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!