Just another day in paradise

Today was my first day as an "official" Ph.D. candidate. It's also our last day with Brigitte here. She leaves tomorrow. Settina is very sad to see her go. I'm sad that Settina will have to be alone during the day when I can't be here. The good news it that I'll only be at school from 9-6 throughout the next two weeks. Hopefully she can find a job within that time so she won't be at home all day anymore.

As for school....it's quite exciting. There's a lot to do and a lot of things that I have to learn and get accustomed to within the next few weeks. Everyone I talk to says that the first semester is the worst so if I can get through this semester.....I should be home free!

Out of all of the graduate students that ASU took on this year (42 new ones if I recall correctly), only 14 of us are North American. I'm hoping to get a chance to learn some Indian and some Chinese during my time in graduate school. That definitely wouldn't hurt my portfolio at all.

We're still waiting to hear back about the condo that we put an offer in on. The agent that listed it is on vacation (I guess they don't have a way of filling in for eachother?) and so we should hear back tomorrow. All in all....life is good! I'm nervous and Settina is sad, but tomorrow's another day!

Here are some pictures of the apartment:







Here is our dining room table













This is Settina's least favorite spot....the rust stained gross bath tub.














This is pretty much the whole apartment....except for the small kitchen and bathroom.














That's the welcome mat. It adds variety and color to the room.