Love's a Pound of Flesh

Hello loves,

Today was another "typical" day in Cambridge, if that even exists for me here, with the daily routine I've easily fallen in to. Breakfast in Hall at 8, walking the streets until 11 and then some good reading and studying before class (I am a student, after all). Firstly, as you can see from my greeting, I've decided the British way of referring to friends or even strangers as "love" is rather endearing and I plan to exercise it for the remainder of my time here. After being called such by the man who exchanged my money and the girl at breakfast who I passed the OJ to, I decided to follow suit.

Moving onward, I read The Merchant of Venice for the second time ever this week and enjoyed it as much as my first go. My main draw to the play is Portia, the main female character who is one of Shakespeare's strongest female roles. To those of you unfamiliar with the play, Portia uses wit and courage to save her husband Bassanio's friend Antonio (the merchant of Venice) from having to surrender a pound of his flesh for not repaying a loan he went into so Bassanio could properly court Portia. The first time I read it was through younger eyes, sophomore year of high school. It was enlightening to analyze it now and see the cruel humor between father and child, petty revenge of wives to their husbands and complex relationships among friends.My initial reaction of admiration for Portia as a women saving the male lead has now been tainted. Her reason for being so bold may not have been out of concern, but as a way not to lose her husband to Antonio, of whom her husband publicly declared he "loved more than his life, and the life of his wife." A friendship above all else. In summary, it was both refreshing and astounding, yet still Portia remains toward the top of my list of favorite literary characters.

I tried salmon in Hall tonight (Sorry Dad, still not a huge fan) and socialized in the Buttery for awhile then ended the evening with Caiti, walking around Cambridge on our first warm night here.