Today was my last day in London. It was alright. It rained a fair bit today, just like I would have imagined it raining, a light bit of constant rain, not just sprinkles, but not a downpour either. We went on one last tour (of the East End) with our favorite guide, Andy, and then had lunch with him at an Indian restaurant there called Saffron. After that we had free time and I went to Harrods to get Roni some candy because I never did have time to find that sweet shop she liked. They had two huge candy sections: one fancy Harrods candy and the other an actual candy shop, though a lot of what was there was expensive jars of things as well. I was able to get some jelly babies and dolly mixture scooped into a bag. They had flying saucers, but only in a 5 pound (currency, not weight) jar and I was not paying that much for candy. I got about 3.5 pounds' worth of the dolly mixture and the jelly babies combined and went to a regular old street corner snack shop for some aero bars and maynards. I never did find a few of the things she'd wanted at a reasonable price. Of course the candy shop in Harrods was impressive, even if a lot of it was just multi-colored marshmallows shaped to look like different things. There were some made to look like those take-away sandwiches at cafes or burgers or shishkebab. I got pictures of protestors at the end of the visit to both cities: the Palestinian protestors on O'Connell in Dublin and the animal rights people in front of Harrods in London (they sell fur). After Harrods I headed back towards Camden where we were to have our last (London) supper at Wagamama restaurant back near our original dorms in Camden. It's a Japanese noodle place. I had beef teriyaki over noodles. I got to Camden a bit early and started wandering a bit until I came upon an internet cafe inside a video store. I obviously wasn't lugging around my laptop but I needed to let at least Daniel know that my phone has gone bonkers. The keypad is messed up internally, so I can turn the phone on, be alerted that I have a message, and not be able to hit the button that says "read" and read it. I was able to answer the phone by opening it when the cab company called to confirm my ride, but that's it. Now I'm just staying up. It's 3:30 am and my cab comes in less than 3 hours to take me to the airport. I'll be home soon!
...
And now I am. Oddly enough, it's only 7:30 am and I'm up. I got into LAX around 10:30 CA time. One would think I'd be sleeping in, but hey, it's 1:30 pm in London... and I slept a lot on the plane. I'm extremely tired, of course. I never went to sleep last night in London. I just stayed up, chatted with Daniel in the computer room at the dorms and got ready to go. It really is a shame I didn't get to sleep there for more than a couple nights. Maybe if the Ifor-Evans people had informed Chapman that they'd be renovating we could have been at the dorms on Great Dover St. all along. Oh well. The flight to Toronto was pretty long. I had an 8 hour layover in Toronto, ugh. I went through customs in Canada so I didn't have to go through them in the US. I don't quite understand the arbitrary decisions on where you have to go through customs. We didn't need any of the paperwork we'd gotten for entering the UK apparently, because we were coming from Dublin, which is odd. Historically there have been huge rebellions against the British in both Ireland and the U.S... but whatever, that's history. The first flight was pretty normal. I watched He's Just Not That Into You and a few episodes of 30 Rock, all the while floating in and out of conciousness but never really sleeping, I don't think. On the second flight, which was with the exact same airline (Air Canada), apparently you had to pay for the headphones to watch tv/movies. It was weird, but I'd already seen the selection on the previous flight and probably watched all I'd be interested in anyway. I got a lot of Yeats is Dead read in the Toronto airport. I only have about 50 pages left. I figured I'd finish it on the second flight, but I ended up sleeping through a lot of it, after dealing with a bloody nose... ugh. So I got home, met Daniel at baggage claim and he drove me home. I missed him so much. Next time I've got to take him with. :P I'll probably get some laundry done and then go back to sleep for a bit, take some melatonin when I go to bed for real tonight.
Monday, July 13, 2009
7-10
I've spent the trip feeling like the only one allowed to drink who wasn't, but now I have found my drink. It is the White Russian (vodka, kalua and milk). Oh my gosh. It is so good. Justine got me one at the pub across the way and then I bought another one for myself. Before the pub I had a long, but for the most part uneventful, day. I got up and got ready to go, started wandering towards the Globe, which is supposedly really close to our new dorms, but I had to ask a ton of people where to go because every time a sign directed me one place there was construction that led to a dead end and I had to take another route. While rambling around I grabbed a muffin for breakfast and then was reminded that the Tate Modern is right across the way from the Globe, so I hung out there, got lunch at the cafe, and then met the class at the Globe at 3:30 for discussion. We had dinner at the Pizza Express next door and then saw A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was good, the second half more so than the first, because we were in the groundlings and moved closer during the intermission. These new dorms are so nice. We have our own bathrooms! It's kind of weird because there's a shower head and drain on the floor and you just close a curtain which doesn't even completely cut off the toilet from the shower, but whatever. It's all mine! I wish we had been in these dorms all along! It even has a mini-fridge with delivery numbers for pizza places on magnets and little overnight bags with shampoo and stuff. They smell nice, too. Only one more day in London, wow. I don't feel so bad that I didn't have too much time to do things with all the lodging issues since I'd done most of the big touristy stuff with the family three years ago. I'm still having trouble finding an actual sweet shop with bins that you dig the candy out of so I'll probably end up getting Roni's candy from a grocery store or something anyway. I leave at the crack of dawn on the 12th, but then (another great feature to this place of lodging) there's a phone in the lobby that calls a cab company when you pick it up. Too bad we weren't here the whole trip. There still would have been the pub across the street to try to get internet from. I just haven't had time since moving here on such short notice. I'll probably post my remaining blogs when I get home, and there aren't many pictures because like I said, I'd done most of the touristy stuff, so it didn't occur to me to take too many pictures. In some places you aren't really allowed to anyway. I'm wishing we had had more time in these nice dorms, but I miss my boyfriend and my family, and heck, even my cruddy car. My feet are killing me! Home in a little lesss than 48 hours!
