Day 38 - Roommmmaaaa

Day 38 - Well today sort of blurs in with yesterday because after a quick two hour nap last night we had to leave Seething Wells, say our goodbyes and head to the airport at 3:30AM wawawewa! Turns out my body is exhausted and is telling me to rest which is not exactly what I wanted to do when I'm in a place like Rome! My voice is almost gone and I'm just feeling congested, but hey I atleast know it will get better eventually.

Once we got into the airport we found our shuttle (which was such a great gift at this point because the last thing I felt like doing was carrying around my huge bag trying to figure out the metro and streets here...hallelujah!) and got to our B&B Bibi e Romeo's. This B&B is so great, it feels like we're just at someone's guest house or something...they greeted us with little pasteries and juice! Next Mary and I headed to find some food at this pizzeria which was really yummy! There were fellow Americans there who were really nice to talk to...the Italians though, not so nice to talk to! When we got back to our hotel I started reading some of my travel books and we took a nap...I'm glad we planned today as just a travel day and not a sightseeing day, not sure I could have handeled it!

Now that we're up from our naps, I think we'll get some dinner and then get some more sleep so we're well rested for our adventures tomorrow : )

Day 36 & 37 - Just when it's starting to feel like home...

It's crazy how fast this month has gone...it's been such a great experience, the Lord has totally provided for me in this trip and given me one of my heart's desires I've wanted since I can remember : ) Thanks Jesus! The hard part about doing this for a month is that it seems just as I'm getting to know people here we all have to leave each other. Mary and I keep talking about how this was our situation last summer as well, we only knew each other for about 3 weeks and then set off in our seperate directions but became the best of friends despite the distance. I hope this trip will produce another best friend like that despite the distance.

Day 36 - Yesterday I had class most of the day. We were talking about how Britain's pop culture like the Beatles, Sex Pistols, the Who and of course the Spice Girls (my personal fav!) all came from Britain and influenced America as well as alot of American bands influenced Britains pop culture seen. After that lecture we were given some time for lunch and study time before taking our final exam yikes! Not going to lie it was a bit tougher than expected but I think I did alright.

Later that night we headed to the Holiday Inn (yeaaa) for our farewell dinner...wait farewell dinner already? Yes folks I know, doesn't seem like it should be here already but like anything it came and went. The food was delicious and it was such a nice venue, surprising for it to be a Holiday Inn, but really it was great! There were a few speeches made by faculty and prizes for our photo frenzy pictures taken on one of the very first days we were here...sadly our flat didn't win : / Oh well, I still think we had some cool pics!

Flat mate pic!

Going miss these girls

Rooooommmmaaa! Ah Lisa, we'll always be sister : )

Afterwards we headed to our favorite hang out spot...Coronation Hall and enjoyed our last time hanging out there.

Day 37 - Today I had my last and final class yay! Although I think our professor expected to have class we all persuaded him to just tell us stories about his crazy trips to places like Napal and India and then let us out early...that was great!

A bunch of us all made lunch together with our leftover food and shared in memories from this past month as well as what our first impressions were of each other...the Lord definitely pointed out my judgemental side and humbled me in that. I'm thankful for that lesson and hope to be able to work on that : )

After lunch I took a nap and upon waking up packed all of my stuff...somehow everything isn't fitting quite as nicely as it did when I came here...uh oh! Now it's time for dinner and some more celebrating until we are being picked up from the dorms at 3:30 AM (I know, brutal right?!) and then off to Rome!

As sad as it is to be leaving here, Mary and I still have a whole other portion of our trip that I know will be great. It's just hard to leave our new friends, but I'm glad we have each other : )

Day 34 & 35 - Windsor and papers

Wow only 2 more days left of my program I can't believe it! On one hand I think about the first day and it seems so long ago and on the other I can't believe my month is almost over. It's kind of sad too because I'm just now getting to know people here, now it's time to leave them : ( But there's already talks of visits so hopefully that will actually happen!!

