Catching up

Oh my goodness. I'm so frustrated with this internet. I have been trying and trying to type this stupid blog for about about two hours now and every time I click publish, it gets deleted!!!

I'm going to try and post pictures in a separate post because I think that's what slowing this process down.

Ok, let's glance at the past few weeks of my journey here in London:

Three weekends ago: My class took a trip to Canterbury and Dover. Nothing too interesting to really tell you about it, most of it was history that I can't remember :( (But, I thought it was super cool at the time!!!) I got to see churches, castles, the English countryside, and the infamous white cliffs of Dover:) It was pretty excellent...mostly a picture-taking opportunity. We woke up pretty early and took a coach out to Canterbury. Our tour guide, Sean, told us awesome stories that obviously didn't stick...but I was pretty tired. Like I said, the sites were BEAUTIFUL.

Two Wednesdays ago: My class took a trip to Parliament!!! YAAAY. I felt giddy once I stepped inside the building. My heart started pumping quickly and my pulse sped up. It was a nerd-overload. The building has so much history (it has been around since Queen Victoria's reign) and is STILL functioning. WAY cool!!! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I will relish the photographic images I took with my brain....haha. Seriously, it was worth every pound I spent. And there is an awesome park outside Parliament with statues of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, and one of the only statue of a standing Abe Lincoln. Way to go, Brits!

Last weekend: Nothing but work really. Aaron and I went to Notting Hill to the Portobello Road Market on Saturday morning....it was chaos. But, tremendous. I bought a camera! One just like the one that my mom uses for her photography! (A Canon AE1)....its really awesome. I have already taken a whole roll of film. Later that day, Aaron and I met Natalie for tea at a cupcakery!! It was so filling...but delicious. Come to think of it, Saturday was a GREAT day for food...and my stomach. The cupcakery, Bea's, gave us a brownie, scone, crumpet, blondies, jam, clotted cream, a cupcake, and tea (of course!)....so so so mouth-watering...and a serious sugar overload. On Sunday, more homework...but Aaron, Natalie and I rewarded ourselves for our productiveness with fish and chips from a local place called Rock N' Sole Plaice. We walked in and immediately heard Turkish. It was the best combination of my two favorite cultures! (It turns out a Turkish family runs the place). The fish and chips were well-worth every penny. They were salty, hot, and crispy. Yummmmm.

Thursday/Friday: Workworkwork and too much coffee...

This weekend: I took a trip to Wales!!!! Part of my program went to an Ecolodge called Perseli near the coast in Wales. After two long train rides, we were picked up in a small Welsh town by a staff member (from Perseli) named Libby. She greeted up so warmly, I knew it was a good predictor of the rest of the weekend. My suspicions were confirmed when we actually arrived at the lodge and we were given the absolutely BEST vegetarian lasagne.

In the early morning, after a full breakfast, we went kayaking! I got to wear a wetsuit (I've never done that before!) and enjoy the coastline...we even saw seal pups! After lunch, my group went on a seven mile hike along a trail that followed the coastline. We walked through fields with sheep, cows, and plenty of wildflowers (I made a flower crown!) It was so relaxing....even though it was seven miles. That night the staff made a bonfire for us, and we got to eat dinner enjoy hot chocolate outside :)

The next morning, my group went "coasteering", which is a combination of swimming, rock climbing, and cliff jumping. IT WAS AWESOME. Very cold, but awesome. I was climbing on cliffs, swimming in the freezing Atlantic, watching seals play in the water, and jumping off rocks. It was a little bit outside of my comfort zone, but definitely worth it. Sadly, then I had to ride THREE trains back to London...only to have to confront more homework.

Anyway, that catches me up. I promise to do better! I'm going to Paris on Wednesday for five days and four nights, so I should have plenty to write about when I get back. I promise to try and post pictures before I leave. This internet is driving me CRAZY.

