Hola amigos!

Alex and I are going to Spain in December!!! The tickets have been booked. Guess I better brush up on my Spanish... I'm excited!

My attempt at a Halloween-themed dinner looks terrifying, so I guess I did okay in that respect. It tasted better than it looks...

Chicken, polenta, and homemade tomato sauce mouth; mushroom, basil and tomato eyes; a beet nose; bell pepper hair

This one's Alex, because of the side bangs.

I've been working a lot lately, writing lots of papers. But I finished two! And I've been really enjoying my classes. In Global Englishes, we discussed the different varieties of English spoken in South Africa and how they're very distinctive due to apartheid. I definitely want to read more about that. In my Education class, we watched film clips on theories of play and how different aged children play differently; it made me miss working in a preschool. That's one of the worst parts of being here- I can't work with kids for the semester! In my Origins and Evolution of Language class, we're learning about how language developed rules out of necessity so that speakers would be able to pass it on from generation to generation; linguistic input is just too much to process without a system to do it with. And finally in my Scotland class, we're comparing portrayals of 20th century Scotland in an article and at the National Museum. Moral of the story- learning at a museum is a whole lot better than reading dry academic writing!

A friend posted this article and it reminded me of home: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/airport-249414-wayne-john.html

I officially voted in my first presidential election. It cost me 6 pounds to fax in my special Overseas ballot, but it had to be done. On Tuesday night, the university is holding an election-watching party and serving BarackO'burgers and Romneyburgers- I may have to get one!

The pictures from the east coast of Hurricane Sandy look terrifying... I got goosebumps seeing New York City underwater. I hope it doesn't turn into another New Orleans situation.

Happy Halloween everyone! May your jack-o-lanterns and spiderweb decorations prove scarier than your weather.