Almost a Waste of a Month

Being sick is no fun. Being sick in London, where you have to get adjusted to socialized healthcare and have no mother to take care of you is especially no fun.

I feel like March has been an absolute waste. Almost immediately after coming back from Amsterdam, I went to work on a screenplay for my scriptwriting class and a 2,000 word paper for my Gender, Race and Empire class. On Saturday I had a very tame, but very lovely day. Eissell and I went to the Tate and I could have easily spent hours in front of the Picasso paintings. I saw some other delightful works, like "Forgotten Horizon" by Dalí and this odd piece called "Forget Me" by Portuguese artist Julao Sarmento that had the words of Foucoult plastered on it. Later on we met up with Lakshman and got delicious Indian Burritos (Just don't call them that...but that's essentially what they were) and then some lovely dessert at the Patisserie Valerie.

Shortly after, I found myself with a severe sore throat and a case of strep unlike I had ever experienced before. It took me days to finally realized this was serious, and once I got on the antibiotics it took about 24 hours for them to kick in. During that time I found myself getting even worse, so I rushed off to the clinic again and waited to get advice about how this was normal and it would go away once the antibiotics kicked in. Oh God.

Finally felt normal by my birthday, although not normal enough to celebrate my 21st exactly how I wished but oh well. I still had lots of fun. Over the weekend I unfortunately had to essentially learn all of Old English, but had an adventure with Elaine basking in the lovely sun and attempting to get some studying done.

Monday after rewarding myself for all the hard work I put into the test (haha) I went shopping on Oxford St. and found one of the only Chipotles in London hurrah! Later on in the evening, I got a lovely surprise from my friends. I was lured to Elaine's flat under the pretension that we would watch Harry Potter with pints of Ice Cream. Instead, I was wonderfully surprised with a cake and candles and lots of wine and cider. I can honestly say I had no idea, and I had a really nice time.

Tuesday was the Spanish boat party on the Thames. We were lost for a little, but there's really no better place to be lost than on the Victoria Embankment with such lovely views of South London across the Thames. Finally we found the party, and of course I danced and there was some Bachata to dance to. I met lots of lovely people and cooled down outside on the top of the boat when things got too sweaty downstairs (or got a drink spilled on me yuck!). I was very proud of myself: I managed to dance and keep my 5 inch platforms on the whole time.

Unfortunately, I got sick again so here I am now wasting away a Saturday in London in hopes that I get better soon.

Next week will be better. Also, I just finalized my plans to go to Amsterdam(yes, again, but only for one day) Paris and Barcelona with the lovely Jessica Rosenbaum. Jess is coming to Europe yayy!!!

xoxo

Amsterdam

First off, incredible city. I'm sorry I didn't look more into studying abroad in Amsterdam because I never wanted to leave! Oh well, I guess I'd be saying the same about London if I had gone to school somewhere else.

First stop: Anne Frank House
Probably the best thing I did in Amsterdam, by far. And one of the most extraordinary exhibits I've ever seen in my life. We only had to wait in line for 30 min, and the exhibit worked it's way from the main hall, the warehouse and the offices, until we finally got to the landing with the movable bookcase. I think I almost cried (the first of many, many times). We then crawled up the narrow stairs (all the staircases were frightfully narrow!) into the bedrooms of Otto, Edith and Margot and then Anne and Fritz. Otto Frank wanted the house to be preserved just as the Nazi's had left it...sparse and destroyed. There were still a few pictures of the movie stars Anne had hung up in her bedroom, but many appeared to have been ripped off. At the end of the exhibit there were interviews with Otto Frank, Miep and one of Anne's childhood friends that she re-connected with in the concentration camp. I have to say at one point during the tour, when I noticed most of the people were gone from the room, I put my nose up to the window and tried to breath in the fresh air, just as I remember Anne Frank writing about in her diary.

Eissell and I walked back to the hostel, soaking up the delightful atmosphere of Amsterdam (and sun!). I couldn't get enough of the quaint, crooked 17th century canal houses! Then we spent the rest of the evening at the bar at the hostel, meeting some new people.

Next day we went to the Rijksmuseum, which I have to say I was not too impressed with. I loved the few Vermeers I saw (esp. The Milkmaid) but discovered I'm not much of a fan of Rembrandt, which the museum prominently features. Then we ventured off to the Leidesplein, stumbled upon Vondelpark on the way (our Central Park) and what would you know, it started to snow! We had some dutch pancakes (which were scrumptious) and eventually headed back to the hostel, where I enjoyed myself in the smoking room and then headed back out to some bars.

