I want to post but...

I'm in London now at the hostel and the internet is quite expensive. I put in the minimum amount just to check email and let you all know that I will have to blog and post pictures when I get back, since to do so here would be cost a lot of money. I have TONS of pictures and lots of insights about the end of the program, so stay tuned =)

London is cool but I have to say that I miss Cambridge a lot, even though I just left. I really got attached to that city. Planning to get up early to go see Abbey Road tomorrow, according to a friend of mine if you go early on a Sunday there are no cars around, so I'm hoping to get a picture walking across, if I can find a kind soul to take the picture for me. All I need is a polyster suit now...Then I'm planning on exploring the West End. Love and miss you all, will post when I return on August 4th...well actually August 5th, since I arrived late at night.

Done with Finals!

YES! Just finished finals and I'm pretty happy, though my hand hurts a lot from writing. 2 essay in 2 hours, plus the paper that was due this morning. My mind started getting fried toward the last hour, but hopefully all went well.

I know I haven't posted in a while, sorry. It hit me last week that I had very limited time left here and I've been trying to go and see and do everything I wanted to see before I leave this wonderful place. Tomorrow is my last day to do things; I think I will have tea at the Copper Kettle one last time, and go to the museums I haven't gone to yet. And pack, of course. Then 5 days in London.

Tonight there are to be major celebrations. We're going punting in about half an hour, apparently a tradition after finals are over. Tonight we have our last (sniff!) formal hall, then Celidh, some kind of crazy Welsh dancing, I believe. These Cambridge kids really know how to live it up...work hard, play harder, I guess!

I'm really going to miss this place; I don't think I'll ever get a chance to do such a program again, since I'm graduating next year. I can always come back to Cambridge to visit, but to live and study here, and meet 50 new friends-turned-good buddies in a month is a once in a lifetime chance. I can't believe this is almost over.

Off to go punting!

More explosions...

Sorry I haven't blogged in the past few days, I've been pretty busy trying to read and study for finals, which are next week, in addition to trying to do and see everything in Cambridge that I wanted to do and see before I go.

Just a quick blog right now to tell everyone (again, unfortunately) that I am okay after the second round of explosions in London. I have been in Cambridge all this week except for a day trip to Stratford Upon Avon with our program. I have to say that this time around I'm more shaken about the explosions, even though they weren't as major as the ones that happened 2 weeks ago. We were just in London last Friday, and we were walking around in Whitehall, one of the areas in which there was a bomb, I believe. I know that the point of these bombs is to disrupt people's lives and make them scared, which I'm trying not to be, but I am. After this program ends next Saturday I'm to be spending a week in London. People have been telling me that I should just not take any public transportation and just walk everywhere, but London is large, and I'm still nervous about being out and about anyway.

I wasn't on campus or near any media when the news broke, so I'm going to go talk to some people and watch the news. More later.

Finally, a relaxing Saturday

Stayed in Cambridge for the first part of my Saturday, then went to Ely in the afternoon. Slept in late, went for a short run, picked up some food at Sainsbury, and then left for Ely with the group at 3.

After a short 20 minute train ride, we arrived in Ely, which was nice with its Cambridge-like brick buildings, but not as distinctive. Someone in our group likened it to North Carolina (I've never been, but if you have, I guess that's what it looks like). But no matter, because the city of Ely isn't what we came for, but the cathedral. And I hate to keep talking about cathedrals because you're probably sick of them, but I love them, and each one I see is honestly better than the one before it.

Ely Cathedral was the largest, most amazing cathedral of all the ones I've seen previous. At this point Ely Cathedral and King's College Chapel are my favorite non-natural sights (my favorite natural sight would have to be Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh). The Ely Cathedral, built in 1109 (but the area was originally founded as a monastery in 673) is HUGE and shaped like a cross. The ceiling of the nave is incredibly high and also free standing without central support and has a gorgeous, colorful painted scene depicting the writers of the books of the Bible in order, with Christ at the top. There are numerous, gorgeous Gothic side chapels, with characteristic intricate Gothic carvings and medieval stained glass windows. The highlight of the cathedral is the Octagon in the center, the most lavishly and meticulously decorated cathedral decoration I have seen yet. Gold gilded and painted and even higher than the nave ceiling (of course, being a tower), it has paintings of angels, angels, and even more angels, pointing towards a heavenly face in the peak of the tower dome. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, it is absolutely STUNNING.

Every aspect of the cathedral was just gorgeous. I really like the Gothic architecture and the expansive, cavernous size of the cathedral. I had a really hard time leaving, everything about it just moved me so much.

We had some time to kill before coming back to the cathedral for the concert later that evening, so we walked around the town a bit and grabbed a bite to eat. Not much to see in Ely besides the Cathedral and the surrounding medieval monastery and cloister remains.