The Move (7-9)
I am typing this up from my new room, which includes its own bathroom and 2 beds. I asked to be sure I wouldn't have a surprise roommate, and they asured me I wouldn't. I went out today and when I got back I was told to "pack up my duds" by one of my classmates. She didn't know when or where we were moving, just that we were. The place we're at now is near the Eye, far from Camden. No internet here, but there's supposedly a pub across the street with free wi-fi. I'll sure miss the Camden Coffee House. Still, I'm a bit irked right now. I was so hoping I could make it through the trip without that female thing happening because I'd just finished a day or two before I left! I must be pmsy because I feel like everyone in the world is being condescending and talking to me like I'm an idiot (not to mention the physical evidence).
So anyway, I did the usual update at Camden Coffee House and looked up Jane Austen spots in London. There weren't a lot, because she didn't live in London. I was hoping I could find some that were maybe mentioned in the novels or something, but I didn't get the chance to search that thoroughly. There were two that I found. One turned out to be really great, and the other one wasn't. The first was the British Library. It not only had her writing desk with a first draft of Persuasion but also an early manuscript from when she was a teenager. It also had first drafts of Handel's Messiah, recordings of Joyce reading Finigans Wake and Yeats reading a couple poems including Isle of Inisfree. It had the Magna Carta, First Folio Shakespeare... No pictures of course with that kind of old stuff. It's a shame those things are never legible. I grabbed a sandwich at the cafe there on my way out. Then I went back to Kings Cross tube station and had a real London experience. It was closed due to some sort of electrical failure, so they were sending everyone to Euston station. I went down to Euston. Then I looked at the signs and my tube map and found that the line I needed isn't there, so I had to got to Warren Street Station. By that time I got on the Victoria line and went one stop to Oxford Circus. I might as well have walked. I walked a lot and had to ask a few people where to go. I had actually looked up sweetshops on Regent Street and google mapped it and found exactly where this place should be. I still never found it. The only candy store I saw was a Godiva shop and I know that wasn't what I'd found online. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go somewhere else. After that I went to my second Austen destination, 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, where her brother lived and she stayed when she was in London. Nada. No plaque. No nothing! But since I was already there, I explored the market a bit. I got some ricotta/spinach ravioli from an Italian booth. It was mediocre. The tomato sauce was all watery and got all over my new dress! Ugh. Ooo, but then I went and got a couple of little mini cupcakes. They were yummy. I went back to the dorms and found out we were leaving. The rest of the night has basically been us moving, and I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed now.
So anyway, I did the usual update at Camden Coffee House and looked up Jane Austen spots in London. There weren't a lot, because she didn't live in London. I was hoping I could find some that were maybe mentioned in the novels or something, but I didn't get the chance to search that thoroughly. There were two that I found. One turned out to be really great, and the other one wasn't. The first was the British Library. It not only had her writing desk with a first draft of Persuasion but also an early manuscript from when she was a teenager. It also had first drafts of Handel's Messiah, recordings of Joyce reading Finigans Wake and Yeats reading a couple poems including Isle of Inisfree. It had the Magna Carta, First Folio Shakespeare... No pictures of course with that kind of old stuff. It's a shame those things are never legible. I grabbed a sandwich at the cafe there on my way out. Then I went back to Kings Cross tube station and had a real London experience. It was closed due to some sort of electrical failure, so they were sending everyone to Euston station. I went down to Euston. Then I looked at the signs and my tube map and found that the line I needed isn't there, so I had to got to Warren Street Station. By that time I got on the Victoria line and went one stop to Oxford Circus. I might as well have walked. I walked a lot and had to ask a few people where to go. I had actually looked up sweetshops on Regent Street and google mapped it and found exactly where this place should be. I still never found it. The only candy store I saw was a Godiva shop and I know that wasn't what I'd found online. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go somewhere else. After that I went to my second Austen destination, 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, where her brother lived and she stayed when she was in London. Nada. No plaque. No nothing! But since I was already there, I explored the market a bit. I got some ricotta/spinach ravioli from an Italian booth. It was mediocre. The tomato sauce was all watery and got all over my new dress! Ugh. Ooo, but then I went and got a couple of little mini cupcakes. They were yummy. I went back to the dorms and found out we were leaving. The rest of the night has basically been us moving, and I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed now.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Crazy Stuff (7-8)
Today has been interesting and long. I slept until about 9:30 or 10 and then went to Camden Coffee House to update and post my blog for yesterday. I took the tube to Picadilly Circus but I really just walked towards Oxford Circus and ended up shopping there, and by shopping, I mean spending a couple hours at H & M trying things on. They have so much more variety in London H & M's. Heck, they have multiple floors. The one at the Spectrum didn't even exist until after our last trip here, I think. I had a racist moment, perpetuating the stereotypical fear of the "other" Justine and all her post-colonial references discuss. There are signs at Picadilly Circus station that say "Beware. Pickpockets are known to operate at this station." I walked up the stairs and out of the tube station and started to look at my map. Right after I put it away, a black man with scruffy-looking facial hair, one of those jacket vests, and a beanie saw me and asked if I needed help finding anything. I said I was fine, walked about 100 feet down the street and asked a white woman which way the shops were. I walked in the direction she told me to and there were all the shops. A lot of them looked like they're out of my price range. I ended up going into H & M and spending quite a lot of time there. It's sort of interesting that stores back at home typically allow you to bring 5 or 6 items into the dressing room, the ones in Dublin only allowed 2 or 3, but the big ones in London allow up to 10. I went into the dressing room twice and brought in 9 or 10 items both times. Needless to say, had anyone been with me they would have probably complained that I was taking too long, and I didn't even leave the ground floor! There were about half a dozen different things I really liked, but I'm pretty self-disciplined when it comes to spending. I ended up getting 2 dresses, one not on sale (a black dress, becuse every girl needs a nice black dress and all I've had in the recent past were awkwardly altered band dresses: 15 pounds) and one on sale (white with stripes of various blue and blue-green hues: 7 pounds). Odd how the tags all had 3 sizes, including "US #," and accurately enough both dresses I got said "US 6" but there were some things I tried on where a supposed American 6 or 8 were tight and a 4 was loose. It was weird. After I realized it was getting late and I needed to hurry up and make a decision there and check out I decided to go look for that sweet shop we went to 3 years ago that Ron liked. I asked somebody who worked at the Oxford Circus tube station and I think he said something about straight down Regent St. but I couldn't find it before I had to leave for the dorms, because there was to be an important meeting tonight...
