I'm going to Japan...wow.

I have JUST finalised my flight bookings for Japan. I'm actually going to go! I can't believe this...It's going to be so exciting! I feel like it's the start of an adventure. Ok, I wasn't able to have a gap year but this is so much better!
* * *
In the evening I took the train up to Finnsbury Park to meet Alice and later her friend Anvita as we were all going to go to Jess' NYE/ birthday party. I'd never really travelled to that part of London but was so surprised at how simialr it is to Ealing. Alice and I often joke that we lead parrallel lives and sepearate ends of the city...
Jess' house is lovely and was already filled with people when we arrived. They were all pretty friendly and I felt surprisingly confident considering I only knew three people there to start with. Within a couple of hours I had already made friends with some of the guys and German girls that knew Jess through an exchange trip. Dancing with everyone in the living room was also hilarious. By midnight we were all standing round the TV shouting down the last few minutes of the decade...

London Kiss - the lights at SNOG

Chesca woke me up early this morning to go to central London with mum (when I say early I mean before 9am as we haven't been able to get up earlier than that these holidays). Being in Oxford has made me appreciate London so much more to the extent that even the tube is interesting. We got off at Bond Street as mum wanted to go to French Sole - a dainty shoe store in one of the exclusive areas of the city. The store was tiny but quirky with shelves of cute pumps and heels. We then followed on to have lunch at a retro Lebanese restaurant near St. James' square behind Oxford Street. Here we shared a selection of pita, homous, falafel and salads all with hot peppermint tea. The food was made with generous servings of strong olive oil and bitter lemon juice so it really woke us up after the drizzly morning start. On leaving the restaurant it was still spitting and very cold but I was content wearing then panda hat Chesca gave me for Christmas - it's so cute! We went all the way to Carnaby Street and through the alleyways of Soho to find SNOG a colourful frozen yoghurt bar. The guy there was really sweet and spoke Spanish. I couldn't decide what to have but in the end opted for chocolate with cute white chocolate stars as a topping. He added brownies and a raspberry too :) The bar was all white with a single pink wall and glass counter for all the toppings. The ceiling was also white with dozens of light bulbs that changed colour from shades of pink to purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink again. It was truly a very vibrant shop. We did look a bit crazy eating frozen treats on a cold winter day but it was so good and totally worth it.
The last hours were spent wandering through to Covent Garden to have a look at the bead shops and STA where I needed some more info about travel insurance for Japan. By now it was not only cold and rainy but also dark plus we were very tired. Covent Garden station was packed with people but we managed to get seats on the tube back. I'm now sitting with Toffee curled up on my lap warm and snug at home. Today was a quick glimpse around some of my favourite parts of the city and showed how you can only find the best things by exploring new places.

Recuerdos

Although it's dark outside today's persistent rain seems to have stopped. I've spent all of my time inside with the family looking through old photographs that Abu brought for us from home. They're all in black and white and are of our great- grandparents and other relatives. I love seeing how people dressed, especially in the wedding photos, and comparing their features with that of our family. Chesca looks so much like mum when she was younger and Regina is a spitting image of Sandra at her age. By far my favourite photo was the only one taken of Abu on her wedding day. She's walking up the steps of the Church led by her father, Tata, and is wearing a stunning white wedding dress (I’m thinking I’d like to have something similar...). On showing us this photograph we all laughed at the random guy smiling in the background - Abu is determined to get a copy of the photo and erase his face as she claims that he ruins it (we, however, think this is hilarious and that he adds character to the shot!). Looking through all the old letters, painting and photos that Abu brought made me feel so much closer to the people I always hear about. Mum always tell us stories from when they were alive but being able to put a face to the anecdotes makes them seem so much more real. It made me think about how much I would like my children and grandchildren to be able to associate with me through this collection of photographs and writing.

Windsor

Went with Abu, dad and mum to Windsor today. It was really a shopping trip so, although I took my camera, I didn't get any pictures at all. I hate the fact that we only get a few hours of light before it goes dark again. Damn winter!
Ok, so slightly cheating, but I took this one yesterday...

Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park

Met up with Twyford people today at the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park. Chrissie and her boyfriend Chris were there as well as Ussif, Ryan, Dawud, James Speed, Simon (from Geography), Annurai and other people I'd known in 6th form. It was lovely to see them as it didn't feel that any time had passed since we'd last seen each other. However, it soon got very cold and everything was expensive so we began to walk towards Queensway where some of us wanted to go ice-skating. The walk was SO much longer and more tedious than we'd expected so they all went to Nandos but I decided to head back home. I was frozen and very tired.
I met Chesca at northfields as she'd just come back from shopping with Matilda at High Street Kensington. We took the E2 from there to Simona and Tamsin's house where mum, dad and abu were having tea. Chesca and I were so grateful to be somewhere warm with a hot mug of tea and a slice of Christmas cake - pure bliss! It was also nice to catch up with Tamsin, who has lots of plans to go travelling, and Simona who was telling us about this new diet she's been on. Morgan their cat was there too and spent most of the evening circlign our legs before falling asleep on Chesca's lap.

my shmoo

This morning, while normal sane people queued outside shops such as M&S ready for the Winter sales mum and I were sat in the PC world car park. We were waiting for them to open the store so we could find a netbook for my birthday present. A small crowd had already begun to form outside the doors and we found this hilarious. Quite a few were obviosu computer nerds and mum joked that they could even be hackers! In the end we spent 3 hours in the shop. 3 HOURS! Now who are the nerds....
I decided on a small dell inspiron netbook the exact same as my laptop but half the size. It is my shmoo.
Later, the schofields came for Boxing day lunch at ours. Marianne, Chesca, Steffi and I sat in the front room hearing all about Steffi's boyfriend who is so cute! He's the brother of Sam Hawkins who's in my year at Hertford and going out with Helena which is a strange coincidence (the fact that Steffi is dating his brother...not Helena dating him...).

Christmas!!

How can I write a post about Christmas? There is just so much to say because of everything I associate with it. Until the age of 14 I had always travelled with my family to Mexico where we spent Christmas at my grandparent's (of mum's side of the family) and New Years with our Great grandma (Nona), Negris, Alejandro, Puli, Sergio and other relatives. These were the best Christmases ever as the celebrations lasted from the day we arrived in Mexico City to our departure in early January after El Dia De Reyes (King's Day). Everything about Christmas in Mexico was magical. Chesca and I would count down the days until we were watching films on the plane wondering what our friends were doing in school at that exact moment. We loved eagerly searching for Abu and Duado among the sea of faces in the airport and arriving to the large green metal gates of San Jeronimo in the orange "combi". Abu or Pedro would always prepare us some tortillas with quezo de Oaxaca and chorizo. Sometimes, if we were lucky, Abu would have bought special blue maize tortillas from the market outside the Church. These were my favourites as well as the ones made of flour - I was known for eating them one after the other faster than they could be cooked!
Travelling always left us exhausted so it was always a great comfort to be able to sleep in the lovingly prepared beds to the familiar sounds of the Mexico City night. Our arrival was usually followed by that of the cousins and Monica so the house was quickly filled with excitement and noise (especially in the kitchen which was the centre of all the hubub). Occasionally we'd escape, just us four, for an extra mini holiday to Tulum for a week or so before the important Christmas festivities got underway.
Christmas day is fondly remembered by Chesca and me. During the years following Duado's death and the selling of the house at San Jeronimo we started to spend Christmas here. Oh, what a difference. I remember sitting on Chesca's bed on various occasions reminiscing about Mexico. Sometime mum and dad join us so we're all sighing and longing to return.
The day would start by Chesca and I waking up and then going to mum and dad's bed where we'd open the presents given to us from friends and family in England. While mum and dad got up we'd run to the other side of the house and wake up our cousins whose job it was to arouse Sandra and Mau. It was run like a military operation with us splitting into groups: one made sure the parents didn't fall back to sleep, another went to the other house to fetch Monica and we'd all co-ordinate waking up Abu and Duado. This would take over an hour as it can be very difficult getting seven tired adults into the same place at the same time (coffee usually did the trick). We would then sit, wait and usually sing outside the door to the living room where the Christmas tree was. This would take even longer as the adults would wander in and out of the room and, whenever we asked them if we were allowed inside, they'd almost always answer "no". So exasperating! However, the rush of joy once we were allowed inside was completely worth it. I remember slipping in my socks on the red terracotta tiles of the room as we races towards the Christmas tree surrounded with gifts wrapped in brightly coloured paper. There would be traditional English Christmas carols (probably sung by some choir or another in Oxford) playing in the background. Abu was assigned official present-distributer status and would call our names as she read them off the tags. Duado would all the while film with one of his new camcorders or cameras (mum says he was always into any type of new technology which is true as he often had the most up-to-date gizmos and gadgets still impressive by today's standards!). After all the commotion of unwrapping the presents, saying thank-yous and lots of kissing on the cheek all the cousins would rock a basket Abu held with a figure of baby Jesus inside. We would all sing a lullaby together and then separate with our gifts to get changed ready for Christmas lunch.
Dad and Mau were always in charge of peeling and cutting the sprouts and potatoes. They would sit outside in the sun together drinking beer while we took our toys to the garden to play. Sometime Duado would fry the potato skins and make crisps which we'd all eat together in the kitchen while Abu roasted the turkey. I don't like turkey too much as it always seems to be dry but it didn't matter. Cooking took up almost all of the day and we'd sit together in the dining room at the tables (on for the adults and one for the children) eating a huge traditional Christmas feast. This was followed by Christmas crackers made by mum and then Christmas pudding (of the Tesco variety to be exact) imported from England by us. We'd turn down the lights as mum came into the room with the blue flames licking and flickering round the pudding. She'd always wear some foam reindeer antlers and a flashing rudolph nose which made us laugh. Ok, so our Christmas was in fact quite British as mum and dad would even hide coins in the pudding (although they were usually Mexican, English or Canadian). We'd finish off the meal by eating some After Eight chocolate and watching a Christmas film (more recently these would be the newest instalment to Regina's Barbie DVD collection which I secretly enjoyed).