Day 34 - Yesterday I went to class for a couple of hours and talked about sports here in Britian like Cricket and Rugby...funny ones that aren't that popular in the U.S. Then a couple of us girls headed to Littly Italy to try there lunch special...one appetizer and an entree for 6.95 and it was good! And filled me up, I couldn't even finish it which is saying something ha

Quick photo shoot outside of Little Italy at the telephone booths

Next we decided to head to Windsor to see how the Queen lives in her Windsor Castle...unfortunately we traveled for an hour and a half and literally got there one minute too late to get tickets inside wa wa. Oh well, we got to see the outside and walk around Windsor a little bit which is a really quaint and nice town...I'd pick to live there too if I was the Queen. After heading back to Surbiton I had to start the long painful process of writing my last and final lit paper!!

Well...we got to see the outside of the castle : )

Day 35 - Today was a pretty relaxed day...we had class again for a couple of hours, talked about the Lonely Londoners which is about immigrants from the Caribbeans moving to London in the 50's. That book was actually interesting to me just to see how it was for them to immigrate and see their perspective...sounds like it was rough! After class I headed home to finish that long awful paper and good news...it's all finished!! Woo hoo! After Friday I'll have complete 2 whole classes which is pretty awesome! Oh and also, Mary and I got our scores back for our first paper of our lit class and we scored better than some of the English majors in that class...not to toot our own horns or anything but it really just goes to show we're much more capable than we think we are!

Tonight a couple of us went to Coronation Hall for some dinner and it was surprisingly delicious...they had tortilla chips yum yum! Now I'm back home and I have to get studying for my test that I have tomorrow...wish me luck!!

Days 30 - 33 Bonjour Paris!

Well I'm back from Paris although I could totally have used another day or two there because I loved it! Good news, our tour guide was great on this trip so that probably made a difference but I also fell in love with the city...here's what I did all weekend:

Day 30 - We headed to St. Pancras train station to catch the Eurorail train (which travels at 188 mph) to Paris! First things I noticed at the train station were "little gypsies" that our tour guide warned us about, crepe stations and lots of beautiful people. We tried our first bit of French words out at a sandwich shop in the station and it was fun! Bonjour! Au Revoir! Merci!


We hopped on a train to take a tour of the city which was great just to get the lay out of the city and a general feeling for it. We got to see buildings like the Opera house (where Phantom of the Opera is set), Military Academy where Napoleon is buried, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and of course the Eiffel Tower.

After a quick photo session at the Eiffel Tour we headed to our hotel which was great! Our tour guide gave us a quick walking tour of the area around our hotel so we would know where the train station was and where to find food. After getting a bite to eat we decided to take a quick nap to regain our energy.



Feeling more energized we ventured over to the Louvre...and to our great surprise people under 26 got in free that day! The Louvre is amazing and huge!!! We stopped to see Mona for a little bit, although she's much smaller than I would have guessed. After another photo session in front of the famous pyramids outside of the Louvre and then we were off to find somewhere to eat and headed back to the hotel. We decided to meet up with some of our other friends and have some wine by the river Seine which was such a good idea! The walk along the river and over some of the bridges was beautiful and I just felt so alive being there. It was a beautiful night out in Paris!!

Night on the river Siene with our New York girls Sabrina and Brittney!

Day 31 - We had breakfast at our hotel which consisted of yummy pasteries, packets of nutella (sort of like jelly packets) and coffee! Then we headed off to see Notre Dame which is on this island in the middle of the river Seine. The church is beautiful and of course we had to take a Hunchback picture...how could you not?! We learned a bit about the architecture of the building (which I find fascinating) and on top of the doors are intricate depictions of Jesus sitting in a chair and underneath him is a devil with scales which represents weighing people's souls. Then as the arch goes down on both sides there are happy looking people on top and they slowly fade into other gross looking creatures which symbolizes essentially that if you're good you'll be happy but if you're bad the devil will take hold of your soul...there's a light little piece of information for you! There was also the famous gargoils hanging on the sides...like I said it's so detailed! We got to go inside and look around and afterwards explore around the grounds...I misunderstood the time we were supposed to all meet up and turns out I was 15 minutes later than everyone else...so that was an embarassing and quite humbling moment for me!