Back at 7 for the concert, The Cambridge Philharmonic Society (CPS) performing Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, Szymanowksi's Stabat Mater, and the best part (in my opinion anyway), Mozart's Requiem. WHAT A CONCERT!!! I had bought a ticket to sit in the rear of the nave, farthest away from the chorus and symphony (they were the cheapest at £5) but according to the steward at the box office they were the best seats: you can't see much, but because of the cavernous size of the nave the acoustics back there are awesome. When I got there had the option of exchanging my ticket for one in the front row, right in the Octagon, but I decided not to, wanting to see about these awesome acoustics. It was a good move; while I was sitting back there, the sound was thunderous, like surround sound. It just enveloped me completely and was amazing. I just leaned my head back, gazed at the heavenly paintings on the nave ceiling, and took in the voice and music of angels on earth. The CPS was amazing, and the music was so moving and dramatic.

At the interval, I decided to switch up to the front to have a different perspective, see if the acoustics thing was true, and also so I could see the chorus and symphony members; I like watching them work at their craft, I wish I could be that talented. The acoustics were definitely better in the nave, but I liked being up there to see the action, and it wasn't THAT much different, just a little more muted and flat and less surround-sound like. While the Schubert and Szymanowski were excellent, Mozart's Requiem just knocked me off my feet (or my butt, I guess, since I was sitting). Absolutely amazing, fabulous, stunningly well done. It was such a wonderful experience to take in such world-class music in an equally world-class setting that matched the theme and complexity of the music. I'm going to go to Heffers tomorrow (classical music retailer) to see about picking up a recording or something, I really enjoyed the concert.

Got back to Cambridge and hit up the Van of Life (trailer in the market square that stays open late and has good fast food grub) [sorry Ehren, I know you said Van of Death is better, but the food people were eating from there looked not as appetizing compared to the other van's wares...I'll try it some other night] for a late night snack. The girls and I got our grub (veggie dogs and chips for them, chicken burger for me) and enjoyed it sitting on the wall in front of King's College. Stuffed our faces while watching pub/club revelers walking, a bunch of guys dancing to Indian music in front of a store, and a guy on a bicycle pulling a little carriage with a Just Married sign on the back of it and aluminum cans tied to the end transporting a newlywed couple. I love this place. A fun end to a good day.

London!

Another eventful day, just got back from our day trip to London. I love London already, even though I didn't even see that much of it. It's such a huge, vibrant city, I can't wait to go back and explore more at the end of this program (though I also don't want to leave Cambridge...ahh, if only I could be in two places at once!). It was a short trip (since I decided not to stay the weekend with my buddies who planned to do so because I'm going back in a couple weeks) but it helped me get oriented for later.

We arrived in London a little past 11 and did a quick walking/picture taking tour of some of the sights. We saw:

- Trafalgar Square (big lion statues, nice fountains, The National Gallery)
- Downing Street (couldn't go down it, of course to see Number 10...huge iron gate and LOTS of security)
- the Parliament Buildings (very gothic with lots of gold gilding, very majestic looking!)
- St. Margaret's Cathedral
- Walked through St. James park to get to...
- Buckingham Palace (just stopped by to take a couple of pictures)
- took a taxi to The Imperial War Museum. Very cool place with great exhibits, but we only had 2 hours to spend there, so I didn't have time to see everything I wanted to. Went to the Holocaust and the Children of WWII exhibits. Didn't make it to the Trench Warfare Experience exhibit, which I heard from other people was the best part - trenches re-created for you to walk through complete with effects. Must go back for that. Really sad but most moving part of the Holocaust exhibit was the plexiglass wall filled with victims' half decayed shoes.
- took another taxi to Tate Modern - I LOVE THIS MUSEUM! Amazing building and exhibits and a spectacular view from the top floor (8 floors total, I think). We went to the cafe up top and had tea while taking in the view, then worked our way down. So much art, so little time! Have to come back here too, I raced through the exhibits trying to see as much as I could but wanted so badly to stop and look at lots of things longer and more closely. Saw some very famous artists' works, including some Warhol, Rodin, and Picasso. Awesome!
- Finally, for the reason we came to London in the first place: met at the (faithful reproduction of the original) Globe Theater at 7PM for The Tempest (Shakespeare's final play, for those of you not familiar with it). Dr. Dawson had half sitting tickets and half standing tickets and distributed them at random. I got a standing ticket which a lot of people complained about, but I was excited for. We talked a lot about the Globe in my Shakespeare class last quarter and even took a "virtual tour" of it online. The people who stood in front of the stage were the "groundlings", poor people who paid a penny to get in. Then there are 3 tiers of seats for increasingly affluent people, and the most affluent ones used to be able to sit on stage. I was glad to be a groundling, my feet hurt a lot from standing for 2 hours but I sucked it up and it was worth it, what a great, authentic experience!

The play was very well done, despite being very experimental. There were 3 main actors playing at least 2 characters each (there was even a point when one character was talking back and forth to himself as two different characters conversing), which made it hard to follow sometimes even though I've read the play, but overall it was funny and very entertaining. The costumes were great, the actors had lots of energy and interacted with the groundlings a lot, and the women dancers who played the Fates did some amazing acrobatics and rope stunts. Great experience!