I wish more than ever to be able to go back to then. As much as I love Christmas in England it will never be as beautiful as the ones we used to have. The houses have been knocked down and the garden divided up to accommodate new flats. I try to record as much as I can remember about the house in San Jeronimo as possible as I am so scared of forgetting it.

Christmas, however, is not a time to be spent mourning what used to be. It is a time when you give thanks for what you have including all the precious memories lovingly stored away. This Christmas was calm and relaxed which I am very thankful for. We unwrapped gifts under the tree in our front room with mum, dad and Abu. There were the traditional Christmas carols playing in the background and exchange of thank yous and kisses on cheeks. We ate a delicious Christmas lunch (mum really made a fantastic effort this year) until we thought we'd explode and then watched Christmas TV together. There was no room for Christmas pudding and we forgot the crackers but we were all content and happy to be in each other's company. I would give anything to go back to Mexico but also love spending time with my family regardless of where in the world we may be.

Christmas Eve, Ealing

I haven’t been to Ealing for ages so went to get some errands done. My Nikon has been acting up recently and the auto setting doesn't work but I got talking to a really nice guy in Jessops who fixed it for me - yay! I was so delighted that I went to the central park of the shopping centre to get a shot of the Christmas tree there. They've been putting it up for years now and I was really trying to find something Christmassy for today's photo. I remember playing on the statue of the children with Chesca and my friends after school when we were kids and mum chatting with other parents on the benches. Ealing hasn't changed much in my opinion which is why I love returning to see the parts I miss when I'm away. Traditions such as the Christmas displays being put up in the Broadway make it feel as if I had never left at all...

Frosty December Morning

Woke up fairly early today to discover that everything was heavily frosted over. I eagerly went outside in my PJs with my camera (the neighbours already know our family is mad) and took pictures until my hands felt that they'd freeze. I love how frost delicately coats the edges of leaves like sugar grains and is especially striking on evergreen leaves. However, this was my favourite shot. Do you remember the picture I look back in summer of the jasmine? The flowers were still out but had thick crystals on their rims. They look so crisp and icy that I had to take another shot...

two days to go...

The day we decorated the tree

Had a Christmas lunch at a local Church and later went home to decorate the tree. As usual we've been running a little late with setting up our Christmas decorations. However, on returning home I had to delve deep into the bitter cold of our dark attic to fish out all the Christmas stuff. Our tree this year was pretty good although mum and dad had left it outside so it had a huge block of ice at the base which we had to smash off with a hammer. We proped it up in a bucket with rocks and began to add the fairy lights and various mix-match of baubles etc. Chesca and I are proud of our work of art but couldn't help but think that it looks a bit Ugly Betty-esque...

