I am no longer homeless!

We found a place to live for the year! And actually, it was the one in the right price range that we liked the most. I was worried about the location at first, but its only about a mile to the Uni, which is defintely doable. Plus, its right at the foot of Arthur's Seat, this small mountain right in the middle of the city and in Holyrood Park. So that's gonna be really nice. And it's quiet in the neighborhood, and there's a Chinese Take Away place a block away sooooo... that's always fun. And it's small, but workable, and has a small study space for Jonmikel to set up shop.
The problem with the flat is that when we signed up to look at it, it was supposed to empty already. But when we got there, the guy was still living there. The Real estate agent called his secretary, and she said oh, he won't be out until mid-October. Well, we need right now; we're homeless. Oh, well he'll be out at the end of September. So we go look at another place (that we didn't like), and the real esate agent talks to us again, and convinces the guy to move out in a week. So we move in next Thursday, but we had to find another place to live for the week. We were staying at a hostel in Old Town, but everything down there was booked full for the weekend. So we found an apartment in New Town, close to some local shops and pubs in a trendy area. So that's nice for now. But It'll be really nice to have a place where we can unpack. BUT we just saw a fox outside our window!! How cool is that? Wildlife in Europe!

Anyway, I've fully matriculated into the University. I met up with some of the other new students in my department, and I think It'll be good. The coolest one is this guy named Rob from Ireland, who is me. Seriously. He went to the equivalent of a crappy state school, got a degree in sociology because he didn't know what else to do, did some traveling and decided to do something with the Middle East. Knows a few words in Arabic, but nothing serious. Likes to drink and have a good time, is kinda lost in the whole school world, unfocused... you know, just like me. Then there's Mark from Brown (and no, I didn't punch him); Rick who is rather religious for my taste but his Ph.D. dissertation sounds cool (why many Muslims deny the crucifiction of Christ); Pascal, from Brooklyn, who was smart enough to go to a Canadian school; A girl from Egypt whose name I have trouble pronouncing; Sammy, from Egypt; Ben, who never really introduced himself; a Malaysian guy; and a British guy who is really Middle Eastern and just got his citizenship not that long ago... So a small group, but it might be interesting. A variety of backgrounds. The program seems like it won't be that hard, so I'm feeling very wary right now. But so far, it seems like a lot of the classes I did as an undergrad... lots of critical reading and the like. And a 15,000 word thesis? No problem... right? I'll get back to you.