Life in the UK, Year 2

Well it has been AGES since I updated my blog. As a result, perhaps no one will even read this, but should you find yourself here at my page here’s a quick update on my life in the UK.
In September I moved to Manchester, England. I am working here at the Max Planck Child Study Centre at the University of Manchester.
It’s a child language lab doing very interesting and unique work on acquisition. Basically what I do is run experiments with little kiddies. They seem to have little trouble with my accent, but I have to say a 3-year-old, Mancunian English is, well, challenging. Eileen and I are living in an area called West Didsbury, which is apparently the posh area of Manchester. We did not know this when we moved in, all we knew was that it was cheaper than Edinburgh and our street was nice and leafy (see pictures). And we have plenty of room for visitors! Now, you may be rather unfamiliar with the notion of Manchester as a tourist destination, but here are a few reasons why you really should come see me:
1)Sampling the amazing variety of fried chicken restaurants. You can take your pick, Krunchy Fried Chicken, Kansas Fried Chicken, or (my personal favorite) Kingtuky Fried Chicken, they’re all here.
2)The Curry Mile. That’s right, a mile of curry places. Well I’m not sure if it’s really whole mile, but there are A LOT of restaurants.
3)The architecture. After an IRA bomb destroyed the city center in the 90s, it was all rebuilt in style. Indeed the interesting and experimental architecture can be found all over the city.
4)Manchester United. The most popular football/soccer team in the world. At least according to their website.
5)Liverpool is only an hour away on the train. Home of the Beatles and European Capital of Culture 2008!
6)The Whitworth, the Lowry, and the Imperial War Museum. Plenty to do during your visit.
And in other recent happenings, I graduated! Though I finished my dissertation in August, graduation was just last week. It was wonderful to be back up in Edinburgh, seeing all of my friends there who I’ve really missed (and who should really come down to Manchester for a few days!!). A few observations from the ceremony. British graduation gowns don’t zip up the front. Rather, they attach to the button on your shirt and pull your shirt up constantly. Not the best of solutions I think. They do have appropriately funny hoods and sleeves though. Also, at Edinburgh you do not graduate by shaking the president’s/principal’s hand. Instead they tap you on the head with a bonnet made from John Knox’s breeches. Pretty strange, but it’s got character.
I also attempted Thanksgiving dinner #2 while in Edinburgh, with some amazing help from Eileen and her mom. Everything went much smoother this year. In terms of improvements, I bought a turkey with a cavity and legs, we had a MUCH better kitchen to use (thank you Ljupka!!), and dinner was ready at 6pm (instead of 11)! Everything smoothly and catching up with friends in Edinburgh during dinner was so much fun.
Hope everyone’s holiday season is going well!!

What gives?

Okay, as I sit here in my flat in Edinburgh it's gray outside. And 55F (13C). It's JULY!!!! I want to wear sandals! And skirts! And not have to wear socks all the time inside so as not to be cold! Nicaragua was clearly too warm, but I really could use a little summer here in Scotland. Everyone keeps telling me this is the worst summer ever. Thus continues my run of *fabulous* luck since moving to Scotland I suppose.
Anyway. Nicaragua update coming soon. As soon as I need another dissertation reading/writing break. Which is likely to be very soon. And hopefully job and next year's plans next week!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Well isn't air travel fun? After a pretty terrible arrival/check-in experience at Gatwick, I finally got to Houston (9+ hours by the way, ouch!). Then I ran to immigration, where I was greeted by an enormous line. Why is it that the US-citizen line in US airports is so often longer than the non-EU line in the EU? Then I ran to get my bag and tried to make it through customs, only to have an employee who looked at my connecting boarding pass say, you'll never make it. So I went back to the baggage claim and got my boarding pass for the next flight to Managua, 24-hours later, and had the woman there tell me that if ran I might just make it. Then again the baggage recheck man, said I'd missed it. So I got myself rebooked on the next flight, scrounged up some American change to call Annie and ask her to call Quaker House to tell them I wouldn't be arriving as planned, and then caught the hotel shuttle to the Marriott Greenspoint.
My room had two big, fluffy double beds and a tv and all the standard, could be anywhere in the US, gear. But it also had wireless internet, meaning I could catch up on some emailing and blog. And remember that there really is never anything on TV. Though I did hear a wide variety of amusing American pronunciations of "Glasgow" and hear the sentence: "this has just gone to Glasgow, now just the UK". Ahhhh, I guess the New Yorker subscription people are not the only ones who aren't aware the "the UK" is made up of places in including Scotland!
So now it's easy listening jazz and a snached breakfast bagel for lunch in the lobby until it's time for me to head back to the airport and, hopefully, to Managua.

