An American in Durham

I have made it all the way to my new home sweet home and have finally registered so I can now have access to the internet. I'm slowly settling in (the first thing I did was put the sheets on the bed so a could crash at any time if needed) and unpacking, meeting a ton of new people.
I'll post more later and be on the look out for pictures on flickr but right now it is time for bed, I'm still kinda jetlagy.

Really, I'm Still Here

So I couldn't help but notice it's been a while since my last post. I figure it's about time to check back in with the rest of the world...Since my last post:

-Went out to LA (well, about 45 minutes north of LA) and Las Vegas for a couple of weeks to visit family and had a very nice time. Made a solo trip down to LA for a day and despite what you may think about driving on LA freeways, Atlanta is worse. Also on this trip it became painfully clear that I am a warm weather girl. I wore long sleeve shirts and slept under a heavy blanket while my aunt and several cousins complained about the heat. And when being asked how the 107 degree weather in Las Vegas was, I found myself replying something along the lines of "yeah, it was a little warm but not too bad."

-Went to my high school reunion. So I'm officially old now. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting but enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. It was nice seeing everyone and learning that just about everyone I went to high school with is a lawyer now.

-And perhaps most importantly, Durham is a go! I've finally gotten my official visa letter from Durham University which I probably could have made myself at home, it's just a sheet of paper with some info about start and end dates and a rubber stamp. No official seals or signatures, but if that's what the British government wants, I'm more than happy to supply them with it. And now that I have the letter, I've started the student visa process. First you submit an online application, then you get fingerprinted (heading to Birmingham this weekend for that) and photographed without smiling (very British, stiff upper lip and all, yes?), then you have to fill out a paper application mostly repeating everything from the online app and visa letter. Once they slap the visa into my passport, I can board a plane Sept 29thish and frolic around England for a year, oh and take the occasional class.

A Day in the Museum

I wanted to do something constructive with my summer since the university was essentially offering zero summer classes in anthropology. In weighing my options, I decided to volunteer for the Historical Society (www.historicpensacola.org). After a couple weeks of emailing back and forth with the volunteer coordinator, we finally met and I started my post. I am starting out working the front desk three days a week at the Wentworth Museum (well, the official name is the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum which I would never remember when answering the phone if it weren't painted on the wall directly in front of me). I was told it was a pretty boring post when I joined up. Since the museum is free, I don't have to run a register or anything, just give a spiel about the museum whenever anyone walks in, otherwise amuse myself with a book. But it turns out the mornings are pretty busy with upwards of 70 people coming in over a three hour period and UWF students** stopping by to hang out in colonial garb trying to avoid some other task they should be doing, such as manning the children's Discovery Gallery on the 3rd floor which is apparently a task worse than death.

The museum is in the old city hall building which is over 100 years old overlooking one of the parks in downtown and it's pretty cool if I do say so myself. It's a history museum, mostly focusing on Pensacola but also contains the collection of T.T. Wentworth who in my estimation could be described somewhere between a collector and hoarder since he acquired a mess load of really weird stuff which turns out to have its advantages. On my first day there, I learned a great way to handle children: when a kid asks "Do you have dinosaur bones, airplanes, etc?" respond "No, but we totally have a petrified cat!" and they make some sort of happy noise and then go running off in search of said flattened cat. In fact, I think if you ask anyone who grew up in Pensacola and went to the Wentworth on a school trip, the only thing they will be able to tell you about the museum is that it contained a petrified cat, I know that was I all could recall from my trips.

**One of these college students asked me if I was in high school, looks like I'll be getting carded for a few more years.

Durham, England, England Across the Atlantic Sea

So several weeks back, I decided to apply to Durham University in Durham, England because it seemed like an awesome program (and arguably the only Paleopathology program anywhere) and I figured I had nothing to loose seeing as how there was no application fee. Well, I'm happy to say I got accepted and it looks like I'll be starting the one year program in October. I say looks like because I am officially 1/3 of the way accepted. I received a conditional acceptance because supposedly something was wrong with my letters of recommendation and because FSU does not put GPAs on transcripts. Turns out there is nothing wrong with my recommendations and supposedly FSU has my GPA in the mail so as far as I'm concerned I'm 2/3 of the way accepted, just lack the email/piece of paper saying unconditional on it. The final 1/3 is getting my student visa that I can't apply for without an unconditional acceptance. Seeing as how there are no outstanding arrest warrants for me in the UK that I know of, I'm hoping the visa process will run smoothly. I'll keep you all updated on further developments.

Boo on ASU

So I didn't get accepted at ASU. Since that was the only school I applied to, containing pretty much the only program I was interested in, I currently have no plans for after the end of April when my current semester ends.
Now accepting any and all offers/ideas of how to spend the next year/rest of my life.

It's Just Your Love, It Creeps Me Out

Today's Tip of the Day: If you are asked if you want your info shared with universities, etc. when taking any nationally recognized standardized test, just say no.
When I took the GRE I said yes, how can finding out about other graduate anthropology programs be bad? Only, it turns out the universities have no way of knowing your intended area of study. I have since been contacted by several universities and here are the highlights:

University of Nebraska: 2 emails, tastefully done, simply asking me to visit their website to find out more about their grad programs

USC of Somewhere School of Engineering: Ummmm....did you guys actually look at my math percentiles? It's my understanding math is pretty important in all things engineering and while I was perfectly happy with my scores, they weren't exactly anything to brag to an engineering department about. Wait...Am I being used to fill a girl quota?

Florida Atlantic University: Got an email today addressed Dear Vanessa. Ummm... I guess you can call me Vanessa, if you really want.

University of Tampa: Full on stalker mode. They have sent several fliers about info sessions and I get at least 1-2 emails from them a week. They are 10000% convinced I should get my masters of education and hang out at Starbucks with them.

So take a lesson from me. If you don't want to be stalked by (hopefully) well meaning universities, Just say no.

Just Call Me The Crocodile Hunter

So this morning I'm sitting on the couch reading the newspaper and hear unusual noises coming from the wall across the room. First I think it is the squirrel that has figured out where the extra birdseed lives just outside the back door, but nothing is on the back porch. The noise continues and I decide it is coming from the fireplace. Sure enough there is a rather large green lizard making all sorts of noise while hanging out on the inside of the fireplace. I guess he climbed down the chimney? Seems like un-lizardy behavior if you ask me, but there he was between the glass doors and the metal curtain. Not really sure how he managed to climb around the heavy metal curtain designed to keep fire out but whatever.
I set about to release him because, silly lizard, that is not where you live. Wouldn't you know he hides on the hinge of the doors so I can't see him nor can I open the door easily without fear of crushing him to death. So I slowly open the door millimeters at a time. Then the next part of my awesome plan involves waiting for him to climb off the hinges and get to a better position so I can scare him into a cup and take him outside. After sitting on the couch and waiting for the lizard to do something for 20 minutes, I figure it is safe to scamper to other parts of the house to get dressed, check email, etc. I go back to check on the situation and sure enough, I no longer have a lizard in the fireplace because I now apparently have a lizard somewhere in the living room. And my hunt continues...

In other unrelated news, if anyone finds themselves in the Pensacola area this evening, my friend Derek is the featured artist at Gallery Coco (www.cocodesign.com) during tonight's Gallery Night. He is a photographer specializing in landscapes and is quite good if I do say so myself.