Never Gonna Leave NOLA again

So, I've been back almost two days.  Apologies on not blogging.  I'm sure that those of you I hadn't already talked to assumed that I in fact made it home rather than dying trapped in Newark (a real possibility for a while there).  Apologies if I did in fact cause anyone any concerned (it was unintentionally done and I'm sure of short duration).

It's good to be back; will be better once I am able to sleep past 4 am (10 am London time).  But there is air-conditioning, preservatives, good food and warm showers, so a little sleep deprivation isn't too big a deal.  I've gotten rather used to it.

The trip was amazing, wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but six weeks is a long time to be away from home.  And everything you know.  And your dog.  I'd say the traveling bug is out of my system for at least a year or so.  

It appears that my blog has come to the natural end of its life cycle; otherwise I will be one of those people constantly broadcasting all of their thoughts and emotions into the universe.  And I don't think anyone really wants that.

So, I leave you all.  I'll see all of you in the real world soon.  Thanks to those who tolerated my incessant whining about bad weather, unremarkable food, and basic cultural differences.

Cheers!

Why Am I Not Home Yet?

We are entering hour 18 of traveling.  I'm in Newark (have been for the last 6 hours).  Naturally, I could not sleep on the plane.  I don't actually look like death warmed over, which is fairly shocking (or perhaps the exhaustion has affected my perception? unclear).

In 5 hours, I'll be home!  Yay, New Orleans!

Goodbye, London, United Kingdom, and Europe!

So I get on a plane in 13 hours, so this'll be my last post until I'm stateside. Yay for seeing all of y'all again! And talking to someone who's not Colby! (I couldn't pick a better person to hang out exclusively with for 11 straight days, but right now my accent is somewhere between Louisiana, Irish, and Texas).

The past two days in London have basically been us looking at each other going, "Is there anything else we need to do here?" The answer has always been "No," we were here for two weeks, so everything on our respective lists have been checked off.

If you have to stay at a hostel in London, I'd recommend St. Paul's. They serve a real breakfast (read: not cornflakes and toast) and the accomodations are fairly comfortable. We ended up in a dorm with 4 German girls, so I feel like I've probably learned a bunch of German just by diffusion.

So, anyways, see you in the States! Cheers!

Back in the (Cold and Uncomfortable) Embrace of London

We're back in London!  We missed it (against our better judgment).

We've developed a (somewhat labored) analogy for the cities we've visited: London is the abusive boyfriend, but he cuddles with you afterward, so you put up with it; Edinburgh is the boy who calls you fifteen times a day and always wants to talk about feelings; Belfast is the boy who used to return your calls, but now that he's gotten out of prison, he's uninterested; and Dublin is a one-night stand that leaves the napkin with your number on it on the bedside table as he goes.  

This will make sense to anyone who has visited all those cities in a week (read: Colby).

So, yeah, little to report.  Good to be out of Dublin; nice city but we were there WAY too long (interesting tidbit: we met girls in our hostel who were planning on staying there ten days, we're assuming they'll die of boredom on Day 6).  We have spent literally the entire day traveling.  Like, five hours in an airport all day.  I never wanna be in one of those again.  Yay, Tuesday!  Boo hiss, Continental/American Express/whatever demented clown messed up my flight.  Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

So, tomorrow is a packed day of doing everything I need to do before I leave and finishing up my souvenir buying.  Then, all planes all the time.

In 72 hours, I will be back in the States, getting fat on preservative-filled food and not walking more than 10 feet!  So excited!

Escape from Manfest 2008

In our hostel (Paddy's Palace, yes I picked it for the name), we're in a mixed dorm. Evidently, this means that you can go to sleep at an early hour (we've been travelling since you were in kindergarten, leave us alone) and wake up COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY MEN. Seriously, it's a 12 bed dorm and we're the only women in there. We woke up to a sea of naked backs and hairy legs. And they were all passed out drunk and sweating out Guinness. I'm considering sleeping on a park bench, just to escape the awkward. If we stay in that room too long, we might turn into boys (I don't wanna be a boy).

We got up this morning and headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral (it just seemed wrong to not go there). It's a gorgeous Gothic(ish?) building and the stained glass windows are amazing (and naturally, impossible to photograph). Once we long off here, we're probably gonna head off to the Trinity College Campus (provided the weather holds). We really could have done Dublin in two days, so we're kinda moving at a snail's pace.

Because I actually checked the news for the first time in forever: seriously, John Edwards? Seriously?

Perfect Pint of Guinness

So we went on the Guinness propaganda tour today. I have to say, after 2 hours of hearing how perfect Guinness is, I still don't like it. Though it is way better here than in the States (still bad, though).

