Day 46 2/27/12

2/27/12 Day 46

Last night I took a shower. Last night I froze in the shower. Turns out we had no hot water. It was not a great thing and it reminded me of when I lived in ISD. Did not like cold showers before and I do not like them now. But it happened and thankfully I got it fixed later on the day today. Today is Monday meaning spring break is officially over. I did not want to go to class. I was not excited to see my portfolio be trashed. No one was expecting a good grade and as I expected I did not do as well as I thought. I received a 5 out of 10. Why? I got penalized for not having down certain information in which I was not aware of. I got points taken off for things I had no idea that was expected of me. Was I mad? I’m bloody pissed. I like lyndon as a person but as a teacher not becoming a huge fan. I’m tired of my work never being good enough and getting points taken off for things that are not being told of us before the work is due. No one in that class got higher than an 8. Maybe two people at the most got an 8. Apparently me receiving a 5 was a good thing. I’m not happy and I’m even more unhappy because I would have done more work if I knew what was to be expected of me. I’m at the point where the bad grades are going to numb me and I will just become bitter. When I get to that point nothing good comes from it. I have tried to do my best but its apparently NOT good enough and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the fact that we are being thrown busy work and have barely any time to finish it. Everyday I have somewhere to be at and yet I’m given a lot of work to do and high expectations to do it. How can I do the work if I have no time? Ok well that is my rant for now. Also, I’m not the only whose getting fed up with it. After that class I got back to the flat and made some pasta and ate lunch with Krista and Jordan. We hung out for a bit watching Top Gear as usual and chilled until it was time to head off to our adventures tonight. Where was I going tonight? I was going on the Jack the Ripper tour. Ironically, it was being held in (at the time) a Jewish neighborhood. FINALLY something about Jews! Sadly, it was where Jack the ripper found his five victims. No, I am not saying his victims were all Jewish just that it was done in a Jewish area at that time. I was still excited just to hear the word “Jew” since most of the time we are going to churches and all that stuff. I was sad that we did not get to go to the synagogue. Oh well next time. I’m hoping next weekend I can go for Shabbat at one of the temples. Phillipa said she would give me the address and write down the name. I’m excited for that. On this tour we heard the gruesome details of how Jack the ripper killed his victims. I have no idea if it is because I only heard the details it did not bother me or if I have become quite accustomed to hearing about that after watching so many law and order SVU, ER, and Untold stories in the ER. Maybe I am just a disturbed person. Who knows. After the tour was over I headed back to the flat. I am tired and I am mad because apparently my phone says I need to top up after I did two weeks ago. Something tells me they messed up and I know I did not use 3000 minutes especially if I did not use my phone for at least a week. So, I get to deal with that tomorrow and I am really not in the mood to do so. Now, I am going to head to bed because I am very tired and have class at 9am tomorrow. Good thing its British pop music and I like that class.

Day 45 2/26/12

2/26/12 Day 45

It’s Sunday. Nothing exciting has really happened. I slept in late (yayness). Then I got up and got dressed. Then I went to the living room area and went online. There I did some dishes and ate some chocolate cake since that was all I had to eat. I stayed downstairs for a bit until I went to go get some laundry from upstairs because I needed to do some. That took about an hour in which I just stayed downstairs and went online and then went back upstairs to finish getting ready. By the time my laundry was done I went to get it out of the washing machine and hung up upstairs. I then went out to go grocery shopping. Now I have some food! I even picked up some hangers on the way since I was a bit short on some. This way I was able to hang up some more wet clothes and have extra hangers for when I buy more clothes. Of course I cannot buy too much since I am fat and Europe does not really know how to cater to fat girls like myself. Like Monique said in fat girls “ I’m plump like a roast and thicker than most” and I don’t think Europe always knows how to make clothes for thicker women like me. After I did some grocery shopping I came back and unloaded all that I had. I then came down and the movie Robots started playing. I forgot how good that movie is! I watched that and not long after I decided to come to starbucks to get some work done. I hate how we have timed internet and somehow I used four hundred minutes the night before. I do not think that is right but it’s not like I can change it. I have been at starbucks for a few hours and I have gotten some work done but I need the internet. The internet is being a pain in my ass. For some reason it will not work! It is there one minute and the next it is not. It is driving me insane. I need the internet to do work and I would prefer NOT to use up all my minutes tonight. I have decided to wait until my computer battery is fully charged and just go back to my flat and use my internet if Starbucks is not going to give me anything to work with. I still hope I can skype with Grace one of my best friends from back home. I have not skyped with her in so long and I was hoping I could do it here at Starbucks so I would not take up any more megabites but apparently that will not work. I guess I should have known this is what free internet is like then again it was not so much free since I had to pay for a coffee. That has basically been my day. I told you nothing exciting happened. The only thing exciting in this blog is my rant for how much I hate timed internet as well as the crappy internet service here in Starbucks.

Day 44 2/25/12

2/25/12 Day 44

I have no idea why but going back to London today made me quite home sick. I guess because it was weird to be constantly relaxing and not being busy made me really have time to think and I just started to miss my home, family and friends so much. Maybe it was my pms depression type feeling coming back to get me since it had not bothered me that much when I was pmsing. Ok well that is my little rant and I should probably get back to the story of what happened today. Today I was heading back to London. I got up pretty early and got dressed. I finished packing up all my stuff and the three of us (Me, Shelby and Michelle) headed to St. Angelo’s dock to wait for our boat to arrive. We happened to be quite early but its better to be early than late. We waited for a while and then our boat finally arrived. We got on and it was either an hour or less ride. It was not that bad. Then we head to walk at least ten minutes to get to the airport. I was of course falling behind as usual because I had a big suitcase and I was quite hot since I was dressed for colder weather with my bsu jacket, my wool socks, uggs and winter north face jacket. Got to the airport and then we got something to eat at this little pizza restaurant. It was a pretty good pizza and then we headed to print out my boarding pass. The lines were quite long. They went by a little quickly but it was annoying just like the security check but security check is always annoying (its good for our safety but feels likes a hassle at times). Got through with that and then waited for our plane to board and when it did they had us waiting in line which felt like forever. Then they crammed us all on a bus to take to the aircraft. When we were about to get out some old man basically elbowed me in the throat, it was quite refreshing. No, it was not I personally was not happy about that. In a crammed bus you cannot just lift up your arm without being cautious. Then when I was climbing on the stairs to get to the plane these two girls traveling together pushed me out of the way on the stairs to make sure they were going to stay together. Of course they had to since on a plane they were both walking into they would be separated especially when they got to choose their own seats. It’s alright I made sure to bump them with my bag as I passed by. I was not having the best day today and was not in the mood for anything. I was not in the mood to go “New York” on anyone’s ass because as shocking as it can be I can be passive. As long as I can bitch about it later I’m fine. Plane ride was over then took a 30 minute train ride on the Gatwick express to get to Victoria, London and then got on the tube to head back to the flatts. Was not in a great mood when I was getting out of the tube and this blonde Barbie bitch decides to cut me off when I getting off the tube. I had this big suitcase and she could tell I was getting off but now she was impatient. I should have just smashed my bag into her and when she fell down I could have been like “watch who you cut off next time” but I didn’t I just thought it. Finally we got back to the flatts. I just chilled in my room and skyped my sister and aunt and showed them the presents I got. Then I went out to dinner with Amy and Krista to a Chinese restaurant. It was really nice and it was the first time I had been there. Then we went to the off license store to pick up some alcohol. I picked up two Rekorderligs and some Apple juice for my cocktail mix (on the beach). I’m starting to notice I crave to drink even more if I am having a bad day or feeling sad. I don’t know if I should be worried for the future but I’m not there yet so it is all good. Now, Im drinking my Rekorderlig and chilling out writing my blogs. Im hoping to be able to use the washing machine since I have a lot of clothes to wash.