Third and Final Full day we started off my doing a marvelous (free!) walking tour of Amsterdam that included everything from The Red Light District and facts about pot to why the houses are crooked (they're all built on marshland that settles after 100s of years) and showing us the original building of the Dutch East India Company and the Old Jewish quarter. After the delightful tour, we went to our next and final hostel which was on a boat. A bit smelly and very cramped, but cozy all of the same. I then headed off on my own to the Van Gogh museum, which I enjoyed so much more than the Rijksmuseum. I've alwayed liked Picasso, but I absolutely feel head over heels in LOVE with him here. They had a special exhibit on him and his life in Paris, and focused on his transition from the blue period to the rose period. I enjoyed the Van Gogh's a lot too, but I have to admit, not as much as the Picassos!

Then back to the boat hostel, where I fell asleep for over 3 hours and missed heading out to the coffee house with some new friends (oh well) and then walked around with Eissell in the fog to soak up our last night in Amsterdam, finished off with some deliciously greasy noodles mmmmm.

And back in London I am!

This is so bad I don't even know where to begin...

I know, I know. Horrible. It's been practically 20 days since my last post. Pathetic! But, you know, last week I was horribly sick and then this week I had a paper to write and extra school work. Finally get a breather this week. It's something called reading week, and we get the whole week off.

So lets do a brief summary, shall we?

Friday 2/4: Flat party in flat 4. A mix of brits and Americans and we ended up playing kings...

Saturday 2/5: Started off the day by myself at the Tate Britain. Fell in love with Turner and his painting "The Parting of Hero and Leander." Walked around, cleared out my brain basically. London is wonderful for long walks and thinking. Then Charity Salsa dance partay. Got some lessons, and some dances in me and watched Arsh do his own Salsa moves...fun indeed, minus the pricey and lacking-of-much alcohol drinks.

Sunday: Just being lame and studying/being all homesicky

Monday - Friday: Sick, sick, sick! Could barely get out of bed it was horrid.

Saturday: Gloucester Cathedral (an old Cathedral with that dates back to 678! And parts of Harry Potter were filmed here...), Symonds Yat Rock which offered a lovely view of Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean (yes, the forest where Hermione, Ron and Harry run from death eaters!), then off to the ruins of the monastery Tintern Abbey which was breathtaking. I understand why Romantics such as Wordsworth and Turner found such beauty in it. With the sun shining behind it and the soft English landscape contrasting with the dramatic sharpness of the ruins, it was completely breathtaking. Then went to a Flat parts to meet up with Arsh with Eissell and Gabriel, but a group of people ended up going to the club so it ended up being an early night.

Sunday(2/13): Not worth noting, honestly

Monday: Valentines day walk with Eissell and Lakshman through Victoria park and an East End neighborhood with loads of graffiti. Valentines date with Laskhman at Nandos and free screening of The Apartment with Eissell and Elaine. Then virtual date with the far away man.

Tuesday - Thursday: Being a good student and working on my paper

Friday: Girl day shopping on Oxford st. First stop Primark which is essentially like the Target of London just with more clothes. I bought three dresses, but only one of them fits so I'll return the others. The one that does fit me...well...I'm having some issues with how my womanly bits look in it. Then went to Topshop but luckily didn't purchase anything. Also went to Dorothy Perkins and bought a BEAUTIFUL white short dress with a peter pan collar and tiny black hearts on it. Also stopped by boots, etc...

Saturday: On my way to the Museum of London got lost and stumbled upon the poet William Blake's grave in a hidden graveyard. Then finally found my way to the Museum of London and had an excellent time. History of London from pre-roman to current times? I definitely hit the jackpot. Then girl night with Elaine and lots of chit chat and chocolate

Sunday(today, 2/20): Petticoat Lane market and tons of cheap clothes (even topshop! oh my...) and bought a book bag for my travels for 13 pounds (Elaine helped me haggle hehe). Then I FINALLY went to Brick Lane and saw all the amazing vintage stops and saw loads of girls dressed all hipstery and loved it. Also got cheap filling food at the markets. I need to hit up one of those legit Indian places though. Award winning curry? yum. Then later on a failed attempt to do yoga with Elaine, Eissell and Ilka. We gave up when Janki came home and we decided to drink some rum and wine and dance a little Batchata (well how could we not Eissell and Elaine were there after all!) and a bit of Indian dance with Janki. And learned the German toast from Ilka: Prost!

