Cambridge 2010: Three Months On The Trot

I woke up at 8:15am this morning and went to breakfast. I came back to the room and typed up my checkpoint report to send off to my supervisors. So far, I have almost 5 pages of work (more in written notes) with an interview and tons of material to go through. While working, one of the cleaning ladies came to do our sheets.

I left for the library but it was busy, so I went to St. Paul's. They were a few minutes away from serving lunch. I had forgotten about wanting to volunteer, but I was glad that I was able to walk in and still help out. It is not my week, but I enjoy talking to the people. I went around and talked to some of the people, then served them lunch. I went into the extra room and sat with a couple of the older ladies and the women who cooked. We had pork roast with applesauce, carrots, leeks with cheese and cream, and brown gravy. For dessert, I had a chocolate tart with VERY creamy vanilla ice cream. The conversation with Diana (I nicknamed her Princess Diana) and her friend, can not remember her name, was very nice and refreshing. They were lovely ladies. After lunch, everyone cleared out so our group could have class. We start class and have our usual discussion.

After class, I went outside to get on my bike and noticed that someone had chained themselves to me. I mean, I know I am irresistible, but I needed to get to an interview. Haha! John suggested I go upstairs to see if one of the dancers owned the bike. They were having class, but I walked in because I had an interview that was in 15 minutes and it took at 10 minutes to bike. The teacher stopped class and I started explaining that someone had chained their bike to mine, gave a short description of it, and said that I was going to be late for an interview. A girl pops out and says that she was the owner, so we go outside so she could get her bike free from mine.

I got to Homerton College on time to meet with Dr. Pam Burnard. I sat down and gave her a short introduction into why I had chosen the thesis I did and what I was wanting to get out of the interview. We started recording and sat there for almost 20 minutes discussing different things. This interview was more casual and laid back than my first one. Of course, I was a lot more relaxed and comfortable this time. She was very helpful and gave me TONS of information that was relevant to what I am doing.

I biked to the library and found myself an empty study carrel, which was near one of the entrances to the room. I could not really focus because I kept noticing people walk around from the entrance. I noticed that someone had left a group study room and flipped the lights off. I waited for a couple of minutes sure that someone would come in, but they did not. I grabbed my stuff and went into the room. I looked on the wall and noticed that it had information about scheduling the room, so I tried. I needed to login, but I had no credentials to do so. I noticed on the site that you could only book the rooms during staffed hours. Staffed hours end at 8:55pm on a weekday. It was 8pm when I came in and no one had bothered me. It is also a Friday night in Cambridge. Pretty sure all of these students are doing something super fun right now instead of homework. Oh well, nothing chocolate cannot fix.

I stayed at the library until closing time. I introduced myself to two security guards I had not seen before as I walked out. All of the security guards know me because I am constantly in the library studying. They talk to me when they do their patrols and I talk to them when I do my study break walkarounds. I biked back to the hotel and got myself in bed.