Well, I haven't discussed things in much detail. I'm still not sure if it's appropriate to talk about what's going on, but it *is part of my London experience. I've just said that the dorms we're staying in are pretty bad, and I'm still not going to say anything much. For once, I'm letting others do the whining, and hoping to benefit from the result. Seriously, they had someone from the Chapman study abroad office fly out here. That's how bad it is. Some stuff I don't think is too bad. No soap in the bathroom? Eh, I carry hand sanitizer in my backpack all the time. Little Italian kids running through the hallways and their leaders opening doors without knocking (and that just for one night)? Eh, I was just sitting typing up my blog. If I'd been changing or whatever, I would have locked the door, and I don't need to take a shower every day. I just wet my hair with the sink in my room and brushed it the morning they were here. The awful thing is that they're doing renovations on the building we're staying in. Chapman was apparently never informed of this. I think it may have something to do with the travel/tour agency they were working with not disclosing this information, or maybe they never had that information? Tonight most of us went out to dinner at the Grand Union pub down the street (which Justine paid for) and then met in the lounge downstairs in the dorm to talk with the lady from Chapman. She told us about the process of events that had led to her coming there to objectively assess the situation. Of course there was a lot of "well this is travel" and "culture shock" talk coming from her at first, but by the end of the meeting she had heard and understood our concerns. They're going out tomorrow to look for a viable solution, because previous solutions have not worked out. For instance. I was in corridor P, right above where they were renovating, and the fumes and things were horrible. I then moved to corridor R, and the next day they started renovating right under it. The fumes in the elevator were almost unbearable. The light in the R hallway is supposed to be motion sensitive, but sometimes even walking up and down the hallway several times won't turn the light on. At least I'm right next to the bathroom. Of course the staff has been rapidly trying to clean things up since they found out that Chapman was going to be inspecting. This was discussed at the meeting tonight. I've gotten tiny bites and seen little black specks on my sheets. I was able to get new bedding. Other people are having terrible alergic reactions from the fumes and debris from the renovation. Those who were the worst have moved into hotels already. With the discussion of the timeline and processes that have gone on thus far, I doubt there will be any resolution before I go home. Heck, I've been counting down the days. I'm only in London for 3 more nights after tonight. We were never given a break down of how our money was being spent, just a "woohoo, we're under budget" and we're all regretting it. The dorm staff have been pretty condescending. I think I went to go ask about getting the little keychain we're apparently supposed to show at the breakfast line that was not included in my new set of keys for my R room, and there was an immediate "who's your team leader? Is your team leader Justine?" kind of like "Won't you whiners get out of our hair?" At this point, I don't know whether I'd rather get to move out for the last couple nights or be compensated for the trip, or at least the London leg of it. Oh, whatever, this is livin' the city.
Well, I haven't discussed things in much detail. I'm still not sure if it's appropriate to talk about what's going on, but it *is part of my London experience. I've just said that the dorms we're staying in are pretty bad, and I'm still not going to say anything much. For once, I'm letting others do the whining, and hoping to benefit from the result. Seriously, they had someone from the Chapman study abroad office fly out here. That's how bad it is. Some stuff I don't think is too bad. No soap in the bathroom? Eh, I carry hand sanitizer in my backpack all the time. Little Italian kids running through the hallways and their leaders opening doors without knocking (and that just for one night)? Eh, I was just sitting typing up my blog. If I'd been changing or whatever, I would have locked the door, and I don't need to take a shower every day. I just wet my hair with the sink in my room and brushed it the morning they were here. The awful thing is that they're doing renovations on the building we're staying in. Chapman was apparently never informed of this. I think it may have something to do with the travel/tour agency they were working with not disclosing this information, or maybe they never had that information? Tonight most of us went out to dinner at the Grand Union pub down the street (which Justine paid for) and then met in the lounge downstairs in the dorm to talk with the lady from Chapman. She told us about the process of events that had led to her coming there to objectively assess the situation. Of course there was a lot of "well this is travel" and "culture shock" talk coming from her at first, but by the end of the meeting she had heard and understood our concerns. They're going out tomorrow to look for a viable solution, because previous solutions have not worked out. For instance. I was in corridor P, right above where they were renovating, and the fumes and things were horrible. I then moved to corridor R, and the next day they started renovating right under it. The fumes in the elevator were almost unbearable. The light in the R hallway is supposed to be motion sensitive, but sometimes even walking up and down the hallway several times won't turn the light on. At least I'm right next to the bathroom. Of course the staff has been rapidly trying to clean things up since they found out that Chapman was going to be inspecting. This was discussed at the meeting tonight. I've gotten tiny bites and seen little black specks on my sheets. I was able to get new bedding. Other people are having terrible alergic reactions from the fumes and debris from the renovation. Those who were the worst have moved into hotels already. With the discussion of the timeline and processes that have gone on thus far, I doubt there will be any resolution before I go home. Heck, I've been counting down the days. I'm only in London for 3 more nights after tonight. We were never given a break down of how our money was being spent, just a "woohoo, we're under budget" and we're all regretting it. The dorm staff have been pretty condescending. I think I went to go ask about getting the little keychain we're apparently supposed to show at the breakfast line that was not included in my new set of keys for my R room, and there was an immediate "who's your team leader? Is your team leader Justine?" kind of like "Won't you whiners get out of our hair?" At this point, I don't know whether I'd rather get to move out for the last couple nights or be compensated for the trip, or at least the London leg of it. Oh, whatever, this is livin' the city.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A Real London City Experience (7-7)
Hopefully by now you've all figured out that I've been having internet issues but have found a lovely little cafe down the street from the not-so-lovely dorms with free wi-fi. I went to have breakfast and update there this morning and will probably do the same tomorrow and the next day as they are also free days.
