Interrogation Room, A First

[Picture of the National Archives at Kew.]

Well, I get to add another item to a non-existent list of things I've done for the first time. Today, I sat in an interrogation room at a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station. Thankfully, I was in there by choice - not forced against my will. Just before leaving for the states, I witnessed a car accident where one taxi flew into a main thoroughfare and nailed a taxi full of baristers and solicitors (i.e. lawyers). It's was after midnight and I needed to get some friends back to Lakeside, so I left my info with the taxi drivers. Today was the follow-up from the police officer who reported to the scene after I left.

A little bit of an intimidating experience - even though I was there to help out. Really small, padded room. Two chairs and a table bolted to the floor that was in the back of the station through a really confusing series of doors, all behind a really high, cement wall with a cage over it that connected it to the building. A legacy of the troubles - yikes!

Other than that, I turned in the final two papers for this semester today. Woohoo - one semester down & 1/3rd of the year done. It has flown by!

I head out on Monday to Kew, just on the outside of London, for five days - one day of travel and four of research. I'm excited - although a little overwhelmed - a ton of material that I need to try to get a good feel for in a really short amount of time. Plus, it's going to be a really expensive week (£36 plain trip, £13 for bus, £15 for underground, £125 for housing plus food) - the hope is, if I get enough good information this time, I can apply for funding for the 2-3 other trips I'll probably need to do between now and September.

As for PhD programs, my application to Oxford's nearly done - just my research proposal and 2nd writing sample need to be finished up. My Warwick application's nearly done, as well. I'm setup to meet with Dr. Daniel Branch from Warwick next week on Friday for lunch at the National Archives. Dr. David Anderson, from Oxford, is in Addis Ababa this week and only has two days back next week before heading to Geneva, so hopefully he and I will connect later in the Spring on another trip.