Matriculation

On Saturday all of us Freshers were required to participate in an archaic ceremony called matriculation, after which we all officially became members of the university.  All it really entailed was some photo-taking in the morning, and then a brief - about five to ten minute - Latin speech given at the Sheldonian Theatre.  We all dressed up in our sub-fusc and enjoyed a day of very little work and quite a lot of food and alcohol.  The most important Latin phrase read at the ceremony is:

"Scitote vos in Matriculam Universitatis hodie relatos esse, et ad observandum omnia Statuta istius Universitatis, quantum ad vos spectent, teneri."  ("Know that you are today added to the Roll of the University and bound to obey all the statutes of this University so far as they apply to you.")

I'll post more pictures as I get them, but here is one for now:

My fellow Oriental Institute graduate students, all from Wolfson College.  You see Josh on the far left there is sporting a fancy furry gown because he received his Bachelor's from Oxford as well.  The rest of us are wearing the normal post-graduate gown.

Week 1

Monday was the first day of week 1* of Michaelmas term, which means for many of us students the first day of classes, tutorials, lectures, or lab work.  As for me, my schedule goes something like this:

Mesopotamian History: Mondays and Tuesdays from 12.00 to 13.00
Egyptian History: Wednesdays and Fridays from 12.00 to 13.00
Biblical History: Thursdays from 11.00 to 12.00
A topics course focusing on Sumerian hymns: Mondays from 15.00 to 17.00
A research seminar: Tuesdays 14.3 to 16.00
Akkadian: Wednesdays from 14.00 to 16.00 and Fridays from 9.00 to 11.00
Aramaic: Thursdays from 13.00 to 15.00

Correction: I also have an hour and a half of German on Fridays.  =(

I'll probably also try to find a part time job, hopefully in a library somewhere, but if not I'll try to squeeze in Biblical Hebrew on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10.00 to 11.00.  One of the great things about Oxford is that the students (or anyone affiliated with the university) are welcome and encouraged to attend any and all lectures they can, no matter which department or faculty they are in.  For instance, if I wanted to sit in on lectures on law or politics or medicine, I could do with no questions asked and no fees incurred. 

It's only been three days, but I can already tell that this term will be busy but also very fun.  I love all the fellows I have the pleasure of learning from and have already spent countless hours doing "for fun" reading from among the countless treasures the libraries here have to offer.  Oxford is truly a unique institution and I can now fully understand why many people become spell-bound by its magic and never desire to leave.  There will be an information session next Tuesday for MPhil students about how to search for and secure funding for the DPhil, so if I can manage to do so maybe I'll be lucky enough to stay here for another three years after I complete my Master's!

Other than work, I have been enjoying the social aspect of my college and the university as well.  There are a number of students at Wolfson who are a part of the Oriental Institute also - studying subjects including Cuneiform studies, Egyptology, Jewish Studies in the Greco-Roman world, and Syriac studies - with whom I have become close friends and have been exploring the city.  Along with some other Wolfsonians, a group of us went on a ghost tour of Oxford last week which was fascinating if not altogether historically accurate.  We've also been sampling the local selection of restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs.  I will say this about Oxfordians: they certainly know how to have fun just as well as they know how to work!

I've also managed to see several museums, including the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford (the oldest museum in Britain!) and the British Museum (which gave me an excuse to visit London again).

I don't have any new pictures of Oxford, but I hopefully will have after I matriculate this Saturday.  In a nutshell, matriculation is an event in which students dress up in sub-fusc, get herded into a beautiful building called the Sheldonian Theatre, have Latin shouted at them for about half an hour, and then they leave as an official member of the university.  I'll let you know how it goes.

For now, I'll leave you with some pretty pictures of London again and one of the Ashmolean, which I must confess I got off of Wikipedia.  Enjoy!

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

"God and my right." The motto of the British monarchy, referring to their divine right to govern.

Like from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!

The British Museum.

The London Eye.

A view of the river Thames from the London Eye.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the London Eye.