Yesterday, we went to go pay homage to Mr. Wilde. His house was closed down, but his statue was still there, so we hung out around it and acting snarky. We also went in the National Gallery of Ireland and wandered around Temple Bar area.

Confession: we did the math and we've done four cities/countries in five days. We're exhausted. It's awful. Thank God we're spending three days here in Dublin, I don't think we could move again tomorrow.

In other news: the idiots who make these determinations have moved my flight back to the US (Freedom!) up 16 hours and left me with a 12 hour layover in NEWARK. This has such catastrophic potential. And, since I'm abroad (shocker), I can't get them on the phone to fix it. So, I'll have to fly out at midnight, start whining at anyone who'll listen to me in Newark to see if I can get my flight bumped up, and then basically seeing how the wind will take me. Stupid gas shortage!

On a happier note: we're probably off to the Dublin Writer's Museum (yes, we're geeks, don't judge us!) and then perhaps St. Patrick's Cathedral. We're taking Dublin at a kind of half speed, but that's all that's keeping us from collapsing.

Cheers!

Dublin!

We're here. We haven't seen or done anything yet, but we're here. In Ireland, you can't buy Dramamine, but you can buy some similar product called Kwellis which basically makes you feel drunk for 6-8 hours. But at least you don't get sick on the 3 hour bus ride.

Through either serendipidity or good planning (let's face it, it's the former), we got a hostel right next to the bus station, so we only had to walk a block with our heavy stuff, rather than 2 miles (uphill, barefoot, in snow). Dublin looks pretty, not as idyllic as Edinburgh (but then again, neither is a snow globe), but way less rough around the edges than Belfast. Also, there are other Americans here! Yay!

Will write back tomorrow when (hopefully) I'll have something interesting to say. We're probably going to spend part of the day stalking Oscar Wilde (we know he's dead, but really, why would that stop us?).

Belfast

Yay, Belfast! Crappy weather, boo!

Seeing the murals was great. We ended up doing a Black Cab Tour with a bunch of Belgian students (all Flemish, all the time) which then transitioned into an open back bus tour (have I mentioned that it is wet and freezing here? it is wet and freezing here). We got loads of pictures, one of the Belgian kids almost gave me a concussion and after 20 minutes of references to the Titanic (it was designed and built here, evidently Belfast is proud of this, despite the whole sinking thing), there was a spontaneous rendition of "My Heart Will Go On." Pretty fun.

We're thinking about going to see a play tonight. Between Belfast not being particularly tourist friendly (civil unrest? I'm unclear) and the weather being disgusting, we've probably seen about as much of Belfast as we want to/will on this trip.

Our hostel is essentially a guy (Arnie's) house. He's got two really cute Jack Russell Terriers (miss Toph!) and he seems to have started the hostel more from loneliness than from any desire for compensation. We're paying £11 a night (about 22 dollars a night).

Why Would Anyone Ever Leave Here?

Seriously, this might be the best place in the world. It's definitely the best place in Europe.

I'm at an Internet Cafe because if I need to use the computer, this makes me less wimpy for wanting/needing to sit down. This is what I'm telling myself. The constant travelling is beginning to get draining. Also, we kinda climbed a mountain today.

Mountain's a strong word, but we climbed a big hill to get a full view of Edinburgh. It was well worth it, but my feet were unhappy with this. We got lost walking (we've only been here 24 hours, don't judge us!) and seriously, THE FIRST PERSON who walked past us with our maps out stopped and asked us if we needed help. This place is perfect. I don't know why anyone would ever leave. You'd have to have some complex where you get frustrated when people are too nice to you.

So, after we climbed the mountain, we went to Hollyroodhouse Palace. It was really beautiful. I didn't feel the same reverence that everyone seemed to (although I've been here a month, I'm not assimilated enough to really find the Queen that big of a deal). Then we went to the Canongate Kirk. Then the Epic Search for the Birthplace of Harry Potter. We found it, but it wasn't quite worth the hour it took to find it (blasphemy, I know, but that was ridiculous).

You can barely go a block without running into a bagpipe player, but I'm getting used to it. Edinburgh is a fabulous town on any day, but during Fringe Festival, it's hard to imagine being anywhere else. It's almost like Mardi Gras without being pelted in the face by beads (I know what you're thinking, what would the point of that be?).

We ate haggis (peer pressure is the worst of all possible things). It was kinda like weird meat loaf, not particularly good, but not that bad if you could make yourself forget what you were eating. My sausage and mash and Colby's Steak and Guinness pie were infinitely better. We also tried whisky fudge (the guy at our hostel said we needed to). It wasn't terrible, but I can go the rest of my life without eating that again. For sure.

