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Pancake day was loads of fun. Through a collaborative effort, we made pancakes! I tried making my own batter, but we just ended using Rachel's (one of my flatmates). British pancakes are usually eaten with sugar and lemon juice. I tried this and liked it, but I still prefer maple syrup or nutella on my pancakes. I told my flatmates that I'd surprise them with American-style pancakes some time soon.

I got some steak on sale at Tescos (Quality Welsh steak too. Quite the coup.), so I decided to make some steak fajitas!

Practical Chemistry: Getting a Maillard Reaction going. Professor Lubkowitz would be so proud

Steak, onions, red peppers, rice and cheese. Yum!

I'm a little less grossed out by handling raw meat now. The texture is still something to get used to though. I had to eat this quickly, because Ash Wednesday was fast-approaching (fast, get it? Haha). I have turned the bottom section of my kitchen cabinet into a spice-rack. I am enjoying being able to play around with different tastes and see what results.

Ash Wednesday!

I found a Catholic Church within walking distance of my flat. They also were holding an evening mass, so that fit around my schedule perfectly. I sat in the back during the service, behind a trio of old Welsh ladies. I felt... comforted by the familiarity of mass. After we sang the recessional, one of the ladies turned around and said that I had a lovely voice. She recommended that I join the choir. So, I went upstairs and paid them a visit. They all seemed like such nice people. They needed another soprano and I fit the bill!

Adventures downtown! 

Millennium Stadium. Someday I'd love to see a rugby match there, maybe once I understand the game.

I went into town with Kirsten and Laura (both in my Medical Microbiology). We got our railcards (Highly recommended for anyone thinking about doing any traveling around the UK). My railcard photo looks like I'm only a half-shade less white than the sterile-looking white background. Must be my glow-in-the-dark Irish complexion. Sometimes I'm amazed that I even show up on film nowadays.

I had my first lab class this week too! It was for Medical Microbiology. Because nothing says Valentine's Day like blood agar and aseptic technique. I'm sure there's some entendres to be had there, I just can't be bothered to coax them out. I was paired up with a girl named Ellie or Emmy or something (her accent was kinda strong). We were plating bacterial cultures. We worked with E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in different scenarios. The most intensive one was monitoring gentamicin concentrations in the serum of two patients (Blodwen and Ianto, how very Welsh). We will be checking our results next week!

On Saturday, my study abroad group from IFSA (Sherron, Laura, Kirsten, Jen and Olivia) as well as our Australian friend Lucy and a fellow American named Meredith went ice-skating. Kirsten took the bus down there, which later proved to be a smart choice. The rest of us decided to walk there. We spent two hours on foot to go to this place!

Fun Fact #13: Poor Kirsten ended up waiting about an hour or so for us!

We walked through some of the rougher parts of Cardiff, along what looked like Cardiff's equivalent of the highway and into Glamorgan. We crossed a bridge with a virtually nonexistent sidewalk. At the end, we saw the back of a sign which read on the front "no pedestrians". OOPS. In our defense though, if you don't want pedestrians, you need to label both sides of the bridge/path/whathaveyou. 

View of the Millennium Stadium from a bridge

A Fiat Panda! Found along this stretch of car dealerships during our ramble

Ice skating was lots of fun. There were lots of kids there (weekend program?) so the line for rentals was a nightmare. Good thing the British love an orderly queue. On the ice, I felt like I was back in my element. I can't do all sorts of fancy skate tricks, but I can dodge speeding kids half my height. And isn't that what's important? We finished up the day at Gourmet Burger Kitchen. I highly, highly recommend this place. The chips alone are worth the trip. The milkshakes are also delicious. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted after this, so we headed home and called it a night.

The morning after, I woke up feeling terrible. No, it wasn't a result of my "taking liberties" when handling the E. coli, I had finally caught the cold sweeping through the international students. I still managed to drag myself to mass and sing, but spent the rest of the day doing little other than drinking glass after glass of water. What a miserable day. I did order take-out soup though. That was very nice.

On Monday, I tried to visit Cardiff University's Common Cold Research Centre, thinking I'd make a good test subject. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the door, they weren't taking any more volunteers that day. I just wanted to further the progress of science, CCRC! Is that too much to ask for?

Today, I am feeling much better. Maybe well enough to cook again.

I will be heading to Stonehenge and Salisbury this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for pictures!

On the Homefront: I entered the Global Eyes study abroad photo contest. Since I was on the SMC Burgundy trip, I am eligible to do so (I don't feel like I've gotten a photo from Wales yet that is worthy of such a treatment). Here is the photo:

"Illumination" for the Creative/Artistic category

While waiting for our flight out of Paris, my group of friends and I chose to visit Notre Dame. We had been learning about Gothic architecture and wanted to put our knowledge to the test. What I like about the Gothic style is the interplay of light and shadow, especially with stained glass. This is my attempt to capture the mixture of light and the soaring stonework that makes Notre Dame such a stunning example of Gothic architecture.

And as a post-script: British "spending a night on the town" outfits are different than Saint Mike's "Let's all go to the Threes!" outfits. Quick and dirty generalisation here: British outfits highlight the legs. This even applies to schoolday clothes here (but normally with a greater degree of modesty). I wore a cowl-neck shirt yesterday and I got the impression that I stuck out like a sore thumb. The shirt, which is incredibly modest, still made me feel like I was underdressed. It probably didn't help that the shirt was black and I had reverted to my winter pallor.

Also, British clothing and shoe sizes are tricky to figure out.

Well, that's about it. Wish me luck and a speedy recovery.

Cheers!