Sidenote: I got an assistant director for my Model UN committee that I have been working so diligently working on. She seems really awesome and I can't wait to meet her. YAAAAY. And check out my committees: http://www.imuna.org/committees.asp?cID=2&p=nhsmun

Work, work, work

I found this quote today that captures my life currently (being spent in the FSU 24/7 computer lab):

"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis- a good hot cup of coffee."
-Alexander Key

ok, ok. I know that I haven't posted in a while. The internet here has been really shoddy and I haven't had a connection for more than a few minutes at a time...and now that its "fixed", I have lots and lots of work due. I promise to post after I finish this presentation. I'll put up pictures from Dover and tell you my uneventful weekend here in London.

BUT I do want to tell you about one of my professors, Tancred. One: he wore a black and white pinstripe suit today...with a white/blue/red striped shirt and a red and black houndstooth tie. And birght red Christmas socks. haha. And he called Mexican food "peasant food" and asked the class what a burrito was. hahahaha. Ok, I have to go to work! I promise to update soon.

“It’s easy to believe in magic when you’re young. Anything you couldn’t explain was magic then. It didn’t matter if it was science or a fairy tale. Electricity and elves were both infinitely mysterious and equally possible — elves probably more so.”

—	Charles de Lint

The Florida Department of Education didn't allocate me enough loan money to cover my International Programs tuition. I'm so worried. How am I going to pay for this??

“By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show”

Although I had a pretty rough week (classes AND finally finishing my model UN background guide), my weekend definitely made up for it! WOOP!

Friday: That afternoon Aaron and I decided to go book shopping. We started out at the British version of Barnes and Noble, called Waterstone's...I should probably not describe it as a Barnes and Noble because it is SO MUCH BETTER. They have floors filled with textbooks (good ones that I would like to read...) Aaron and I spent a good part of an hour on one floor filled with International Affairs/Political Science/Social Science books. We're big time nerds, but that's ok. Then we tried to find a used book store that was supposedly really close to our flat, but we walked around the area for a while and couldn't find it. So, we stopped in a park nearby and read for a while. Then we took the tube to Oxford Circus; we wanted to walk around the area before it got engulfed by the weekend crowds flowing in and out of the thousands of shops on the mile-long shopping street.

Later that night, my roommates (Jade and Natalie) and I went across town to see a free showing of Medea. The show was in an outdoor amphitheater (who knew that word was spelled like that?!) right across the water from the Tower of London, and right next to the Tower Bridge (The bridge in the picture). The scenery alone was AMAZING. The play was so-so...but worth the price. hah.

Saturday: Aaron and I decided to try again and find the used bookstore because we had heard great things about it. After looking at a map this time (great, great investment if you ever want to come to London, we discovered), we set off on our journey. We found the bookstore amidst a weekend street market! It was SO cool.

There were lots of food stands; everything smelled so good. The scents of Japanese, Portuguese, Moroccan, Turkish(!!), Thai, etc. etc. are mixed together; it was heavenly. Aaron attempted to avoid all of the food temptations and walked directly to our beloved bookstore. The first book that I pick up is "Oryx and Crate" by Margaret Atwood, which I have looking for! I was so excited, I put the book in my hand and I picked up another. It was "Trainspotting", which I have ALSO been looking for. It was a very nice (and cheap) blessing :)

After a filling Portuguese pastry (prawn and some garlic/scallion sauce), Aaron and I went to investigate a carnival ride that we spotted behind a building on the way to the bookstore. We walked behind the building and found an annual street carnival that a neighborhood was holding!

There were mini-carnival rides, a clown, a puppet show, a band, more street venders and food :)!!! It was really cool to stumble upon. Aaron and I walked around for a bit and then decided to head to Soho.

Aaron was on a mission to find the street (Berwick Street) where the photo for Oasis's album cover for "What's the Story, Morning Glory?" was taken. We found it pretty easily (everything seemed to be going right yesterday!), and we found a Hare Krishna band chanting and dancing in the streets on the way.

