3 weeks left ...

So it's been over a week since my last update. My apologies, but life over here gets mighty hectic. Here's the past 9 days in a nutshell ...

Last Wednesday was yet another rugby match day. I played the full game as hooker for the 2nd team at our home field, Cochrane park. We didn't win, but the 2nds are finally beginning to gel as a team and play well together. We don't really care about the score so much, we just like being on the field having a fun time. I survived my first "dump tackle," too. I was SO close to scoring, when out of nowhere this huge girl from the other team just picks me clear off the ground and throws me back down again, ball still in hands. Borderline illegal tackling, but hey, at least my team got a penalty kick out of it. The 1st team also played at the home fields, so we got to catch the last 10 minutes of their game, too. Afterwards, the team met up for evening activities. The Newcastle University Men's 1st team were playing our rival, Northumbria University (aka "The Poly" ... they're more of a polytechnic institute than a university. We're "The Posh kids," they're "Poly Scum." And here I thought Brits were all polite.) The game was held at the Newcastle Falcons (professional rugby) stadium, so it was a huge deal. All the rugby girls met up and went to the stadium together to cheer on our boys as a team. It was a fantastic time, and the entire stadium was packed with Newcastle and Northumbria students. Naturally, the women's rugby team went right from the stadium to our social establishments of choice. Last week's rugby social theme: School girls. Nice. I got to celebrate my birthday at midnight with the rugby girls, which of course was a great time.

Thursday ... I'm OLD. The big 20. No signs of fine lines or wrinkles yet, though. I opened all my cards from family back home and felt very loved. My flatmates and I hosted a party that evening with my favorite theme, "Anything But Clothes." Classy. We had everything from trash bags, sleeping bags, towels, and cotton batting formed into cute little outfits. Great efforts on everyone's parts, though i must say the Loyola crew back home are much more creative. Afterwards, everyone who didn't have exams the next day (about 14 of us) went to my favorite night club, BluBambu. Great night.

In the aftermath of Thursday night, everyone just lounged around on Friday and had a relaxing day. We all rested up just long enough to go out to Solution, the nightclub in the Student Union for the night. Yes ... the Newcastle University has a nightclub and bars in the basement. This is why I love England. They played great British cheesy pop from back when we were all in middle school. It seemed so strange not to know all the old songs, but my flatmates are on a mission to educate me in the British Cheesy Pop genre before I leave. Oh yes, I'll be coming home with multiple crazy British techo, dance, and pop CDs.

Over the weekend, I actually cracked down and did some schoolwork. I had a reality slap in the face when I realized that all these projects are due in a couple weeks before I leave, and to keep my scholarship I have to get good grades. So i had a minor freakout and organized all my work before going out Saturday night. Sunday I spent in the library and computer lab printing out ALL the biochemistry powerpoint handouts for the semester. I figure if they're printed and sitting my in room, I might be motivated to review them before our major exam in 2 weeks.

Monday brought the rain. Rain, rain, and more rain. It seriously rained for 3 day straight here. No sunshine, and lots of puddles. How depressing. I did the usual lectures and classes deal on Monday, then camped out in the library gathering sources for my Archeology report (totally not excited about that). And then there was rugby training ... I turned into a human icicle. Seriously, when it's raining, cold, and windy the team still plays hard. Intense, but fun.

Tuesday brought more library and work (noticing a work theme here? I was just motivated to get stuff done before I go away this weekend). Then I had my third Biochemistry lab practical, which was actually really fun. It was focused around enzyme kinetics, which was fascinating. Yes, I'm a science nerd. I've grown to accept it. Tuesday night most of the people from my block of flats hung out in my apartment discussing housing for next year. It's time for everyone to separate into apartment groups and start house-hunting. Drama, drama, drama. I'm so glad I don't have to do that. Living on campus is SO much easier. And yet at the same time I so much want to stay here with my British friends.

This brings me to yesterday, Wednesday. This week there were (shockingly) NO rugby matches scheduled, so I actually got to go to my Wednesday archeology lecture. Of course, we still had rugby training. We just played a match against each other mixing up the 1st and 2nd teams. After 3 days of rain, we were all soaked in mud. At least tackling in mud doesn't hurt as much. However, I currently have the MOST massive bruise ever on my thigh (I'm sitting here now with a bag of frozen peas bound onto my leg with plastic wrap to try and keep the swelling down.) Getting accidentally cleated/kicked in the same spot 3 times tends to be pretty painful. Then we all went out for the usual Wednesday night rugby social. "Bin Bags" was this week's clothing of choice. Believe me, you will never see trash bags look so good. We all fashioned them into dresses, skirts, tank tops, etc. Slightly hazardous since trash bags tend to rip (luckily mine stayed intact), but so much fun.

So I sit here today on Thanksgiving waiting to Skype home to the family to chat with everyone at once. I really, really miss helping out with all the cooking, the Macy's parade, and the holiday craziness. But, Loyola has sponsored a formal dinner for everyone tonight (we'll see if it stands up to American Thanksgiving standards). Then, I'll be packing my backpack full of 4 days worth of clothes and such to jet of to ROME tomorrow morning. Rachel and I leave at 5am to get cheap flights to Rome. We'll have a long-ish layover (hooray for biochem studying in the airport), but by the afternoon we'll be meeting Janine and Anna in Rome. Plane tickets and hostels are booked, all we need to do is hop on the plane. Pizza, pasta, and gelato await me. Oh yeah, and maybe some Pope and historic monument action, too!