Hunchbacks yaa!

Next we found our way to the river for our boat cruise. We passed through the Latin Quarters and also the bridge where Princess Diana's fatal car crash took place which was interesting to see. Our river cruise took us all along the Siene which is lined with famous sites and buildings...at the end we got a good sight of the Effiel Tower again. We also saw their "beaches" alongside the river which is basically just lawn chairs and some sand on the side of the river. Apparently the mayor decided to make these beaches because people are too busy to go on holiday so he decided to bring the beach to them!

Here are their "beaches" isn't it funny?!

Afterwards we tried going shopping in a part of town we heard was good for shopping but turned out to be a bust so we walked back towards the river to check out the little stands people have filled mostly with books but some had paintings and touristy things. We were so exhausted we went back to the hotel to take a nap.


Once recharged we headed to the Eiffel Tower to check it out at night...it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Such a cool sight to see! It was all lit up and every hour it would twinkle for five minutes or so and everybody would cheer, it was so fun! We decided to be like the French and have some wine, cheese and crackers while enjoying the beautiful backdrop of the tower at night...so nice to just relax and enjoy the epitome of Paris! A little later we hiked up the two floors to get some good views of the city...man were we high!

Here it is twinkling : )

Day 32 - This day was set for a trip to the Palace of Versailles where Louise XVI and Marie Antoinette lived. It was a huge place and most of the gates were covered in real gold leaf...it's unreal people lived in places like this! We toured around in it, probably my two favorite parts was the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's room which was covered in flower wallpaper, flower draperies and of course flower bedding.

Mer in the Hall of Mirrors

We had heard that this day was the end of the Tour de France which ends at the Champs Elysees in Paris so we thought heck, why not try to see it! So we headed over there to try and catch a glimpse of the cyclists and we did!! I know nothing about the Tour de France but it was a great experience to say I've been there at least once.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel quickly to change for dinner. Our tour guide proposed an idea the first night that for anyone that wanted to, we could all go to this restaurant for our last dinner in Paris in which you can choose from 3 options of an appetizer, entree and a desert along with unlimited wine, beer and soft drinks for 30 euros. Although that sounds steep it was totally worth it, it was probably the best food I've had in forever!! But we got a little lost getting there and ended up being 45 minutes late...not good. So although I stuffed myself, it was totally worth it to have a nice group dinner : )

After dinner with my friends Sam and Lisa

That night we decided to hit the town and go out for a little bit. It was a good time!


Day 33 - This morning we got to sleep in (yay!), enjoy breakfast and head back to London. Only 5 more days left of my program (that's so crazy!). This week is going to be packed...I still have another paper to write and more celebrating to do before we all part ways!

Day 28 & 29 - Mrs. Dalloway & Gurdwara

Day 28 - Once again, I had another literature class...woo hoo. Ha sorry I'll try to contain my unenthusiasm in this post! Ok so we had another class in which we talked about Mrs. Dalloway...this book was the inspiration for the movie The Hours, maybe you've seen that? The reason we read it is because it's set in London and the characters are in all different places around London so later in the day we went on a walking tour in London of where these characters would have been throughout London. Three hours later of walking...our class decided to quit early because we were all too tired, and it seemed pointless seeing as we never stopped or talked about where we were walking. But good news, I got to do a little shopping at Cath Kidston!!

Here we go people, this is about as exciting as our walk was!!

Meercats in London?! Niehgbourhood watch I guess!

Coming home Mary and I fell asleep on the train, it just rocks you to sleep it's amazing! I feel like a big baby on the train with my eyes slowly getting heavier and heavier until I wake up to finding my mouth wide open...woopsies!! But we decided to take our negative energy from class to good use by going out with our friends Lee and Jordan to Oceana. Of course we were mostly in the "cheese" room, which is apparently what they call the room with all of the cheezy music, the one I loved, and we danced the night away!!