Day 43 2/24/12

2/24/12 Day 43

Today was the very last day I got to spend in Venice. I slept in a little bit since it was still a vacation and not a class. Today we were going on a tour to see the three islands, Murano, Torcello and Buarno. I was very excited because I LOVE murano glass. LOVE is probably an understatement because I want a murano themed glass house and or wedding. It is just amazing to me. Well, we had the confirmation for the tour but we did not have a printer so we could not print it out. We figured since Michelle could get it on her phone that it would be alright. On our way to San Marco square to get to the tour we decided to get lunch first. We just happened to find the Hard Rock Café on our way and decided to eat there. It was nice eating lunch there since they did not have many people there. There was this big red Murano glass chandelier. I got some twisted mac and cheese with a drink of water and Tropical Thunder (alcoholic) and it was quite tasty. We (Michelle, Shelby and myself) spent maybe an hour there or so. It was pretty good and the staff was quite friendly. Then we were on our way to get to the tour that started at 2pm. When we finally found the station we found out that we needed to have a printed copy of the confirmation ticket, which we did not have. So, this guy took us to the internet café that happened to be closed. We walked back to see if there was anything else and we found the actual office for the tour. They thankfully let us print out the ticket but were a bit bitch/rude about it. They were like “ you should know to print it off just like if you were printing out a ticket for a plane it’s the same thing” maybe she doesn’t realize that when tourists come to visit they don’t always have access to a computer and or printer. Thought I would just that but who cares we got our ticket printed off and went back to the station and then the woman there guided us to the boat. The woman who was at the station was quite nice and friendly. We got to the boat and our first stop was Murano. All we did there was watch a glass blower make one glass bowl piece and then make a horse. It was epic! I was dying it was just so beautiful. Then they took us to the store in the factory and I had no idea where to start. It reminded me of my grandma’s house with all the glass animals. I wanted to buy everything! Instead, I bought some pendants and a family of four little blue elephants for my sister. I would love to keep the collection going and maybe one day pass it on to my children. I figured my parents did not want me to spend over 30 Euros on any of the beautiful pieces that were offered due to having to bring it back and such. But, its alright because I plan on going back. Then we headed off to the next Island, Torcello. There really was not much but a church that some people visited but we did not feel like paying for it so we just took pictures on this cool looking bridge and basically waited to get back on the boat. We did happen to see a few cats on the way which was cute. Then our last stop was to Burano. That was known for their lace. We just walked around for a bit. Took some more pictures and they had a lot of beautifully bright colored houses. It was quite amazing to see and their bell tower is on a slant due to the ground sinking. Its quite scary knowing that building could one day fall and you can only imagine what that would mean for the Island. Then we found one of those stands outside selling some gifts and I bought this black masquerade mask which is actually quite pretty and I bought some more Muarno glass to add to the collection. I was happy, I was in heaven. It was hard not to buy all the pieces. Soon enough it was time to head back to Venice. We got back to Venice and bought a water taxi ticket to get to Marco polo airport since we were leaving the next day. Then we headed to back to find a place where we could find a good price for a Gondala ride. On our way, we picked up some Gelato and I got some beautiful shot glasses. While I got the shot glasses Michelle and Shelby had found a person to get a gonadala ride from. It was nice but it was a little scary since I constantly felt as if we were going to tip. I was sitting on the side so that was making me even more nervous. It was a nice ride though and it was beautiful because it was at night. I was happy we got to go on a gondala ride because at least now I can say I have been on one. We ended up by Riolti bridge. We looked to see if there was anywhere we wanted to eat at but we didn’t find anything. We started to head back as if we were going back to the hotel to see if we would find anything. We stopped into some stores to check some stuff out and ended up finding a restaurant on the way. It was not that great of a place in my opinion. The food was not as good as it probably could have been but it was one of the cheaper places we could find. It was amusing that our waiter did not know much English and kept saying, “Thank you please”. That was pretty much a give away he did not speak English well. Oh well. After dinner, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. It was an adventure but we figured it out. Got back to the hotel and we all showered (at separate times obviously) and we relaxed since tomorrow we were going to head back to London!

Day 43 2/23/12

2/23/12 Day 42

Today Jordan left early in the morning because she was flying to Madrid to meet her mom. That means I have a few hours by myself until Michelle and Shelby arrived. I decided to sleep in a little later since I did not want to stray too far and get completely lost because I cannot understand how to read those maps nor do I speak Italian (remember I never got passed Spanish (Spanish and Italian are similar) level 3). I decided to get up around 11am shower, get dressed, put on some makeup and then I walked around to find a place to eat. It amazed me how so many things started to look familiar from the night before. I was glad I could remember some things because its really hard figuring out directions here in Venice with all the little allies. I found a place that I have no idea what the name of but it was cute. I got to sit out in the sun and I even took my jacket off because it was so warm! I ordered a ham and cheese toast sandwich with a Mocha Latte. It was quite good and it came with complimentary water (Yay!). I sat there for a while but I felt awkward since I was alone and did not have a paper to read. Oh well, after I finished I decided to walk around a little bit. I found a bead store and of course I was drooling. I decided to buy some beads because I plan on making someone an original bracelet by the one and only Brooke (that’s me). It’s a surprise so don’t bother guessing because just don’t. Then I decided to get back to the room and just chill out for a while and wait for Shelby and Michelle. I got bored and I knew they would get lost finding the hotel (it is very hard to find) so I decided I would go pick them up at the water taxi station they were getting off at. I ended up waiting at least an hour because I was confused if there train was coming in at a certain time or if that is when they were taking a water taxi. It was not too bad of a wait at least it was nice out. Then I showed them to the hotel and waited as they got situated. After that, we just walked around for a little bit. I tried to navigate us to San Marco’s Square. I was somewhat successful. Then we just walked around for a while until we all got hungry. I had told them about the restaurant that Jordan and I had gone to which was named Florida. It was on the Riotali (spell check) bridge. Turns out I was a little more confused on how to get there then I thought I was. But, after a while we figured it out. I was not as impressed with the place as I was with yesterday. We did not get complimentary drinks and the waiters acted as if they had no idea what we were talking about, they did not bring up the 14 euro deal until I did and it just did not seem as nice as it was yesterday. I was sad about the drink because I was looking forward to it. The food was not too bad and at least it was 14 euro for three courses (vegetable soup, pork shop and a salad). After dinner we figured out how to get back to the hotel which turns out is a lot closer than I realized. I knew it was close but it’s a lot closer than I had thought. That was nice. We got to the hotel, got some internet, booked a three island tour (excited for that!), almost booked a 275 euro tour because the prices were wrong on the website, decided I am wearing my new dress I bought at H&M tomorrow, blogging, chilling out and soon going to bed. Oh, funny story Michelle and Shelby declared me the tour guide. Meaning I am going to do most of the navigating. I can imagine Ashley (my sister) as well as the rest of my family thinking “oh God, this isn’t good” because I am the worst person with directions. I’m bad at giving directions to those by my neighborhood and I’ve lived there my whole life. Hell, I cannot figure out how to navigate NYC. So, hopefully tomorrow will not be bad. Plus I did warn them. It’s weird being the one to know a little bit more than everyone else and being to help navigate since I’m the one who just goes along with whatever.

Random note. For my wedding I want to have a Murano themed wedding. I have just decided that. So, hopefully I will marry rich and or become rich myself. That has been decided.