And now I'm back. Tomorrow will be another exciting day; I signed up for the trip to Ely, a nearby city with a(nother) beautiful cathedral. The kicker here is that there is a Schubert and Mozart concert to be performed in the cathedral tomorrow night, and we are going to be watching it, only £5 for seating in the nave. I'm excited!

Sunday I was thinking about going to Norwich with our TAs, but I may end up just staying in Cambridge. I love seeing lots of new things, but I'm a little overwhelmed with all the traveling we've been doing and sort of want to just relax and see more of Cambridge, there's still a lot I haven't done here yet. Or I might take my class reading to Jesus Green and read by the river or something, we'll see. Have a great weekend, all! New pictures up in the online album, of course!

Life is good:

- good start to the day boded well for the rest of it: sweet ripe nectarine with crunchy skin and dripping with juice on a hot summer's morning. The fruit is really good here in England, for whatever reason.
- finally visited the Round Church, one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge. Watched a video of the history of Cambridge while there, which was very edifying and reminded me (again) of the historic importance of this place.
- Wandered around that side of town and mostly found residential areas, but happened upon Jesus Green (huge grassy expanse of a park) and more of the river. Had a nice stroll and a Cadbury flake ice cream cone (vanilla ice cream in a cone with a stick of cadbury chocolate in it).

Walking through the park I realized that I am more and more in awe of this place with each passing day. Cambridge so far has not ceased to amaze me with both old sights and new - the beautiful buildings, grassy expanses, and past and present academic prestige. I cannot begin to get over the fact that such pioneering intellectuals such as Newton, Darwin, Wordsworth, etc. studied, hypothesized, wrote, talked, and walked here among the cobblestone streets and the brick buildings streaked with the black coal smoke residue of a past age. I gawk at eerything I see with a feeling that I am not worthy to be here and that it is indeed a privilege that I am. The majestic carved stone buildings abound with scrolls, shields, and all sorts of somber statues, busts, and faces of important men (and some women too) commemorating their acheivements. I I would love to live here, longer than for this month, I mean. I have never been so captivated by a place so far.

Even after that, the day got even better.

- Attended Evensong at 5PM at King's College Chapel, the largest and most amazing college chapel around here. Commissioned by King Henry IV, this chapel knocked me off my feet. I'm serious, I almost passed out when I walked throug the heavy wooden and iron doors. This chapel isn't little either, it's actually probably as big as any cathedral you've seen before. Absolutely stunning, probably one of the best things I've seen ever in my life. Infinite amounts of stained glass, intricate wood carvings, and virtually every surface is decorated with some carved symbol of Christianity or English monarchy. Royal, majestic, overwhelmingly ornate. Expansive, cavernous, candles as far as the eyes can see. Too beautiful for words. Austere and ornate at the same time, if that's possible - the expansiveness of the chapel combined with the sheer volume of decoration...I wish that I could show you, but pictures aren't allowed inside.

That's not even the half of it, either. So I had gone to see Evensong (an hour long prayer service-type thing with readings from the Bible and supplemented with songs, no communion) and the King's College Chapel Boys Choir (who are apparently very famous) sounded like what I hope and imagine angels sound like. The moment they began to sing, I honestly felt like I had died and entered heaven or something, their voices were so beautiful together that it made the hair on my arms stand on end. There were about 25 of them ranging from 6 years old to maybe about 30. The harmonies were haunting and breathtaking. I was in such a state of awe and shock after it was over and sort of stumbled out of the chapel in a daze, spit back out into the real world. It was the last evensong of the school year, to resume in September, but I'm hoping to go to the sung Eucharist on Sunday morning, which I hear is 2 hours. Long, but I think it will be worth it.

- Was reminded that today is Bastille Day (if you don't know what it is, go look it up, I don't think I can explain it briefly) by the notices for Formal Hall tonight (see my photo album, they're quite funny). After talking with some of the girls, decided to try to look French for this formal. Went into town and found a silk scarf and weird feathery hairclip for only 2 quid total and wore it with the dress I had brought from home. It was one of those things that could have either gone really well or really badly, and luckily it was the former. I felt pretty silly but people really got a kick out of it. I felt like Mickey Mouse at Disneyland...people kept wanting to take pictures with me.

- Dinner was good as usual. I love our programs staff, they have a great sense of humour. They wrote up menus for the Bastille Day meal in French, using fancy French names for plain English food. For example, "Tarte de Versailles" was just pecan pie, haha. After dinner there was a French wine and cheese tasting party in the Old Library, j'aime le fromage!

So that was my day, really eventful. If you got this far, thanks for sticking with me and my philosophizing. Hope your Bastille Day was equally fun!

Midterm!

Wow, the past few days have been a blur. My time here in Cambridge is going by really quickly. I have to admit that I don't really remember what I have been up to the past couple of days besides reading and walking around the city centre.