Mer mer, me, Lee & Jordan

Moose in the Aspen room...I still think it's funny to have a room at a club themed after a ski lodge but hey the Moose was a fun picture prop!

Day 29 - This morning we headed to the west side of London to the Southall Sikh Gurdwara. People often refer to this part of town as "Littly India" because it has the highest proportion of Indian/Pakistani residents. We got to go inside of the Sikh's Gurdwara, their place of worship and hang out spot. We were welcomed with such hospitality and it was so neat because it felt like we stepped into their culture for an hour. We had to take off our shoes, they gave us these bandana type things to wear on our heads to cover them up and we got the chance to eat their food! Their religion is very interesting and they are all very devoted. I liked what our tour guide said, he said no matter what religion you are, we all have the same God and we are all of his creations. It just seems so simple when he puts it that way. Also they do alot of things on the floor like praying, meal times, etc. and that is a way to create equality throughout their culture and religion. I thought that was very interesting too.

Outside of the Gurdwara

Here are the bandana things we wore inside to cover our heads

Their culture is so different from ours and it is so distinct. The Sikh men, for the most part, were all wearing turbins around their head because they've never cut their hair ever and they have long beards and the woman are all dressed in beautiful saris. They were very welcoming and offered us their traditional food...see picture below. Despite its close appearance to baby food...it actually was really good! Seeing their culture made me think about what it would have been like had I grown up in their culture, it just seems like most of who you are comes from where you grew up...ya know?

I swear it's not as bad as it looks!

Afterwards we headed back to class for lecture and discussion. The theme of today was about Britain being a multi cultural place. From what I learned today, Britain seems to be well adapted to the various cultures that preside in the city, although it may have been like pulling teeth at some points nonetheless, Britain has adapted quite well simply because multiple generations now have lived in London so they, as well as English people are much more integrated together.


Tonight I worked on homework and got all packed and ready to leave for Paris tomorrow morning at 5 am! Ouch that's going to be early! I'm not counting on having internet so I won't be able to post...check around Monday or Tuesday to hear about my adventures in Paris...Bonjour!

I just wanted to say thanks...

I've really been blessed through this trip and through writing this blog because of those of you who are supporting me while I'm on this wonderful journey : ) It makes me so happy to hear that you have been reading my blog and better yet I've gotten comments that you actually like it yay!! I just appreciate you taking time to see what I've been up to, emailing me to see how my little heart is doing and sending me mail that lights up my face when I come home to see it slipped under my door. I feel the love and support right now and thought you should know that your words and time of thinking of me mean alot to me so THANK YOU!!

Day 25, 26 & 27 - more adventures!

Day 25 & 26 - I haven't written over the past couple of days because I didn't do anything too big worth commenting...I got to sleep in (praise Jesus!), worked on alot of homework (papers, yuck!), went to class and went grocery shopping! Last night was pretty fun though, we went to a local pub and heard live bands playing although these bands were made up of really old men...one guy looked like Blue from Old School, but still entertaining none the less.

Day 27 - Today gave me much more to update you on! It was an early morning start when we made our way into London amongst everyone going to work in their very nice professional get up (still wondering what all of these people do because there's so many of them who are dressed that way!) and we ended up at Parliament.

It was hard to grasp the realness of getting to tour Parliament because their government system is completely different than ours but somebody related it to touring the Capitol building or the White House, so it was really cool. We got to see inside of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which is where people lobby for bills to be passed, vote for them and ultimately make them laws. We got to see where the Queen gets dressed for when she comes into Parliament and where she does all of her business. It was really neat to go there too because people, like the MPs (Members of Parliament), similar to our senators, were working there so they'd just be zooming past us, walking around us, and just doing their days worth of work while we were touring their offices basically! The inside of Parliament is just like anything else here, extravagant and over the top a little bit but all the while filled with rich history. We couldn't take any pictures inside so sorry! But we did get these cool badges with our pictures on them for when we were on the tour...I kept mine even though we weren't supposed to...rebel, I know!