This time tomorrow, I'll be in Belfast! Very excited! Looking forward to being able to sleep someday (presumably, back in the States)!

No Drinking until Ireland

Yesterday, we had to leave Frances Gardiner House/Hell. Was not a particularly sad moment, mainly just irritating. Packing up and moving two blocks is a little bit ridiculous.

To celebrate our prison break, we had one last night at our neighborhood pub. It was pretty awesome. We drank too much, but it was a nice goodbye to our pub and its denizens. They'll miss us, I can tell. In the aftermath of our last night of pubbing, we've declared a moratorium on drinking until Ireland (Tuesday). It's necessary.

So, Clink is the worst of all possible hostels. Actually, that's wrong. It's not worse than the bottles of urine in Paris. But still, pretty bad. It's inexplicably depressing, the staff is awful, and breakfast was corn flakes (This is England!!! Where are my baked beans and sausage?!?!).

The trip was not terrible, four hours is a long time to be on a train, tired and cranky. We spent most of our time trying to understand the accents nearby and realizing that we were totally in trouble.

Edinburgh is amazing. It's absolutely gorgeous and the people are way nicer than Brits. We showed up in the middle of Fringe Fest, which made the walking to our hostel really kinda awful. We're in this renovated church hostel which is about as different from Clink as possible. I'm looking forward to spending some time here and a little bit unclear as to why I spent so much time in London (where they hate us).

Okay, I need to eat. Cheers!

This is What I Do

A further update and then an apology.

Tuesday:  Classes, then Colby and I went down to the Camden Market.  I like it a lot better with a lot less people there.  We each got some souvenirs and I imagine that, during my 2 days here before I go back to the States (or Freedom, as we've been trying to get that out of our system before we go to Belfast, lest we be shot) I will go back to the Market with my leftover money and buy everything.

Then we went to a theatre and saw Dark Knight.  Amazing.  I paid a small fortune for the tickets (London is expensive + dollar is worth crap).  Can't wait until being back in the States to see it again.  Just amazing.  Poor, dead Heath, but he really rocked that one.  

Then we found this random Thai place for dinner.  A moment for an observation: there's some bizarre British conspiracy about not wanting you to leave restaurants.  It's like they're needy or something.  You basically have to beg them for your check.  And then wait 20 more minutes.  It's awful.  One time, Colby and I just left the money on the table and bolted (we'd been there an hour, we were over it).  The waiter CHASED US DOWN IN THE STREET and was not embarrassed at all when we explained that yes, we had paid.  Well, anyway, it happened AGAIN at the Thai place.

Wednesday:  After classes, I went to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.  I did each in about an hour, which is probably unfair, but really, there are only so many Fat Baby Jesus Sitting on the Virgin's Lap from the 13th century a person can take.  I spend some time in the Impressionist's section, but otherwise I just motored my way through it.  

Got back to get ready for our banquet at Middle Temple.  It was funny to see everyone dressed up, we looked like kids on Picture Day.  We all actually looked pretty nice, except for me and Colby, since her hair dryer had an unfortunate accident (different voltages killed it dead), so we had wet hair.  We need to have a funeral for it before we leave.

But yeah, Middle Temple is amazing.  So beautiful.  Totally worth putting heels on.  Ineffecto lasted for an hour, but less well before the speaker began.  I'd love to say I was surprised, but I wasn't.  I'm looking forward to talking to Griffin and complaining about this man.  Food was decent, speaker was somewhat boring, but not terrible.  There were evil little women who ran around filling up your wine glass every time you took a sip, so I had fun.  

After the dinner, we all went to a pub named George's (George, I found you!  In England!  What are you doing here?).  It was fun, the entire group of us had never really done anything together.  I (accidentally) got in this big debate that started with whether you can fault someone for being a cheater to Plato's allegory of the Cave (which someone misquoted) to how I need to go Africa.  I then found shallower conversations.  

Thursday: Both of my teachers wrapped everything up on Wednesday, so I got to sleep in!  Yay!  In my hot dorm!  Boo!  Thursday was basically just trying to find some place comfortable to study (which there is none) and trying to figure out how to study for these damn things.  Not the best of days, but there was good company interspersed with all the complaining (by me).

Friday:  EXAMS!!!! I feel like I've already written this entry (damn summer program and it's awful deja vu).  I then went on a fact finding mission to our hostel for tonight (used to be a police dorm, kinda awesome).  Then I went to a pub, to deal with the battling reception at a hostel for an hour.  Then about 14 of us went to dinner in Notting Hill (good food, awkward company).  Then 4 of us went exploring Soho, the Theatre District (in a futile attempt to stalk HIP, I kid, a little).  Then Young's for one last beer.  Then bed.

