English vocab

Man, English is really hard! Especially when you're trying to read ancient greek philosophers and the like...

So many words I've never heard of! I guess I've never read much about war or how to gain power in English... That's pretty much the starting point of my ethics and international relations class. Interesting reads, but really hard to get through when you need to look up so many words!

Anyone up to guess what I'm reading by the list of words I didn't know?

deceit
succumb
insolence
diffidence
contemptible
effeminate
pusillanimous
aggrandise
astuteness
licentiously
munificence
remissness
propitious
pillaging

Seems I don't know words for a lot of things that aren't all that nice...

Auditing courses at Harvard

Spent my day sitting in on two courses at Harvard today. There's a special agreement between the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the International office. Spouses/Husbands of international students can sit in on courses! :)

This was the best thing that happened to me in a long time! What a wonderful opportunity to learn in this environment, use this wonderful library and just get a free sneak preview of how it might be to study here at Harvard.

This is a very happy day!

Finding out about words

This is the second time this week I head one of these moments you actually understand why a thing is called the way it is.

When I was a child, my parents used to play Memory with me. Up to this week it never occurred to me, that Memory is not just a name for a game, but actually pretty much describes what the game is all about.

The other one I found today. I stumbled about an interesting book today and learnt that the restaurant Maroons picked it's name for a reason!

Back in the US

Feels strange to be back here, knowing that NYC is just a few hours away. But it's great to get huge ice cream portions when you just ask for one scoop, enjoy the summer up here in Rhode Island (and get even more tanned - if that's at all possible), go sailing with friends and just speak English all day again.

So it's just about getting the work authorization now. Everything seems to fall in place again. :)

Andalucia

The land of sunshine, jamon serrano, sherry, wonderful sunsets over the mountains, golf, tapas, tapas, tapas, life is wonderful this week.

Funny to see so many similarities in architecture to Tunisia and Egypt. Sitting in Granada watching the sun go down over the Alhambra. A big mix of architectural styles, but lots of islamic influence for sure! Beautiful tiled walls, wonderful gardens with lots of water, arabic inscriptions in the walls; the gardens have a reputation to remind of the gardens mentioned in the Quran. Lots of water, shade, wonderful flowers and the scent of pine trees and roses in the air.

Oh, and I finally got my new visa for the US!