Anyway, I'm having a real London experience now! Silly Southern Californians, assuming we bring our weather with us wherever we go... Well!? It worked when I was in Dublin! AND the last time I was in London! Why shouldn't it now? :P Today was the first of our 3-day string of free days. I can't really afford to go off and do anything exciting like visit another country or another part of this one, so I'm stuck at these horrible dorms, *but I'm refusing to get up for breakfast here. It's mediocre and it ends at 9. I'd like to sleep in, and Camden Coffee House down the road is awesome. The toastie and hot chocolate I had this morning were good and they have free wi-fi so I was finally able to update after 3 or 4 days. I had 37 facebook updates (though most of them were those dumb ones like "your friends have taken these movie quizzes. Why don't you?"). Today, I walked to Camden Coffee House, uploaded the 4 blog posts I'd written but been unable to post and a ton of pictures as well, though I had a lot to update so I didn't bother with captions or anything. Then I came back to the dorm to put my laptop away and get my backpack together. I was planning on going to Leicester Square for the Half-blood Prince premiere, but Lindsay, the only person who had shown any interest, decided to get away from here and move into a hotel. Apparently that takes all day. Maybe she just didn't want to go that much anyway. I asked Alli and Paul if they were interested in going. They had plans to go see Big Ben and stuff. They hadn't gone on the Eye, I guess. I asked Elise, but she didn't want to. I didn't think anyone else was even around, so I headed out on my own, took the Northern Line down to Leicester Square, walked out of the tube station and down the street a little, and came upon the Odeon theatre, where all the big premieres are held. It was at least three hours before the web page I'd looked at said the stars were supposed to arrive, so I sat down in the Burger King on the corner for lunch. I didn't want to go too far. In fact, I probably should have taken it to go and gone off into the crowd with it to get a better spot. Of course there were already crowds when I got there. It had been off and on rain and sunshine, like most days here, but it wasn't too bad. Big crowds and umbrellas don't mix too well, so I was hoping it would stay light when it did rain... So much for that. I was standing around for about two hours. At first I tried to get in with the crowds that could actually see the actors come through, but even though I thought I'd come early enough I couldn't really squeeze through enough people to find a spot where I'd be able to see anything. I moved around to different sections of the crowd. At one point it seemed like there was hope, as they were closing off the section where they'd been letting people through to the street, and people who had been held back would be able to move up into that section. OMG! Of course I was right next to a crazed bunch of screaming teenage girls, and once the policeman even started to look like he was going to let them through they were pushing through like psychopaths. I swear, I never thought I'd feel claustrophobic outside, but there was litterally no room to move! So I just pushed my way back out and went over to where the big screen was. That actually wasn't bad. I stood right by the gate for a long time next to a bunch of 16 year old girls who are a disgrace to females everywhere. They all wore low-cut tops and had written across their necklines "I'd be easy for Ron Weasley." It disgusts me. Crazy fangirls. I got them to let me take a picture, so I have the ridiculousness recorded for posterity. Anyway, I was standing out in the off-and-on rain and the stars finally started showing up. There was Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliff, Tom Felton... and then it started pouring. Actually, it was more of a deluge. I seriously don't think I've ever experienced such intense rain before. My shoes, pants, backpack, everything was soaked through. As if the crowd wasn't bad enough, the crowd with umbrellas was simply unbearable. I couldn't see the screen even though I was right in front of it. I couldn't see to take pictures. I was dreadfully afraid my camera was going to be ruined, and I didn't want to come home with pruny feet. I'm sorry, but I'm not that kind of fanatic, and I'm a wimpy Southern Californian. I can't survive in the rain. Well, not that kind of rain. I ended up going back to the dorm, taking a quick hot shower and changing my pants and sweater as well as taking everything out of my backpack to dry, throwing out some things that weren't salvageable or important. Then I ended up going out to get a sandwich for dinner, wearing my flipflops because my Skechers are soaked through, and it was fine. Sure there were puddles, but it hardly even sprinkled on my way out the gate. I'm really feeling yucky, and I'm kind of bummed I didn't get to see Alan Rickman or JK Rowling or anybody cool, but whatever. At least I haven't caught pneumonia. This trip to London is turning out to be such a drag. After the first time I'd been to London, I was in love with it. I seriously thought "I could live here some day," but from my experience this time, I know I probably wouldn't survive. It's like that excerpt about "Dickens' London" we have to read for the class: massive overcrowding, rain overflowing the filthy gutters. I'm thinking about going down to the laundry room and throwing my stuff in the dryer because I doubt it will get dry by simply hanging over night. Well, maybe the backpack and the sweatshirt, but not the shoes. I'll go back to Camden Coffee House tomorrow morning and post this. I hope all is well with everyone. Thank goodness I'm getting out of this godforsaken city in 4 or 5 days.
