A second beginning. Sort of.

Or at least a continuation.

Hello there, pals!
It's the 10th of January. I am in my teeny little Triolo bedroom. And in fact, I'm in a near panic attack. A few minutes ago, I received an email saying that CLS program had made first round cuts for their programs this summer. Tajikistan to study Persian and Tajik this summer. I can't bear to look. I really just can't. My stomach has dropped, I feel nauseous. I have the website opened, the link for "Decision status: Your application status as of 1/10/2011" is right there. I mean, I felt I had basically very little chances of being accepted to the program, given having started Persian while in France and the French system which differs so greatly from the US one, having sent a bizarre application because of it, including two very well written and wonderful (I'm sure) letters of recommendation from my professors at UIowa, neither of whom quiiiiite met the requirement of being my Persian professor or someone who could substitute in. I had just gotten so hopeful since November 15th when I filed the application. And worse, I had had myself convinced that I would hear nothing until mid March. I even checked the website a few days ago, just to make sure, and then, "Oh, yes, yes! This says decisions in March! Everyone will hear of their decisions in mid-March."
Liars.
I just got an email WITH MY FUTURE IN ITS HANDS. In its body. Haha. Get it? Body. Body of an email...


Right so. Enough of that. We'll see how long I can feel this anxious before I check and then (I assume) feel disappointed.


Anyway..

My courses for second semester officially started today. To be honest, I don't know if Persian met today because the sheet listing times hadn't been updated, so.. Right!
I'll be taking:
Persian
Language and Space (which is a Masters course in linguistics and I am super, super excited)
Greek Cities during the Hellenistic Age
Linguistic Theory II
Introduction to Linguistic Argumentation(?!?)
Histoire de la Langue II

I've decided to axe Arabic class, simply because I felt it served me no real purpose last semester. Instead, I'll be trying to continue through my coursebook on my own.


And, all this comes in the midst of my panicked scholarship application writings for Iowa. Stressful. Too stressful. I just want to sleep.

Rosalind left today. It was sad. We've spent so much time together this past week or so... I helped take her bags to the train station, we hugged goodbye, and hopefully we'll be in touch as much as we can while she's in Caen (still in the northern part of France, but much more westerly and in/near Normandy). Maybe get together again, too!


On the bright side, a package from my parents arrived today with lots of little happy things, including cookies and other treats, some oral hygiene stuff (toothpaste, toothbrush, flossy things - I mean, really? Are you trying to tell me something?!), gloves, hand cream, a harry potter calendar, and potentially my favorites: hippo items.


So, to end on a good note and keep my panic at bay:


Hippopillow.
Some strange, bristley hippo who shall remain on my desk to induce smiles. Smiles like this: :D


P.S. I'll totally get photos of Calais, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki up here sometime this week, it's just that the photo files are big and take forevvvvver to load 5 at a time on this blogspot website.. full photos can be found at my facebook in the meantime!