So, here I am.  I'm basically just dreading packing up.  And having to move 2 blocks for one night.  It's awful.  Oh well.

So, here's the apology: I'm about to no longer be on my (atrociously expensive but) prepaid wireless.  We have officially come to the point in the trip where I run around like an idiot, staying in places for 2-3 nights maximum.  My poor laptop will become needy due to disuse and will just be deadweight for the next 11 days.

So anticipate minimal updates, simply for the sake of economy.  I can't remember if hostels charge you for computer usage by word (though I think they might), but I'm fairly certain that between paying by the word and those awful British keyboards, I will be grumpy and of few words.  For this I am deeply sorry, Gentle Reader.  You deserve better of your blogger.

Okay, really, I'm gonna pack now.  Updates to follow!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Timon

The name will make sense in due time, I promise.

So, where did I last leave off?  Oh, yeah.

Friday: Meet up with Katie (she's doing a study abroad in London too) for dinner.  Feet still THROBBING from King Lear.  Meet up in Notting Hill (cute part of London, nice change from the industrial side of town where I am currently living).  Meet up at a pub, eat a burger (but a weird British fake burger) and then head back home to collapse.

Saturday: the Epic Day of Musicals.  In honor of my still hurting feet (it's unfortunate, but I'm a wimp) and the fact that Colby's feet were covered in blisters, we decided to devote a day to seeing plays.  We did Les Miserables as a matinee and Spamalot for the evening (I'm not gonna name names, but someone whose name rhymes with Molby Cay was unaware of the fact that Spamalot was a musical version of Holy Grail).  Les Mis was good; the individual performers weren't really standouts, but the ensemble was amazing.  We had a tall, skinny Jean Valjean (blasphemy!) and a pretty good Javert.  We were way closer than I usually am, so I got to notice way more of the nuances than I'm used to (like the dead students all being at the wedding).  Also, the erection of the barricade still gives me chills.

Between our plays, we walked around and found a pub to eat in.  We ate at the Cambridge (I liked the name for the symmetry), foregoing the WAY more interestingly named Crooked Surgeon (if I have a pub in NO, it will be named the Crooked Lawyer).  We also went football jersey shopping and generally just played tourist.  

Spamalot was fantastic.  We had an Indian Arthur, which was pretty good.  There's something to be said for Monty Python with legitimate British accents.  Unfortunate note: it is currently hot here and no places have air conditioning.  It's not Southern-Louisiana-in-Summer hot, but it is generally in the mid-80s.  AND NO PLACES HAVE ANY AIR CONDITIONING.  Including theatres.  So, we're 6 rows back, watching these guys give it all and we're hot, so they must be dying.  You know it's bad when the actors start making jokes about the heat.  End of tirade: Spamalot = awesome.

Sunday: slept in some.  The whole lack of air conditioning thing makes it hard to fall asleep and even harder to stay asleep.  Colby and I went to find breakfast and after lamenting that nothing in our area is open on Sundays, found a TGIF style pub nearby with AIR CONDITIONING and reasonably priced food.  We were about ready to move in.  Also, they have Pimms (our new obsession). 

Went to Camden town to meet up with Katie and see the markets (only half of my objective was accomplished, could not find Katie).  The markets are a lot of fun and I'm planning to go back.  Unfortunately, the evil, evil Tube system shut down the Camden stop, so I got to go on a quest of sorts to find the closest one.  Finally, after much struggling, found it and headed back to my side of town.  Went for a pint (or two) with one of my classmates and tried cooking in our kitchen (with little success)

Monday:  Finally Saw the Rosetta Stone!!!!!!  Sorry, this particular moment took 6 years, but I've finally seen it!  Our classes ended up all disorganized today (stupid InEffecto), so in between classes, Colby and I went over to the British Museum.  It's pretty amazing (and free!), but we spent most of our time either in the Egyptian section (because one of us has an unhealthy obsession) or in the rare air-conditioned sections (Go Korea!).  At any rate, was awesome.  Definitely wish I'd made it on the first try.