The midterm today was okay. It was just an hour timed write on a question and wasn't too bad. Apparently it doesn't really count for anything but is just preparation for the term paper and final exam. I'm a little more worried about those things. We only have 8 more days of class, that's frightening!

Tomorrow should be more exciting. Everyone will be done with their midterms by then, and a bunch of people want to walk to Grantchester again for tea at The Orchard. I liked it there, it'll be fun to go back. I also have to continue working on my checklist of things to do before I leave. One of these days I want to get around to each of the historic churches here, and another couple days need to be devoted to the many museums. So much to do, so little time! And homework too!

On Friday we will travelling to the Globe in London to see The Tempest. I'm excited about that, I just read it for one of my classes last quarter. Saturday and Sunday are free days and I'm planning on going to Ely and Oxford or York with some of the girls. Two other groups of people I know are going to Dublin and Paris, respectively, but it will only be for a day and I think it's too much money and hassle for such a short time. I'm a little conflicted, but I'll most likely end up staying here...there's still a lot in England I have yet to see.

It has been so warm here in Cambridge these past few days. I packed for cold weather! The sunshine has been enjoyable, though the humidity KILLS. Hope all is well back home!

Stonehenge and Bath

Just returned this evening from our weekend trip to the city of Bath. It was a very fun trip and Bath is a beautiful city.

Before I get into that, though, on the way to Bath we stopped in Wiltshire to see...STONEHENGE. I loved it, it was amazing. It was really crowded with tourists and a lot of people complained that it was smaller than they expected, but I was completely exhilirated and enthralled. I felt a sense of satisfaction to finally see Stonehenge after seeing so many pictures of it in textbooks since grade school. One couldn't go right up to it; it was roped off and one had to follow the path around it, but was still great to see it; it was fascinating and marvelous, and I wondered how those huge stones were brought and arranged there (since according to our audio tour the nearest quarry was several miles away and past the River Avon). What a cool place.

That evening we arrived at the University of Bath (which had pretty run down dorms compared to U of Edinburgh and Cambridge, but it was okay), put our stuff down, and then headed back onto the bus to go into the city centre, a couple of miles down the hill. We had free time for dinner, so Andrew, who had been to Bath before on vacation, took us to Cafe Du Globe, a nice little restaurant with international fare. It was really good; I got the Brochettes Royale (chicken and lamb kebabs with couscous and salad...reminded me of Aziza, Gina and Shara and I had to have it!) and others got wood fired pizzas, lasagna, etc.

Met back with the program group at 8:30 for entrance to the Roman Baths. Located in the heart of the city, it is situated over natural hot springs dating back since the Roman Empire. Both the spring and the buildings are ancient and it was a fascinating place. We went through the museum first and looked at relics and fragments of stone facades. My favorite things in there were the coins and the combs. People used to throw things into the spring to ask for good luck from Sulis Minerva, a combination patron goddess of Celtic and Roman name, and there was a huge collection of ancient coins ranging from Rome to Turkey, numbering almost 33,000. Those coins were so awesome. Apparently many women would throw in combs, and there were a bunch of wooden combs, really small but well preserved. It was interesting to see.

After the museum we got to the hot spring itself and saw the main pool and the original Roman drainage system. Those clever Romans! Anyway, the spring and the buildings were amazingly well preserved and felt surreal to be walking where the Romans used to walk. The spring water in the pool was actually a greenish colour because of exposure to sunlight.

After our tour we split off again and a bunch of us went and got delicious gelato from the one place in town that had the sense to stay open late. It was packed in there, but the gelato was amazing. I got nutella chocolate and pistachio gelatos...mmm. We took our gelatos and walked along the river and ended up hanging out in the park right on the river's edge taking silly pictures and just talking and enjoying the mild weather (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the weather in Bath was SO WARM! It was almost meditteranean, matching the limestone carved architecture and curvy roads in that way). Took a taxi back uphill to campus and we called it a night.

Next morning (Sunday, today) we checked out of the University and went back into the city centre. We had an interesting and orienting professional walking tour and got to see more of the city than the night before, including The Circus, a huge roundabout surrounded by 3 curved mansion-like houses which have Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns on them, and The Royal Crescent, a combination of hotels and houses also long and curved, near a park. Apparently to stay in one of the Royal Crescent's rooms for one night costs £700. To buy a house is £1.5 million. (Remember that it's in pounds) Yowza!

After the tour we headed into the Roman Baths Pump Room to sample a glass of water from the spring pump. It was really warm and tasted very metallic, almost like blood. Found out that among the numerous minerals in the water, one of the more predominant ones is iron. That probably explains the taste. This water was prescribed by doctors in antiquity through Victorian times to help treat ailments. It wasn't very good, I would hate to have to drink it to cure a disease or something.