All in all, definitely loving London. Homesickness comes and goes. But I'm here, I need to embrace it, and I absolutely adore London.

Also, heading to Amsterdam on Tuesday! Cannot wait. The Anne Frank museum is one of my first stops.

And this is completely my new favorite British song it's getting played everywhere:

Bruh

Well. I feel guilty for not constantly writing in my blog. Every time I finally log on and check up on it, I get this sudden pang of guilt. But then I think, well I'm in London and it's really all about the experiences right?

The only thing is, I can barely recall what happened a week ago so how on EARTH will I be able to remember my experiences years from now?

Friday night essentially an epic fail. I got all dressed up and headed to New Globe with Eissell to meet up with Lakshman who had plans to meet up with a group of people at a club in London. Well, apparetly Lakshman's 30 min nap turned into hours of sleeping so Eissell and I ended up just getting a drink and going home.

Saturday I went to Barclay's one last time to find out my visa looks like I'm a regular visitor and not a tourist. Ugh. Then went into central London with Lakshman to the student protest taking place against the tuition increases, funding cuts and to bring back EMA which gives money to college students. Funny, the chants are the same in London as they are in the United States. What was amazing though was marching up to Parliament and thinking wow, how incredible to be fighting for something right in front of such a beautiful and powerful landmark. Lakshman and I then headed over to the Egyptian embassy with some other protestors, but when the cops came with helmets we decided to leave.

We embarked on a journey that took us to the lovely London markets. I absolutely had the best time and bought the most delicious Dutch cheese and cheap fruits. I also had one of the most amazing slices of Pizza in my life. Woops, did I just say that? Sorry NY but this pizza almost came close to Di Faro's (I'm a little ashamed to admit that, but oh well)

Then fun, laid back night at New Globe. Again.

Sunday boring...studying.

Monday night, after running into Gabriel when I went downstairs to get Lakshman we all went up to Eissell's room and listened to music. We eventually decided to go to Drapers, the bar on campus and met up with the lovely Elaine and Janki. Lots of Brits yes!

Tuesday night is when things get interesting. Decided to go to a Student night out for all London Uni students. The club was somewhere in London by Tower Bridge and inside this magnificently old, glorious building. I had a very fun time dancing, I needed it. Also had an adventure trying to find the night bus that goes back to Queen Mary(because the tube shuts down after 12 ugh lame). Thank God I was with some Brits who knew where they were going!

Wednesday just school and more boringness. Today I went for a walk in Victoria park with is about 5 min away from me. Discovered a really awesome (but pricey) hipster-ish cafe in a hipster-ish neighborhood. I stole Lakshmans yummy eggs and had a brownie and tea yum!

This Is Becoming A Trend...Friday 1/21- Today, Tues. 1/25

Hello again Folks! Let me continue....

Friday I went out with Eissell, Lakshman, Gabriel and these two other girls. The plan was to go to a Salsa club because apparently they're very popular in London and I needed to get my inner Hispanic out...ahem. Eissell went over some Salsa moves with me beforehand, as I had not danced Salsa since early December with Edgar, who would essentially just tell me what to do and I did it, not really thinking about it much. But the night turned into an Epic Fail...well, the first half of the night at least. The "Salsa" club we turned up at ended up not being a Salsa club at all, but just a Cuban themed, very crowded bar you needed to reserve a table at. And the people were mostly professional youngins in their late 20's. Not really my scene, sorry. So we all decided to venture to Soho, where there are tons of bars.

We get to Soho, and make our way to Leicester Square. We find this one bar. The first bad sign is that when I go over to make my drink order, some young guy not-so-discreetly gives me a full body check out, and asks someone I was with what my name was, or something along those lines. Oh gosh. So I order my drink that turned out to be more expensive than I bargained for and jetted up the stairs. Still not too impressed, it was mostly late 20's people again who look like they had a bit of money. So we leave, and try to find a cheap bar. But the first bar won't let me in because I don't have my actual passport with me, only an ID. So then we're walking...and walking...and walking and trying to find a cheap place to eat that suits everyone's needs, vegetarian or otherwise (for the record, I wasn't the only vegetarian so it's not my fault!) Pure desperation set in, so we decided on Maoz. Yeah, I know they have them in NY too but it's cheap, filling and totally veggie so it was worth it, esp. because how cold it was!

