RUGBY!!!!

Last night I had my first rugby practice with the Newcastle University Women's Rugby team ... full contact! I'm so ridiculously bruised and sore this morning, but I had SO much fun. This could by far be my favorite sport ever. Sure it's a little aggressive and all the girls are bigger than me, but I'm keeping up just fine. Nothing takes the stress out of a bad day like tackling people to the ground. I decided to sign up for the Freshers team just to meet new people and avoid paying gym fees, but now i think I'm totally hooked. All the veteran players and new Freshers are so nice, and I'll be spending a lot of time with them. Two practices and one game per week, plus a rugby pub crawl every Wednesday night. Our first match is a week from tomorrow, then we have a tournament up in Edinburgh next weekend. I'll already be in Edinburgh for the weekend on a Loyola trip, so I'll just split my time between the American crew and rugby time. Hey, this rugby thing could also be a great way to travel cheap. Score!

On a less exciting note, classes started yesterday. Well, one class anyway. I had my Comparing Cultures sociology lecture, which I think will actually be a really great course. Biochemistry and Archeology start tomorrow. Luckily, all the extra seminars and labs don't start for a few weeks, so for now I have Tuesdays and Fridays off with no classes. After I pull my life together and organize all my coursework today, Tuesdays and Fridays will be filled with day trips. Newcastle itself is a huge city with a lot to explore, so maybe I'll just stick around here for a bit. I've found my way around town already and know at least where the mall, clubs, and grocery stores are. That's all I need, right? I've actually been out running during the day through the city and it's helped me to get my bearings a lot. The Tyne riverside is absolutely stunning. One of these days I'll just be a complete tourist and take a million pictures of this town. It's so sad that i only have 10 weeks left here.

I think that's all I've been up to for the past couple of days. The weekends here are really relaxed. Most students just stay in and hang out around campus since all the cheap student nights out on the town are during the week. I decided not to travel this weekend since I just really needed to recover from all the traveling thus far and get to know my neighbors. I really like my flatmates and the other people in my block and we're a pretty tight-knit group already. Most people gather in my kitchen in the evenings to cook dinner and watch TV since my flat has the largest kitchen set up. This kind of seems like a weird version of Freshman year at Loyola all over again.

As usual, still loving it here. It might seem strange, but I'm really not missing home. Not that I don't love you all on the other side of the Atlantic, but I've just blended in here so nicely and very quickly. More classes and rugby tomorrow, then Oktoberfest on Friday! I'm so excited to see The Ocho girls meeting me in Munich! I can't wait!