Day 42 2/22/12

Day 42 2/22/12

Once again another bright and early morning. Got up around 7:30am because Jordan and I had to catch a 9:25am train to Venice. Was not happy with the hostel because they had two bathrooms no soap and no toilet paper and the other one had no toilet paper. Yea, it was not that amazing of a hostel. The people living on the floor seemed a little peculiar as well. The best part was when Jordan and I wanted to check out there was no one there! It was 8:30am and there was no one there and we had a train to catch. So we left the key and wrote them a note. I thought it was not professional at all to have no one there and not even put a note up saying they were not there. Then we left for the train station and grabbed a quick breakfast. Then we hoped on the train, which was about 2 hours long. Then we got off the train and headed for the water taxi. Turned out we walked farther then we needed to go but we got on the right one so it did not matter. It was a gorgeous water taxi ride. The view was amazing and it was such a clear day in Venice! We got to the hotel (after 30 minutes of trying to figure out where it was) and dropped off our bags because we found out that they did not have the room ready until 2:30pm and it was about 1:30pm. It was a beautiful day and we ended up just walking around to find a place to eat lunch and see what we wanted to do. We found a little sandwich place and ate there. It was not bad and I got a chicken sandwich and a hot chocolate. It was one of the most amazing hot chocolates I have ever had! It was a nice little place. We just sat there for a little bit and talked about what we wanted to do. We ended up just walking around for hours and doing some shopping. I bought one of those Italian glass necklaces (my obsession) and I got some beads and in one of the stores the woman there helped me put it together. I think I got jipped off for getting some of the beads (from the first store) but in the end I am ok with it because I really love it and it’s a one of a kind bracelet. It was a lot of fun shopping even though it was expensive. The stores sell a lot of the glass beads/necklaces. I also saw a lot of things that my grandmother collected and I am so tempted to just buy a ton of them to bring back home. I think I get my obsession from her. You can ask my sister in NYC I can stop for less than five minutes when I see an Italian pendant. I just love them. So, imagine me in a place where every other store carries them. Yes, I was DYING! It was my heaven! I was even freaking out about the gondolas! I cannot wait to go on one. They look amazing! I went into a major freak-out today and the weather was amazing so it helped. Jordan and I just walked for hours and basically got lost several times since the map does not have many street names and there are a lot of alley ways which makes it more confusing. Then we finally found the hotel again and got to go to our room. This was around 4:30ish pm. Then we sat around for a little while and tried to figure out what we wanted to do. We decided to go by the Riolto bridge (spelling may not be correct) and walk around there for a while. They had some fun stores. We found some people selling pasta and my favorite was the sexy pasta. They were pasta in the shape of penis’s. I thought it was quite amusing and they had a bunch of other stuff and for a pretty good deal as well. I might be buying pasta before I leave. Then we went to go look for a bathroom because Jordan needed to use one. When we found one you had to pay and that was not worth it. We then decided to find a place to eat dinner since it was dinner time around 6-7pm. We walked down by the pier. We saw three restaurants and by the third one they had this deal and it looked pretty good. 3 course meals for 14 Euros which is a pretty good deal. Jordan then asks “ If we eat here can I use your bathroom?’ It was hilarious! The waiter was like yea. So, she ran to the bathroom and I took a seat outside. It was gorgeous outside, not too cold and we had a heat lamp that made it better. Then we got complimentary drinks, the best part was the name of the restaurant, Florida (Ironically my family is there right now). For my meals I got Lasagna, fried calamari (it’s a rare thing for me to eat seafood) and then I got a salad. The food was not bad. Then with our check they gave us some free (small) deserts. It was nice. We made a good choice. Then we were planning to go to this Gelato place by our hotel but we had randomly decided to wander and it turns out we wandered a lot farther from the hotel then we had imagined. I cannot give specifics because I do not know but it was pretty far. So, we were lost for a while but it was an adventure. Finally we found where our hotel was and tried to find the gelato place but it turns out it was closed. It was amazing how early everything closed and how dead the town seemed. It is still gorgeous but very quiet. We then went back to San Marco square to find a gelato place and we did. Ironically it was called the American bar. We sat for a little bit and ate our lovely treat. Then we headed back to the hotel and just chilling out. We are rocking out to some random music, telling random stories, bloging, just chilling and having a good ol’ time. It was a fun day, nice weather and everything. Though, Venice does seem to be very romantic and more of a place for couples. It is still cute though and I love it.

I just want to add another note. Today is my mother’s birthday and I want to wish her a very happy birthday! As your mother put it on facebook you have caught up to her. I have no idea how that is possible but apparently you are both the same age. Love you.

Day 41 2/21/12

Day 41 2/21/12

Today was an early morning. Today we were traveling to Florence! I got up around 7-7:30am and took a shower and got dressed and packed up my stuff. We had to be checked out by 10am. Then we went to the train station, which was right up the block from us. Turns out Italia Rail is a lot more confusing then you would think. Then there was the complication that Michelle did not print out her ticket and ended up having to buy a new one since she could not find her code to show she bought a ticket. We finally got a bit at McDonald and guess who we ran into? The Londoners from the night before, they were there to catch a train to Naples to see the Chelsea football match. The whole train thing was just a mess. Then our train got delayed for at least five minutes and it kept changing. Finally we got on the train and I pretty much fell asleep on the train until I got awoken by the conductor to give them my ticket. Then around 2ish pm we arrived in Florence. We were trying to find out hostel when we asked two older men if they could tell us what direction to go. One of the men ended up just walking us down there which I thought was very nice of him. We got to the hostel, settled in and decided we would meet up with Krista. We waited for at least 30 minutes for her to arrive. Then we headed towards the Academia Gallery and on the way in the Doma Square we got some a late lunch and an early dinner. The food was not bad but the waiter gave a bit of attitude at some points. Its amazing how little the waiters come to check up on you in Europe while in the U.S waiters come over to you constantly. Then after that we went to the Acadamia Gallary which had the actual statue of David. It was an amazing piece of work. Just last semester ago my art history teacher was teaching us about him. Now I get to see I have seen the real work in person. It was quite amazing. After that we went to go get some Gelato. Gelato is always amazing. Then after that we went to the train station to Mcdonalds since some of the girls had to use the toilets. Then Jordan and I were going to split from the group to go check out the bridge named Pointe Vechio because it was the only standing bridge after the bombings in world war II . We went to go see since tomorrow we are both leaving for Venice since Jordan is leaving on Thursday to go to Madrid to meet her mom. We went to the bridge and it was a beautiful view. It looked like a mini town on the bridge it was cute but everything was closed. After that we basically came back and chilled with the other girls and then went back to the room with Jordan to blog, figure out stuff for tomorrow and things like that. Tomorrow by this time I shall be in Venice =]

Day 40 2/20/12

Day 40 2/20/12
Woke up to find out I had a drip. I HATE drips! For anyone that does not know it is a nasal drip which is equivalent to a cold. Today I have the sore throat which is not horrible and I at least am able to talk with out gagging. So, I thought I wouldn’t be too happy today. After we all got ready we went to that cute little pizza place again. I got a spinach pizza which was nice because it was warm and I love spinach pizza. I realized I have been eating a lot of spinach here. Then we got on the metro to head towards the Vatkin. We got there and Jordan and Sara got in line to see the museum of the Vatakin and Shelby and Michelle and myself decided we would just check out the square. While doing so a guy came up to us and told us about this pub crawl. It was our last night in Rome and we jumped at the chance to do so. The three of us went to go find the office to buy the t-shirts. It turns out the office is by the coliseum so once again we took some more pictures by it. I should also mention that we got a t-shirt from the pub crawl. It’s a pretty nice shirt too. Then after that we went back to the hostel to chill out before heading out to the Hard rock Café at around 5:30ish. The hard rock was not bad. A bit pricy as usual and of course busy. After that we met back at the trevi fountain (all five of us) to get some gelato at this great gelato place by the fountain and then we headed on off to the pub crawl. The pub crawl was fun! The first pub I ended up getting drunk. They put in a lot of alcohol in their drinks and they had open bar for at least an hour. They even had one game. One game that I participated in was you had to be partnered with a guy (a guy and a girl had to be partners) and the girl had to get a beer can up the guy’s pants up one leg across the crotch and down the other pant leg and then they had to chug it. I was drunk at the time so everything seemed so surreal. I personally felt very awkward since I had just met the guy that night and I was beyond drunk. But there were some good laughs. The second pub I started to sober up a little bit since I did not have any drinks and it was my favorite part of the tour. They had a karaoke machine! I mentioned to one of the tour guys ( a really hot Italian guy) how I loved to sing so he was showing me where the song books were. At first I was a bit nervous that I could not find any songs that I knew and of course I was looking for at least Chain of fools. Then I finally found it and I waited for my turn. By my turn I was not as drunk as I was before and I sang it like there was no tomorrow. I think I would have made Aretha and Ottis proud. Honestly it was so much fun and it felt amazing to just belt out a song. Seriously if I could do one thing for the rest of my life it would be to perform. It is the best feeling in the world. Then I met some other girls from Canada and sang Barbie girl with them….. Yea, I was not drunk enough for that but I pretended I was. Not long after the girls I was with (Michelle, Shelby, Jordan, Sara) suggested I do Super-bass…… I can do Aretha but I sure as hell cannot do Nikki. That was a major fail but its alright I am happy I nailed Chain of Fools. Then we went to out last destination. The club. Shelby and Sara left right after we got to the club. Michelle , Jordan and I stayed for maybe 30 minutes longer. Then we decided to go to another bar with some people we met from the first pub. Ironically they happened to be Chelsea (football/soccer) fans from London. On the way there was a fountain in which Michelle decided to get into with one of the guys we were with. It was quite amusing to watch but not so much for when the guy had taken off his pants to show his sponge bob boxers only to them take that off and streak around the fountain….. Peculiar. Then we waited by the cabs for what felt like an hour to try and figure out what to do. When we did we had to get in to the cabs. Well, obviously I would be the one that had to get a cab by myself since the driver would not take more than 4 people in the car. One of the guys we were with ended up getting out and going into the cab with me which was nice. Not going to lie I was freaking out a bit since I was praying to God I was going to the same place as they Michelle and Jordan and I am also in Italy which I am not familiar with, sitting in a cab with a guy I met a few hours before and hes hammered. It was not bad and everything turned out alright. He ended up paying for my cab which was nice. Jordan, Michelle and I , and the two guys who were with us got back to the train station that was near our hostel and went into this weird pizza bar. I think they gave us some stale food for some reason. It was just a mess and around 3am we ended up going back to our hostel and calling it a night. I guess you could say it was an early morning for us.

