The inside cover of my guide book seemed to have a tough time finding a pleasant way to sell São Paulo to the common tourist. The opening paragraph was full of words like “polluted” and “ungainly”, “concrete” and “sprawling”. If I hadn’t booked the flights before doing the reading, I might have had second thoughts about spending the second part of my Brazilian trip here. … Continue reading São Paulo is a City
I’m in South Carolina, the sun is shining, and I have absolutely no commitments or plans of any kind. After a spot of musing over a nice hotel breakfast, I have come to the conclusion that today I quite fancy going to the beach. The interwebs tell me that there is a very pleasant beach at Sullivan’s Island not too far from my hotel, and this sounds to … Continue reading Road to Sullivan’s Island
Our handy map has told us that not far from Vienna lies another European capital city just waiting to be explored. Bratislava, Slovakia lies just 50 miles east of here, which sounds to me like perfect day-trip material. Plus we get to go on an Austrian train, which I hear are quite efficient. Yaay! Disembarking at Bratislava Hlavná Stanica, the main train station, it was a short and scenic … Continue reading Let’s Go To Bratislava
First set of MSc exams FINISHED! I won’t say they were easy, but I’m pretty confident I didn’t do too dreadfully. Naturally, the whole MPP cohort celebrated with a massive piss-up at the Highlander bar where we drank them out of both gin and tequila. It’s a lovely, crisp, sunny October day, and I’m feeling surprisingly non-hungover considering last night’s antics. Just as well, really, … Continue reading Parental Visitation
So our program, and we shall be known from this post onwards as MPP (Master of Public Policy), is very nationally diverse. From about 100 students in total, there are about 45 different nationalities represented. To celebrate this diversity, and so that we can all get to know a bit about each others’ cultures, there will be “international dinners” held sporadically throughout the year, where we … Continue reading First International Dinner
the lost scot 