Uh ya, I'm an MP now, no big deal or anything! ; )

Next we got some lunch at Covent Garden Market...I got another crepe yummy! Then we headed to Greenwich for the another part of our class field trip. Greenwich is known for a few things which I learned today: it is the place for the Royal Naval Academy, Henry VIII was born here as well as two of his daughters, and the Meridian line is here so we were on 0 degrees longitude! I can officially say I have been in two hemispheres at the same time!

Here is a view of the Royal Naval Academy

Standing on the Meridian line! Two hemispheres at once!

0 0' 0"

We were feeling pretty exhausted at this point, so we decided to pick up a mcflurry (they're different then in the U.S., it's a shame I know but they still do the job) and headed over to see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We had to meander through the streets to find it but we discovered some great views of the river, a pirate ship (what?) and some great little pubs along the way...after a Strongbow by the river we headed to take a look at the theatre that is so famous. It was what I thought it'd be (thanks to Shakespeare in Love), a little smaller actually but it was nice and quaint.

Here's a view of the stage

We started our trek (I keep calling it that because it sometimes can feel like a trek after changing the tube 3 times, finding the right train home and then walking the last stretch to our dorms) and I was home once again...today was exhausting! But I love this class because it takes us to places I never would have thought about or been able to go to on my own...so thanks British Culture & Society!

Day 24 - Tower of London, St. Paul's & Museum of London

Today was a packed day of sightseeing! We wanted to be able to leave London in two weeks knowing we got to see everything we had wanted to and more...so today was another step closer to that. We started off at the Tower of London. It's this great big midevil castle that one of the kings lived at (I've lost track at this point!) but more notably today it holds the crown jewels! We toured around the different towers there, one thing I thought was really cool was on the walls there were inscriptions from prisoners who had been there, and they're still preserved there today! Some famous prisoners who were locked up there and some who were ultimately beheaded, mostly the ones who were in some relation to Henry VIII (2 of his wives, Thomas Moore, and others). But I also learned they did this in the tower to save the monarchy embarassement because usually an execution was a big spectator sport, gross huh?! We toured around the crown jewels, they wouldn't allow photography but it wouldn't have captured their glittering ways, that is for sure! We also got to see a video of Queen Elizabeth's coronation ceremony which took place in 1953! She was so young then! These jewels are so ornate though, it kind of blows my mind that these are real.

Guards protecting the jewels...two thumbs up for them!

View of the Tower Bridge from the Tower of London


Next we headed over to St. Paul's to actually go inside of it although they didn't allow photography wa wa. So I havent' seen the Vatican yet but this felt like it could be the Vatican's cousin or something because it was massive and the inside was beautiful, there were statues everywhere and the walls were covered with art. We decided to make the trek up the 530 stairs to the top of the dome...it was tiring and a little nerve racking because the stairs got smaller and steeper! But it was absolutely worth it because we got amazing views of the city!!

Me, holding on for dear life!

Awesome view right?!

Tiny stairs...these ones weren't even that bad either compared to the ones at the very very top!

Afterwards a few of us headed to the Museum of London. It was already 5 by that point and it was closing at 6 so we got to look arond the bottom floor of the museum which was awesome! I might have to go back when I have some more time to see the rest of it!

That night I got coaxed into going out again...kind of a big deal for me! But figured why not since this is technically our last weekend here in London since next weekend I'll be in Paris and then the following weekend is the end of our trip here in London...crazy! But it was another load of fun...I met these two British girls who were awesome! I hit it off more with them than people in my own program, but I figured maybe this will give me a really good reason to come back to London, to visit my new friends who actually live here! Hopefully we'll get to hang out with them again while we're here : )

Day 23 - Sherlock Holmes

Today we had our literature class again. Notice the lack of enthusiasm when I say this. After the first part of our class which was mainly just discussing Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle's antics in writing Sherlock we headed out to London to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Another riveting museum from this class again...I know you can't actually hear my voice but this is when you'd hear my sarcasm again. What the museum is, is Sherlock's house, but seeing that Sherlock is a fictional character, it was basically a house with things in it Sherlock might have had in his house had he been a real person. Although entertaining for maybe twenty minutes, it seemed to have taken longer to get out to London and get back than it did to actually be in the museum.