On Berwick, we discovered the best used CD/DVD/Vinyl store in London, as far as I'm concerned. It was decently priced, and it had everything. EVERYTHING: Indie/alternative/rock/hip-hop/bluegrass/blues/etc. etc. etc. SOOO HAPPY. MUSIC HEAVEN. Aaron and I both bought CDs. (I bought Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Wallflowers, and Primal Scream [some band that Aaron recommended])

Sunday: Aaron and I headed out early to go to church!!! We went to service at a church (apparently known for its congregation of visitors) in Oxford Circus called All Souls. The sermon was really good and the people were inviting and warm. We met a old British black woman named Janet and her husband, Paul. It was a good start to the day. The rest of today has been spent napping (soooo tired), doing homework, and going to the gym! (Boring, lazy Sunday). First day of Monday classes tomorrow, I'm pretty nervous about it! We'll see how these new classes go...I'm afraid that I'm going to be overwhelmed!

And I wanted to share this quote from C.S. Lewis (Four Loves) that has been on my mind lately:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

Minutes before my first (attempt) at a skype conference with my parents back home, I will update you all (hopefully more than just Grace) on London life:

On Saturday, my flatmates and I were on a team for a scavenger hunt...we ran around London trying to get brochures and pictures. The six of us (three girls from Missouri, Hannah, Julie, and Elizabeth and Jade, Natalie, and I) did a pretty good job at keeping up with the uber competitive drama kids. We only ended up losing by 9 points :( But, we definitely got a better idea of the city. My night was pretty boring...I stayed in and worked on my Model UN stuff.

On Sunday, we woke up early to go a bus tour of London. I thought that I would sleepily walk out of the study center that morning to meet one of the infamous red double decker buses...but sadly, it was just a normal coach (the funny thing is...we had to buckle up...let me tell you, it was a weird experience to constantly wear a full seat belt on a charter bus). Our tour guide, Sean, was a witty Brit who kept us all surprisingly awake. I definitely want to set aside some days to walk my way through London...or maybe even get off of random (maybe not totally random...I don't want to end up in a sketchy part of town) tube stop and explore!

Later that night, Aaron, our friend, Ashley, and I went to Notting Hill. Once a year, in the last week in August, there is a street carnival held there. Its the second largest street carnival in the world apparently. It was really really really crowded and there was a bunch of trash and drunk people everywhere, but we still had a good time. Reggae and hip-hop music played as the mouth-watering smells of Caribbean food wafted by. There were floats filled with sequins, brights colors, and even more music. We escaped the mayhem after an hour or so...

Yesterday, I slept in (I couldn't sleep until about 3 the night before) and worked a while on school work and my paper. My flatmates and I had a family dinner (grilled cheese and tomato soup, almost fool-proof dinner)...and I joined the YMCA down the street!!! Its really really really nice...I don't have a lot to compare it to, considering I have been going to the dingy Leach center for two years now. And I learned that this Y is actually the first YMCA. EVER. In a weird, nerdy way, I find that really cool.

Today was the first day of classes. I had Terror and Politics in the morning, then Ethnic Conflict, and then we have a third class in which we will be doing presentations on materials discusses in the first two classes. Juliana Fugezi, a firece Hungarian LSE graduate, our teacher for Tuesday/Thursday classes is pretty intimidating. I'm not sure if its her odd intonation (developed from speaking five languages fluently) or her personality, but she is a little frightening in class....I really like her. I know that she will not let our class slack off...and I have been able to get by in my classes back in Tallahassee. I'm glad that I will have her to teach me this semester. As we went over our syllabi today...my thoughts were confirmed. This is going to be tough semester; Juliana is going to kick it into high gear.

We talked about who a terrorist was this morning...it was sooo interesting. We discussed the saying "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". Juliana brought up the example of Nelson Mandela, who apparently was a leader of a African Nationalist group that endorsed acts of terror before he helped develop the new democratic South Africa. This is definitely going to be a different semester than any others before.

Sorry for the laziness, but I figured that I didn't really have a lot to write about (except class...). I will try to keep up. Here is a picture for the carnival (sooooo crowded!!):