The day Abu arrived

We went to pick her up at the airport but I forgot the SD card for my camera - arg! So, I've used a photo which Chesca took in the Summer of 2008 when she came to stay with Andres and Ceci. This is my Abu; she is beautiful, funny, smart and wise. I love her so much and hope to be like her when I'm older.
She was sitting waiting for us at the terminal and it was so brilliant to see her. She looked smaller but not much different to how I remembered from last year. We went home and she took out all these gifts for us from Mexico. We're all so happy to have her here with us <3

Christmas shopping

Its 23:14 and this is the first time in about two weeks I have been able to sit down and blog. Ok, this was supposed to be a photo per day and I have been taking pictures but have had no time to put them up. This is pretty rubbish as it means that I'll have to remember the stories that accompany them...
I'm back home in Ealing and have been since Thursday. Today mum and I woke up really early and drove to Kingston for some Christmas shopping before it got too busy. We had coffee at the Starbuck's in Border's which is in its last days before closing. So many beautiful shops seem to be suffering from the recession that it's sad to see them go. What's worse is wondering what'll replace them - usually pound shops that don't even make it 'til summer. However, this last coffee in Border's was pretty good and kept us fuelled up for a very busy day. Best of all was seeing Amelia in H&M as this was totally unexpected but made me so happy! I think I've been having Oxford withdrawal symptoms and it was brilliant to see her and chat for a while in Pret. I also found this beautiful green skirt in my size which I've been after since summer. It was the last one in the shop. Double amazingness! Mum and I spent most of the day shopping and were pretty tired and hungry by the end. We finished off by having some soup and coffee in the John Lewis cafe.
Abu arrives tomorrow from Mexico and I am SO excited!
I promise to start uploading the past couple of week’s photographs but for now I'd like to catch up on some well-deserved sleep...

Chesca

Anna P's 20th

Woke up around 9 when my alarm went off but fell back asleep still sitting in my bed. It was about 10:30 when I stumbled out of my room to find Geoff (our scout) pottering about on the landing. He was not a happy bunny. Apparently he'd come in around 7am this morning to find people crashed on the sofa and floor as well as loads of rubbish everywhere. Uh-oh. I helped tidy up as Amelia had done most of it before setting off to College. Afterwards I got all my stuff together and left my room for the last time this year *sigh*. After saying goodbye to everyone in the old lodge I took a train to London and got home in time to have a shower, eat and get ready for Anna P's birthday. Chesca let me borrow her soft pink chiffon dress as the theme was 1920s (not only until later did Poweel notice the coincidence between the theme and her age..). It was a very relaxed party with some old friends (Sam Gregg, Lee..) and newer ones (Polly and Katie from RHUL). Just before midnight, and during Anna's last minutes being a teenager, it started to snow really heavily. Some of us went out to the garden and ran around in the snow which was quickly covering the grass in a thick layer. I love how we both got snow on our birthdays... I hope it stays until Christmas.

Bubble

There are hardly any interview candidates left so we've all been pretty relaxed. Someone brought some bubbles in today so I took pics of Alice and Amelia blowing bubbles. I'm really proud of the shots I took of each so it was specifically hard to pick which one I'd use today. I think I may end up tossing a coin...

The tower of power...

Made with spaghetti and wine gums by the engineers with the interviewees. Pretty impressive - I wish Biology was that inspiring!
I woke up in a sleeping bag in ALice's room. Marja was still asleep so I got borrowed one of Alice's summer dresses and went to start my shift. It was not surprising to find about three people at the Old Lodge as it had been a pretty rough night. However, in no time we had a large queue of interviewees needing to be taken to other Colleges. As I had a bike I made three trips to St. Cat's (a very modern and impersonal College - the complete opposite of Hertford!), one to St. Hugh's, Wadham. Queen's and anything far away from Hertford! It was a pretty cold day and I was only wearing tights, a dress and the interview week jumper. It was quite busy today but I still really enjoyed chatting with the interviewees who are all quite friendly (alb eight a bit nervous). I couldn't help but notice the difference between now and last week when we had the arts students. The science students seem to be far more reserved and, well, eccentric? I preferred the arts students as they were livelier, down to earth and you could have a proper conversation with them.

