Midway through the week

Wow, I've been back in Cambridge for almost two weeks. The quick pace of time still atonishes me. I'm about to head to bed because I have a seminar early in the morning, but here are a few quick notes which I'll elaborate on tomorrow.

- Classes are going well. The ones that I found difficult are, well, still difficult, but after every lecture and seminar, I feel like I have a better understanding of the subject and my professors' expectations. Whew.

- I'm planning a Middle East trip with several friends and colleagues from my IR course. Our tentative plan: fly to Istanbul, take the famed Toros Express train to Aleppo, Syria, followed by visits to Damascus and Beirut. Granted, there was a bombing of an American embassy convoy last week, so that's a bit worrying, but as long as there aren't any other significant events, we'll probably stick to our Lebanon plans. After Beirut we'll head to Amman and spend a couple days in the Jordanian capital, and hopefully visit Petra and some other ancient sites. Then we'll wrap things up in Israel, visit Jerusalem and fly out of Tel Aviv. Ambitious plans indeed, but I think it's definitely feasible. I applied to my college's travel fund for financial assistance, so hopefully they'll sprinkle a few hundred pounds in my direction.

- Tomorrow night is a Burns Night at Catz, complete with ceilidh dancing! Here's the e-mail we received: "Please come along on the 24th of January to help us celebrate Burns' Night; officially celebrating the life and poetry of Scottish poet Robert Burns, but really an excuse to eat haggis and drink whiskey! We also have Newnham College joining us for this event. Pre-dinner drinks will be served in the Ramsden Room from 6:45pm, followed by a Scottish-style dinner in hall at 7:30pm. After formal, suitably themed drinks will be served in the Ramsden Room, whilst the Hall is transformed into a Ceilidh wonderland, complete with live Ceilidh band until 11.30pm! This will give you the opportunity to learn some traditional Scottish dancing to some great music. And to help lubricate your dancing skills, John the barman will be opening the bar in Hall to be right where the action is. Guests are more than welcome to this event, and the cost will be £11. Dress code is lounge suits, but GOWNS ARE NOT REQUIRED."

It should be quite a bit of fun, though my dancing's rusty...