After that, Eissell, Lakshman and I parted ways with Gabriel and the two girls, who were going back to Drapers, our on campus bar (yes, our campus has a bar) while the three of us hit up some gay bars. We found a really cool one where everyone was very friendly, only joked about me not getting in but in reality weren't uptight and didn't care that I only had a copy of my passport. They also complimented Eissell's hair and the drinks were super cheap and super yummy. And of course, I get to sit down without creepy men giving me a way too forward up and down checkout.

Saturday was more exploring. We attempted to have our Harry Potter time, but by the time we actually figured out where we were going it was 3:30. And then we kept on walking and getting lost down all the tiny alleyways! Finally at about 5 we found what we were looking for: an alleyway that's supposed to be Diagon Alley. Once we got there, I remembered that the last time I was in England I had stumbled upon this as well, but not on purpose. But I remember thinking wow, this REALLY could be Diagon Alley. And there I was again! It was a spot on the Harry Potter tour I downloaded off the internet. After that, we decided to have desert before dinner and we got delicious cake and hot chocolate and a lovely dessert place. Then we walked to Millenium Bridge, where there was a stunning view of St. Pauls and I exclaimed, "This is why I'm in London!" It was beautiful. We then go inside the Tate just for curiosity's sake as it was free and end up on the 7th floor bar where there were views of the Thames, Millenium Bridge and St. Pauls.

More walking and searching for an old Bar. The first one we walk into is unfortunately not the old bar we were looking for but I decided to have a pint anyway. I deserved it after all that walking! After asking someone they gave us directions to what we were looking for: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, apparently the oldest bar in London. The sign said it was "rebuilt" in 1667. How marvelous! We go inside just in time as we were the last people to be served dinner. Our waitress was Australian and very nice. I got a cheese and bread and salad plate with this yummy purple stuff on the side, and the house Cider. It was all delicious! Lakshman got the cheese tart, which was divine and Eissell the Leak Soup. Inside was so old looking, and I swear I could feel the thousands of souls who have walked through that place before me! The bar was dimly lit, all wooden from the tables to the benches to the floor and there was an actual fire place going. There was also saw dust on the floor, and a sign above the bar that said "Only gentlemen served in the bar". It was a lot of fun, and we met this women who had been living in Britain for years but she was actually from New York too! Brooklyn to be exact. What a small world.

Sunday I run errands and catch up on Old English at the Library. Monday is basically just as quiet, and I re-watch episode of The Secret Diary of a Call Girl (it's my guilty pleasure and takes place in London). Today, more of nothing basically. Just school and taking naps and getting mad at Barclays.

Yeah, I still don't have an account set up even though I applied about a week and a half ago.

Tomorrow, more London adventures. I'm getting (once again) my inner dork on.

Last Sat. 1/15 to Today Thurs. 1/19 Part II

I know, I know. I'm almost a week behind. But I will catch up soon I promise!

Right. Monday was a lovely day, a mixture of both historical site seeing and actually being social at night. It started off with my Intro to Old English class, which was a bit daunting but I think (hope?) now I'm starting to get the hang of it. Then I left to go searching for obscure texts for my Gender, Race and Empire class including the novella Oroonoko by Aphra Behn and The History of Mary Prince by Mary Prince. Well, I decided if I was heading out to London might as well make a proper trip out of it so I chose a book store in Cheapside, London. I especially wanted to go there because in Pride and Prejudice that's where Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner live, and Jane visits them there when she's all heartbroken about Mr. Bingley. So I walked around and saw old buildings and wonderful architecture. It took me FOREVER to find the book shop though, and when I did what would you know...they didn't even have my books. But I spent a good 15 min looking at a book of Keats' letter to Fanny Brawne. Ah, Romance.

So then I went to location b) in search of another bookshop. It was by Kings College, and the area here was lovely as well. But before I could look for the book shop, I got distracted by the buildings and streets ahead of me and ventured off. I discovered the British Royal Courts, which were just down the block from my Tube stop, the brilliant Victoria Embankement, which is right on the River Thames looking over at the Tate and the London Eye. I also saw some great, majestic buildings and truly felt immersed in the essence of London. I then came across a rather shabby looking sign for a Roman Bath. Even though the entryway was deserted and small and dark, I ventured forth anyway because my curiosity got over my common sense (dark alleyways tend to be a big no no when you're a female and by yourself). But alas! I am here and well. I didn't actually see the Roman Bath, the sign told me to peel through this window and I did but the windows were so fogged up I could barely see through them!

