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.

: )

More Nothingness

Sorry to disappoint, but it has been a rather mundane few days. Wednesday night explored some gay clubs and an art gallery opening in Soho, but the details of that night are best left unknown.

Thursday, I had my Gender, Race and Empire in Women's Writing from 1780-1900 which excites me very much, but I can understand how most people would find it dreadful. What I find very fascinating however is getting a European sense of feminism and race. Already was a little confused when Professor continually mentioned Abolition taking place in 1805...that's because in the United Kingdom, yes, that's when slaves got their freedom. Random tidbit of the day.

Today, EQUALLY as exciting as yesterday, I had my Intro to British Cinema class. The Professor kept on throwing out obscure (to me at least) British actors, writers, directors, cinematographers. She's a hot mess, to put it lightly. She's one of those eccentric professors who never seems to have a clue about what's actually going on. We watched a movie from the 1930's called The Private Life of Henry VIII, which I adore of course because Henry VIII is so disgustingly cool. If beheading and divorcing your wives because you're horny is your thing, of course.

I promise I'm doing touristy stuff tomorrow. I want to hit up all the free museums first. And the Roman Wall. And eventually check out the British Library and the Women's Library and Keats' House. Oh my, so much to see in London!

Ah, but wait! Forgot to mention the KEY british thing I did today. Got some cheap, greasy fish n chips with malt vinegar poured all over them. Mmmmmm : )

Good Afternoon!

Oh gosh, so much to write about!

For the record, I did not go on the London Eye. It was unfortunately closed. I was secretly very happy about that : )

Crystal, Eissell and I did manage to explore Westminster on Saturday, and viewed the buildings of Parliament, the beautiful River Thames, and Buckingham Palace. There was lots of frustration, however, when our map of London was misleading, and we were all hungry and looking for cheap eats. Alas, we finally found a cheap little place and I got my new favorite British dish: The English breakfast.

After our adventure, all three of went to our first British pub, called The New Globe located right off campus. They stopped serving alcohol interestingly enough at 11, after the bartender ran this bell.

Sunday is when I took care of everything I should have taken care of days ago: bought a phone from tescos, bought some plates, cups, etc...the boring stuff. Couldn't figure out my phone, so went over to a friend's house. Asked his flatmates for help, but no one seemed to understand how to activate my phone! So instead, we gave up and went up a few floors to meet up with some real British Queen Mary Students omygoshtheyexist(up until this point most of my interactions inside campus have been with other Americans)! And they're chain smoking and drinking wine out of the bottle and yes, they do use the word "wanker".

Monday had to sort out some scheduling issues, so did not go to class. Monday night I went on the Thames Boat Cruise, which was stunningly gorgeous. I sat on the top part of the boat, despite seemingly freezing temperature and the occasional pouring of bitter rain, but the city at night is so gorgeous how could I resist such a view! I unfortunately ran out of battery so no pictures. We went past Tower Bridge (we took off from the Tower of London, which I will explore very soon!), Parliament, that tall egg shaped building, other beautiful bridges, Millennium Bridge (aka the bridge that breaks in Harry Potter 6). Towards the end of the night, when the cold got too much, had some beer and danced with Eissell and some others.

Last night, free pizza and wine at a Restaurant on Campus, cheap wine run, chatting with Eissell and overseas date with the boyfriend. Overall a quiet night.

Exploring London tonight though...

The Sun is Out!

Blue Sky, lots of sun. I'm heading out!

I Will write more later : )

London!

Finally, I am here! Although yesterday feels like a giant blur to me. I never sleep on planes, and Wednesday night was no exception. And then your body freaks out when it doesn't understand that it's the next day, instead of one giant long day.

The flight was good. Minus sitting in the middle of two very large people. And minus me not peeing the whole time because I was afraid of making the very large people upset. And minus being thirsty because I didn't want to have to pee...but other than that...

No, not too bad. We landed in quintessential London weather: foggy, grey and rainy.

And then it rained, and it rained, and it continued to rain all day. A hard, British rain. But I kind of liked it, other than my room smelling a bit damp because of all the wet clothing. I mean, I am a bit of an Anglophile: could I really consider myself a true one if I didn't like British rain? Come on now.

Yesterday was pretty basic, I collected my keys, unpacked and drank some free beer the school was handing out for free. Oh, the joys of a London Education! Pretending like my friend Crystal was an actual student at Queen Mary (she's only visiting from her study abroad program in Spain for the next few days) was probably the highlight of my day. Oh, and being creepy around the random Jewish cemetery that is on campus last night of was also a little exciting. But scary...

Today, I had my first OFFICAL very British breakfast. The school had a free breakfast today for Study Abroad students, and it consisted of beans, a baked tomato, scrambled eggs and I would have had sausage if I ate meat. But I was very excited.

After orientation, wich was boring (except learning that if you go to Barcelona, you WILL get pick-pocketed) Crystal and I explored parts of East London by campus together. We walked in Mile Park, and then found this incredible old bridge with spikes on it! And a quiet trail by the canal, where there was all this colorful graffiti and views of quintessential East London housing, etc. which of course excited me. We then walked around a little more. The East End of London is so interesting. One moment we were walking through a street full of Hallal food and signs in Arabic, and then by the next block we're passing this incredible old church from I believe the 1700's called St. Anne's C of E Church. I really do love the diversity of East London. The only thing that makes me a little sad when I see very old, interesting buildings that look like they could be from the 1600's boarded up in advertisements. I guess London is spoiled with their old buildings, they don't feel the need to preserve all of them!

Crystal and I later on went on another adventure (Charlie is very sick) and took the London Underground for the first time. Still confused about fares, but will hopefully sort that out eventually. I have to say, it's a bit more civilized than the NY Subway with the cushioned seats and the smoothness of the ride. I went to a British version of target called Argos to pick up cheap bedding and silverware (only you have to check to see if the items are in stock first on computers before you ask for them) and then to Tescos, where I bought a loaf of bread for 70pence and other cheap items.

Oh, and did I mention that Crystal got stuck IN the underground? It's not like NY, you have to swipe your card on your way out too. Only Crystal's wouldn't let her...and told her to see an agent, but the problem was she was stuck on the other side! So a very nice British man told me to swipe mine (I was already out) and then she could get out. And it worked.

And now I am here, writing. Hopefully Charlie/Eissell will feel better tomorrow. We are planning on having a VERY touristy day in Central London. I may even go on the British Eye...but maybe only with a pint in me beforehand ; )

"There’s only one thing impossible; and that’s to love and to part" - the wise Mr. Emerson from A Room With a View