Day 39 2/19/12

Day 39 2/19/12

Today Michelle, Shelby and I slept in later. Jordan and Sarah had decided they wanted to go to mass at the Vatakin and they did. I did not want go since I felt uncomfortable being Jewish and going to a mass for Catholics. That is just for me. We got up later and I finally showered and got dressed after a while of just being lazy and trying to find a site where I could watch Glee. By the time we were all finished getting ready it was close to one and the three of us were starving! We were trying to be nice and just wait but we finally gave up and planned to leave them a note. By the time we were leaving we had caught them coming up the stairs. We waited for them to change and went to this cute little pizza place we saw on our way to the pubs from the night before. I got this potatoes pizza and it was delicious! I love how they cut the pizza up in halves and fold it in a sandwich. It is cute and easy to eat! Then we headed back to the hostel to figure out what we wanted to do. Shelby, Michelle and I wanted to go shopping and Jordan and Sarah wanted to do something else so we went out without them. We went to Flamingo station. We had to take the metro (the underground/subway). Turns out its by the Spanish stairs. We came right in time because they were having a circus type of celebration there. We walked around it for a few minutes and then got to watch the parade. It was pretty good. Then we decided to check out some random stores. I guess I am just too fat for Europe because nothing seems to fit me. I guess I am so use to it that it did not destroy the little self esteem I already have left. After a bit of shopping we decided to find a place to eat. We walked back up the street towards the metro. We checked out a few stores and finally found a restaurant that we liked. Do I remember the name? No. I ordered ravioli with a four cheese type of sauce that looked like alfredo and the raviolis had spinach and cheese inside. It was quite good. I even got an alcoholic drink. Something called orange something. It was gross and never again. It also stunk because I had to pay for my water. Apparently tap water is not free in Italy. After we ate we just chilled out in the restaurant. We had a nice chat about religion and death, which may seem eerie but I think we all learned a lot from each other. After that we took the metro back to the hostel. We got to the hostel and basically relaxed and got ready for bed. I did get to skype with Kaylyn. Other than that, that was my day.

Day 37 2/18/12

2/18/12

I got to sleep in a little bit later (8:45am!). I learned that I do not sleep well in any hostel. I also learned that a glass and small bottle of wine is probably a little too much for me. I think I woke up drunk. Lesson learned. We all got ready and were planning on eating breakfast but turns out everyone else at the hostel ate all the food and there was nothing much left for us. Oh well. Then we decided we were going to do a bus tour for the day to see a few sites. We were walking down the street when a man (doing those type of promotions) talked to us and gave us a decent price the bus tour. It was a hop on, hop off type of tour which was nice. We had to walk very fast to where that bus tour stop was at. Turns out it did not matter since we had missed that bus. We saw this little food place that I think may have been called bar and I got this little croissant type of thing with cream and chocolate chips. It was delicious. Then we went back outside to wait for the tour bus to arrive. It was not that bad of a wait and the weather was actually nice for the day. Nice as in I did not have to wear my winter jacket! We went on the bus tour and the first stop we went to was something I am unsure of to be honest. If I remember, I will try to add in the name later. To be honest since I had no idea what it was I did not really mind going there. Let’s skip to when we went to the coliseum. Now that was amazing. Such a historical place that I’ve heard about in school and from the media. Originally, we did not want to do a tour but we decided we would. It was funny since we turned down this one guy wanting to give us a tour but he just kept badgering us. We didn’t want to spend 23 euros for a tour. Then after talking about it we thought it might be a good deal so when that guy found out we changed our minds he started hounding us about why we did that and blah blah blah. It was just awkward for him on his part. We took the tour and I personally was not that fond of it. I felt like we could have done more by ourselves then with that tour guide but we did get a second tour for free for the Roman Forum. Now that was a tour that I liked. It was amazing. I defiantly liked that tour a lot better. At the end of it we all had to go to the bathroom. Turns out the bathroom didn’t have any toilet paper. Thankfully there was a boy with a cold (not thankful for the cold part) but he brought with him toilet paper for his nose. Yes, its random but it helped all us girls since there was no toilet paper or soap in the bathroom. Turns out the boy and his mom and sister are from Israel. I thought that was extremely cool. After that whole bathroom scene we were on our way back to the tour bus. We got side tracked by an artist who was spray painting pictures. It was just like in NYC and the work was beautiful. I was tempted to buy one but did not. Then we went back on our way to get to the bus. Turns out we had missed it so we just went to the next stop which was not too far away. It was where all the chariot races took place. It was a nice view to see the buildings but the area for the racing was just mostly grass and dirt. The pictures in the book used on the tour were a lot prettier. Then we got back on the bus. Apparently there seemed to be a bit of confusion since three of us wanted to see the Fountain of Trevi while the other two wanted to go to the Spanish steps. The confusion was that two of them were getting off and the rest of us didn’t realize it until we saw them standing in the aisle. That caused some minor frustration. But whatever it’s over. We got to the Spanish stairs an it was very crowded. While we were standing there some guy came over to us with flowers and he said they were free and then he walked away. They were pink roses and I was excited because I love receiving flowers and I rarely do. Then the guy ruined it by walking back after walking away asking for money. We all handed him back the roses. I really wanted to keep mine. I should have made a run for it…… Next time! Well, that did happen a few more times and we refused. We did not walk up all the way to the top of the stairs since it was extremely crowded but we did sit on them. Then we headed to the fountain. On the way we saw this (expensive) but cool shoe store. They had heels that were neon green! Can anyone say heaven? Shoot, I would have bought them just to stare at the colors. They had pink and yellow as well it was amazing! However, I did not and we all just looked because they were extremely expensive. Now back on our way to the fountain. It took a few minutes but we found it. It was beautiful. Yea, it was crowded but who cares? It was gorgeous. Now I can say I know where half the movies filmed. I even made two wishes. I threw a coin for me and one for my sister since I can imagine how stressed they are due to the funeral that is happening on Sunday. I still feel bad I cannot be there for them. After taking some pictures at the fountain, we went on the hunt to find a cheap restuarnt. We found this little place called the bar (its different from the first place) and it was decent. The food was not amazing but it wasn’t bad either. Then we went back to this place by the fountain to buy some gelato. It was delicious. I got pistachio and tartafo (chocolate with cherries) on a cone. Yes, it was yum. Now all of you people can do what they say these days, nom nom nom. That was the first time I said it and very much so the last. After that three of us (me, Shelby and Michelle) took a cab back to the hostel since it was getting cold and we did not feel like walking five miles. It’s suppose to be a 30 minute walk but everyone in Europe walks extremely fast. The cab was cheap and the ride was pretty fast. It was funny because this lady tried to steal the cab from us as we were speaking to the driver but the driver told her no. She made it look it was our faults. She was being a bitch. Excuse my language. I think after hearing about peoples time in France I think i understand the saying "excuse my french". When we got to the room we were chilling out a bit waiting for the other girls to see if they wanted to do anything else. While doing so two girls studying in Belgium and from Chicago heard our accents and asked if we were American. That's just what Americans do. They told us they were going to a pub and invited us. Finally the other two arrived and we asked what they wanted to do since they were getting up early to go to mass and the Vatican in the morning. We decided to go to the pub with them. We went to one called the Fiddlers Green arm (something like that). It was a nice Irish pub. I got a pear cider and it was decent. After that Jordan and Sarah left early since they wanted to get ready for bed. Michelle, Shelby and I went with the two girls (Maddie and Kelly I think were their names) to find another pub. It took a while since we could not find it. We finally found it and it was sketch. You had to ring a bell and then they looked through a peep hole before they let you in. We went in to find out it was a private pub and they were trying to convince us to sign these papers with some info to have on record since apparently the law required them since its a private pub. After a few minutes of that we all decided it was probably the safest idea to left. After that we went back to the hostel since it had been a bit of walking/pub hunting. It was a nice adventure and lessons were learned. Then we chilled out at the hostel then went to bed not long after.