This evening was Timon of Athens at the Globe.  This time I was prepared to be a Groundling.  I queued up early so that I had leaning room (totally worth it) and spent as much time as possible taking it easy on my feet.  Timon of Athens was pretty good (Lear was better), but I can not even compare the amount of pain I was in by the end.  Leaning is the way to go, for all of y'all who're on your way to the Globe.  The director decided to use this bizarre bungee cord/webbing system to convey the ravens, which was cool until the actors almost kicked you in the head.  Then it was less so.  The production was good (though some of the directors choices were rather ridiculous), but the enjoyability was vastly increased by the fact that it was 1) less than 3 hours and 2) not inducing excruciating pain.

Interesting tidbit: there's the bizarre cultural tendency among Americans.  My interactions with actual Brits have been pretty limited, primarily of the money changing hands variety.  If, however, I end up within 20 feet of another American, I must talk to them.  For hours.  It's ridiculous.  I need to feel less self-conscious of being that American and actually talk to a Brit.  Good to have a new goal for the week.

Okay, I'm off to bed.  Cheers!

An Update on What's been keeping me too busy to blog

Tuesday:

Colby and I got some cheap tickets (20 pounds, with an obstructed view, which was tots fine since we'd both seen the play before and really did not need to see EVERYTHING that happened EVERY SECOND).  It was amazing.  Christine was a warbler, so I kept hoping somehow the actress would succumb to some debilitating cold and we'd get an understudy, but the Phantom more than made up for it.  HIP (Hottie Iranian Phantom) was like seriously the best Phantom ever.  He was an awesome singer and was terrifying during the end when he freaks out.  Just amazing.  Raoul was nice too (for a Hobbit), but OMG.  So, if we don't find Gerry (Butler), Colby and I now have a new guy to fight over.  Also, y'know how in the States when you see the Phantom's face, it's kinda a little bit disfigured.  Like, his lip's a bit weird and he doesn't have an eyebrow.  Not so here.  The Brits require WAY more in their Phantom.  HIP was way too intense for this lame, half-hearted disfigurement.  

For those of you who do not believe me when I say the Brits are more gruesome (inappropriate for the weak of heart and small children), it's to the right side of the blog.

See?!?!?!  It was hardcore!

Wednesday: Classes.  Took a nap (London is way more tiring than Cambridge, who'd have thought?).  Went for a walk around London in the evening (the sun sets here at basically midnight, so it's nice for sightseeing).  Saw most of the big tourist spots, it's nice to know that I can get to the main touristy stuff when I'm too cheap to use the Tube.

Thursday:  King Lear.  At Globe.  Nuff said.

Fine, I'll say more.  Classes (heavy sigh).  Walking tour of Legal London (heavy sigh X 2).  In a misguided attempt to compare to the awesomeness of the Parliament Field Trip we went on during the Cambridge program, our sponsor (let's call him Ineffecto) schedules a walking tour of Legal London.  Like, from a company that does Jack the Ripper Walking Tours (sidenote: that would have been SO much better).  We got to see some cool stuff (two of the Inns of Temple, the nearby courthouse, barristers in silly wigs), but she also used cultural references like DaVinci Code and Bridget Jones's Diary 2.  We got the exact same tour as would have been given to middle schoolers.  So, basically, a waste of time.  I should've realized how ridiculous the tour would be when Ineffecto balked on it.

My friend and I then went to the Globe, but the groundling seats were sold out.  We hung around, grabbed some pub food, and then got in the queue for returns and managed to get in right before the show started.  It was amazing.  The guy who played Lear is literally one of the best actors I've ever seen.  They did the classic Elizabethan staging and it was just wonderful.  Seriously, words fail.  The simplest way to put it is this: despite the fact that I'd been on my feet since 3:00 (or 15:00, if you're British), I stood through that performance until 10:45.  And then I walked home.  So, yeah, amazing.  

Despite the residual pain I'm experiencing, I'm planning on going to see Timon of Athens on Monday (groundling again).  So yeah, Lear was good enough for me to order tickets to another play while my feet are still throbbing and my blisters have blisters.

So, here I am.  I'm probably gonna get some sleep and then go meet up with Katie for dinner tonight.  

Brief, brief Interruption

So I've discovered that living in London is not conducive to blogging about living in London.  Seriously, there's way too much to do and not enough time to do it in.  Will write a proper entry after class, as I actually have done interesting things (as opposed to Cambridge, where I'd wax poetic about going up and down a river in a tiny boat).  

At any rate, am fine and will write soon!

Not Dead Yet

Apologies on being a super lame blogger.  And human being.  Changing locations means finding new and interesting hoops to have to jump through in order to contact the outside world.

Okay, so here's my life since last I posted (Wednesday):

Thursday - classes/beginning to study/realizing that WE ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE EXAMS

Friday - studying for exams/watching people freak out in a really big and gross way.  