Moving. Again.

Well it seems that Scotland doesn't like me very much. And the feeling is becoming mutual I have to say. I've not been having the best luck of late here. After getting my application rejected (without explanation) to work with kids here for my dissertation study, we are now getting booted out of our flat. The landlord apparently wants to sell it, which leaves us homeless for the last month of dissertation writing and for the Fringe in Edinburgh. Great timing. This means I will have lived in 4 places here in 12 months. And I thought I might actually not be moving much this year. Wishful thinking I guess.
Anyway, that means I'll be sending out a new address soonish. I'm starting to look forward more and more to getting out of this country for a few weeks, I have to say. Nicaragua here I come. Perhaps I when I return I will again be able to enjoy the far-from-hot (one might say chilly even) weather in this unarguably lovely city. I hope.

Edinburgh and the new flat

Just a few photos of our new flat/apartment (well, new as of 6 weeks ago). And our neighborhood.
(see previous post for a picture of my room)

Eileen's room.

View from Eileen's room.

Nita's room, during exam time.

View from my room.


Our doorbell. Seriously.

The meadows (just down the street).

More meadows.

On Princes Street.

Germany (again...)

Dear Friends and Family,
It's been quite a long time since I bothered you all with one of my little updates, but I thought since I now have a new address, and have just returned form a trip, I'd send one out. First and foremost, my new address is as follows:
(write me for the full one)
Edinburgh
UK*

Our flat is really cute, if rather quirky. And by my New York standards it's HUGE! Plus it's £100 (approx $200) cheaper a month than was my tiny dorm room. Can't beat that.
In travel news, my two roomies Nita and Eileen, plus Justin and I, recently returned form a week in Germany. For those of you who haven't heard all about these three, we are all in the same program here in Edinburgh. We started off our jaunt to Germany in Leipzig. Eileen went to college/uni there, so she showed us the sites, including the two Max Planck Institute branches, one for the kiddies, and one for the apes. I'd never seen the kid part before and it was quite something. Facilities to make anyone drool over. Great lab space, open space to relax a bit, plus a sauna, roof terrace, a climbing wall, and foosball table. Life is tough at the Max Planck…
The apes live at the zoo, where I had been once a few years back, but this time we spent a very long time looking at the chimps, orangutans, bonobos and gorillas. As it was spring time there were lots of babies. Bonobo babies, in particular, are sure to soften up even the hardest scientist. We also saw chimp tool use, treats raining from the sky (enrichment, for those monkey lab people reading this) and an orangutan named Bimbo that loved rolling around in a giant ripped paper sack.
We spent Easter at Eileen's house in Erfurt (an hour or so by train from Leipzig) which was a wonderful visit to childhood. We spent hours Easter day painting eggs with indestructible-made-in-the-GDR watercolors, one representing each of our countries: Kosovo, South Africa, the US, and Germany, at Eileen's insistence. And we had quite an Easter egg hunt in her back yard. We all ended up with far more chocolate than we needed, and a few slugs to boot. We also ate WAY to much all the time. Eileen's mom made sure of that. And, Nita got her nose pierced! And Eileen won't stop referring to it as a nose job.
Our next stop was one that Lonely Planet did not even see fit to include in my guidebook: The Neander Valley. We went there entirely for the archaeology. How could we miss the location where they found the first Neandie??!! The museum there was quite good. They did however tell use that H. erectus met all the biological prerequisites for speech, and that Neanderthals with little doubt spoke the way we do. News to us. And to most anyone who studies language I think. Aside for the language inaccuracies though, lots of dioramas, recorded guides, a cave you could stick your head into (though it looked from inside as if you'd been decapitated) kept us quite entertained.
Our final stop in Deutschland was Cologne. Even if it was West Germany (egad!) and even if our hostel was a bit smelly, we all quite enjoyed ourselves in Cologne. We made the requisite trip to the Dom, ascended the tower were we were nearly deafened by the chiming of the hour, visited the chocolate museum, and had some very nice Ethiopian food for dinner. And most importantly, Justin got two new pairs of pumas. Ohhh, ahhh. It really does seem to me though, that all of Germany is perpetually under construction….
I hope all is well with you all!