A pretty museum (?) from the London Eye.

*In Oxford, people invariably refer to an event in relation to which week of term it occurs.  For example: "The end of term bop** will be Friday of week 8."
 **Bop: Oxford-speak for party, usually in the college bar.

The Kingdom's Best Ice Cream

Earlier last week, while out to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with my flatmate Abdul (a Saudi DPhil student in communications technologies) and our friend Nadia (a French DPhil in something to do with butterflies), the topic of ice cream came up and Abdul and Nadia proceeded to gush about the best ice cream they had ever had.  Naturally, I was determined to experience this ice cream, and since the shop was in London it seemed quite achievable.  So on Saturday Abdul, our other friend Jed (an Idahoan DPhil in the history of medicine) and I forayed into London in search of the best ice cream in the country.  Though since this would be my first time in London-town, Jed graciously offered to give a tour of the city, since he is full of interesting and often arbitrary historical knowledge. 

Of course it is impossible to see all of London in one day, but we did manage to visit quite a few interesting sites.  To be brief, we started off on Baker St. (yes, as in 221B Baker St.), then saw: the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament/Westminster Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the National Gallery, to name a few.  My favorite part, though, was a massive used books market along the river Thames...I'll definitely have to return to London for that!

After a full day of sight-seeing, we ended the evening in Chinatown and managed to find the ONLY Korean restaurant in the area.  I am proud to say that I successfully introduced Abdul and Jed to Korean food, and they both enjoyed it immensely. 

Now, the ice cream.  Since Abdul couldn't quite remember where the ice cream shop was, and Jed had never been there before, it took us the entire day to track it down.  Finally, after circling the city a couple times (and thus allowing us to see the wonderful aforementioned sites), Abdul found the infamous ice cream shop.  With hearts filled with eager hope and anticipation, Jed and I looked at the shop and let out groans of shock and keen disappointment.  It was a Häagen-Dazs.  After explaining that Häagen-Dazs is an American ice cream chain, Abdul tried to salvage the situation by claiming that maybe British Häagen-Dazs tastes different than American Häagen-Dazs.  Unconvinced, we all went in and had some ice cream.  In the end, although it was quite good, it was still no different than what we have at home.  Oh well.  Maybe next time I'll discover some truly delicious British ice cream!

The Royal Mews (fancy stables for the Queen).

Buckingham Palace.

The Academy of Sciences.

War memorial?

Busy London street with Big Ben in the background!

The parliament building.

Big Ben with the London Eye in the background.

The London Eye along the Thames.

Last, I have an Oxford picture for you.  This pub, the Eagle and Child, was the regular meeting place for an Oxford writers' group called The Inklings.  Members of this group would read their works aloud and offer each other comments and critiques.  Famous members of this group included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Hugo Dyson.  During one of their meetings in which Tolkien was giving a reading of the Lord of the Rings, Hugo Dyson is famously quoted as saying: "Oh, f***, not another elf!"

The City of Dreaming Spires

I have finally arrived at Oxford and am beginning to get settled in.  The flight over the pond was uneventful, in the best way possible, and connecting to Oxford from the London airport was smooth and simple.  If only the whole world could be as organized as the UK!

My first few days have been quite busy.  I've been completing various registrations and familiarizing myself with the way the university works (which I'm not sure I'll ever completely understand).  It's necessary to register either in person or online for every single service the university or college offers - college libraries, university libraries, internet access, printer room access, laundry access, punting access, dining hall access, the college bar debit card, gym access, etc. - so that has been amusingly redundant.  I also attempted to get a UK cell phone, but for reasons I don't fully understand I am unable to do so until I set up a bank account here, which I can't do until I can get access to the college computing and printing rooms, which I can't do until a notice arrives in my pidge (pigeon hole, i.e. mail box) informing me that my request for access has been granted.  Good ol' British bureaucracy.

