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.