Anyway, I'm having a real London experience now! Silly Southern Californians, assuming we bring our weather with us wherever we go... Well!? It worked when I was in Dublin! AND the last time I was in London! Why shouldn't it now? :P Today was the first of our 3-day string of free days. I can't really afford to go off and do anything exciting like visit another country or another part of this one, so I'm stuck at these horrible dorms, *but I'm refusing to get up for breakfast here. It's mediocre and it ends at 9. I'd like to sleep in, and Camden Coffee House down the road is awesome. The toastie and hot chocolate I had this morning were good and they have free wi-fi so I was finally able to update after 3 or 4 days. I had 37 facebook updates (though most of them were those dumb ones like "your friends have taken these movie quizzes. Why don't you?"). Today, I walked to Camden Coffee House, uploaded the 4 blog posts I'd written but been unable to post and a ton of pictures as well, though I had a lot to update so I didn't bother with captions or anything. Then I came back to the dorm to put my laptop away and get my backpack together. I was planning on going to Leicester Square for the Half-blood Prince premiere, but Lindsay, the only person who had shown any interest, decided to get away from here and move into a hotel. Apparently that takes all day. Maybe she just didn't want to go that much anyway. I asked Alli and Paul if they were interested in going. They had plans to go see Big Ben and stuff. They hadn't gone on the Eye, I guess. I asked Elise, but she didn't want to. I didn't think anyone else was even around, so I headed out on my own, took the Northern Line down to Leicester Square, walked out of the tube station and down the street a little, and came upon the Odeon theatre, where all the big premieres are held. It was at least three hours before the web page I'd looked at said the stars were supposed to arrive, so I sat down in the Burger King on the corner for lunch. I didn't want to go too far. In fact, I probably should have taken it to go and gone off into the crowd with it to get a better spot. Of course there were already crowds when I got there. It had been off and on rain and sunshine, like most days here, but it wasn't too bad. Big crowds and umbrellas don't mix too well, so I was hoping it would stay light when it did rain... So much for that. I was standing around for about two hours. At first I tried to get in with the crowds that could actually see the actors come through, but even though I thought I'd come early enough I couldn't really squeeze through enough people to find a spot where I'd be able to see anything. I moved around to different sections of the crowd. At one point it seemed like there was hope, as they were closing off the section where they'd been letting people through to the street, and people who had been held back would be able to move up into that section. OMG! Of course I was right next to a crazed bunch of screaming teenage girls, and once the policeman even started to look like he was going to let them through they were pushing through like psychopaths. I swear, I never thought I'd feel claustrophobic outside, but there was litterally no room to move! So I just pushed my way back out and went over to where the big screen was. That actually wasn't bad. I stood right by the gate for a long time next to a bunch of 16 year old girls who are a disgrace to females everywhere. They all wore low-cut tops and had written across their necklines "I'd be easy for Ron Weasley." It disgusts me. Crazy fangirls. I got them to let me take a picture, so I have the ridiculousness recorded for posterity. Anyway, I was standing out in the off-and-on rain and the stars finally started showing up. There was Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliff, Tom Felton... and then it started pouring. Actually, it was more of a deluge. I seriously don't think I've ever experienced such intense rain before. My shoes, pants, backpack, everything was soaked through. As if the crowd wasn't bad enough, the crowd with umbrellas was simply unbearable. I couldn't see the screen even though I was right in front of it. I couldn't see to take pictures. I was dreadfully afraid my camera was going to be ruined, and I didn't want to come home with pruny feet. I'm sorry, but I'm not that kind of fanatic, and I'm a wimpy Southern Californian. I can't survive in the rain. Well, not that kind of rain. I ended up going back to the dorm, taking a quick hot shower and changing my pants and sweater as well as taking everything out of my backpack to dry, throwing out some things that weren't salvageable or important. Then I ended up going out to get a sandwich for dinner, wearing my flipflops because my Skechers are soaked through, and it was fine. Sure there were puddles, but it hardly even sprinkled on my way out the gate. I'm really feeling yucky, and I'm kind of bummed I didn't get to see Alan Rickman or JK Rowling or anybody cool, but whatever. At least I haven't caught pneumonia. This trip to London is turning out to be such a drag. After the first time I'd been to London, I was in love with it. I seriously thought "I could live here some day," but from my experience this time, I know I probably wouldn't survive. It's like that excerpt about "Dickens' London" we have to read for the class: massive overcrowding, rain overflowing the filthy gutters. I'm thinking about going down to the laundry room and throwing my stuff in the dryer because I doubt it will get dry by simply hanging over night. Well, maybe the backpack and the sweatshirt, but not the shoes. I'll go back to Camden Coffee House tomorrow morning and post this. I hope all is well with everyone. Thank goodness I'm getting out of this godforsaken city in 4 or 5 days.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
7-6
Only one more week before I get to go home! I know, I know. I've been looking forward to this for so long, but things just keep turning out differently than I'd planned, and I'm just generally easily upset. I miss my boyfriend and I'm having the same sort of issues socially in relation to my hearing issues as I would at home. Just multiply them by about ten. Speaking of math, I had to ask Hallie how to convert farenheight to celcius so I can make my dinner in a bit. I bought 2 mini pre-fab pizzas at the grocery store for under 1 pound, and I figured they'd have cooking directions on the label, but I didn't pay that close attention. Well, I didn't see any, and the ovens in the kitchen I'm assuming would be in celcius, so my estimate of "oh, about 10 minutes at 350-400" would be irrelevant. It's finally started raining like it was supposed to the whole time I've been on the trip. I hadn't brought an umbrella but I always carry my emergency poncho in my backpack. I finally had to use it today. It's supposed to be a single use sort of thing, but I'll need it for the Globe. I bought an umbrella at the British Museum today out of necessity, but you can't use umbrellas in the groundlings at the Globe. There's a bunch of Italian kids that moved in for the night making all sorts of noise, but they're only here for tonight. Tomorrow is the first of our 3 free days. I plan on possibly going to the Harry Potter premier in Leicester Square, if I can figure out what time it is. It might just be cool to hang out there for a bit and see it from afar like we saw the premier of Pirates 3, because I'm sure it'll be insane. Now that I have time to do whatever I want... there's a lovely little cafe with free wi-fi down the street, so I'm sleeping in and going there for breakfast tomorrow. Woooo! Internet! I'll actually be able to post these things. Sorry I've been so out of touch for the past few days. They had told us these dorms would have free internet access, but they lied (about the computer room, about connection from the room, about these dorms being liveable)... all lies! I just tried the connection in Justine's old room, but it didn't work. I got the "reset the wireless router" repair suggestion, and obviously that's not something I can do. A few people are getting out and going to hotels for the free days or the remainder of the trip. People were trying to get hotel rooms the first day we got here, but everything was booked because of Wimbledon. I just want out, period. I feel sick. I got some sort of pin prick size bites. I'm thinking there are fleas or something in here. My feet are so worn out. They have been for a while and they keep getting more sore. Today they were all pruny from walking around in the rain all day. I'm just not having a great time. I'm really tired and my eye is really irritated. The London leg of this trip is turning out not to be so great.