Did I mention they had wax figures of some of the characters in Sherlock's stories?! Here's Mary with the Man with the Twisted Lip...funny huh?

But what kind of made up for it was that the Baker St tube station that we got off at to go to the museum did have Sherlock pictures all over the tile, and there were little Sherlocks that made up one big Sherlock (see pictures below), so I did feel at least like I was participating in some London fun! Still though, we have to talk to our teacher about these museums we go to!

That night we decided to go out with some of our other fellow study abroad friends to this place called Oceana. It was such a blast! This place is crazy there were probably 8 different rooms (I don't think I even went in all of them) but there was a room for every different person. My particularly favorite room played pop/dancy music...here's some of the songs/artists we danced to in that room to give you the picture: Walking on Sunshine, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and MJ (my personal favorite!) Another room was more typical club type of music/dancing and then there was one room called Tokyo and another one called Aspen (funny how they turn CO into a night club room...seemed odd to me!) Overall a great night!

Day 22 - Stonehenge & Bath

Today was much much better than yesterday, praise Jesus! I had an early morning rise to catch a bus to Stonehenge which was about two hours away from Kingston. Upon even driving up to it it is amazing! Pictures that you see just don't capture it. Our professor was talking on the bus before we actually got there about how prehistoric Britains made this monument and it is just incredible how they dug these huge holes for these rocks that weigh tons and then what's even more amazing it how they got the stone on top of each other...I still don't understand how they did it! By the way, this monument is older than the pyramids too...cool huh?!

We spent about an hour just walking around Stonehenge taking in every view, which every view is so different.

It was windy!!
Afterwards we headed to Bath which was about another hour away. We journeyed through the country side which was beautiful but so different from Scotland. Some of my new friends from Kansas commented how it looked alot like Kansas. I just pictured what I know of the countryside from Pride and Prejudice and it was spot on.

Once we arrived in Bath I discovered one of my favorite places here so far (mom, you'd love this place!). There were flowers everywhere, hanging from the lightpoles, covering the ground and in pots on staircases. But what's more well known for the city of Bath is the Roman Baths that are there and the natural hot springs they found there. It was amazing to walk around a city that still looks and feels like it did when the Romans were here.

We went on a walking tour and learned a few things about the architecture in Bath...there are many rules they have about building there. First of all people can't build modern looking buildings, also every building has to be made out of the same stone so it all looks uniform. We learned about a famous architect, whose name I can't remember now but he built these crescent buildings that people now live in and that go for alot of money apparently! They are quite amazing to see, they're very different from any building I've ever seen.

We went into a Fashion Museum and we were two days early for the opening of the Princess Diana dress collection which I was bummed about...maybe I'll have to go back!

Afterwards we headed to the Roman Baths to get a look at what the Romans were all going crazy after! It was very cool to see them, the water is naturally at 120 degrees and has something like 42 different kinds of minerals in them. Back then they thought the water had healing powers and would do great things for your health if you bathed in them...not sure about that, but it's possible I suppose! We also got to taste the water served in their restaurant which did not taste that good but it was cool to drink water from a natural hot spring, and to drink it in front of the Roman Baths!

Jump in brother bear!!
We had some free time to play around the city with. We (Gucci man and the Spice Girls again :P) mostly walked around the shops and we got to go inside the Abbey (pictured below) which is in the heart of the city square. They also had these lions and pig statues throughout the city decorated in all different patterns and colors...random but cool!! It's absolutely beautiful in Bath, I wish we had more time there but we had a three hour bus ride home so we had to get going home. Also our internet is getting shut off for the weekend because of work they have to perform on it so if you don't hear from me that's why!!