Exploring Port Meadow

Michaelmas Term at Oxford is finished! I have officially survived my first 8 weeks as a graduate student! It was definitely intense (when they only get you for 8 weeks at a time they make you work for it!)… But in the end I have to admit, I loved it. What has been the most interesting, has been rediscovering my thought process again… I knew my academic likes, dislikes, natural talents, and weaknesses in the sciences and engineering… But medical anthropology has been a whole different ball-game… I’ve been surprised to find that areas I thought I would be strong in, have actually been my weaknesses and vice-versa… For example, I loved the theory more than the epidemiology (go figure, right?!), and no matter what the topic I always seemed to gravitate towards a political-economic approach… As expected, I loved reading ethnographies… But it’s definitely a style I’m not very good at writing yet… All the tutorial topics I thought I’d be bad at, I ended up loving!… And the ones I naturally gravitated towards, I usually flopped on… Haha So it’s just been interesting relearning my way around my own mind… :)

But it’s finally over and I’m looking forward to 7 wonderful weeks of reading, traveling, holidays with family, and a much needed visit from my best friend, Jet! :) I don’t leave England for Stuttgart (home) until Decemb er 16th, so until then I’m staying around Oxford and catching up on reading, creating MD/PhD lists (yet again!), taking day trips, and visiting museums… (ie. relaxing and letting my blood pressure return to normal after the stress of the last 8 weeks! Haha)

So today I woke up to sunlight for the first time in what seemed like forever! (although I may have just missed the pretty days over the  past 2 weeks for being buried in the library) The snowfall from last  week had melted away, so I decided to finally bike out to the famous Port Meadow for an afternoon of fresh air… It was a little muddy, but nice to see lots of families (and their puppy dogs!) out enjoying the countryside… Port Meadow is an ancient “common” grounds that runs along the River Thames just West of Oxford… Everyone in Oxfordshire still maintains common grazing rights for their animals… It’s open for everyone, including the cows! (which would make my mother happy!) It has also been a rather   famous archaeological site that has remained incredibly well preserved because the grounds were never ploughed (see how much I learned from my trip to the History of Oxford Museum! Haha)…

Anyway, I ended my afternoon with a wonderful few hours reading in a little cafe in Jericho… I have to admit, I’m hating that it gets dark so early (the daylight is gone by 4:30pm) but on the flip side it makes me get out and about early in the day… It’s calling for rain yet again tomorrow, so I think I’m finally going to make a trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum (Anthropology and Archaeology) in town… I’m a very bad anthropology student for not having gone to see it sooner, but I keep telling myself that I’ve been saving the best for last!

With Love from Oxford… –Mary Elizabeth <3