Oh yeah, so activities today: I totally forgot with all my whining... We met another one of our guides this morning and he took us on a tour of the Bloomsbury area. I think that's where we were. He was talking about writers/artists who had lived in the area and their melodramatic lives. He said something like, "They loved in triangles and lived in squares." He led us to the British Museum and we were there for about an hour and a half. I thought the idea was to go around the museum and we'd probably get something to eat later, but most people had gone to lunch. I was hungry but I'd stuck around looking at boring old stuff. :P Oh yeah, after that we went to the Dickens house, but I really haven't read much Dickens to be honest, so it was of less interest to me than it would have been to say, my parents. On the way home I went with some classmates who wanted some coffee to a cafe and got a sandwich. The tomato/basil/mozarella sandwich is pretty common in the pre-made chilled sandwich racks around here, but at this place they advertised it as a panini and when I brought it up to the counter to pay for it they said it would be a couple minutes. I was a bit confused, but when I got it, panini style, it turned out to be really good, muchbetter than raw. Then we came back to the dorms and on the way we stopped at the grocery store where I picked up a couple mini frozen pizzas for 46 pence each for when I don't want to go out for dinner and/or everything's closed anyway but I'm hungry. Honestly, I don't understand how so many things can close at 5 or 6 when there are 4 more hours of sunlight left. Anyway, I think I might go try to make one now with that conversion Hallie gave me.
Oh yeah, so activities today: I totally forgot with all my whining... We met another one of our guides this morning and he took us on a tour of the Bloomsbury area. I think that's where we were. He was talking about writers/artists who had lived in the area and their melodramatic lives. He said something like, "They loved in triangles and lived in squares." He led us to the British Museum and we were there for about an hour and a half. I thought the idea was to go around the museum and we'd probably get something to eat later, but most people had gone to lunch. I was hungry but I'd stuck around looking at boring old stuff. :P Oh yeah, after that we went to the Dickens house, but I really haven't read much Dickens to be honest, so it was of less interest to me than it would have been to say, my parents. On the way home I went with some classmates who wanted some coffee to a cafe and got a sandwich. The tomato/basil/mozarella sandwich is pretty common in the pre-made chilled sandwich racks around here, but at this place they advertised it as a panini and when I brought it up to the counter to pay for it they said it would be a couple minutes. I was a bit confused, but when I got it, panini style, it turned out to be really good, muchbetter than raw. Then we came back to the dorms and on the way we stopped at the grocery store where I picked up a couple mini frozen pizzas for 46 pence each for when I don't want to go out for dinner and/or everything's closed anyway but I'm hungry. Honestly, I don't understand how so many things can close at 5 or 6 when there are 4 more hours of sunlight left. Anyway, I think I might go try to make one now with that conversion Hallie gave me.
Misadventures (7-5)
As my last entry states, we had a tour of the Globe today, which was cool. I'd seen a play at the Globe but never toured it. After the Globe tour we went and saw the Tower and also had lunch there. Then a bunch of people headed off to go on the Eye. I decided that it was a once in a lifetime experience (I would suggest everyone do it once, and it is kind of expensive). I'd had my once, and I wanted to make sure everybody knows I didn't die on the flight from Dublin now that I have a chance to use the web... Then as I was writing this I was thinking about how cool that area around the Eye is and how I should have gone with them and wandered around on my own while they stood in line for an hour. Oh well, plenty of time for wandering on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all free days). I may go out to eat or something. It's only 6, but lunch was so recent, and we do have a kitchen here. Maybe I'll just get a frozen pizza from the Tesco down the street. Meal times seem so messed up when the sun doesn't set until 9:30.