Then a bunch of us got a takeaway lunch from a cafe (I got a chicken and veg pasty) and ate it by the river and afterwards played around on a little garden labyrinth in the park. We looked into a couple of shops and then headed to the Bath Abbey, right next to the Roman Baths (we had to wait for morning services to be over to go in). Very beautiful, as all the abbeys/cathedrals I have seen have been. Curved, carved ceilings, intricate stained glass (the most prominent one being the one behind the altar depicting 56 scenes in the life of Jesus), Victoria-era Norman-style iron and gold chandeliers, and numerous scroll-style carved memorial plaques along every wall. The most defining feature of the Abbey was outside, though: carved in the stone above the doors are 2 ladders with angels climbing up them. The Abbey is also known as "The Lantern of the West" because of the numerous glass windows and the way it can be seen from miles around when fully lit up.

We had to leave to go back to Cambridge after we got out of the Bath Abbey. It was too bad, the trip was pretty short and we didn't get to do everything we wanted, but we had to get back. If I went again I would love to go and see The Museum of Costume, which has a collection of 200+ outfits chronicling the changing fashions from the 1600s to today, and also take in more of the city at a slower pace.

It was a really fun trip, though, and I had a great time. Bath was a great place for relaxing with the warm weather and seemingly slower pace of life. Apparently a lot of people retire in Bath...

So now I am off to go read for my class, my midterm is on Wednesday. Don't forget to check out the pictures!

Fun Times

So these past couple of days have been pretty good despite recent events. I have been feeling sort of guilty for having fun, but our program directors have been encouraging us to go on with our daily schedules, so I guess it's somewhat okay. Definitely keeping all those people in my prayers, though.

Yesterday after the chaos of the morning I went with a group of people to Grantchester, a little village near Cambridge. We walked along the River Cam for about 45 minutes to reach The Orchard, a famous little tea house where people ranging from Virginia Woolf to Stephen Hawking have drank their tea. Beautiful, peaceful stroll, complete with cows right on the footpaths. The Orchard was amazing in itself too, a little perfect world of plentiful flora and fauna. The tea house had a huge delicious assortment of cakes and pastries, but I stuck with the basics and got a raisin scone with jam and clotted cream (almost like butter but with a chunky top and a cheesier taste) and soothing cream tea. I reclined in the garden with my food and drink and just relaxed under the shade of an apple tree heavy with little ripe apples. A butterfly landed on my tote bag and a bird perched on the chair across from me. It was a little slice of heaven.

Later that evening we got all dressed up again for our 2nd Formal Hall, which was fun, just like last time. The food was immensely better this time, possibly because some distinguished faculty were joining us. The menu:

appetizer: cheese and tomato quiche
main course: juicy thin sliced steak with jus, steamed carrots, roasted potatoes, and the fluffiest, best popover I have ever had in my life.
dessert: coin-sized chocolate and nut cakes with tiny scoops of raspberry sorbet and raspberry sauce

I love these formal halls, they're so elegant and the food is amazing here, compared to Santa Cruz. At the beginning of the formal hall, Phil, one of our program directors, quieted us down just to say "Welcome to Hogwarts", which of course we all got a kick out of and made us loud again. After the FH I went with a group of people to wind down at The Anchor.

Today was a free day, and there were groups of people going to Ely and Oxford, but I felt worn out and really just wanted to spend my day relaxing in Cambridge (I can easily go to Ely and Oxford after class next week). Woke up late and finally got a decent amount of sleep and went to the special Open Air French Market at Parker's Piece with Joe and Rachel. So much delicious food, I could have eaten it all. Finally decided on a chocolate sauce crepe, which I relished so much that it dripped all over my jeans and an assortment of chocolate cookies and pastries. There were also lots of pretty smelling soaps, savory sausages, and leather goods. Lots of fun, so much fun that I later accompanied Scott back to the market so I could get another crepe. MMM.

Spent the rest of my day walking around Cambridge, just wandering around like a local and doing some shopping.

Dinner at the servery was delicious. I can't get over the food here at Cambridge, it's amazing. I had a roasted duck leg, new potatoes, and freshly baked bread for dinner, all for only £3. There was creme brulee available for dessert, but after eating 2 crepes and tons of cookies I figured I should pass. I'm going to miss this quality of food when I get back to Santa Cruz, we're so spoiled here with gourmet food.

After dinner I joined a group of people for a Cambridge Shakespeare Festival performance of Much Ado About Nothing at Emmanuel College. It was a well-done production. I just read Much Ado last quarter so I was excited to see it on stage and I like it a lot. There was a lot of physical slapstick comedy happening throughout, which I wasn't expecting, but I think it was done to help emphasize the comedy aspect of the play more because a lot of the references in the witty banter is somewhat inaccessible to a modern audience. Lots of good laughs though, especially because the actors playing Benedick and Claudio looked, respectively, like Owen Wilson and David Schwimmer. Good times.

We leave for Bath and Stonehenge tomorrow morning. I'm really excited, especially for Stonehenge because it's well, STONEHENGE. Will be back Sunday evening. Don't forget to check out the new pictures I put up. Have a great weekend, and continue to keep the resilient people of London in your thoughts in prayers.

