Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Cozy-the one word that describes Oxford the best. I almost have to remind myself that I'm leaving in just 4 weeks to not get too comfortable. Everything now seems to happen without a second thought-taking the bus, the walk from City Centre to the lab, eating lunch with the lab members, learning more about cultural differences, and going on a new adventure. 

I'll pick up where I left off from last week, which happens to be the most eventful day of last week. Wednesday started off with great excitement-French TV was coming in to the lab to film some experiments. Of course, we all got our chance at stardom, which included me being a fake participant and being filmed eating some food while listening to some sounds, a replay of one of the past crossmodal experiments. I'm sure it wasn't too aesthetically pleasing to film that, but still, I was excited to be part of something. I believe the whole clip will show sometime soon. If you see me on French TV Channel 5 within the next month, now you'll know why!

The eventful day wasn't done yet, though. After a week of preparing ourselves to say goodbye to our lab members, it was finally time for several lasts. Emanuela has been here for 6 months, and we were all sad to say bye. We celebrated her time here by going to The King's Arms for dinner and drinks. Another bittersweet goodbye...

By Thursday, I had acquired all the data about the post-participant questionnaire, a short survey that will help us see if there is a correlation between the results and preference to dogs. After a quick analysis, Carlos and I decided that we needed more participants to really be able to tell. Back to the drawing board, I guess...With all of the students out, I hope we can get all the participants we need. Between Thursday morning and Friday night, I made plans to travel for the rest of my time here. Things to look forward to: a day trip to Wiindsor Castle this weekend, a weekend in Denmark visiting one of my friends, Toby, and finally having some visitors of my own my final weekend here.

After several weekends of traveling, I thought it'd be nice to have a quiet weekend in town, really seeing all that Oxford has to offer. Saturday, I took the liberty of sleeping in and visited the Pitt Rivers Museum, a museum full of small artifacts and different collections. The museum displays anthropological and archaeological collections from all over the world. I spent a couple of hours there, perusing through all the artifacts until my stomach started churning around 1:30.

Pitt Rivers

inside Pitt Rivers

The "Soundweaves" exhibit was cool and definitely demonstrated great creativity. Basketweavers made little creations and explored the universal importance of sound and music. Another cool collection was of daily items made from recycled material. After taking Anthropology classes, I could appreciate the different aspects of culture such as perceptions of beauty, marriage, and rituals.

Shoes made from tires

Reshaping-the price of beauty can sometimes hurt

part of the "Soundweaves" exhibit

In my pursuit to spend the day as a true Oxfordian, I grabbed an apple and cinnamon crepe from a street stand and headed to Radcliffe Square. There, I ran into Emanuela, who was giving a few friends from Italy and London her own walking tour of Oxford. While I feel like I've been here forever, there are definitely roads that are less traveled on that I hadn't been on yet. We explored all corners of Oxford: from the Bodelian library to Christ Church College, where Harry Potter was filmed. After much walking around, we settled down for some ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful weather at the University Parks.

Christ Church college-the most famous college

the Harry Potter dining room-it looks much bigger in the movies

Earlier that week, I had bought tickets to "Bohemian Rhapsody," a tribute to the Queen. I left the group around 7 to head over for a quick dinner and then enjoy some great music at the New Theatre. I had been to a similar performance as a tribute to The Beatles and was excited to experience some of Oxford culture and nightlife. It was definitely a good performance (although The Beatles one was better) and a fun night.

Sunday was a lazy day, but I couldn't resist the beautiful weather. I packed a quick lunch and headed into City Centre to spend the afternoon sitting by the Thames at Christ Church Meadow and exploring art from the world at the Ashmolean. After running some errands, I headed home for dinner and to cook my lunch for the rest of the week. Since the IRES kids are on a budget, I find it much cheaper to cook in bulk and not have to worry about spending too much on food. That way, I have more to spend on travel!

Monday was quite the memorable day-I started working on my poster (working ahead because school tends to make life hectic). While I've been doing research for a while, it's always a challenge to put it all together. Nevertheless, I had something to look forward to as I attended another Cortex Club talk. This one was more technical and about interneurons, and much of it went over my head. All this academic talk about cutting-edge neuroscience research is surely making me prepared to take NBB 401. Afterwards, the club had a social in the University Parks with Pimms, a drink that you make with lemonade and fresh fruit-a nice refreshing summer drink for sure. There, I met some MSc (Master of Science) students and we talked about possibly going punting this weekend. Adventure and new experiences are surely out there! Afterwards, we all went to a restaurant in Jericho with the professor. It was a late night, but I had a lot of fun meeting some other people outside the lab. The next topic for the Cortex Club: the neocortex...oh, the possibilities.

Researching abroad is a wonderful experience, like a dream/fantasy that I never want to end, with each day a new day full of opportunities to soak in something new. Sadly, I must return to reality soon, but not yet--there's a lot to look forward to before I head back to Emory for my last ResLife training.