Day 36 2/17/12

Day 36 2/17/12

Today was the big day I was going to Italy. I was getting up a little earlier than usual because Jordan and I were going to go to College of Westminster to print out our boarding passes. When I woke up that morning, I had this random urge to check my facebook. I felt as if something had happened last night. I was right because 9am my time my aunt skyped my on facebook. Turns out my Grandpa passed away. It’s weird because I feel like I have no one to talk about it with. I just have so much I want to vent but no one to vent it too. Plus I don’t want to ruin anyone’s trip. It ended up being a mostly travel type of day. Got the boarding passes and then Jordan and I went to Victoria train station to wait for Sarah, Michelle and Shelby to meet us to get on the train to get to Gatwick. The flight was about 2 hours long and we did get in a little earlier which was nice. We got in to Rome and then we got to the hostel we were staying at (Downtown hostel). Its not that bad but it’s still a hostel. We got settled in and then we explored a little bit to find a place to eat dinner. I got a pizza with mushroom, tomatoes and mozzarella. It was good and I got the house white wine. After that we got back to the hostel and planned out our weekend for Rome. Now we are just chilling and hanging out. We found a machine that has wine and beer. I got a wine since they had extra change in the machine and so did Michelle. Its not that great of wine but I don’t want to cry so I keep drinking it. It’s funny because they were making fun of my face that I make when I drink. It’s a chill night and tomorrow is when all the adventures will start.

I need to vent and here is a letter I want to write if my grandfather could ever read.

Dear Grandpa Jack,

I always loved you and I still do. I always thought you were a good man no matter how grumpy you would get or how you would always wait in the car when grandma took Ashley and I shopping. I never thought anything bad of you. Then grandma dies and you get a girlfriend three weeks after and never even tell this woman about grandma. It was even worse that you lied about it. It makes me extremely mad that you told her so much about Ashley and I you never once found out any of that information about us from us. I felt like you never wanted to talk to us and since you did not have grandma to yell for to get on the phone you just didn’t care unless we heard you tell us about your problems. Ashley and I are the only grandchildren you ever had and ever will and yet you never in 18 years tried to come visit us! Then this bimbo you think you are in love with invites you to visit her family and you jump on the change. Not once but twice! You had a family, a real one that you never learned to appreciate. It hurt so much and you bestowed so much anger on not just me but everyone. I bet you never knew how I was going to never mention your name again once you died. I know I said some mean things but I was mad, I never meant it. I apologize for it. It’s sad your gone but now you have grandma to kick your ass. I just wish you would know how mad you made me and how much hurt you put on me. I wish you knew how to appreciate things better. You almost lost your family. I hope Harriet was worth it because I honestly hate her and it’s a good thing I never see her again. I hate how rude she is. She’s a golddigger who got nothing. I bet you never noticed what a bitch she is. Maybe you two deserve each other. But, even I never thought you were mean enough to disrespect grandma so much and lie to your family about it. I still hold some anger but I am sad your dead. It feels surreal.

Sincerely your blood related granddaughter whose speaking through wine related courage.

p.s dad don’t get mad. I have a right to vent. The only reason I never told him is because I love you so much.

Day 35 2/16/12

Day 35 2/16/12

Woke up, almost got hit by a car, went to math class, then wished I had gotten hit by that car and then came somewhat late to my British life and culture class. I do not know if you can see the pattern or not but I wasn’t having a lot of luck. It was just a long day for me. Then after my British life and culture class, I had to go to Russell Square to go to Anglo to pick up my package. By that time, I was exhausted and just wanted to lye down. However, I had to go down to Anglo at the busiest time. It was a good thing I was able to figure out how to get there by tube but actually finding the place was so much harder and especially at night. I would say I could remember it from when Dr. Pierce gave us that tour but we went by it so fast and the fact I was more worried about not loosing the group that I never paid attention. I had to call Anglo, turns out I had the number for the main Anglo and not the specific one I was looking for. It was bad. I called Amanda for directions and while doing so a random woman heard me and just pointed me in the direction of it. I found it finally and got my package. Thank God. I already was a hormonal mess and I really needed my birth control. I finally got it and then I headed back to my flat. When I got to my flatt I poured myself a drink and ate some mashed cauliflower I had. I even had a salad but I really needed that drink. I did some relaxing and then I did some laundry and then packed. After that I was just chilling in my room and ended up going to bed not much later since I was going to Italy the next day.

Day 34 2/15/12

I'm not going to lie, I was almost not that excited to go on today's trip to Rochester. I usually am not excited until I get there. It probably has to deal with that I am usually tired and I never liked being squished on the tube at 8:30am when I could be sleeping in a warm bed. Or maybe it has to deal with the fact that I don't like walking fast. Lets face it, I'm a chunky girl and all my chunkiness is not going to go away until God knows when. As I mentioned today we were going to Rochester and had to be at the train station at 9:30am. When we got to Rochester we first went to this museum where a story that Charles Dickens wrote The Poor Seven travelers. They even invited a real Crier for us. It was a lot of fun watching him welcome us. The museum was quite small but it was really nice. It had a lot of interesting stuff in there. At one point they were talking about singing and next thing I know is people start calling me over. The reason why is because back in the day people use to sing badly outside of peoples windows in order to get money. Next thing I know is I was being asked to sing poorly which in all honesty is hard for me. I'm not good at many things and the few things I am I prefer not to do poorly if I dont have to. But, I sure felt great for being called on to sing poorly (sarcasm). Then again I don't think anyone realized and I was like dayum I missed my time to belt out a tune which I love to do since I have limited times to do so. That doesn't matter. After that we went to Castle of Rochester. It was gorgeous. The view was amazing. There was not really much to the castle except a gift store but getting to climb up the castle was amazing. The stairs were a bit scary and at some points you were a bit nervous walking down because if you missed one step. Well, lets just say that would be a painful and disastrous fall. The view from the top was gorgeous. That's what I love about castles is how big they are but mostly because of the views you can see from the top. I would never want to live in a castle but if I did thats the one thing I would love most about it. After that Jordan, Krista, Sarah, Amy and myself got lunch a pub named Ye Arrow. It was not bad. I ordered a cheeseburger with crisps (french fries) but it was not the best burger I have ever eaten. Then again, I was hungry and I usually eat whatever except for fish (EW!!!!!). Then we met up with the group at 1:30pm to go check out the Chapel. It was quite beautiful and I love the chandeliers that were hanging. If I become rich that is what I want! The style of the church was different as well it was not Gothic like most. Instead it was Normand or Norway (I always get confused on what it is called). It was beautiful. Once we were done seeing that we went to the Guild Hall Museum. It was small but very cool. There were some interactive spots and a lot of big scenes that were put up. After the museum we were taken to see these two houses. I completely forgot what they were but I imagine it had to do with Charles Dickens. Then everyone else was heading back but Amanda, Krista, Jordan, Amy and myself decided to stay back and check out some of the candy stores. Before we did that we went into this little bakery/dining place. I got a Mississippi Pie. Yes, I'm chunky and I love my chocolate. It was worth it. Then we went to go check out some of the candy stores. The first one we went to was called Sweet Expectations. They had some good candies and fudge! I really wish I bought some fudge. They were selling a bag of about 9 pieces of different kind for 2.60 which is a pretty good price. Remember I did not buy it so no worries or Hakkunah Motata (sp). Then we went to another candy store that was a bit bigger and it was so delicious looking. Enough talking about candy because Im going to want to go find a candy store soon and buy them out (I wont really do that, I'll think it). Then we went into this clothes store (which I have no idea the name of). It was unique. They had cute outfits which of course I could never fit in because London has a lot of clothes made for thinner girls and thin is the last word you would think when you heard my name. They did have some interesting stuff such as their makeup. Some of the makeup was neon colors it was epic. They even had rainbow colored eyelashes as well as colored contacts, awesome rings and these amazing hats! By amazing I meant the splattered paint hats. They had one hat with a cute little teddy bear on it splashed with red paint to indicate he was bleeding and all this slaughter. That was sad. They had some stuff that was a little too out there for all of us as well as the price. It was still cute though. After that we decided to head back and jumped on a train back to London. Got back to the flatt and did some homework, I wanted to do laundry but it does not look like that is going to happen, skyped with my aunt di, talked with my parents and sister. Now I am just finishing this blog.


Addition to the blog:
My grandfather may have did some things to hurt at least one member of my family and he has us hurt us greatly. That does not mean I wish him a painful death. Right now I know he is on his last leg of life (I know at times I said it would be easier if he died but I never wish for anyone to actually die) and even I don't wish the worst for him. I will always be mad and I'll be mad he will never know what he did wrong. I know my family is going through a lot right now and I am not there with them. I just thought I would vent that and I hope when the time does come he does go peacefully and a can full of whoop ass does not explode.

