holidays), did some reading for the French history
seminar, checked into my Easter flights and got the bus ticket… I also had to
review for the guided essay exam on Friday for French, and since I hadn’t done
great on the one before, I was really adamant on getting this one right. On
Sunday it was the Bath Half and the day was sunny and lovely. I would have
loved to go and cheer but sadly I had other priorities.
On Monday
week 25 I met up with the girls for the Pirandello presentation and had a run
through, sorted out a problem with one girl dropping out. It annoyed me though
because she could’ve said so earlier but at least we managed to deal with it
and sort it out asap. Then after class I headed to Lime Tree with Emily and
Jess because there was a joint Politics and MLES Peer Mentoring even with free
drinks and pizza. My mentees couldn’t make it because they had a lesson clash
but I had a nice time chatting with Nina and Sarah. Then afterwards I went to
Bootcamp. We did a 25’ cardio circuit with no breaks which was really intense
but made me feel accomplished afterwards. And then while I was heading to take
a shower I found out that the audition details for Encore had gone out. Encore
is the last BUSMS show of the week at the end of April and I definitely wanted
to get involved so I decided to audition this time so I could get a chance to
be select chorus on some songs, and not only the really crowded ones. The two
songs for my range that I could do were ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ (Carole King
Musical) and ‘All That Jazz’ from Chicago. And the auditions were on Wednesday
and Thursday so I didn’t really have much time… After my shower I met with
Vidushi, Amélie, Bego and David at Parade for dinner. Missed them curly fries
and chicken burger! It was great to meet up with them before we started leaving
for the break, as we all left on different days.
On Tuesday
evening I skyped Sara again to help her out with her Erasmus interviews and
practiced the songs. Eventually I decided to stick with the King one because even
though I love and know ‘All That Jazz’, there were a few high notes I couldn’t
really reach, so I basically learnt the other song in half a day. On Wednesday
morning I got up early and packed, and then recorded my video audition (was
going to audition in person, but the slot I had was taken down because there
was no free rooms to audition in, and I couldn’t make any other times, so video
it was). To be fair, my voice isn’t great but I’m pretty happy with my
audition. I’ve been cast as select chorus for ‘Does Your Mother Know’ (Mamma
Mia) and ‘It Must Be Believed To Be Seen’ (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory),
and ideally I would also do open chorus for ‘America’ (West Side Story) and ‘Masquerade’ (The Phantom of
the Opera), but will depend on the time I have for rehearsals. I’m so excited
for Encore and can’t wait for rehearsals to start after the break! That means I
have to work hard during the holidays but I’m motivated because I really want
to do the show!
Then I
headed up to campus to meet up again for the presentation. We went through all
the sections and came up with the conclusion and finished the loose ends that
we had left. By now I was already done with the topic and just wanted to get it
out of the way asap. After coming home again I took a shower and did some more
work.
On Thursday
there was an Erasmus exchange lunch organized by the department so that we
could get into contact with students from our exchange Universities for next
year. However, only Alice came over for the Italian ones and she comes from La
Sapienza so she wasn’t of much use for me and my questions about Siena.
However, it was still nice to get free lunch and chat with everybody – I met a
Spanish girl from Malaga so was great to hear her opinion about Bath. And then
right at the end one of the two people from Siena actually showed up so I
managed to get his contact and should message him soon now. Then after that we
had our Italian presentation. As I’ve said, it went very well – it flowed well,
it raised some interesting points and was well backed up. All the hard work and
time we put into it was worth it. I also managed to hand in the write up so now
Pirandello is out of the way and I just have to wait for feedback. Plus the
follow-up discussion was also quite interesting. Fab job girls! Then in fencing
the coach couldn’t come so the session was just an hour and a half but we did
some games and it was fairly intense, tons of fun though. And for Arabic later
on, nearly nobody came. We were only four until Sokratis showed up a bit later.
We didn’t go over much new material but we did a lot of speaking and
reinforcing, which was great. I do have to study a bit over the holidays though…
On Friday
my test went alright. It was hard to keep to the word and time limit but I
think I managed. Another thing out of the way. After the last lecture before
the holidays I headed home to finish packing and prep the stuff for the
following day, as I was finally going back home. I had to wake up at 3am so I
tried to go to bed early, but it took me forever to fall asleep anyway. Not
used to going to sleep early any more…
So, on Saturday
morning I got up at an insane hour and left everything tidy back in my room.
The taxi took me right to the Airport bus stop which was actually packed –
clearly the start of the holidays. I took the bus and got to the airport at
around 5am. Checked in with Ryanair and went to security just in time to avoid
the queue and then bought some food for the journey once inside. I pretty much
had an hour to spare so I watched some YouTube and had breakfast. I met a girl
from Bath Spa going to Tenerife too to visit her parents which was nice. And
then after boarding, they told us the flight was an hour delayed because they
were waiting for the approval to set off. So I basically spent five hours in
the plane, uncomfortable and unable to get any sleep. Instead, I read Superwoobinda by Also Nove from start to
finish. Once we landed I was exhausted, but happy to see everybody. Katya also
came by and it was fantastic to see her again after nearly four years! She had lunch with us and then left. I didn’t
do much else yesterday. I unpacked and chilled, as expected after a really long
and tiring journey.
Today I
slept in and I’ve been working the rest of the day. I watched the MTTA video
with my family which was great, first time I actually got to watch all the
numbers and compere slots! And now I’m so pumped for Encore 2016! The weather
at home is warmer than in Bath but it is pretty grey today. I’ve tried to plan
my time here so I can get the work done and meet up with everybody. I’m seeing
the girls on Tuesday and hope to go to the beach and surf one of these days
too, let’s hope the weather improves! I’ll keep you posted!
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