Saturday - EXAMS.  Four straight hours of exams are awful!!!  Was done by 1 though, which was nice.  Packed up my stuff (amazing how much your stuff can expand in two weeks), said goodbye to Luz and Caitlin, and headed off with the five boys to London.  I basically had an army of bodyguards, which was cool because they'd lift my bag for me and they were actually capable of reading the craptastic map they'd given us. (Okay, fine, I'm being negative, who really needs to read a map of a town they don't really know to get to a place they've never been to).

So, after a very arduous journey, getting lost several times and more than a few moments of seriously considering just leaving all my stuff on a street corner and getting new stuff, we arrived.  Our dorm is about as far from the ones at Cambridge as they could possibly be.  The building looks like a big, ugly asylum and it's impossible to get to dorms not on your cellblock.  Which is fine, unless EVERY PERSON YOU TRAVELLED WITH is on a different one.  Then you feel tragically alone.  Despite the weird isolation from your classmates, the flat situation is nice.  We get a kickass kitchen.  It almost makes up for the scary, camp style showers we have (seriously, worst thing ever, I took off my showerhead, it was safer).

The following is a transcript of what happened once I got in my dorm.

Anna looks up and down her hall confused.  Yells: Colby?!?!

Door is flung open.  Enter Zombie-Jetlag Colby.  Incoherent mumbles, perhaps something about brains.

Anna: Colby, get dressed.  We're in London.  Let's do something.

Colby: mumble, mumble, brains.

So, anyway, I found Colby.  We then went walking around and had a couple of pints and fish and chips at a pub called Mabel's Tavern.  The beer was disgusting, but we got to watch Brits watching a football match, which is high comedy.  Oh, we've picked a football organization to support (yes, it was completely random decision).  We're now picking favourite players and finding out who our new rivals are.  We're assimilating.

We also found two guys from our program and went walking around.  We got moderately accosted by two drunken teenagers who warned us that if we rode around in a luggage cage, the doorman of a hotel would yell at us (shocker).  Then, we passed out.

Sunday - Wake up.  Wake Colby up.  Go to Oxford Circus with the two guys in our program, spend the day dodging tourists and spending for freaking ever in Harrods.  Have our law school orientation, we have a bigger group here, but they seem like cool kids.  I already am acting out the school rivalry with the kid from Ole Miss (he responds to my entering a room by yelling "Geaux Tigers") and everyone else seems like good people.  Having orientation in a pub is not conducive to paying attention, but this was not my decision.  The Cambridge people and newbies are getting along nicely, but we all know we're cooler.

Today - Classes!  Deja vu all over again.  Classes seem good; one of our professors gave us a book that makes the Bible look short.  I'm assuming we won't have to read all of that.  We have a lunch break, which sounds like a good idea until your stomach is full of goodness and you're trying to stay awake.  Then, less good.  We went exploring and found our hostel, unfortunately, in my excitement to point it out, I almost gave Colby a heart attack.  We found an AMAZING Indian place a block away.  We're in a neighborhood (burb? hamlet? shire?) called Bloombury, so it's rather nicely insulated from the whole hustle and bustle, tourists everywhere thing (I say like I'm not a tourist, but I do not have a fannypack and mow over locals.

So, to summarize: London = awesome, accommodations = less awesome, but good, tourists = obnoxious, classes = necessary, not having porters = sad.

Cheers!  (I'm bringing this back to the states, get ready, it'll be way obnoxious).

New Backup Plan

So I kinda rock at punting (let me clarify the term "rock": I did not fall in, I was pretty good at balancing, I was the best of the girls, I managed to do it for 1/2 hour without getting exhausted, and I didn't run into TOO many obstacles).

It was a lot of fun; a group of six of us (Caitlin, Wade, Luz, Matt/Coma Boy, John, and I) went out punting by ourselves today.  We bought champagne (but not enough), baguettes/brie, strawberries, and chocolate.  It was awesome.  We are now experienced punters (some more so than others) and we've stopped terrorizing other punters (or at least got really good at apologizing when we ran into them).  We had this great contrast of class and Americanism.  It was amazing.

Classes are good.  I'm fairly certain there's a federal judge who hates me (good news: he's criminal).  We're winding down in a big way, which is nice.  Don't particularly want to take exams, but I'm told they're not optional.  

Speaking of exams, off to studying!

Come on Baby, Light My Fire

We had three firealarms between 11:30 and 1:30.  I'm exhausted.  Air raid sirens are not conducive to sleep.  Must make it to class, then will nap.  Must make it to class, then will nap.  Must make....

Because I hadn't Written in so Long....

