From Philly to Holi

The workload is piling up and these blogs are getting further apart, but there's still plenty to talk about. For starters, the weather is still mad- since my last blog where I said winter was done and spring was here, we've had sunshine pushing the high teens, and snow storms lasting day and night cancelling classes. I know the weather is predictably unpredictable at home but North Virginia is all over the place too. I don't even know what season we're in anymore, even though Spring Break has come and gone and there's still snow forecast for next week!

I spent most of our Spring Break relaxing on campus, trying (and not doing very well) to get ahead on my studies. We did visit one of the places I'd been wanting to see for a long time though, which was a 2 day trip to Philadelphia. 3 1/2 hours away from D.C., Philly is the original capital of the nation before Washington was built and is home to a lot of American history. The central part of the city was very nice and everything was within walking distance, although to be fair there was a lot of walking- I pretty much slept the entire next day back on campus.

The main sights to see were those commemorating the history of the Revolution. I'm taking a class on the subject right now, so I have to say it was interesting to visit Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and to also see the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin's grave. From my time in Philadelphia combined with seeing the memorials in D.C., it feels like America makes more of a conscious effort to look back to their history and link back to it. We do it to an extent in Britain- our defining historical story today is probably looking back to the Blitz, the Battle of Britain and Churchill- but I think that doesn't match the legacy still being felt today of the Revolution and the Civil War in America. Then again, I might just be a history student who's over thinking it all!

The most iconic part of Philadelphia for me has to be the Rocky Steps, where all the tourists come to recreate that run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and then recreate that pose by the statue. I know I've been living here for quite a while now but I'm still allowed to be an embarrassing tourist every now and then! Still bitterly disappointed at losing the race up the steps to Yusuke though.

Since Philly we've all been trying to keep up with the work, with the odd snow day being very valuable. A little surprise Birthday party for GG was fun, especially as she was actually surprised (unlike Josh, who managed to see us all before we could surprise him... so weak!). I've seen a few more things in D.C- the Old Post Office Tower has a okay but not great view, and the Smithsonian Castle turned out to be a glorified information centre. The Air and Space museum was also a bit disappointing with not much to see and do. It still has some interesting stuff in there about Amelia Earhart and aerial warfare, and some artifacts like the Spirit of St Louis plane and a piece of moon rock you can touch. I finally got a much needed haircut 8 months after my last one and it was a bit weird. In the barbers I went to you sat in the chair looking against the wall with the mirror behind you, so you can't see what you look like until the end, which doesn't seem like the best way of doing things! Thankfully it turned out alright, although I'm feeling the cold a bit more now! We also went out for a night in D.C., which was fun until it hit 3am and we realized we'd missed the last metro back to Fairfax... its moments like this when I really miss Leicester!

Roommates for 6 months and still getting along!

Yesterday at Mason we celebrated Holi, a festival originating from India which marks Spring, although I don't know much else about it and would like to know more. It basically meant lots of people throwing colours at each other from little bags of powder until our white t-shirts weren't so white anymore, and everyone looked like a walking Jackson Pollock painting. At the start people were in their own groups, sprinkling a little on each other and not really sure what to do. A minute later you're running through the crowd in a haze of orange and pink, throwing colour at strangers and emerging like you've survived a great battle. A battle with great music and dancing though. In terms of Mason events this has been the best one with everyone getting involved and having fun.

Except for Mahmud, because is he going to ruin his t-shirt? Of course not, he's Mahmud!

A

The Last Days of Winter

Haven't blogged in a while, and this one won't be too long- its been a very busy few weeks as the work begins to pile up. Classes are again a mixed bag. I don't feel like the American way of lectures, where there's a huge amount of reading but little independent learning or discussion, is as effective as at home. That's why the U.S and World Power class I take is the best one. We analyze a few sources each class, having already read up on the background which would normally make up most of the class time, and get new opinions and interpretations on the texts. Even though American Foreign Policy is something I've touched on before, this is genuinely providing a new way of looking at things. This is why you should want to study in another country, to learn something new or gain a fresh perspective or what you already know.

One day we got out of campus was a day trip to Baltimore. After weeks of bitter cold, minus temperatures and snow the sun finally came out for us, and it was a perfect day to explore Baltimore's Inner Harbour. It was a really nice area including a World Trade building, where you could go to the top for $5 and get great views of the city, a few stadiums including a statue of the famous baseball icon Babe Ruth, some interesting art pieces and the National Aquarium. Its a bit over priced but it is the biggest in America, and the Dolphin show was pretty great. A nice change of pace overall, and any excuse to go to Five Guys for dinner is a good one!

The Steve Buscemi Shark

A few days after Baltimore the snowstorms returned, university shut down for a few days again, we were ordering Dominos to live off, and it felt like Winter would never end. We did find ways to occupy ourselves, including an interesting addition to the 4th floor mural. Our family tree has some odd match ups and family links- well done Sophia and Sahrish on some great likenesses! How I ended up as the father of two Japanese guys I don't know, but I'll take it!

Finally the sun has come out and the snow is starting to melt, and we can enjoy a bit of Spring weather. The runners have descended back into D.C- including a Christian Slater lookalike who turned a corner, almost knocked me, Joe and Emily over. And then looked terrified and annoyed like it was our fault! We still had a nice day in Georgetown, apart from Joe who was practicing his moody Bob Dylan look. We're into Spring Break now but we're not doing any major travelling, some of our plans didn't work out but that's ok. There are a few places close by to check out and I can get ahead on the studying, which I really need to do. We've got some good travel plans coming up, and I can't wait especially for Toronto in April. Last semester felt like a long time but this one has gone by so quickly, we just have to do our best to make the most of it.

A