(Yes, this first part is in the last post)
Boy, what adventures I had since writing that first part. I couldn't actually get to the room with the internet in it when everybody else was gone and noone could let me in to the Q corridor. I was sitting there feeling alone and bored and a million different other things besides when I decided I'd go out on my own and hopefully I'd meet up with my classmates at the Eye. Well, I only made up my mind after a bit of indecision, calling my boyfriend for a $20/5 minute phone call (we had been keeping in touch via internet and I was just feeling so lonely), and staring at a map of the city and tube system for a bit. So it was already nearly 9 (they said they'd be on the Eye around 8:45). I went ahead and called my professor to try to see if I could meet up with them to go eat after they were done with the Eye. Well, I couldn't get ahold of her even though I tried calling about half a dozen times (they were apparently on the Eye during most of the time I'd been calling, which was after I'd taken the tube down to Waterloo). People kept mentioning that I'd said I hadn't wanted to go on the Eye. Well, the idea was not to go on th Eye but also not to be stuck in this stupid dorm building all by myself. Hopefully I'd get something to eat, see some street performers or something along the way, and meet up with my classmates. I remember that area being pretty cool. The main problem was that I never got ahold of them, but also, daylight was almost gone. I actually had been in the area during the same time that they had, but I had gotten sick of sitting right in front of the Eye watching for people getting on and off when, in all likely hood, I'd probably miss them anyway in the crowd, and they wouldn't have a clue to look for me there because I'd never gotten ahold of Justine. So I walked off to the bridge to take pictures of the cool buildings at sunset, and apparently Justine did call me back right around 9:30 but I'd never gotten the call and never gotten ahold of her the 20 times I'd tried to call her since, not even knowing she'd called. So I was getting hungry and I figured I'd just play it cool, look for some place to eat around there, keep exploring the city on my own, but by this time it was actually getting dark and I wasn't feeling so comfortable being out alone. I'd only seen a bunch of nice sit-down restaurants that I wouldn't feel comfortable going to alone and that arcade my brother liked so much when we went before, which has a McDonald's attached. I pretty much gave up and headed back towards the tube station, still playing it cool, being stoic and striding along as if I was just another Londoner, but as it was getting dark I couldn't remember the way back to the station. I started wandering in that general direction and followed some signs that said Waterloo station, but those signs are so confusing. Half the streets curve around and an arrow that points straight might actually mean around a couple of corners. I made a few wrong turns and ended up in unpleasant looking back streets a couple times, even with directions from people, which, like the pointing arrows, were a little confusing, especially with those platforms in the middle of the street that branch off for pedestrian crossing in different directions. Anyway, I eventually made it and made my way back to Camden Town, although there I made it all the way back to the main cross street before forgetting which way to go to get back to the dorms. So here too, I tried to play it cool and started looking for some place to grab a bite. Unfortunately, It's sunday and everything closes early, so I ended up getting McDonald's anyway, bleh. Fortunately, a really nice couple using the atm on the corner was willing to help me out. They were going in that direction anyway and just walked with me to the bus stop. So here I am, back at the dorms, really tired, been here for a while (it's about quarter after 1 am) and I'm exhausted, but I wanted to get all of this down before I fall asleep. We don't have to meet up until 11, but I believe breakfast stops at 9 around here, so I need to sleep!
(Yes, this first part is in the last post)
Boy, what adventures I had since writing that first part. I couldn't actually get to the room with the internet in it when everybody else was gone and noone could let me in to the Q corridor. I was sitting there feeling alone and bored and a million different other things besides when I decided I'd go out on my own and hopefully I'd meet up with my classmates at the Eye. Well, I only made up my mind after a bit of indecision, calling my boyfriend for a $20/5 minute phone call (we had been keeping in touch via internet and I was just feeling so lonely), and staring at a map of the city and tube system for a bit. So it was already nearly 9 (they said they'd be on the Eye around 8:45). I went ahead and called my professor to try to see if I could meet up with them to go eat after they were done with the Eye. Well, I couldn't get ahold of her even though I tried calling about half a dozen times (they were apparently on the Eye during most of the time I'd been calling, which was after I'd taken the tube down to Waterloo). People kept mentioning that I'd said I hadn't wanted to go on the Eye. Well, the idea was not to go on th Eye but also not to be stuck in this stupid dorm building all by myself. Hopefully I'd get something to eat, see some street performers or something along the way, and meet up with my classmates. I remember that area being pretty cool. The main problem was that I never got ahold of them, but also, daylight was almost gone. I actually had been in the area during the same time that they had, but I had gotten sick of sitting right in front of the Eye watching for people getting on and off when, in all likely hood, I'd probably miss them anyway in the crowd, and they wouldn't have a clue to look for me there because I'd never gotten ahold of Justine. So I walked off to the bridge to take pictures of the cool buildings at sunset, and apparently Justine did call me back right around 9:30 but I'd never gotten the call and never gotten ahold of her the 20 times I'd tried to call her since, not even knowing she'd called. So I was getting hungry and I figured I'd just play it cool, look for some place to eat around there, keep exploring the city on my own, but by this time it was actually getting dark and I wasn't feeling so comfortable being out alone. I'd only seen a bunch of nice sit-down restaurants that I wouldn't feel comfortable going to alone and that arcade my brother liked so much when we went before, which has a McDonald's attached. I pretty much gave up and headed back towards the tube station, still playing it cool, being stoic and striding along as if I was just another Londoner, but as it was getting dark I couldn't remember the way back to the station. I started wandering in that general direction and followed some signs that said Waterloo station, but those signs are so confusing. Half the streets curve around and an arrow that points straight might actually mean around a couple of corners. I made a few wrong turns and ended up in unpleasant looking back streets a couple times, even with directions from people, which, like the pointing arrows, were a little confusing, especially with those platforms in the middle of the street that branch off for pedestrian crossing in different directions. Anyway, I eventually made it and made my way back to Camden Town, although there I made it all the way back to the main cross street before forgetting which way to go to get back to the dorms. So here too, I tried to play it cool and started looking for some place to grab a bite. Unfortunately, It's sunday and everything closes early, so I ended up getting McDonald's anyway, bleh. Fortunately, a really nice couple using the atm on the corner was willing to help me out. They were going in that direction anyway and just walked with me to the bus stop. So here I am, back at the dorms, really tired, been here for a while (it's about quarter after 1 am) and I'm exhausted, but I wanted to get all of this down before I fall asleep. We don't have to meet up until 11, but I believe breakfast stops at 9 around here, so I need to sleep!
