The deed is done.

I made it through. The exam was easier than I expected, though not easy, and I have a feeling I did as well as I needed to do. At a price, though. I have no brain left. I actually just heard the sound of a mosquito buzzing and saw a flicker of movement near my eye and, without thinking-- slapped myself in the face. I wish I were kidding. The worst part is that I don't even know if I caught the damn bug, since I can't see my own face...

And after the exam, I came home, and sort of stared at the walls for a while. I had some food (breakfast at around 6:30, being in the exam building starting at 8, only leaving at 12, I was hungry!) and zoned out for a while, and then I went over to Miklos' house!

That's right. He hosted a dinner for the Spectral Theory class today, because he wanted to get to know us better. It was a perfect event for a post GRE afternoon. No one else in the class took the exam (though several other students at this program did), so no one there wanted to talk about the test (amen), and it was the weekend, so we were relaxed enough not to talk about math all the time - but also dorky enough to make lots of jokes about it. Miklos made us "liba maj" (fois gras) in the traditional Hungarian way - gently cooked and served thinly-sliced on bread with raw onions, or various pickled vegetables -or even with his wife's homemade raspberry jam (sounds weird, but it was delicious). Then, there was some wine, some math jokes, some talking, some storytelling - eventually gnocci and then dessert got added to the mix, and all in all a lovely evening.

And now, I'm going to sleep. I still have quite a bit of work to do - after all, my classes didn't stop while the GRE happened. But my head is so much clearer. The underlying anxiousness is slowly abating as I realize the test is over.

I'm now writing this while lying on the couch, and my head is actually on my arm, not even propped up anymore. Now one eye is closing. I do believe it's time for bed.