Well here we go folks...

Short nights, defense-related dreams and minor freak outs started on Thursday, a bit earlier than I expected it, but not surprisingly altogether. Friends have been lovely, sending messages to check with me and inviting me over for lunch or dinner to help me relax.

I had a wonderful evening on Saturday, eating a North-African inspired dinner with my favorite woman in the whole of the United States and her boyfriend (who is defending his own dissertation on Thursday), and chatting about topics as diverse as wireless electricity, racism[1], religion, strong women, non-traditional relationships, and whether or not I would find myself suddenly falling for someone in the US during my last month here[2].

I have been sent good vibes from all over the Northern hemisphere; my labmates sent an invitation to a bowling and dinner party for tonight that contained the words "inevitably successful"; and even the committee member I am the most worried about (who is very kind but also very rigorous) emailed me to say he had read the draft, was impressed, found it full of interesting ideas and thorough work, and is sure I will do well. All this, of course, doesn't really prevent me from feeling quite stressed out at this very moment.

And in a minute I'll go, make some coffee, and start setting up the room.

Notes

[1] he is from India, where the outcast Romas originate from; she is from Romania, where many of them have become (second-class) citizens; and I am from the country who has decided that deporting them by the hundreds was mighty fine, thank you, why would the UN get their panties in a wad and what was that you said about the two hundred and twenty-first anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?

[2] The short answer is no, but we had a lot of fun imagining improbable stories.