So finally after this, I decided to get serious about finding the book shop. But I never found it. After walking around for twenty more minutes, and finally locating the exact street it should have been down, I discovered it no longer exists. So much for being old fashioned and using books as your guide rather than what most people use, the internet.

I then went back home, and got ready to go out and meet Michell for some drinks as it was his last night there. We walked and chatted and drank a bit and then went on an adventure outside of central London to a very lovely Suburban area where Michell's friend needed to drop off some luggage. It was a gorgeous street, and if it hadn't been so dark and rainy I would have taken a picture. After suddenly realizing that it was 10:20, I said my farewells and darted out of there because I realized I was super late for a video date with Edgar. And it took me about an hour to get back home oh goodness!

Tuesday I ran into a minor crisis when I thought I lost my laptop (someone returned it to the English office the next day) but Eissell and Lakshman were there to make me feel better and then later that evening we all went to Meds which is this cheap diner type place nearby that serves breakfast all day. I got the veggie English breakfast of course! Can't get enough of those...

Wednesday and Thursday pretty low key, I wrote some postcards and had some much needed ME time : )

Last Sat. 1/15 to Today, Thurs., 1/19 Part I

It's been a few days, so I'm planning on breaking up the posts into a part I and part II. Like? OK here it goes.

Saturday: BIG TOURISTY DAY. Kinda.

I got off to a late start...finally caught up on some sleep. The lovely Eissell decided to wake up on Sat around 9ish..., waited a few hours, and then decided to take a nap. Girl didn't emerge from her room until 3. I love her. So while that was going on, I needed to work out some bank issues, which ended up in some complications and money transfered from the US but everything worked out in the end. After that, Eissell and I met up with Sarah, another US student studying at Queen Mary. And off into London we go! Except woops wouldn't you know it I was having issues with my Oyster card because I wasn't sure how to get my student discount and there was some lady yelling at the teller and then the machines weren't taking my money and ohmygosh we must have been in the station for at least 30 min. Sorry!

Well, after that mess we went to the British Museum. We only had about an hour and a half to explore but seeing as it was free we didn't mind. We went to the Egyptian section and saw lots of mummies and then worked our way into Medieval Europe, and then it progressed from there until we got to the 1900's with lots of Beautiful jewelry and pottery. Also saw some the remains from the Sutton Hoo ship wreck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Hoo). All I could think of was Beowulf because they were from the same time period. Also while I was in museum I overheard a mum talking to her bored to death four year old about how St. Patrick got all the snakes out of Ireland by banging his walking stick (there was a very old walking stick from about year 500 on display) on the ground. Hurrah for St. Patrick because I hate snakes.

I was such a girl in the museum too because I loved all the Jewelry from the 1700 and 1800's and kept on pretending which ones I would have worn if I existed back then. Finally we had to go after a short British man chased us out.

Sarah, Eissell and I then ventured off the Covent Garden, which was near by. I would have liked it if it wasn't so crowded though. Lots and lots of tourists (I know I'm a tourist but still...) and also commuters rushing by not caring about me and my camera. I was very happy I saw Covent Garden and the church Eliza Doolittle sat under singing in My Fair Lady. I walked around the area, and discovered a large sign from the early 1900's talking about all the things not to do in the market, not like leaving your gross vegetables on the ground or else you may have to pay 10 shillings!

There were some markets that we browsed through, but it was about 7 o'clock then and we were hungry. After unsuccessfully finding anything good, Sarah found this amazing, relatively cheap Indian place and we ate there. I got delicious curry and poori. After dinner, we decided to head back. We were cold and had plans to go out later that night with our friend Lackshman.

Well for whatever reason we didn't go back out once we got to the dorms, and Eissell, Lackshman and I just stayed in my room discussing our plans to actually go out and looking up some fun gay bars. Why do I suddenly have the urge to go to so many gay bars? Probably because I just want the freedom to dance without thinking about any heterosexual male checking me out, for the time being.

Sunday I was my back to my studious self and after running some errands in the morning studied my Intro to Old English text book for hours at the Library. I enjoyed learning more about the history of the language and the culture than I did having to memorize bizarre spelling that doesn't resemble English at all and trying to figure out how to pronounce it. I'll tell you this though: ic lufie þe (it means I love you).

Monday night...I'll get to that tomorrow. It involves meeting up with the lovely Michell and exploring some more parts of London.

: )