It's been all over the news today: the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland has erupted. It's pretty much cut entire Europe off from the the rest of the world by forcing closure of air-spaces all over the continent - Hungary has grounded all flights and is not allowing any planes in its airspace. While it sucks for people who are stuck at airports all over the world, I have to admit that I am inspired by this awesome show of force. We like to think that we are above all, that we are somehow superior to other creatures and forces of nature. And yet, there is this volcano on an island we barely ever think of and its spitting up some ash is now reaping havoc all over Europe because the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. It reminds us of the power of nature and the vulnerability of our carefully crafted control - or at least the illusion of control - over everything on this planet.
On a less philosophical note, today is 1 week to D-day (mcat). I have never looked forward to something being over this much before! Today, I took a practice test, then I had my well-deserved burrito and a nice long walk in the city before heading to the library for me studying. On my way back, I ran into a friend I haven't seen in months, probably since before the whole mcat crazy started. I gave him the abbreviated version of what's going on in my life and we decided to catch up once I will be done. It reminded me of all the things I am looking forward to once I am done with this test! Like the "mcat cake" my friend Janice is going to make me next Friday :)
Which reminds me, Janice defended her PhD earlier this week: she was flawless, confident, graceful, perfect! We had a big penguin-themed party afterwards, went out to a nice Spanish dinner with 20 of our floor-mates and had a blast! The 4th floor of the HSS research building has the absolute best people working on it! They all came together to celebrate Janice, got her a really nice gift - an almost $500 gift certificate to a local culinary school - to perfect her baking so she can become a famous wedding cake baker and we can all enjoy her fantastic creations! Here are some pictures from the evening:
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