Edited to add: I am going to try and keep this post updated with all the people we interact with regularly. If they give consent, their names will be used. If not, they won't.
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Alright, since Matt has so reasonably and intelligently asserted that I need to properly introduce the pseudonymous people to whom I will refer on this blog, and I cannot do so in a clever "mid-sentence" thought, here are a list of characters you may hear talk of in our posts.

First are some friends I've made in class. "Merv the Lab-Lovin' Texan" is so named because she claims this is her preferred nickname. She has two wonderful labs, Jake and Duke. I miss having dogs. Hopefully hers will be adequate surrogates. She is also a cool person who I am excited to get to know better. She also makes really delicious southern food, as she proved night before last by making me chicken and dumplings!

Another class friend is "Nell", whose name comes from, well, an anagram of sorts. She’s from Alabama and has done some cool research with snakes. Nell lives in a flat oh-so-far away from us with two other awesome girls, Curly Girl and Chocolate Lover. Collectively, they call themselves the Blue Door Girls.

On my doggie-dissection team is also "Chillinsworth", a New Jersey girl that sounds like a New Mexican. She claims that all people from Southern Jersey speak like her. Also, she is one of the least easily disgusted people I've met. On this blog, I'll usually refer to her as "Chill".

The first couple we met upon our arrival was another 1/2-vet couple, Goth Boy and Girl. They are, actually, self-proclaimed "neo-goth", but I don't see where the neo fits in, so that's that.


Now, let's move on to the neighbours. Mr. and Mrs. "Strangely Coincident" have a weird amount of things in common with us, not the least of which is that Mrs. SC grew up in the Valley and Mr. SC has Spokane connections. They have a cute little boy, Baby SC, who is fair and shy and very sweet. They've had us over for dinner and many conversations.

Above them used to live Mr. and Mrs. "Science Again", since they are both scientists and living here for the second year in a row. They lived in this flat before we did, so they are sympathetic to its size and awkwardness. They have a little girl, "Baby SA", who is gorgeous and quite well mannered. The three of them are Scandinavian, which means cool accents and an interesting take on UK and the world at large. However, they moved to a newer, less ghetto building, so we only see them when they come to get their mail. Now, a new couple lives there with whom we have not yet become acquainted.

Above them live Rob and Emma, who live on the top floor in our walk-up building. This means that they have to climb 3 flights of stairs while shepherding two toddlers, Little Emma and Isaiah, and a new infant, Micaiah. Wow, they are so hardcore. They are awesome people, with whom we have spent the most time so far. They like playing games and hanging out. Even more improbably, they seem to like us.

As you can tell, I am really bad at pseudonymizing people. These may change as Matt thinks of more clever ones.