Harvard... and Some Other Stuff

I'm busy, really. That's why I haven't been writing. And, to be honest, I'm only writing now because I should be writing a response paper and I've exhausted other methods of procrastination. (But don't think that I don't care about you... I do.)

So where to begin? October has come to an end, the leaves have fallen from the trees. It seems that Ol' Man Winter hasn't quite arrived yet--though it's currently about 35 degrees, we had a couple days this week near 60. For my part, I'm ignoring this whole change-in-seasons thing and continuing to bike around town.

While the semester is half over, I'm still working on feeling settled/at home. It's as though I'm waiting for something to happen, or for pieces to coalesce. Don't misunderstand me--I'm happy here, it's just that it doesn't seem totally real yet. Such is the nature of transition, I guess...

Classes, on the whole, are great. I switched my schedule around and ended up taking a course in the Anthro department on ethnography, which has been really good. This seems more and more like the approach I will want to take in my own studies.

Though most of my waking hours should be spent reading, I've managed to find time for a few other things. A brief recap:

• following the SF trip and Rosh Hashanah, I went hiking for a weekend in NH (Mt. Moosilauke, White Mountains);
• I had a great visit with Christian and got to meet his wife;
  
• my mom came over Columbus Day to provide some TLC;
• coincidentally, this coincided with my dad and Susan's trip up to Mass. to see Scott and Mary, so I was treated to a wonderful family dinner for my birthday;
• I went to Pittsburgh for Eric and Maggie's wedding (a joyous and absolutely amazing event, see pic below);
• Cat came up from New Haven to hang out, which was great because we hadn't seen each other since our respective Cairo/Papa New Guinea trips; and
  
• two, count 'em two, visits from Mimi (pic below).