For those of you who were confused by my references to both the college and the university, let me explain: the University of Oxford is, so I've been told, a "confederate" university.  Meaning it is made up of several semi-independent colleges or halls that serve the academic, social, and residential needs of all students and fellows.  So although I am a member of the University of Oxford, I am also, and almost more importantly, a member of Wolfson College. 

Ah, Wolfson.  I'll admit I was a bit trepidacious before arriving at Wolfson.  It is one of the newer colleges so it does not have the beautiful architecture and infamous "dreaming spires" Oxford is known for.  Upon arrival, however, I am pleased to inform you all that I could not be happier with my placement at Wolfson.  What it lacks in classical architecture it makes up for in beautiful grounds and a charming punting harbor on the Cherwell.  Here are some pictures of the college to further impress upon you how lucky I am to be here:

Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford.  How cute are these signs??

Entrance to the Wolfson Lodge.

Wolfson's punt harbor.  I went punting for the first time yesterday - complete with Pimm's and lemonade, naturally - and I must say it's harder than it looks!

Cherwell Boathouse.

The meadow at Wolfson, accross the bridge.  The past few days there have been cows grazing here, but they must have been elsewhere today.

Ducks sunbathing on the Cherwell.  I'll try to get pictures of the swans and geese that live here, too.

B-block, where I live.

The Wolfson gardens.

Bridge to the meadows.

View from my room!

More gardens.

More gardens.

Dragon clock?

There are two great willow trees on the grounds.  So lovely.

My room!

The living room.

Also the living room.

View from the living room #1.

View from the living room #2.

Me punting!  I was very focused.

Well, I hope you enjoyed those just as much as I enjoyed taking them.  I'll be venturing into town again tomorrow to buy my sub-fusc, so hopefully I'll have some dreaming spires for you soon!

University Class

Today was the first day of my university class (as in a class full of Egyptian students!). My course is a fourth year course on Maritime Archaeology, and although it's only the first day, I really think I'm going to enjoy it. It only meets one day a week for two hours, which is perfect, because I don't have much spare time as it is. My professor is Dr. Emad Khalil, who is also my boss at my internship, and I've already mentioned how great of a guy he is. The first half of the class was just a discussion of what we would be covering in the course, and a review of materials from previous courses. I am quite pleased to say I understood the entire lecture, and even knew the answers to some of the questions before the other students did (although I was way too scared to actually raise my hand and give the answer in front of the whole class). My goal for the semester is to be able to answer a question or participate in a discussion in class without embarrassing myself. Anyway, then the second half of the class we watched a film/documentary about an underwater excavation...which was in English and of very bad sound quality. At the end of the video, the professor asked the class if anyone understood anything that was said, and no one else did whatsoever. I know I shouldn't have been as happy about this as I was, but I felt a great deal of satisfaction in this. In a society and culture where nothing comes easy to me and I get stared at and made fun of a lot, at least whenever we watch poor-quality English films I'll be the only one who can answer the professor's questions. Ha. Take that, Egypt.

For this class I have an academic partner, who will attend the class with me and meet with me at least two hours a week outside of class to discuss the material. I met her for the first time today and I really like her! Her name is Rawan and she's in her second year of school studying archaeology. She's very friendly, talkative, and helpful, without being annoying or overbearing (which is rare among Egyptian personalities). All in all, it was a great first day as an Egyptian student!

Back from the hiatus

I spent a wonderful month-long break scuba diving and relaxing in Dahab. I even ended up working at a dive shop to get free accommodations and free dives...which was awesome!

Now I'm back in Alex and our Flagship classes began last Sunday. We don't know when the university classes will begin, because they still haven't figured out their schedule of classes. Anyway, my Flagship classes seem wonderful so far! I am taking Modern Standard Arabic, Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, a translation class, and an Arabic media class. My MSA, translation, and media teachers are all amazing. They are smart, nice, no-nonsense kind of people, which means lots of tough homework (which has already begun) but also a great improvement in my Arabic (which I am already beginning to see just after a few classes) by the end of the semester. My colloquial Arabic teacher is...less than satisfactory. She talks to us like we are kindergarteners, gave us a packet of course work on the first day that is way below our level, and smiles in a sickly-sweet kind of way. Not a good combination. Anyway, that is by far my worst class, but I'm sure I'll survive it.