Manasi's birthday

Alex came to visit today. He was in London for the weekend and managed to get a free ticket to Oxford so decided to come and see me. I told him that I didn't have much time free as we've been very busy and also needed to sort out Manasi's birthday stuff. However, we managed to find a snug corner table at Costa where we were able to sit, drink coffee and chat. It was lovely to see him and sad to say goodbye.
Once back at Hertford we all hid in the basement of the Swift room around lunchtime for Manasi's surprise birthday party. Marja bought loads of food and a Topshop voucher with the money we'd all donated towards the gift so it was very tempting to not eat it all as we waited in the dark! Amelia had planned to ask Manasi to take some boxes downstairs before setting off to pizza Express where we'd told her we were going to have lunch. However, as she came through the door we all surprised her (she didn't scream as much as we'd hoped) and sang "Happy Birthday".
Went out with all the interview helpers to Keble's bar for an interview week crew date. It was pretty dry as the only other interview week helpers there were from Balliol and Keble. They were very civilised and boring. However, the traditional Hertford spirit kept us up and we were all sconsing and singing in no time!

star

Gabriel bought us all a huge box of chocolate as congratulations for doing so well with the arts students. They've almost all gone home now so it's pretty quiet. Alice and Amelia have been very busy organising everything and have had hardly any time to think! I took this shot of the cutest chocolate in the box and only later found out that both Amelia and Alice had independently blogged about stars today too...

I returned to Summertown where Manasi and I had the sudden urge to bake cupcakes. We sprinted to Tesco's (and managed to slip in before they shut the shop) to buy icing. We followed the exact same recipe as the one used to make the Hummingbird bakery cupcakes which is always very successful. As soon as it reached 12am we burst into "Happy Birthday" for Manasi as she is now 19! This was then followed by gorging on cupcakes and watching TV on her laptop.

Pink skies over Oxford

Caught this just as I was heading off to the library to do some earl vacation work...

Om nom nom

Nabs and I eat the huge pile of biscuits and cake Johnny bought for the interview helpers. Later we all went to the JCR to play cards and watch The Butterfly Effect until the early hours of the morning. I lent Fi my camera and have spent ages going through the pictures she took. I should have never shown her the continuous frame button...

Early morning...

Caught this as I cycled into Hertford this morning. It was so cold I thought my fingers would freeze off! However, the sunshine was beautiful and I had to stop and take this photo. This did however almost make me late and I peddled furiosuly down the road just as the bells tolled 8 o'clock...

Shmoo shmoo shmoo

The eternal joke of interview week...
We have to escort the interviewees to other Colleges but have managed to make this more exciting by also wearing a pink visor. Any College which has been "visored" gets circled in pink on our map of Oxford with the initials of the person next to it. Amelia has even started a star chart for good deeds. Taking the visor counts for four stars. We've also been taking round tiny colourful tinsel Christmas trees as the visor is looking a bit worn out. People are getting pretty competitive over those stars as there’s a prize at the end!

The Ashmolean Museum

Before starting my shift at 4pm I decided to have a look around the newly restored Ashmolean Museum. I was expecting it to be small and dark like the Pitt Rivers with dimly lit rooms resembling an extensive rabbit burrow. However, I walked into something completely different almost like the British Museum in London. It is truly a lovely light building with over three floors and fifty different rooms filled with art and artefacts from different areas around the world and various time periods. I went straight to the second floor which had all the oriental pieces including tiny tea sets and miniature animals. Another room had a collection of European rings and watches similar to those from Alice in Wonderland. The display cabinets by the staircase held various European portrayals of foreigners as well as oriental pictures of Westerners. This was incredibly interesting to see what each culture first thought of the other. Other rooms held intricately carved boxes made from white ivory depicting hunting scenes, robes made for the Chinese Emperor's children, Grecian vases, rows and rows of coins, portraits and various paintings. I could spend forever in this treasure trove of history and culture! All the while I took pictures of my favourite pieces and found this tiny golden statue in the India and Asian section. I love how it stood out from the rest of the artefacts regardless of its small size.

Two cities. One day.