Day 33 2/14/12

Day 33 2/14/12

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! Today I had to wake up a little earlier because I was taking the tube to the school today. I thought it might be backed up and or crowded and I did not know how long it might take. Turns out I got to class 30 minutes early and I was the first one there. Apparently the busses were being held up in traffic and some people arrived to class late. I had British Pop Music today. Of course today the equipment that we needed for the class started to act up and was not working well. We even found out that the program might be saved! For anyone that did not know Ball State was originally going to cancel the London Centre Trip. Why? Because they were being stupid and did not think things through. After class I came back, ate lunch, did laundry, took a shower then went to the post office to drop off some postcards, lastly I went to testco to pick up some shampoo for my trip next week to Italy. Then I came back to the flat and have been online and just chilling. I have been writing my blogs so all my lovely readers can keep up with my amazing adventures. Then at 5:30ish pm I left to go to Upton park where West Ham vs South Hampton were playing each other. It was a football match. I had to research West Ham United so I was defiantly rooting for them. It was a lot of fun but it was amazing to see how intense the fans can get. If people think I curse like a sailor then I recommend that they do not go to a football game. A lot of cursing as well as some what can be considered vulgar hand signs. A lot of singing and there were bubbles. I have no idea why they had bubbles and I still do not understand. The game could be considered intense as it would be with Red Sox vs Yankees but I think over the years it got better. After the game we headed back to the flatts and here I am writing right now. I got ready for bed, did some homework, ate 2 cookies and now I’m set. Tomorrow should be an interesting day but hopefully it wont be too long.

Day 34 2/13/12

Day 34 2/13/12

Rise and shine. Had to wake up bright and early to head to the tube station. I went with Amanda (my GA) to go see what I could do with my oyster card (my ticket to get on buses/tubes). I found out that I could not transfer all my funds over as quickly as I wanted to but I had to buy a new one and then I could transfer all of my stuff over night. I was numb that day but I was happy for the option I had. I bought a new oyster card and put some extra money for at least the day and possible the rest of the week if need be. I then headed over to the university with Amanda. I found out there was a machine which you could get hot drinks from I only wish they would have popped out those cardboard holder things. Then we found a table and she had a meeting with Dr. Pierce and I called the number that I was given at the tube station to find out what I could do. The man on the phone told me that it would be an over night process and that I just had to take the tube first thing in the morning rather than the bus. That was one sacrifice I was willing to make. I was so glad it wasn’t a worse consequence for losing the card. After analyzing the situation I came to the conclusion much worse could have happened and at least I am still alive with a good bill of health. I ended up having class that day at 9am for British life and Culture. After that I ended up heading to the flatt. I took a nap because I was so tired. Then I tried to do some work and pretend to be productive but I probably could have gotten more done then what I did. It sucks because the internet is timed and I don’t get to stay on as long as I would like, even if I am doing homework it takes up so much internet! Sometimes its really hard to get anything done because of how much Internet gets used. I miss watching youtube videos =’[. I stayed in most of the time since I did not want to travel too far due to the whole oyster card situation. I did go to O2 to top up (add more money) to my phone so I could get back the minutes for texts/calls. I wish they would give us more numbers we could call internationally for free besides 3. Don’t get me wrong I love my family but sometimes I want to call other family members or my friends. I really miss having that option of calling whomever I wanted and when I wanted and not concerned about being charged an extreme amount of money. I did a little bit of shopping to make sure I had enough food to last me for the rest of the week. Then I found out that booking the trip to Italy had really taken a lot of my money. I think because it was a week trip and not a weekend it was more expensive. Now I am dealing with a little less money then I would like but I can deal. Now that my father said I could use the other credit card well I guess hes re-thinking that decision right now……… The night ended by a bunch of us (Michelle, Jordan, doogie, Shelby and Charlie) watching some movies. First, we watched Mean girls and after that movie I for some reason got this intense headache. I took 3 Advil’s and felt so much better compared to having the feeling that my head was about to explode. I rarely get headaches but once I do they are really bad. Then we watched Silence of the Lambs. It was a nice way to end the night.

Day 33 2/12/12

Today started off quite nicely. I was able to sleep in til about 1pm. Something I had not done in several weeks. In your faces to everyone who thinks I'm extremely lazy because I usually get up at 7-7:30am. Then again I can be quite lazy because sometimes sitting in and napping never hurt anyone. After waking up and lounging around the house I had some lunch and then cleaned my dishes. Yes, I seriously clean my own dishes and by the way I have been actually using the stove =]. I made pasta twice now and mashed Cauliflower twice! Dam straight I'm proud! After that I helped finish the planning for spring break (going to Italy) with Jordan, Michelle, Sara and Shelby. I'm quite excited it should be fun but it will be tiring. When we finished I had planned on going to Starbucks to do some home work. I also did not want to use up my internet which is timed and pretty easy to use up. Well, that is when the horror of my bad luck struck. I could not find my oyster card (I use it for the tube and buses to get around). I had nearly died. I looked for a few hours and cried. I even called my dad and him and my aunt had to calm me down because I went nuts. I felt as if the world had just thrown me until a never ending hole. Maybe I'm being dramatic but that card is expensive and very important. I'm thankful I registered it. I think the hormones did not help either since I think I should be PMSing soon. That's not fun. After a few hours I ended up coming up with a solution with the help of my father and aunt calming me down and afterwards talking to my GA (Amanda ) about some possible options. By the end of the night I had just numbed myself and try to let everything go because I knew what I had to do and did what I needed to do. It's not like I lost it on my purpose, thats the LAST thing I would have done. Everything happens for a reason and sometimes for me that is hard to always except.

Day 32 2/11/12

Day 32 2/11/12

Oh today I was quite excited! Today I planned on performing at Portabello Market. Sadly, I had to go alone since I think everyone was a little tired from the night before. That’s alright because I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time just standing around. Before I left I had asked one of the girls if she thought it was illegal for me to be doing it and she said she googled it and said you need a license and if I saw the cops then I should get my stuff and run. To be honest I was thinking” um no way am I doing this now” and I just waited to get to the market. I ended up walking around for a bit and picking up a postcard or two to send to some more people. Then I went into the market. I found a band on the street and thought I would ask them if you needed a license to perform. They told me in certain areas you do but in other places like Portobello you did not need one. I’m thinking ok this is good. I basically paced around for a good 20 minutes until I found a spot pulled out my hat and lyric book and started going for it. Man, I did horrible! My voice cracked a few times because I was holding back and I forgot some of the lyrics at some point due to nerves. Once people started actually dropping coins in and not giving me weird stares I felt a little better. Once I got into it and felt like belting I felt happy. I felt like me and this is where I belonged. Would I have preferred to be in a situation where I was meant to be heard and had more practice, hell yea. But, I enjoyed it. I remember seeing this one guy just standing there watching me with his hand in his pocket. I told myself not to stare because I thought he was going to give me money. He waited a good two minutes and next thing I knew was he dropped 5 pounds! I was in shock! I was ecstatic!! I constantly kept calling people after I sung because I could not believe I was actually making money! Not only was I making money but also I had fun doing it! So, no my dreams for performing one day on a stage such as Madison Square Gardens has yet to die. By the end of it all I had made 6 pounds and 82 pence! Nearly 7 quid!! That was after an hour and I’m not going to lie that’s not a performance I was proud of. I was just happy I had the courage to do it. I personally think it would be easier to have people I know there because I thought it would help since at least you know one person would not be giving you the evil eye or looking at you funny. I now have a new found respect for street performers. It is harder than you think! After that I headed back to the flatts to chill out for a bit. Then I went with Amy, Jordan and Krista to go see War Horse, the movie. The theatre was amazing! The movie screen looked like a stage with its own type of curtains and it was huge! You even had assigned seats which I was in shock! Down by the candy stand they had their own candy bar, ice cream, popcorn (sweet or salty). It was crazy and in that theatre there was only about 2 screens. It was cool! The movie was also amazing. It was different then the show. It focused more on the horse then through all the perspectives. I recommend that people go see it because it really was amazing and well done. After the movie was over we headed back to the flatts and called it a night because we were all so exhausted.

Day 31 2/10/12

Day 31 2/10/12

Friday, I just have one class. That is British life and culture. I was not traveling this weekend since next week is Spring break. I tried to take it easy since I just wanted to relax. I did some shopping, I bought a hat, and I cannot remember if I got anything else. If I did it was probably some food. I then later went to Starbucks to use their Internet since it was free and I apparently used up all of mine. I miss being able to watch youtube videos without being limited. After staying there for a bit I ended up heading back to the flatts not much later. I basically just stayed online and chilled out. I made pasta later that night since I did not want to go out. Saturday I planned on singing at the Portobello Market and I wanted to make sure I was ready for that. That night I was writing down some lyrics since I just wanted to be heard and did not mind if I had it memorized or not. That was basically my night minus the information I had found out from my sister about my oh so lovely personal life.