Bombs in London

I woke up this morning at 11 AM for class and walked out the dorm building to see people really anxious and lots of signs around saying that we had a mandatory meeting at 1:30 because of "the events in London", which as of that time I was unaware of. I made my way to the TV room and watched 10 minutes of TV before I had to go to class. I'm sure you've all heard of it by now, that there were 7 bomb explosions in London this morning. Obviously, I am fine, being a good 3 hours away from London, but I am immensely upset and shocked. Right now it's 6 AM over there and 2 PM over here.

We just had a program meeting to account for everyone and to find out how these things are going to affect our program. We are staying in Cambridge and not traveling to London, which means that our day trip to London on Sunday has been postponed. We are still going to Bath on Saturday, though, since it's not even close to London and Dr. Dawson feels that it should be fine.

I have to say that I'm really upset about all of it, though, and very disappointed in humanity in general. I can't believe that we have to deal with these things, especially when London was just yesterday celebrating being chosen to host the 2012 olympics, an event that was supposed to unite the world. I have been trying to watch the news with everyone else but keep getting too upset so I don't know if motives have been speculated yet, though I suspect that it must either be a response to the olympic bid, the G8 summit, or even both. It's just so mind-boggling.

We were worried that this would disrupt our schedule today, but Dr. Dawson wants to keep everything as normal as possible, so we are still going to have our program picture taken today, drinks reception, and formal hall dinner tonight. I'm afraid there will be a weird pall over the events, but I'm glad we'll be doing something and not just sitting around. I'm really just shocked, it's really disconcerting to see my TAs really anxious and calling their friends and even our professor was having a difficult time today in class, stuttering and losing track of his thoughts. I really am not sure what the make of this situation, but right now all I'm feeling is a mixture of confusion, anger, disappointment, and hurt. I wish I could understand the motives and mindsets of the people who do these terrible things. I honestly cannot understand it. I wish I could explain how I feel better but right now I'm just too shocked and upset for proper words.

At 2:45 I'm joining the TAs for a walk to Grantchester for tea, then we have the photo, drinks, and formal hall tonight. I guess we'll see how it all goes. I still just can't fathom it all...yesterday was completely fine and enjoyable and today there is injury and chaos. I need some more time to think about things.

Empire Day Celebration

WOW what a celebration. Just got back from it all. It started off sort of slow, with a DJ playing lame songs and most of us just milling around drinking the provided beverages. JM and I were about to leave when suddenly there was a large group of drum players who started a procession. The music was very rhythmic, almost jungle-like, and very infectious. It was one of those things that could have either gone really badly or really well and luckily everyone got into it and were dancing really enthusiastically. Perhaps our 5 day bonding trip in Edinburgh helped loosen everyone up.

Anyway, the group was called Arco Iris (Rainbow) and they played about a dozen drum rhythms and everyone was just partying it up, dancing. After they stopped playing the DJ resumed with better music and the dancing kept up. It was lots of fun, everyone just dancing and not caring about being self-conscious. The EAP kids were there too, so I got to hang out with Jason and introduce him to my friends and vice versa. Also, for you Santa Cruz Stevenson people I ran into Sylvia Pratt (a year younger than us, was an RA last year), who is also on the trip! What a small world!

It was just a really fun time, and after all of it was over people spontaneously burst into song and started singing (or maybe howling...it was quite loud and off key but still enthusiastic) The Star Spangled Banner. Also, a group of people dressed up as American characters, I guess you would call them. The girls dressed Alex up as Miss America in a dress and a partial wig, Michelle was Paul Revere in a coat and capris and her hair tied back, Tara was Miss Liberty with a white sheet worn like a toga and a flashlight in a water bottle tied with string, Janice was Sacagewaea in a brown dress and braids, and Shannon was George Washington in a peacoat, capris, and a napkin bobby pinned to her head in that George Washington hat shape. Brilliant and hilarious! Everyone had a lot of fun with "Empire Day" which made it a great time for everyone. I'll put pictures up tomorrow morning after class, I should probably go to bed. Good night!

I'm BAAACK

Wow, what a trip. Our little journey to the North was so much fun but also exhausting. Between 10 hour bus rides and miles of hiking in the city and in the country, you gotta believe I was tired. But it was a great trip, full of lots of fun moments and amazing sights. This is probably going to be a long post, so brace yourself. It was, after all, 5 days away from Cambridge.