Returned to Oxford today on the coach. It went through London and I had a brief longing to visit Portobello road, Brick Lane, Carnaby street....As soon as I arrived at Hertford I got lunch and started my shift ferrying Geography interviewees to their interviews. Most seemed fairly relaxed and I tried to keep their minds of the interview by chatting about random rubbish. I can't believe that they'll all be first years when I'm in my last year of my degree. arg.

The day I relaxed at home

I was finally able to sleep in my bed last night - such a well needed rest after a long day! I watched TV and pottered around the house before having a walk around Llamas and Walpole park with dad in the evening light. It was cold and rainy but I am so delighted to be home - even ambling down the avenue of trees in Llamas felt inspiring as the wind whipped through their bare branches. The more I am away from home the more I appreciate it when I return. Even simple things like walking down my street or seeing a 207 bus. I took this picture of Toffee as he was falling asleep on a chair in the back room. He always seems to have this cute blissful expression on his face.

Mi mami; there are not enough words (or photos) to describe her

The time I woke up to catch a 6:30am train home to London. I cycled in the early morning down an empty Banbury road where the only sign of life were the birds singing the dawn chorus and the milk, baker and fish monger's vans delivering goods. I got home around 8:30 when everyone was still asleep. Dad came down the stairs to make sure I'd been able to open the door as he'd locked it last night. I then crept up to Chesca's room and tapped lightly. She was delighted to see me and we went quietly downstairs and waited for mum to wake up. It turned out that she had slept really badly so didn't wake up until 10:30! I hid behind the clothes horse as she came downstairs and jumped out to surprise her. She screamed so load three times - it was hilarious! In the evening we all went out to eat at Okawari as a family. It feels as if I had never left. I'm so happy she liked her present (including the earrings I'd bought the other day).

Oxmas Party

Today was the last ever four lecture Friday of the term. After four consecutive hours of lectures all the Hertford Biologists met up at the KA with our tutors, Martin and Clive, for a Christmas lunch. Kirsty (my college mum) had organised it and even brought Christmas crackers. At the end of the meal Martin gave each of us a cute chocolate from Thorton's in the shape of a Christmas Yule log or pudding. I then went to the Old Lodge to give Alice and Amelia a hand with setting up stuff for interviews. In the late afternoon I cycled to Ab where Marja and Felicity were busy making Dutch pancakes for the Christmas party. Sarah went out to dinner at the MCR and people began to arrive a little later. By then the three of us had eaten so many pancakes that we were feeling slightly sick. The rest of the evening was spent in Felicity's room where loads of people eventually gathered to drink mulled wine and eat pancakes, Christmas cake and pudding.

Simpkin, the College cat

Christmas Carols at the Sheldonian and Hertford....and the Sheldonian again

Ok, so today I was able to tick off two things from my list of things to do before I leave Oxford. Last year I was ill and missed out on both the Hertford and Sheldonian Christmas Carols. However, this year I was determined to go. They were both today so I decided to go to the Hertford ones first. However, I was really early so popped into the early carols at the Sheldonian for about 10mins before heading back to the chapel. The atmosphere at Hertford was lovely and really put me into the Christmas mood. I was surprised to see Martin and Alison there as well as some of the other tutors (I thought Biologists didn't believe in God - maybe they went for the traditional aspect...). Tom Davies, Emily, Charlotte, Clare and Matt were all there too which was good. The chapel looked so beautiful with the decorations especially as the lights were all turned down and the only light came from our candles. Afterwards I went with them all and some of the choir to the Nosebag for dinner. It was delicious and we all had major food babies. We then headed off to the later carol service at the Sheldonian. This time I stayed for the whole thing. This photo was taken in the covered market as I think it has the best Oxmas atmosphere - I love Oxmas!

this place is my inspiration

Had an incredible tute today about creating C4 rice to help solve problems of food shortage. While picking up my bike from Hertford I noticed the Cupola at the top of the Sheldonian which I'd visited with the KG students. I decided to climb it and get some pictures of Oxford on this frosty first day of December.I love how the two plane paths cross in the sky so the blue almost looks like a ceiling and the reflections from the glass as the windows.
Today is mum's birthday so I rang home - I've planned a surprise visit this week as part of my present. As I was cycling along Broad street I also so Anusha who used to go to Twyford. It was so strange that I did a double take and stopped a few feet further down the road. It was great to see her and know that there is someone else from Twyford here!