Another Day

With so many reading assignments and journal entries my days have started to blend into each other. Its been many days since my last entry and I have done lots but Laura pretty much summarized all the stuff in her last post. I did go to a church called Hillsong with my flat mates Rebbecca, Pa, and Kaelyn. It was raining and we ended up walking home because the trains in the tube station stopped working. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home finishing Moll Flanders and listening to music. Pa, our best cook, made dinner that night and we all enjoyed white rice, garlic bread, and ribs. That's right I said ribs!

We went to the V&A (Victoria and Albert) museum on Monday for our art class and I sketched some of the jewelry and sculptures. It was lovely and I really want to go back when I have more time. After a couple of hours we went to shopping and I bought a tshirt for 3 pounds. We then went back to the greatest place in London MORRISONS! I have never been so happy to have a real grocery store in all my life. I picked up some stuff and made salad, cheesy bread, with vegetarian chili for dinner. YUM.

Today we confirmed our plans for Scotland this weekend. We're going to have a blast touring Edinburgh and the highlands. Laura #1, Laura #2, Rebbecca, and myself our looking forward to those three days. I also picked out my ethnographic project subject and its all to do with theater/Broadway/west end.

We are also going to see Every Good Boy Deserves Favour tonight and tomorrow night we'll be seeing Phantom of the Opera. Then on Thursday night some of us will be taking a journey to TGI Fridays and consume potato skins. We'll got to go and start Oliver and finish my discussion with Laura on finding a song I can hate. Any suggestion? Sorry disco duck doesn't work, I find the tune catchy. Bunches of Love.
Teresa Vargas

Westminster Abbey + Obligatory Flu

It's been a few days, but our homework has been piling up unfortunately. Teresa went to church this morning with some of our roommates, while I am curled up in bed with a cold. Yes, it's been going from student to student as of late, and I'm the latest victim.

Thursday night, almost the whole student body, plus our two professors, went to this Italian restaurant by our flats. The best Italian food ever ... and the family that owns it were so much fun, and fun to listen to. A few of the males even danced with some of the females from our group. They bid us all a ciaobello on the way out.

Friday, we went to Westminster Abbey. No photography was allowed, unfortunately. Beautiful architecture and beautiful (if that's not the most morbid word of choice) tombs and effigies. A definite must-see in London if you ever come here.

Yesterday, we did homework and then we found a cinema playing 'Twilight', we saw it with our flatmates Shannon and Rebecca. Prices were not so different than the US in the concession stand, but we got a student discount. The cinema was in a shopping centre, so we explored afterwords. In no time, we found the *HOLY GRAIL* of grocery stores. All the stores we've been using in our neighborhood is like the illegitimate child of a 7-11 and a Kwik-E-Mart. But this one was an actual, honest-to-Buddha SaveMart/Vons/Food4Less replica. So we were in heaven, especially in the cereal and chocolate aisles. I found items for my night to make dinner (I improvised with pesto, chicken, tomatoes and pasta).


Next weekend, Teresa and I are planning on a three-day trip to Edinburgh and the Highlands. Yay for Scotland!


-L

Museums!

I'm going to stop keeping track of the days, it'll make this mother go slower than it already is.


The past weekend was our first days off. I did absolutely nothing except sleep in (!!!) and do homework. On Monday, we discussed Moll Flanders (meh) in my lit class, then our Art Tours class met and then looked in the British Museum at the Egyptian and Greek wings. I got some really nice photography in, some of which I posted on deviantArt.com ... no mummies yet, though, sorry!

Monday night we went to a pub around the corner for my roommate Kaelyn's birthday. It was a cool place, but I only stayed for one drink (my new friend Strongbow).

After class Tuesday, we went to Madame Tussaud's famous Wax Museum. It was free for Americans since they were unveiling the Obama statue and the inauguration, which they were playing on a big screen in the politicians wing. I got some awesome photos in again.


Tuesday night was the play "Complicit", starring Richard Dreyfus and directed by Kevin Spacey. Aside from being starstruck by two of my favorite actors, the play was really good. It was simple - barely any scenery, only three actors. It had dark elements as well - it dealt with post-9/11 journalism and torturing overseas. I was hoping to Kevin Spacey afterwords, but no such luck ... only until my roommate told me he was actually sitting three feet *BEHIND* us! O_O


I have to leave for class now, bye!

Monday 19th

Ya ya, whatever Laura. Its not my fault that I have been having trouble getting online this weekend. Anyways The Tower of London was awesome! My presentation with Shannon on the Ravens went very well. The Ravens are the most well kept animals outside of a zoo I have ever seen. I mean they have their own kitchen! The legend goes that if the Ravens ever leave the White tower will fall, the monarch will fail, and a horrible disaster will befall london. They clip the wings of these seven ravens to ensure that never happens. Just remember don't touch them, their not nice pets but rather nasty little buggers.
We ended up staying about six hours just exploring, taking pictures, and just soaking it all in. We took a tour with a beefeater/yeoman and he made the history of the place come alive. Not to mention he was totally funny and had all of us laughing. I have to say that my favorite part was seeing the crown jewels. It totally blew my mind that I was just a sheet of glass away from such wealth. It was like a dream, the crowns and scepters were magnificent and unlike anything you can imagine. So sorry though I have no pictures of the brilliant jewels. We weren't allowed to photograph them but I got really great post cards of my favorite pieces. To end a great day we found a Ben and Jerry's and I had a little taste of home with Chunky Monkey.
Today I had school and then we went to the British Museum and I got to see amazing exhibits. On this visit we focused on Egyptian, the Pantheon, and Greek & Roman Sculptures. I was in heaven looking at all that classical art (my favorite time period!). Cameras been messing up so I hope that all my pictures will come out. I'm still trying to figure out how to transfer my picts to the computer, so bear with me. Soon you will have pictures to go to the stories.
Well got to finish reading Moll Flanders, will update soon with more stories of my London Experience. Tons of Love!
Teresa Vargas

London - Day 7&8

Sorry Teresa, but I still have you outnumbered in blog posts. Catch up if you can.