I also started my internship today. It's with the Center for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Alexandria, and it seems really great so far. My boss, Dr. Emad Khalil, is a really nice guy, and really smart. The other students working there seem nice, but leave me alone for the most part, and I cannot tell you how refreshing that is. Today my task was to set up a cataloging system for the center's library, create a database of the books, tag all the books, and order them on the shelves. I spent over five hours working on this today, and will hopefully finish tomorrow. It's a lot nicer than it sounds. I got to sit by myself in a library all day looking at books about scuba diving, archaeology, and history. It was fabulous. Once this is done, Dr. Khalil said I'll get to start doing some translation work and grant proposal-writing, both in Arabic and in English.

In other news, my home-stay is going great. I love my host mom (whom I call Mama Hoda). She is a little pushy but a real sweetheart. Her daughter, Eman, is great as well. She's about my age and in her last year of studying to be a doctor. She is very, very smart, motivated, fluent in several languages...and all she and her mom ever talk about is who she is going to marry. It's hilarious. She'll come over and tell her mom about some new guy she met at the hospital or at school, show him to her on Facebook, and they will discuss the only two important factors involved in the decision: how rich he is and how handsome he is. Oh, and of course, he has to be an engineer, one of the only two respectable professions in Egypt (the other being a doctor, but Eman doesn't want her husband to do the same thing she does). They are both very picky though, so the right guy hasn't come along yet. Soon hopefully, insha'allah (G-d willing).

What is also funny about living with Mama Hoda is her neighbors. I've met only one of them, but everyone in the neighborhood already seems to know who I am, since gossiping is national past time of old Egyptian women. For example, I went into the drug across the street from the apartment for the first time today, and the lady working there enthusiastically greeted me, saying in Arabic: "Hi! You're Jennifer's sister, aren't you? You and Jennifer look SO much alike, and you speak the same way, too, and have the same mannerisms! It's nice to finally meet you!" Explanation: there was a girl living with Mama Hoda last year through the Flagship program as well, named Jennifer. Mama Hoda is telling everyone that I am Jennifer's sister, because, according to her, "it's just easier that way." I can't blame her (home-stays are a very foreign idea to Egyptians), but it still catches me a bit off guard.

Last thing. A confirmed case of swine flu has broken out in the university dormitories (thanks to one of the Flagship boys), so they are all being quarantined for at least a week, if not longer. The other study-abroad programs have canceled their classes since almost all of their students are in the dorms. But not us, since only half of Flagship students live in the dorms (all the Flagship boys are in the dorms and all the girls moved into apartments or home-stays). So, Flagship is still having classes with only the eight girls it has.

Also, a colony of ants has moved into my computer.

Cairo!

So last weekend we all went to Cairo, and it was definitely a whirlwind trip! We were there for three days and two nights, which is of course not enough time to explore even a tenth of what the city has to offer.

We of course saw the pyramids, which were nice. I have to admit that I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. My favorite part was seeing Saqqara, which is filled with ancient royal tombs. We got to go inside one of these tombs and I almost died for being too excited! Djoser's step pyramid is also at Saqqara. The pyramid itself wasn't too interesting to me, but the area surrounding it was fabulous, because it included several complexes including the ruins of a heb-sed court and a palace.

We also saw a citadel-turned-mosque, which was beautiful, and an area of Cairo called Khan al-Khalili, which is famous for it's souks, or markets.

On Saturday we went to the Coptic area to see a church and a synagogue. Of course the synagogue was closed because it was shabbat, but the Egyptian coordinators of our tour could not understand why in the world something would be closed on a Saturday, and yelled at the guard there for about 15 minutes! The church, which apparently dates back to the third century CE, was gorgeous. I just really wish I could have seen the synagogue.