We just had the loudest, scariest fire alarm of my life (we're all safe, false alarm, just a big pain in the ass).

So, the smarter kids (read: not me) made a point of grabbing their passports on the way out.  I'm not that good at planning.  I had my key and a sweatshirt and THAT IS ALL.  If this building had actually gone up in flames, I'd be trapped here forever (technically, I can think of worse fates, but still).  I feel like this has been an important life lesson: ALWAYS GRAB YOUR PASSPORT!  Or, don't burn popcorn in a dorm (really, it's a twofer).

Okay, I'm gonna try to go back to sleep.  Yes, this is a futile gesture and I'm well aware of that, but it's either that or find a pub that's open.  And it's a Monday.

A Brief Update

We actually had fantastic weather all weekend, which was enjoyed by both locals and 50 million tourists who magically appeared alike.  Seriously, Cambridge was overrun.  There was a music festival in a nearby park, which was a lot of fun.  

A bunch of us went to dinner on Saturday and then went to a bunch of pubs.  Bars close here early, so you end up hopscotching through them looking for open hours rather than drink specials.

There's a universal feeling that we're all ready to get out of Cambridge, it's pretty and all, but we're running out of stuff to do (past going to pubs).  It'll be nice once exams are done and we're off to London!

Tonight we're all planning on eating at the Dining Hall at Trinity College (it's expensive, but looks like the Great Hall at Hogwarts).  Tomorrow we're going punting, which sounds exciting except for the possibility of capsizing. 

Classes are going well, my British professor has progressed from expressing mild disdain toward Americans to full on criticism of everything our government does.  This would be offensive if she were better informed, it's presently simply irritating. 

Parliament! London! Sleep Deprivation!

So here's how yesterday worked:

2 pm - get in taxi to go to train station.  We all are dressed up (quick note for the interest - high heels + cobblestones = excruciating pain).  We manage to get everyone in the cabs in time and navigate the very tricky machines.

2:15 - train heading to London.  Nice ride, a lot of the English countryside.  I find seeing livestock in foreign countries very comforting, for no apparent reason.

3:00 - get to King's Cross, get on tube to Parliament.  We end up being this big, obnoxious, American group completely overtaking a car of the Tube.  Locals hate us, children run in fear.  Basically, all we need is fannypacks, that's how obnoxious we are.

4:00 - meet a really cool MP (Member of Parliament) named either Edward Vaday or Vasay.  He talks to us for a while, answers our questions, THEN HE PERSONALLY TAKES US ON A TOUR OF PARLIAMENT.  Like, we get to go the the Floor of the House of Commons.  Which is basically unheard of, usually you see it from a partition miles away.  We were literally in there, right behind the party line's and we could see transcripts of the previous day's debates.  It was amazing.  Thank God I wore heels, can you imagine being in the House of Commons in flip-flops?!

6:00 - went to eat at a pub called the Eagle (it's a theme or something) near the Farringdon tube stop.  Cool place, I have a growing affection for pubs.  You can drink and actually see your drink.  They're fantastic for just being able to grab a beer (pint) without having to deal with any scene.  Also, you go to them in broad daylight without Society thinking you're an alcoholic.  They also have really good, greasy fries (chips).

8:30 - 11:15 - we go to an Aussie bar near Covent Garden (Tulane was nice enough to buy us day tube passes, so we took full advantage of them) called Walkabouts.  We met up with my friend from Fordham's friends who're studying in Paris and hung out with some locals.  The bar was fantastic, though I was confused by it shutting down at 11:15 (seems way too early).  Good for us though, because if we missed the midnight train to Cambridge, we'd be in trouble.

Midnight - get on train back to Cambridge.  Spend most of the ride with my friends arguing whether USC is a respectable football program (the two boys were sadly, sadly misinformed on this point).  Eventually, we are so loud, drunk and obnoxious (read: American) that the guy sitting next to us gets in the conversation, telling us that what we're saying doesn't matter, because rugby and any rugby team is infinitely superior to any American football team.  It's a lively debate, but eventually, we all agree to disagree (except for on the USC bit, round two will be tonight).

2 am - back at dorms, sleepytime.

9 am - classes.  Professors act confused at the fact that we went out in London.  They're either being facetious or naive.  Or both.  Depending on how much we drank (I didn't too much, largely due to the 3 hours of traveling with no access to a bathroom, as well as a sense of responsibility), we vary from looking exhausted to dead (I was closer to exhausted).  

We're now done with classes until Monday, so I've got a weekend of sleeping, recharging, outlining for my exams next weekend, and exploring Cambridge if the weather holds (fairly substantial if).

Cheers!