Update about WICKED - the seats were really good (19 pounds ... brilliant!), and the show was amazing as could be expected. Didn't differ at all from the American version.


Today we visited the Tower of London, first as a school group for presentations and then we were free to wander as we wanted. We (Rebecca, Teresa and myself) ended up spending six hours there, and I am SICK of STAIRS! Between the midget staircases in the towers and walking up the stairs to my flat, I pine to be at sea level elevation for the rest of my days.


I put up more pictures of the visit. Note, that I'm colder than I look in the last picture. X[


Dinner's ready. Later!

Finally Blogging

Yay, this is my first official entry in the blog. It took me forever to figure out how to get on, oh well. Being in London is way different than anything in Fresno, California. I have never felt like such a odd ball as I do here. There are so many different people and cultures that blend together to give London a bustling feeling. I am slowly trying to figure out the travel system and how all the roads connect, hopefully I get it before I leave.
Well everyone in the London Semester is really nice and are doing things together. Wednesday a group got tickets to see Wicked in West End. It was amazing and then last night was supper fun! A couple of us girls got together in flat 2, had a couple of drinks and watched Nottinghill. It was great hanging out and just enjoying a good chick flick. Today we are going to tour the Tower of London. I have to present on the Ravens and why they are so important to the Tower and London itself. It should be very eventful. Well got to go, I'll blog later. Tons of Love and miss everyone in Fresno.

Teresa Vargas

London - Days 5&6

Classes got started on Monday. I love the British Theatre and Literature classes, but the communications/culture ethnography are going to make me want to bash my head in. Art should be fun, I'm hoping.

After class yesterday, three of us walked to find a Tesco (very descent grocery store), it's a few miles opposite our school. It was a long walk (took us almost two hours to get there and back to our flat). Only this morning I pointed out to Teresa there is one not even a block away from our school in the opposite direction. We'll get the hang of it eventually.

Last night we saw a production of "Loot" by Joe Orton which was a very British comedy, that very dry wit. I liked it ... my kind of humour.


I only had a few minutes to type this . . . a group of twelve of us are about to leave to see today's matinee of WICKED!!!!! (19 pound tickets ... but I'll wait until I see the seats before I make judgement of that discount)

London - Day 4

Today was quite fun, we got to be tourists for the first time. We had about a three-hour coach guided tour of the main sites of London. Our bus was small and crowded, hence the steam on the windows in some of my pictures.

We were able to get out of the coach for some up close & personal pictures of sites such as Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and Kensington Park. We'll get our own tours of most of these places individually soon enough.

The amazing architecture, the great preservation of history ... it's all so much to take in at once. Thankfully I'm here for quite a while longer.

After the tour, a group of us took the tube (first time for me!) to Notting Hill Gate to look around. I found some cute, small souvenirs and even tried some Irn Bru. A smaller group of us broke off to go back at the flat, and Pa made some excellent stir fry for dinner. Teresa is still out, visiting a church, I believe.


Here are my pictures from today:
LONDON TOUR.

London - Day 2&3

Our flat situation is pretty descent. After getting assigned our rooms and getting our keys, we settled in our rooms. Teresa's and my room is probably no bigger than 10'x10'. There's room for our stuff, and our bathroom is a good size. We just have to high-step it in and out of the bathtub, otherwise we could end up with a nasty fall.

Right after, we had a short walking tour of the surrounding area, including eating areas, tube stops and markets. A group of 8 of us ate a small lunch, made a couple of grocery stops for the basics. We made it back to the flat, Teresa and I unloaded our suitcases. At 3:00, we had the manager of the flats talk to us about rules and maintenance. Right after, I started snoozing off on the sofa despite being told to stay awake as long as possible. After awhile, I could not take anymore of it. I went to sleep and passed out at around 4:30 PM. Teresa followed suit soon after.

We both woke up around midnight, only because a) the phone was ringing and b) we were boiling in our room. We turned the heater down, cracked our door open and went back to sleep. The alarm woke us about at 5:00AM and we got ready and chilled for a few hours.

Two of our flatmates Pa and Rebecca joined us for a walk around the neighborhood. We found more stores, a few parks, a library and a hospital while walking around for two hours in the freezing cold. We got back to the flat, Teresa and I curled up with a movie, then Teresa opted to go do some more walking, while I opted for a nap. I woke up to Teresa coming back in quite giddy. She told me she walked all the way to Westminster, the Queen's chapel, and other neat attractions.

We just had dinner of pasta and bread. Our food has been good; don't worry, I haven't been starving. Yet.

Tomorrow, we're having a half-day coach tour of London. I'll update again with pictures.

London - Day 1

Finally, my first update. Hopefully this will be a regular thing.


Smooth sailings on the airplane ride, after a tearful good-bye to my mother and aunt. I went through security questionably quickly. Teresa and I got a bite to eat by our gate, then proceeded to board. We were also sitting next to each other on the plane, a blissful twist of fate. My favorite part is when the plane takes off, ironically Teresa's not-so-favorite part. Ate a pasta dish on the plane, listened to some music. I managed to sleep a few hours, woke up after dark (thus proceeds the I-don't-know-what-day-it-is phase). The rest of the plane ride is boring and long, just basically consisting of me watching a map video of our flight progress and eating a questionable breakfast.

We landed at around 6:15 AM, went through customs, grabbed our luggage okay, waited for the coach to take us to the flat.

Dinner's ready, I'll write about the first actual day here later.

-L