Done With 1st Week of Classes!

1 week of classes down! The academics are very different from any experience I’ve had before.  My schedule right now has three modules:  Learning Methodologies, Health Systems, and Global Health and Social Policy.  Each module will last 4-6 weeks, at which point I will write one paper that integrates and applies what was learned throughout the course.  My grade for each class comes solely from this assessment!  The classes are reading intensive, which has been a bit overwhelming this first week. Classes are 3 hours long, although lectures are broken up by group discussions and activities.  Another change:  EVERYTHING is digital and computer based, and although I am by no means foreign to using technology, it has been a big adjustment for me..especially reading everything online!  These things aside, my professors are amazing, knowledgeable, and engaged in their teaching.  I’m enjoying the benefits of an intimate academic community, such as a lovely dinner hosted by the Head of Department for all the new and returning IIHD students on Monday night.  As students, we are quickly becoming a close group.  I make a point to sit next to a new student every day, and I enjoy 1-on-1 conversations immensely- hearing about different cultures and countries.  About 6 of us commute on the 30 to QMU, so bus rides are even more bearable!

Highlights of the week..I spoke with my thesis advisor about the possibility of concentrating my dissertation toward the global family planning initiatives of Rotary International, as discussed with Dr. Zinser last week.  Although she cautioned that I not dive headfirst into planning my dissertation, she thinks the topic fits well within IIHD’s focuses.  For now, I have filed the idea and turned my focus to my coursework, and building up a foundational knowledge in global health.

Italian Cooking in Action!

Tiramisu..mmm...

 Wednesday night, Caitlin, Nick, and Sammie joined my roommates and I for dinner in our wee kitchen.  Giulia and her friend Gianmarco (also Italian, visiting from Wales) cooked us an Italian feast:  fried bread with sautéed mushrooms, penne with meat sauce and a ‘beschimella’ sauce, delicious eggplant lasagna with fresh mozzarella, and THE BEST tiramisu I’ve ever had for dessert!  We ate for almost 3 hours, had lots of laughs, and decided that I have won the roommate lottery J

Me and Gordon Hislop at Centenery Dinner

Last night (Friday) was the Rotary Club of Edinburgh Centenary dinner, held at the Balmoral Hotel at the West End of Edinburgh.  I received a call from President Bob Hislop earlier this week, saying that at the last minute his son’s lady friend would be unable to make the event and asking if I would want to take her spot at his table! OF COURSE I did, and after scrambling to find a gown on Thursday, I was treated to a magical evening last night.  Gordon, Bob’s son, was the piper who ushered in the high table of distinguished guests.  We had a phenomenal meal, followed by 5 speakers (who kept us all laughing), and some traditional Scottish music, concluding by crossing hands and singing Burn’s famous Auld Lang Sang.  It was an evening full of great conversation, making new acquaintances, and a celebration of one of the oldest Rotary Club’s in Europe (and all the great work that they have done)!

Tonight, I am going to a monologue called “Gadda Goes to War” put on by the Italian department of the University of Edinburgh.  Both my roommates, Susanna and Giulia, have been very involved in coordinating and organizing the event, and they hooked me and a group of Rotary scholars up with comp tickets for the show! I’m really looking forward to it, and to buying Susi and Giulia a much deserved pint for all their hard work to pull off such a successful event (they have been working so hard all month and almost nonstop for the past week!).  I’m so proud of them!

Who gets this view while they run?? Just one of the many
beautiful views of Edinburgh while running in Holyrood.

Whenever the sun comes out, I’ve been training for the ‘Edinburgh Kilomathon’ next weekend (Sunday, Sept 28).  It’s a 13.1km race through parts of Edinburgh I’m less familiar with, ending at Murrayfield rugby stadium.  I’m so spoiled on my daily runs-  I live just minutes from Holyrood Park and the Meadows  both ideal, beautiful places to run.

Scottish Vocab:  In one session of Learning Methodologies, we were review appropriate punctuation when citing literature sources.  A period is called a ‘full stop’ which for some reason makes me giggle.   A semi-colon is a ‘partial stop’.  Last night at Centenary, after finishing dinner we took a ‘comfort break’ which was an opportunity to take a ‘pee hen’.  Members of my table thought that the term ‘comfort break’ was American- but I’ve certainly never heard it!