Interesting Cultural Observation: instead of men randomly referring to girls as "Cher," "Babe," "Darlin'," or "Dear" here, they call us "Luv."  It's funny and confusing at the same time.  It doesn't seem too bad when it's a guy you kinda know, but when it's a homeless guy selling papers, you're a little bit confused.

London Calling

Classes are good; for some reason, I find my trade law class fantastic.  No one else does.  Evidently, I'm weird.  One of the benefits of coming here not really knowing anyone is that I'm getting to meet a bunch of different kids from law school.  They're generally a good bunch, there's a group of boys that are definitely going to get arrested for doing something non-destructive and stupid.  I spend most of my time with a girl from Fordham and a girl from Puerto Rico.

It rains here all the time.  I've come to the conclusion that summers in Cambridge are essentially winter in Louisiana.  When it's sunny, it's beautiful; when it's rainy, you understand what was bothering Dickens and the Brontes.  I take turns missing my family, my friends, my dog, and my galoshes.

They're taking us to Parliament tomorrow; we're going on a tour of Parliament (evidently, this is quite a big deal) and generally just spending the afternoon in town.  Should be nice.

This afternoon, the Tulane/Cambridge group (all 14 of us) went to a pub called the Eagle to be social.  It was nice, though I'm not really okay with being in a bar at 4 in the afternoon.  On a Wednesday.  But still, it was my first pub experience on this trip.

I finally bought an umbrella, it's probably the best $8 I've ever spent (omg, these exchange rates are murdering me).  

Currently, I'm planning on hanging out around Cambridge this weekend.  Good weather has been promised (though I am skeptical) and I'll get some laundry done (in the launderettes, which resemble 14th century dungeons).  Given that next weekend will be the staggering combination of exams and getting myself and my 5 tons of luggage back to London to begin my next program, I'm rather inclined to take this weekend easy.  I must be getting soft in my old age.

Internet! Contact with the Outside World! Minor Victories!

Classes are good.  I'm in class from 9-1 and then have the rest of the day to do as I please.  My body is not quite used to the time zone I'm in, so I can't really go to sleep before 3 am.  I'm trying to hold off on going to too many pubs until I've started sleeping like a normal human.  Most of my classmates don't have that level of self control, so they look pretty rough at 9.

This evening I went to Evensong at the Chapel in King's College (it's kinda an abbreviated service with lots of singing by the Boy's Choir).  I spent most of the time in awe of the chapel/trying to figure out how to sneak pictures of the interior without getting caught.

Thursday we're being taken on a tour of Parliament!  Yay, London!  Everyone's making travel plans for the weekend, but I might be a lameass and explore Cambridge (it's pretty and I'm going to be doing all of the nearby traveling I want to in the next month).

I'm having bluetooth issues with my camera, so I'm currently unable to upload pictures.  As such, I am "borrowing" this picture of the gate of entry to Trinity College.

Still No Internet

I'm currently co-opting someone else's internet.   Trinity College Tech Support hates me, but we're still battling over my lack of ethernet.  

It rains here all the time; it's like New Orleans with proper drainage.  Trinity College is beautiful, England is fantastic, I'm well.

My classes are really cool, as are the students.  Pictures will be posted, more information will be given, the minute I beat down the computer guy.

Safely in Cambridge

After approximately 21 straight hours of travelling (the 3 hours asleep on the plane still count) and running over around 1000 people with my wheely suitcase of death, I am safely in Cambridge. It was a perilous and event-filled trek, which could rival the Odyssey in terms of suspense and drama, but I will record it when I'm not paying by the minute at a shady internet cafe (good area of town, but continues in the grand tradition of internet cafes in being a little bit dirty). I can't post pictures for the same reason, they will be included in my gripping telling of my journey to Cambridge.

First impressions: I have yet to meet a rude British person. They're fantastic. Some have basically taken me by the hand and shown me where to go (for reals). Cambridge is a really pretty cool little town (hamlet? village? I'm unclear). I really like it; it's kinda like Florence in that it's small and centrally located, but cleaner. The most obnoxious thing here (past the lack of internet!!!) is the tourists (particularly the German and Chinese, perhaps it's a cultural thing?).

I got mistaken for a local! The guy asked me directions and then he heard my accent and was disappointed.

I think I'm gonna have to cut this one short, I'm getting pretty tired (damn jetlag/time change/travelling for a solid day). I am safe, fed, capable of accessing the internet at least once a day, and glad to be here. I'll start communicating more regularly once I have the internet close to me.

Mission Statement

So, this is my method of keeping track of all of my stuff while I'm traveling.  Check back to see what I'm up to.