paul and other friends

So all of you from ayers rock to Lisbon faithfully following the story of my flatmate will be interested by the latest development: today he was diagnosed with glandular fever….or mono as it is called by some. In other words, that disease most of us got as teenagers from kissing someone or swapping spoons too often (or with the wrong people!) at least, that is what the doctors think it is, to be sure the blood tests wont be ready until Tuesday! but Paul has already set about blaming the Polish girl he brought home last week. I find this a bit dodgy, as mono has a rather longer incubation period than one week, as far as I know…but that is his story at least.
In other, more exciting news, Alexei is visiting from Moscow and simultaneously spring has decided to arrive. So my friends and I have been trying to profit from the coincidence as much as possible. We spent the other night sitting out on a terrace near tottenham court toad drinking, eating, debating, and people observing. The gathering was livened considerably by the presence of a considerable number of greeks, who are a nation of born partiers. It was also good to catch up with Alexei after so long (we haven’t seen each other since the Budapest days). Razvan was there too, but he seemed on the verge of tearing his hear out. In my faculty we have to pass our first year exams at the end of the first year, which is conceived as a calendar year with 12 months, ending in mid september. However, in Razvan and Ana’s faculty (anthropology) the exam must be passed at the end of the year, imagined as an academic year ending at the end of June. So basically, they have 2.5 months less to prepare for their exams, and as a consequence, they are all massively stressed at the moment, whereas I am not in such a state, although I have the unattractive prospect of having to study non stop through the summer ahead of me. But I prefer having to spend my summer months working at a more relaxed pace than killing myself by trying to do it all now, especially as I am already up to my limit with my stuff at work.
But next week is my last week in my job…then I have a nice 2 week break before beginning my new/old job in Moscow. To be sure, business in 4 countries will keep me busy during that time…but a break it nonetheless constitutes.