Day 30 2/9/12

Day 30 2/9/12

I can sum it up quite quickly. The majority of may day 9-4:30pm had to deal with me being in a classroom for my three classes. Oh but wait how can I forgot the interesting story? In theatre class we had to find a partner and do an Improv. I was excited. I love improves but Im more a fan of the games that can create random scenes then being told what the boundaries are. Oh well. I was partnered with Shay and we decided to do an improv where She cheated on my boyfriend and we both fought and then we were in the office because we got in trouble. I was going to apologize but then she start fighting with me again. That was the main plot of the idea. Well, anyone that has seen an improv of mine, I think it is safe to say that I love to curse. I don’t know why but for some reason I just do. Maybe I’m an angry soul. Who knows? During the improv my character gets extremely mad and starts cursing like a mad man because she is getting frustrated with Shay’s character. Apparently during all that cursing and yelling about random STD’s some girl had walked in. Shay and I did not see it but everyone was telling us afterwards because the girl looked so confused and didn’t realize what she walked into. I’m thinking oh great she must have thought I was nuts but oh well. It was just an improv and my teacher said we did it well so I was content. After that was math class. Due to the room change because they were filming a show in the room we would be using we had to use another room. Apparently, those people did not know and we were waiting for about 20 minutes to get in. Yes, that put us behind. Thankfully for math we got to leave early which I was excited because then I was able to go get food! Yay! Thursday’s I’m lucky if I can eat lunch so I was happy. Now lets skip to later in the evening. We got to go to Richmond to go see a show called Musewell Hill. It was cool because it was in a round-about type of theatre. It was small which was nice but the seats had very little room to move in. The show was done quite well and before it started we got to meet the director and ask him questions. I loved his reactions to when he found out we saw two American Broadway shows. I am thinking, “ even a director from London is thinking what I’m thinking”. I really did enjoy the show though I thought it was great. I just wish it were not about an hour away. That was basically my night and my day.

Day 29 2/8/12

Day 29 2/8/12

Today was an exciting day. We got to go to Oxford (which I was most excited about) and Christ church. It started by going to the train station and then taking a possibly 40 minute train ride to Oxford. We first got to learn a little about Oxford and here two students from Oxford tell us what it is like to be there and how hard it is to get in. In addition, I learned that Oxford has many smaller colleges and put together that makes Oxford. Some colleges specify in certain areas and some don’t. It was an interesting thing to hear. Then we head on over to Christ Church. We got to see some of the areas in which Harry Potter was filmed. That was exciting. We saw the staris that were apart of the movie and we even saw the building in which the infirmary was for Harry Potter. If only we could have gone in but it was still exciting! After that we had a lunch break and I went with Sara, Jordan and Michelle to this Mexican restaurant. It was almost like qudoba. (sp). Mexican is not my favorite but it was not bad. The only problem I had was the spicy chicken. Did not realize how spicy it would be. When lunch was over we headed back and looked into some cute stores. One being a store called Plyome (I think). It had all these really cute things. It was expensive but honestly everything was too cute and I just wanted it all but I bought nothing. Then we met up with the group and got to go to the store where they sold Oxford gear. I bought a sweatshirt for my sister and two shirts for my cousins. I do not care if they think its cute/ pretty or whatever. Its from freaking Oxford so they better love it! (Love you guys). Then I ended up heading back to the flatts with some of the girls. I got some fudge on the way but other than nothing really exciting happened. It was just a long day.

Day 28 2/7/12

Tuesday. Today is Tuesday and today I had British Pop music class today. Don't get me wrong I love the class. What I do not love is freezing my ass off for 2 and a half hours. Its hard to really pay attention on what is going on/ give a dam when your freezing! It really is a great class but its just so cold. Then when that was finished I headed back with Jordan to the flatt. Once again we both got on the wrong bus and had to change to the right one. Got back to the flatt made a grilled cheese, baked beans and some mashed cauliflower. I'm still proud I can make that by the way! I was planning on doing some laundry but someone left their laundry in the washing machine.. GRRRRRRRRR .... No, I was not happy. No, I refused to take it out because I hate when people touch my stuff so I would not contraindicate myself on those circumstances. Then Jordan and I walked down to the post office because we had some post cards we wanted to send. After that happened we came back to the flatt and I went to go shower. I showered and now I am writing up this blog to let you know all about it. Later tonight we are going to see the Lion King. I'm not really excited about it though. I bet it will be amazing but Lion King is not really one of my favorite Disney movies. It always makes me sad when Simba thinks he killed his father. I hated that as a child and it still makes me really sad. I hate how empathetic I was as a child. But it will be good but personally out of all the musicals I could be seeing while I am here in London, Lion King is not one of them. But oh well. So that is pretty much what is planned for today. Now I think I am going to go make myself some tea. English Breakfast (loose leaf) tea is delicious! Barely need any milk and digestive cookies are great dunking cookies. =]




Addition:
Before we went to go see the show Me and the guys (Adam, Doogie, Charlie, Justin) were all eating dinner. Justin had said he thought he saw a mouse/ furry thing crawl under the couch. I did not see anything so I told him he was probably just imagining it. Next thing you know we picked up a couch and guess who crawled out? Oh yes indeed, it was a mouse! It was quite humorous watching some of the guys try to trap it and Justin standing on the chair. The mouse tried crawling onto my boots but it moved it away and was pretty much in hysterics. At one point I ended up in the Kitchen to check on Adams food and had to stay there because we didnt want the mouse to get in and crawl under its secret hiding spot near the sink. Oddly enough the mouse out-smarted the guys and they could not figure out where he went but I must say that was the funniest thing I had encountered in a while.

For the musical, The Lion king I was glad that I did not have high expectations for it. It was not a bad show but its not something I would have paid to have seen on my own time. I think they all did a great job. I thought they would have made the vocals a bit louder since the theater did not have great acoustics. Also, I think I was pretty upset at how the children who played the young simba and niala did not have a curtain call. It really bothered me they did not get to take their bow on stage after all their hard work. That just irritates me. I understand they probably went home early to go to bed but I think they deserve to see the audience applaud for them.

Day 27 2/6/12

Monday oh Monday what the hell did I do today. Oh right I went to class. I got an assignment back today from my teacher and found out that I did as poor as I thought I had did. In my defense I was completely lost on how the assignment was meant to be done and had no actual outline on had to do it. Then I got some lunch at a store named bagels. I love their bagel with honey mustard chicken. It is my favorite!!! I even got a brownie for the hell of it. Then I hopped on the bus and had to get off right away when I realized it was going a different way then I needed to go. I got off and saw a booths (its a pharmacy type of store) which was perfect since i had to pick up some band aids and body lotion. Then I was back on my way to the flatt. I really did not do much besides some shopping and some home work. It was not that much of an eventful day. Yea, thats basically all that happened.

Day 26 2/5/12

Today was not as eventful as you may wish it to have been. It was mostly traveling back to London today. In the morning besides packing up all our stuff and checking out of the hostile we did go to the beach in Scotland. It was very nice, a bit chilly but still nice. Found some cool sea shells, dead crabs and a stone we declared to be "the stone of destiny". (Stone of destiny is the stone used to crown the king/queen). It was fun and I never saw so many dogs running around on the beach. It was as if it was a dog park. It was nice though but soon enough we had to head back in order to catch our train that was leaving around 1:30pm. From 1:30ish pm to close to 6pm we were on a train headed back to London. It was not bad of a trip I just played my ipod and was content. After that we had found out that it snowed in London while we were gone. THANK GOD we missed it! But we did return to find a lot of slush on the ground..... That was not fun walking with my suitcase in that trying to fall on my ass... I didn't so I was successful. After we put down our stuff we decided to go get a bite to eat for dinner and call it a night. At this time we were finding out all the crazy stories that had happened with the rest of the people that stayed in London for the weekend......... Oh what a weekend some of them had......

