week #2

life just got a whole lot better: southparkstudios has started broadcasting in the UK!! when i first arrived, there was a bunch of legal shenanigans that prevented the website from working, but now it does! i'm sure one of you petitioned them into submission, so whoever that was, thanks for that.

this week has been amazing, too. i feel like i start out with something along those lines every time i write, but the only things that seem to go wrong are completely overshadowed or quickly fixed by things that are significantly better. i did get a bit of bad news this morning, though. michelle wrote to tell me that joey is having litter box problems again and that if they continue, she might not be able to keep him. so that adds a lot of stress onto my plate, but hopefully we can get that cleared up.

friday night H, D, and J came over for a drink and to visit the flat. i think it got the thumbs-up... at least they said that they'd come back! we then went for cocktails at a sweet local bar called the font. i absolutely love this place. it plays good music, and all cocktails are £2 (including their killer mojitos). we spent a couple hours there before calling it a night, but not before we met up with some of my other friends. it was the perfect night, since i was able to get out of the quarantine area but not for long enough to make me sick again!

saturday i was finally able to run errands (since i just now got my student loan check put into the account), and did so with gusto. i got a hair dryer, straightener, and toothbrush in town, then went to the northern quarter for a look around the vintage shops. i found a great pair of vintage stilettos with copper caps for £10 and also found a winter hat that's pretty sweet. i even stopped in a little cafe for a sandwich and some reading time (maybe some people-watching too). i tried to do some primark shopping but it was absolutely disastrous... way too many people. so instead, i came back to fallowfield and did some grocery shopping. i can finally cook for myself now! i got a pot, pan, cheese grater, spatula, and some knives. so far i've only managed to cook chicken and sauteed spinich and a made-up pasta salad (methinks i won't try spring onions with basil-pesto sauce again), but it makes me feel loads better to be able to cook for myself. i also got two huger bags of fruit (plums and apples, to be precise).

so after spending all day shopping, i came home and basically collapsed. sunday i went to the whitworth gallery to do visitor surveys with my classmate C. we talked to people for three hours and i loved it. it's a good feeling to know that i'm in the right place, and i get that now more than ever. after finishing the surveys, we went for a coffee to debrief. again, another great day.

yesterday, i had 3Ms. instead of visiting a gallery, we were split into groups and sent to research a particular object in a museum. my group could not stop laughing at how happy i was to get our object; i was grinning like a kid on christmas... but then you all wouldn't be surprised: we got the T Rex skeleton!! so my monday was also amazing.

today was much more relaxed. we studied cabinets of curiosity and how they contributed to the modern museum. i spent the three hours between lectures reading in the museum cafe. C joined me for the last hour or so, so we got to spend some time talking about manchester and the things i've seen around town (she grew up here). in all, a great week so far.

something to look forward to: i'm headed to oxford on thursday and west kirby on friday, so i will post pictures soon!