Ithaca... er, no, Crete, here I come!

Funny how fast time flies when you're having fun. The time in Iceland flew by and I'm back in Ithaca. Nevertheless, it feels like I've been gone forever. And, thereby, that I was almost for-ev-er in Iceland. Gee, I got there even before we became the biggestest country in the world and won that coveted Olympic silver. Yep, I saw history happen.

The conference went reasonably well (note to self: NEVER again go to a conference without your poster ready and printed!!!), considering I missed all the talks the first two days (see note to self) and in the morning of the third day (darn printshop!). The talks I DID see were awesome (some of them even cited my 2006 paper and while they were at it I felt all self-conscious and didn't know what to do with myself, until I decided it was pretty darn cool and became all pleased with myself :)). The poster session went about as well as was to be expected, given that my topic was somewhat marginal and the poster session itself located quite am Arsch der Welt in the conference frame of reference. The fourth and last day of the conference I can't say too much about either, since I spent it sick in bed, kept company by aching bones and a headful of snot. Charming.

I'm getting a second chance to be present at conferences though, since I finally* got an invitation to attend a workshop for (odd) people interested in soils, to be held in Crete (that's right, Crete) next weekend (that's right, next weekend!!). My credit card is too maxed out after the Iceland trip to accommodate the plane ticket to Crete (2100 dollars minimum with this short notice) so I'm hoping either my department or some benevolent millionaire will step in for me and lend me their credit. Any takers??

One thing I entirely forgot this time around in Iceland: Go to the swimming pools! Shame on me. I did not forget to go to the 'Mercan Embassy and had a surprisingly non-confrontational time there. Quite luvely, actually. Although I couldn't stop myself from audibly laughing when the guy ahead of me in the interview queue answered the first question, "Why do you want to go to the United States" with an eager-to-please "Because I love the US!".

* They somehow managed to lose my application. After suffering some email harassment from me, they extended the invite last Friday. That is, a week before the hulabbaloo begins. Nice!