This past week has been full of events and not much down time. The result: another long blog to keep you all updated and a lot of stress on my part.
A week ago classes started. Three out of the four I am registered for seem manageable and the other, well that's still up for debate. I have nine weeks of class left and eight papers to write in that amount of time. The class I am most worried about is called: The History and Analysis of Paint. In the past, this class was reserved for HAM students only. HAM students are History of Art students that have a background in chemistry and specialize in doing things such as analyzing paints. I, on the other hand, am behind even the other affiliate History of Art students because I am still technically a second year. By the end of this course I am supposed to be able to tell the difference between different pigments of colors. So far we have been introduced to 3 different blues and 3 different reds. I'm in for a challenge!
I'll stop complaining about classes and get to the more interesting part that whoever may be reading this blog will be more interested in.
Last week Tuesday was the last blog that I posted. Like always, a lot of stuff has happened between then and now. I attended all of my classes, did homework for the first time in months, and tried to talk to various people from home during the week.
On Thursday night, a couple of my friends and I went to the London Eye. This is a huge ferris wheel that takes about a half hour to complete a spin. It overlooks the Thames River as well as Parliament, Big Ben, and many other attractions. You can see almost the whole expanse of London, however, like usual the weather was foggy/cloudy and visualization was down. It was a very interesting ride and the view was incredible, however, I would probably not recommend the London Eye for I don't really think it was worth the price.
After the Eye, we went out to eat and then proceeded to travel to Camden Town. There was an awesome pub/bar there called the Flowerpot. People there were dressed in vintagey clothes and all having a pretty good time.... But that's not what was so great. After a few short minutes of being there, the music changed and songs by Prince, the Jackson Five, and other singers from that era came on and my friends and I started dancing. We were kind of doing our own thing until some crazy Italian man got on the dance floor and got everyone else in the pub up and ready to rock. Those songs lasted awhile and we didn't think the night would be getting any better, but we were wrong. Folk music began blasting over the speakers and the crazy Italian grabbed my arm and started spinning me around the room. We stayed at the pub until 1 AM when it closed, and then ventured to the bus stop that was right in front of the "Jews for Jesus" building. I still haven't found out what they do in that building...
Friday was pretty uneventful. I again ventured to Camden Town to find a pair of boots that I have been wanting since I got to London. It seems everyone wears boots here. The shopping trip was a success and I was ready for that night. A guy from my group, Alonzo, and his friend, Stefan came over to my flat to chill for awhile before we went out to the Union (the student union has a two floor pub, very different from American schools!). At the Union, we were joined by Reid, another guy from CIEE and Stefan's twin, Thomas. We hung out at the pub for quite some time and discussed music and various other topics. As we were leaving the Union to go to a bigger student union, Alonzo was walking with me down the stairs. He told me not to fall and I looked at him with a dumb expression and said that I wouldn't. Just after I said that I tripped on the edge of a landing and fell down the stairs. How wonderful! The rest of the night went pretty much like the first part and ended with me having huge blisters on the back of my heels from walking around in my new fabulous boots.
Saturday Alonzo, Stefan, Thomas, and I left our area of town and ventured to St. Paul's Cathedral. We had every intention of climbing to the top until we saw that there was a 10 pound admission fee. Thinking that this was very expensive we left. As we exited the doors, I noticed that they read something like "This is the gateway to Heaven". I didn't know I was required to pay a 10 pounds to enter Heaven. I guess that's Catholics for you! JUUUUST KIDDING.
After St. Paul's we went out for lunch. I had my first try at fish and chips and was in love. Afterwards we ventured across the bridge that was seen in the fifth Harry Potter movie. I forget what it's called :s we walked around for some time, saw a lady who looked like the queen, and ended up at Tate Modern. Again, I was in love with so much of what I saw there, but instead of being by myself, I was with a few crazy guys that made me laugh nonstop. I'm pretty sure everyone at Tate Modern that day hated us...
Sunday was a beautiful and SUNNY!!!! day. I went out with some girls (plus Reid) to Hyde park to watch people talk in the Speakers Corner. We came across some craaaazy lady that is apparently pretty famous there and has been speaking her mind for 30 years. A crowd had gathered around her and this is the view that she was trying to get across: she believes that no one should leave the place where her god intended them to be. For example: her god gave Indian people India and so they should stay there. She said that people who moved from where her god intended them to be were worthless and served no purpose to anyone. She also said intermarriage between people from different areas was wrong. As you can tell, she was extremely racist and no one liked what she had to say. She got into arguments with everyone that tried to challenge her, which turned out to be an impressive number.
After the speakers corner, we decided to walk around the park. This park is over 620 acres and was a welcome relief to the city. I realized that I missed fall in Iowa, but decided that this beautiful park would have to do. There was a wonderful pond that my friends and I sat at and watched the ducks and geese swim and bicker. It was a brilliant afternoon and I was very happy that I took time to enjoy it.
Sunday night and Monday were filled with trying to concentrate on homework, but constantly being distracted by making plans to visit Greece and Italy. Facebook was also a big distraction.
Tonight is the soccer (football) game, England v. Montenegro. My friends and I are painting our faces and getting really excited! However, four hours of class await me first. Too bad I have to go to school here. Life would be much more glamorous without it :)
I hope that all of you are well and I can't wait to see all of you when I return home! And Stefan, I mentioned you by name this time so I hope that makes up for last time when I shoved you under the category of "British friends." :)
Love,
Lorinda
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