Day 25 2/4/12

Saturday oh Saturday the one day of the trip we decided to sleep in that morning. The night before was the pub crawl and we had come in quite late/early in the morning and wanted to sleep in. When we had come into the room we did know the we had roommates and that night I had been woken up not only by the freezing cold but the constant on and off snoring. Man oh man I wish only the five of us had that room but no it would be too good to be true. At least it was getting a little bit warmer in the room so that did help out a bit. Today we decided we would check out the castle and some museums. Due to our waking up late we did have a late start and maybe got out at around 10 or 11ish am and we decided to find a place to get something to eat. We ended up going to Subways somewhat near the royal mile. It took a while to find this subways since the first one did not look to be all that great. After we ate we went on a bit of a walk to go see the castle. My gosh the hills just got steeper and steeper but soon enough we made it to the front of the entrance of the castle. It was a beautiful view. It was a shame that the weather was not sunny and a bit rainy but other than that it was quite beautiful. At 1pm we got to watch the canon be fired by a woman nick named Shannon the cannon (for some reason I thought it would be a man but I was wrong. WOMEN POWER lol). The firing of the canon at 1pm is to signal the boats to let them know it is 1pm. I thought that was pretty cool. We walked around the castle for a while and I enjoyed it. There was a few hands on but it was not furnished as much as I thought it would be but I do not care. I'm glad I got to see a castle in Scotland and learn more about the history of it. After the castle we went to go get some lunch and then we headed to the Natural History Museum to go visit Dolley. Maybe you heard of her, she is the first cloned sheep. Yup, born, raised and dead in Edinburgh, Scotland. That museum was really nice. Defiantly a good place to take your children. After that museum we decided to check out the writers museum. It was really interesting and there were stones outside that had quotes and some of them really stood out to me. I thought that was pretty neat and the whole museum was interesting full of random facts about the writers from Scotland. Once we had finished we went to Pizza Express to eat dinner. We were contemplating whether or not to go to the ghost tour afterwards due to the weather but we had decided to do it since the weather had cleared up a bit. The ghost tour was pretty fun. I was hardly scared but there was a group of girls from Spain who I thought were about the shit their pants. I'm thinking really? All of the props are fake and its not that bad but oh well. I bet they do not like to watch scary movies and if they do they should stick to watching at home not in the theaters. Just a random vent. The tour guide was pretty fun to listen to and I loved how he called us all mortals. The tour went by pretty quickly and after it finished we headed back to the hostile. At the hostile we basically chilled, Skyped friends and decided what we do on our last morning in Scotland.

Day 24 2/3/12

Day 24
Woke up to a freezing room in the hostel we were staying at. The one good thing was that we yet to have any new roommates so it was not too bad but very cold! After I put on some cloths and went to the bathroom I went to get breakfast with Krista. We both had some tea (I was so sad it was a tea bag. Who wants to drink tea dust when you could have loose leaf!?!) and toast with jelly and jam. It was not gourmet but it was decent for a pound and fifty pence. Turns out one side with butter and the other with jam is not too bad. After breakfast I went to go brush my teeth and meet up with the other girls. We then headed on this bit of a hike to find out where to go to this meeting place for a FREE 3 hour tour. I swear it does not matter how much I walk everyday I never seem to be able to catch up! I'm a really slow walker and I think I need more practice because I never get to go any faster! I love Scotland but the hills were just killing me! I hope my legs look GOOOOOOOOOOD after this trip! After about a 20 minute walk we did find the Starbucks that we had to meet in front of to go on the free tour. Krista, Jordan, Amanda and Vikki all went inside to get some drinks and or a little bit to eat. I decided to wait outside. I then noticed we had to do a little check in to make sure we could get on the tour. The tour guides gave me 5 tickets. When the tours were about to head off they announced the ticket numbers and it turns out me and Krista were suppose to be in a different tour group. We decided to keep our mouth shuts and stay with the group with the other girls because we did not want to separate from them so shush! Turns out a tour group with more than 30 people is illegal in Scotland. Did not know that but I was not going to separate from my friends, we came together and we planned to stay together. Ironically our tour guide was not Scotish, he was from Manchester which meant he was a Manchester fan. It was really funny because in my head I could see Rob (British Pop Music teacher) to F*ck off. I found it amusing. Not going to lie I did not think our tour guide was bad looking at all. He had blue eyes, dark brown hair, maybe 5'5 and his name was Mark. He gave us a good tour and time literally flew. I did not even realize we had been walking around for 3 hours. I was surprised at how much I learned and how I still remember most of the stories now (it's Monday). By the way if you really want to learn more of the back story for Harry Potter I suggest you go to Edinburgh, Scotland not London. After the tour was over they ended at this little pub. We decided we would all grab a bite to eat. I ended up trying haggis. If you want to try it I suggest not looking at how its made or whats in it unless you have a food allergy or are vegetarian. The reason why is that it might take away from whether you enjoy it or not. I pretty much ate mine all up and I actually enjoyed it. It's really not that bad! Just like blood pudding it sounds worse then it really is. After lunch we decided we would do some shopping and take it easy for the day since later on we planned on doing a pub crawl. We went into some stores and I bought a blue sweatshirt that says Edinburgh, Scotland and I got some scarves and split the cost of wool socks with Krista. It was quite an eventful shopping day. After we finished up we decided to head back to the hostel. Thank goodness we got to go DOWN more hills rather then walking up then. I was not looking forward to walking back up them later that night. When we got back I decided to take a shower because I was feeling kinda icky. I was not a fan of the showers since you had to keep pressing it and waiting for it to get warmer. At least the shower room was hot. It was actually pretty funny because that day we were on the tour and our tour guide told us this story about one area in a cemetery that was said to be haunted by a ghost and how people leave with cuts, bruises, nausea and etc. Right when I got out of the shower I knew my legs had been dry for a while but it never bothered me. When I got out of the shower I saw these red patches on both of my legs with minor cuts, feeling as if I had been sunburned. It was really creepy because that never happened to me and of all the times to happened it happened that day. I was like dammit the ghost got me! hah. Ok now lets get to the pub crawl. We decided to leave around 6ish pm to grab some dinner at a place called Wanna Burger. I just got some chips (fries) and a cheese burger with tap water. It was pretty good and then we headed back on our way to the meeting area for the pub crawl. Big hill. Not happy. But shockingly we had arrived there earlier then we expected. A pub crawl is basically a tour in which the tour guides take you to about 6 or 7 pubs and then end off at a night club. We got some free drinks and some good deals on drinks in each pub. We were waiting inside our meeting place which was Bank Bar. We found out that tonight the tour was mostly Americans and our tour guides were of course not from Scotland but Canada and Ireland. It was fun. The first pub we chilled in our little group, the five of us until we had to leave. I cannot remember any of the pubs names but I think I had at least one drink from each or a few sips meaning I didn't completely drink 7 drinks. At first it was just the five of us talking to one another and then at one pub it changed. We all started talking to each other and randomly talking to other people. When I was getting a drink I noticed the girls were talking to the young man who was extremely tall. I had to ask how tall he was and he was 6'8! I was like dayum do I feel short right now! I found out he was from Germany and he seemed pretty cool. We were talking for a bit and next thing I noticed was this guy in front of me signing with his fingers. I could not understand all of it (I'll tell you why in a minute) but I KNEW it was sign language. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he was signing. He was like yea. Use to being a deaf education major of course I freaked! The best part was that he told me he is a deaf studies major from Ireland and that he was using Irish Sign Language. I had died and gone to heaven! A new type of sign language I had never seen or even thought about! We started signing with eachother for a bit (obviously talking since American and Irish sign language are two completely different things with a few of the same signs). If that wasn't enough he ended up asking for my digits. I was happy because for once I did not have to ask and he is older then me by a month and a half. I was so excited. He ended up showing me another girl who knows Norwegian Sign Language. Not going to lie I was dying inside of pure joy. I seriously want to learn more types of sign language when I got older besides ASL (American Sign Language) because it would be so cool to travel to all the different places and be able to communicate with people of a different language. Seriously high schools you should offer this!!!!! One of the clubs we went to was called the Frankenstein club. They gave us a shot in a test tube and it was pretty good. It was known for having Frankenstein come down from the ceiling but to be honest it was not as amazing as I thought I would be and even then I had some alcohol in my system and wasn't entertained as much by it. But it was still fun and we were all dancing. Soon enough we got to our last spot a dance club and basically what happened was we danced the night away. Some random stories would include that when I was checking my coat with Krista this one guy asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said no Im single. He told me his friend thought I was cute so I asked him how old he was. He told me 31. Knowing I had given away I was single and probably the fact that he thought I was straight I decided to make sure he would leave me alone by saying Im sorry but Im a lesbian. It worked because they left me alone. But nothing more exciting really happened after that we just danced, danced and danced. The smoke they were doing was getting annoying because it was getting hard to breath and hard to see. We ended up heading back at around 2-3 am. Turns out that tour had been about 6 hours long and it really is worth the money. It was a lot of fun and I know I will have many memories from that night. Once again I met no one from Scotland but it was cool.