Shakespeare and Tutorials

Sorry about not posting yesterday. I got home pretty late. Yesterday we had a day of Shakespeare. In the morning, we had two professors lecture us about Shakespeare and The Merchant of Venice. In between the end of our lectures and lunch, Ellen and I tried to go to the Bodleian to see the Duke Humphrey's room (it has a lot of old famous books in it), but the library was closed because of a graduation. We ended up just going to hang out at Blackwells for a while (famous bookstore in Oxford). After pizza for lunch, we took a minivan to Stratford (birthplace of Shakespeare). It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn't a lot to see. We didn't go into the house where Shakespeare was born because it cost twelve pounds (way too expensive in my opinion). We walked around a bit and then went to a pub called The Lamplighter where we watched Tsonga beat Federer in Wimbledon. Dr. Wood had made a dinner reservation at a restaurant called Bella Italia for dinner. We were a huge party - 9 students, Dr. P, and five Oxford professors. I had some delicious Marghatrita pizza. I even managed to finish the whole thing, which for those who know me is quite a feat. Then we went to see The Merchant of Venice performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Patrick Steward played Shylock, which was apparently a big deal even though I had never heard of him before last night. The play was set in Las Vegas... That was interesting. They even played a Glee song and the Barbera Streishand song (forget it's name, but it's kind of electric). The production was good, but I really just don't like the premise and the characters in the play so it was hard for me to really enjoy it. Plus it was over three hours long, so we did not get home until past midnight.

In front Shakespeare's home

Me, Rachel, Ellen (with Brian in the back being weird)

Today was the last day of our program. We had two lectures this morning - one on religion and peace making and the other on religion and human rights. The second discussion evolved into this intense, very philosophical discussion which I eventually stopped listening to because it was just too much to deal with. After lunch, I spent the afternoon relaxing and finishing up my paper. Ellen and I had to present our papers in a tutorial with Dr. Lynn Robson. I wrote my paper about what I am planning to do in my thesis and how I might tie religion into it. The tutorial was a good experience, but I have to say I am feeling quite defeated and insecure about my thesis now. Those who want to know more, ask me. After that, we all met for champagne to celebrate finishing the program before dinner. Then we had a very formal dinner at high table with four Oxford professors.