WEDNESDAY (June 30)
- Left at the buttcrack of dawn for our looong bus ride up North. Stopped in the quaint little city of Richmond for lunch, where one of our TAs recommended the Turf Hotel for the best fish and chips around. He was right, they were absolutely finger-licking, malt-vinegary delicious. The only funny thing was that the fish part of it was one large whole piece of fish versus little fried bits. But oh man was it good.
- After several more hours on the bus, we stopped at Hadrian's Wall, the Roman-era wall spanning from ocean to ocean built by the empire to keep out the barbaric, invading, faces painted with blue, skirt-wearing, underwear-deficient Scots (I think this is relatively accurate, correct me if I'm wrong, Mo). The countryside was a beautiful lush green and the wall was amazing. It's always hard for me to believe that I'm in the midst of ancient things in times like that.
- Last stop before Edinburgh: had dinner at Dryburgh Abbey and Hotel, 4 star place. Delicious gourmet dinner complete with strawberries and cream and tea. Didn't get a chance to investigate the abbey ruins because we had to go.
- Arrived at University of Edinburgh, Pollock Halls, our home away from home. Very nice clean place. Explored the campus and town a bit, then crashed.

THURSDAY
- Had a morning guided tour of Edinburgh called "Saints and Sinners" led by professional actors. Useful and informative, though a little cheesy. Got a general overview of the city, mostly focusing on the Royal Mile (the road connecting Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, where the Queen stays when she is in Scotland).
- Was mostly brain-dead and still exhausted from our traveling so I went shopping with Jeanne Marie and Rachel. We were looking for authentic Scottish wool/cashmere sweaters and found lots...but of course they were really expensive (like £60 expensive). Oh well.
- The only stimulating thing we did that day after the tour was look at Giles Cathedral. Very beautiful (but not as amazing as Glasgow Cathedral, which I'll get to later). Highlight of Giles was the newer side chapel where they have these famous carvings of bagpipe playing angels.
- We decided that the weather in Edinburgh (and probably the rest of Britain too) is BIPOLAR. Overcast all day, then sudden heavy rain, followed by sun, then more heavy rain. At one point it was pouring heavy rain while the sun was fully shining. ARRGH. Guess that's Britain for you. You can tell it happens a lot because the locals just walk around getting soaked and they don't care. Only the tourists frantically pull out their umbrellas.
- Met up with our program for a drinks reception at the Playfair Library of the University. Breathtaking library with an ornate ceiling and classical architecture.
- Went off with a bunch of the people I've come to hang out with and found The Elephant House, the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. It was so much fun to be there, it was a very cute and hip cafe, elephant stuff everywhere, and the servers were very friendly. We stayed for several hours and I had two pots of tea while we played Texas Hold Em with M&Ms as money. Lots of good conversation and a fun game, and a few of us ended up buying shirts from the cafe. We put them on and the waiters teased us, telling us to get off our butts and help clean the tables. It was such a welcoming atmosphere and we completely felt like locals. Also had great music playing, some of the best music I've ever heard. It was a group called Arabian Moustache, a group consisting of a Greek, a Swede, a guy from England and a guy from Edinburgh playing an accordion, an electric violin, an upright bass, and a guitar. Amazing music!
- Despite being exhausted, ended up staying up late with my buddies just catching up and waxing philosophical. To make a long story short, we stayed up late enough to find out that the sun indeed does rise at 3AM. It was weird! And the sun doesn't set completely until midnight, which really messes with your sense of time.

FRIDAY
-Woke up early to hike up to Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano, with a group of people from our program. It was the most beautiful and fun hike I've ever done. The steps and rocks to climb, flowers, the city views, and the lush greenery, WOW. Took a million pictures, which of course you can see in my album, and the weather was perfect: sunny with a breeze, quite refreshing. It felt like we were in the Swiss Alps, like in The Sound of Music, and I even took a few Julie-Andrews-Dancing-In-The-Mountains shots. Yeah, I know I'm dumb.
- Decided to use our free day to take a day trip into Glasgow. It was 50 minutes by train, and the Scottish rail system is quite impressive. It was so efficient and clean, the scenery from my window was gorgeous, and if you have a group of 4 or more you get a 50% discount. It only cost me $4 to go to Glasgow!
-We wandered Glasgow for the afternoon - very urban city, sometimes looked like any old typical city, but the Glasgow Cathedral made it spectacular. Stunning Gothic architecture, intricate stained glass, cavernous chapels, and a really creepy crypt. My favorite was the Adam and Eve stained glass window in the Nave of the cathedral, haven't seen that subject on stained glass before. I wanted to take more pictures by my batteries died and I forgot to bring spares, and the closest place to buy new ones was far away. I bought postcards to make up for it. Of all the cathedrals I've seen I like this one the best so far.
- Visited a cool museum, St. Mungo's Religious Life Museum, which owns Salvador Dali's famous Crucifixion of Christ painting and lots of other cool religious art, including some complex and colorful Muslim abstract paintings.
- Walking back towards the city centre, we saw some awesome street performers. There was a young man jamming on his bagpipe with two African drummers, the coolest street performers ever (sorry Santa Cruz kids, it even rivals the guy who sings the blues on Pacific, "I ain't got no dough to buy a burrito"). I've never heard a bagpipe played so awesomely.
- Went out for dinner with Jeanne Marie when everyone else decided to go clubbing (yeah...not my scene) and met lots of very friendly locals, including Hannah, a girl whose parents were born in San Jose and moved to Edinburgh, where she was born, and Gino, the very friendly guy at the Turkish Kebab place we ate. Lots of fun.

SATURDAY
- Chose to go on the trip to the Highlands instead of staying in Edinburgh for the G8 Protest after lots of deliberation. I wish I could have done both, but I ultimately chose the Highlands because Dr. Dawson was taking us hiking on one of his favorite trails, which I knew I would probably never be able to go back to by myself. Traveled for 3 hours to get to The Trossachs, a beautiful region of forest, ferns, rocks, and bogs.
- On the way there we stopped in a quaint little town called Callendar to buy things for lunch and JM and I found a local bakery called The Scotch Oven that had dirt-cheap and amazingly filling and delicious food. I got a steak pie and a chicken and mushroom pie for £1 each, and would have bought out the whole bakery if I could have. Everything looked so good.
- Finally arrived at the place in the Trossachs we were to hike at...I can't remember the name of the nature preserve itself, but the lake we were hiking next to was called Loch Catrine. It was a challenging, calf and thigh burning hike, but absolutely surreal and stunning (sorry if my vocabulary has been redundant...the experiences I've been having are too great for words to describe). It started gradual but we eventually hit the huge hill/mountain we climbed up. It was such an adventure and I swear it looked like Jurassic Park (you can look at my pictures and tell me what you think). Idyllic lake and breathtaking views the higher we got up the mountain. Lots of muddy bogs, however, and I stepped on what looked like firm land and ended up sinking into the bog up to my knees. It was hilarious and digusting, but once my shoes and feet were muddy I didn't care about being careful anymore.
- After hiking for 2 1/2 hours to reach the top, I enjoyed my steak pie and a delicious black currant drink called Ribena I've been drinking every chance I get since I found out about it. I just sat on a rock and ate and admired the nature around me. Very peaceful and satisfying. Too full to eat the chicken and mushroom pie, which I saved for dinner.
- Climbing down was very difficult and precarious but also an adventure (the mountain was really steep). I was verrrrry muddy by the time we got back, it was great. I felt seriously hardcore and in touch with nature.
- Got back to Edinburgh by 7PM and took JM, Scott, and Rimma with me to The Meadows to survey the aftermath of the protest. Heard from the people who stayed that it was a lot of fun and completely peaceful. Most of the protesters were gone except for some hippies and stoners hanging out in the park, but there were still tons of police around. Not quite sure what my opinion of the protest is yet. It made me a little angry when I found out that the organizers had been selling merchandise such as t shirts and trousers with the protest slogan on it ("MakePovertyHistory") when it was supposed to be an anti-capitalism march. Right. But I'm still reading up on it, so I'll get back to you when I form an opinion.
- Packed and crashed.

SUNDAY
-Left early again to get back to Cambridge. Only one stop this time, at Fountains Abbey for lunch. We spent an hour or two there exploring the abbey ruins and the surrounding ornamental lakes. It was a very beautiful place, apparently the largest and most complete medieval abbey ruins in all of europe. It was a beautiful day again and so we just walked around, stretched, took a lot of pictures, etc.
- Got back to Cambridge and wanted to just go to sleep but was convinced by my buddies to come with them to a jazz bar called The Elm Tree. I'm glad I went; I took some class reading with me and sat outside (inside was really smoky, I keep forgetting it's okay to smoke inside here) with Rachel reading and listening to the jazz. Very relaxing, and I got work done too.

And today I had class at 9AM, where we talked about Jane Austen's Emma (or "Emmer", as my teacher with a thick British accent says) and HOLY COW our midterms are next Wednesday. This class is moving quite quickly.

Tonight we have "Empire Day" celebrations. I thought it was a real British holiday but Dr. Dawson explained to us that they are throwing this celebration just for us. It's supposed to be a 4th of July celebration, but they are calling it "Empire Day" in honor of the Brits losing their American colonies. They said they would try not to act too bitter at the celebration. Har har har, those funny Brits.

OH last thing! Guess who I ran into today, finally?! Jason Sposeto! I was coming into Pembroke from town and he was walking out and we sort of both stopped in our tracks with our jaws dropped. Then we both got super excited and hugged and asked all kinds of questions, it was the craziest meeting! It's so strange to run into someone you know from home in a different country. I mean, I knew he was coming but I didn't know when he would be here, and it was amazing that we happened to run into each other that way. He showed me where he was living (basically across the street from me...across from his flat is a plaque identifying the flat where Charles Darwin lived for a year. Wow) and I showed him where I was living so that we could find each other again. I'm so glad he's here, we said we'd go running together which is great because I hadn't been able to find anyone to run with. Most of the people here are from So Cal and only like to run on treadmills and ellipticals. Boo. I like being outside. His EAP program is supposed to be at our Empire Day Celebrations tonight, so hopefully we'll hang out later. How exciting to have an old friend here!

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July. Blow up a firecracker for me or something, please, and eat some BBQ in my honor. Love and miss you all! Jo