First Free day in London (7-4)
Today was a free day. We still don't know what the situation is with the lodging issues. I haven't even seen the professor today. This morning I got up, got my hair wet with the sink in my room and then brushed and scrunched it, because I'm still kind of afraid of taking a shower here. Then I went down to breakfast. It was alright, pretty much the same options as the hotel in Dublin, only not quite as high quality. I tried to see if the reception desk was open because I'm still missing a key, but it wasn't, because it's Saturday. The computer room with supposed free internet access was inaccessible as well. That is, you could get into the room but it looked like all the computers required a password of some sort. Then I went around trying to figure out what everyone was doing today. I wasn't sure what I should do, but I thought I might go down to Picadilly Circus and do some shopping. However, I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go with Alli and the guys to the park. So we went to Regent's Park, which is walking distance from the place we're staying. They stopped for food because I'd been the only one of the five of us to get up early enough for breakfast. I just got some candy and figured I'd get something real to eat on the way back. We kind of split up on the way there and Dan and I sat talking for a while waiting for Sean, Paul and Alli to get there. The weather was looking iffy. It had been bright and sunny when we headed out, but it was looking like rain with some misty sprinkles and the weather kept changing like that for a bit. I almost wanted to come back immediately and get a sweater because I hadn't brought one. Finally, however, when everybody was together and we had been walking through the park for a while it became sunny for the rest of the afternoon. Today is the 4th of July. Of course we shouldn't expect the British to celebrate. They were the losers. However, interesting events today... We were walking through the park when the guys got invited to play softball with a group of people. It turns out that the group was a mixture of British and American people having a 4th of July celebration. The guys had been so set on celebrating the 4th and not using any British slang, going and playing SOCCER NOT FOOTBALL etc. They probably couldn't have asked for anything better. Alli had gone and walked off into some gardens (which we all walked through together after the picnic) and I was sitting on a bench watching the game. When the game they'd been playing ended everyone came in to eat and I came over to talk to the guys. We were all invited to eat. I hadn't said a word to any of our new friends but I was handed a plate. Alli came back and joined us and we became part of the group. I declined the first time I was asked if I wanted to play softball but joined in the second, even though I'm really terrible. I forgot to put sunscreen on this morning as I usually do because it had been so dark and gloomy. I made it through Dublin a lot better than the rest of my classmates, who were all like crispy bacon by the time we'd left, but I'll probably live to regret running around in the park without sunscreen tomorrow. Anyway, the internet situation is still iffy, so I might not be able to post these until I get back, but I'll still be writing them daily and saving them under files labled with the date. It's definitely a bummer, but I'll deal.
After I wrote the first part of this some more exciting things happened. There was a happy reunion in the kitchen on our floor after a whole day without seeing Justine. She hadn't been feeling well but had been working hard on the accommodation situation. She had keys for anyone who wanted to move into a new room! Yay! Now instead of being in the P corridor, where the bathroom smells like a port-a-potty and is shared with the guys, I'm in the R corridor with a better bathroom I'm not afraid to use and away from some of the fumes from the renovations they're doing directly under P. Anyway, we all ended up going out to a fancy French restaurant for dinner. It was really late for dinner. but then the exciting reunion had come right as we had been making plans to go out. I had the traditional onion soup and "pommes allumettes." (It was really the only thing on the menu I thought I'd eat). The soup was good, but it had so much cheese and bread in it that I kept feeling like gagging. We started home so late (just after midnight) that we had to take the night bus instead of the tube. We got home and I moved my stuff into my new room. I had an okay night of sleep, all 6 hours or so as I had to get up early for our tour of the Globe. After the Globe tour we went to the Tower and had lunch there. Then a bunch of people headed off to go on the Eye. I decided that it was a once in a lifetime experience (I would suggest everyone do it once, and it is kind of expensive) but I've had my once, and I wanted to make sure everybody knows I didn't die on the flight from Dublin now that I have a chance to use the web... Then as I was writing this I was thinking about how cool that area around the Eye is and how I should have gone with them and wandered around on my own while they stood in line for an hour. Oh well, plenty of time for wandering on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all free days). I may go out to eat or something. It's only 6, but lunch was so recent, and we do have a kitchen here. Maybe I'll just get a frozen pizza from the Tesco down the street. Meal times seem so weird when the sun doesn't set until 9:30.
After I wrote the first part of this some more exciting things happened. There was a happy reunion in the kitchen on our floor after a whole day without seeing Justine. She hadn't been feeling well but had been working hard on the accommodation situation. She had keys for anyone who wanted to move into a new room! Yay! Now instead of being in the P corridor, where the bathroom smells like a port-a-potty and is shared with the guys, I'm in the R corridor with a better bathroom I'm not afraid to use and away from some of the fumes from the renovations they're doing directly under P. Anyway, we all ended up going out to a fancy French restaurant for dinner. It was really late for dinner. but then the exciting reunion had come right as we had been making plans to go out. I had the traditional onion soup and "pommes allumettes." (It was really the only thing on the menu I thought I'd eat). The soup was good, but it had so much cheese and bread in it that I kept feeling like gagging. We started home so late (just after midnight) that we had to take the night bus instead of the tube. We got home and I moved my stuff into my new room. I had an okay night of sleep, all 6 hours or so as I had to get up early for our tour of the Globe. After the Globe tour we went to the Tower and had lunch there. Then a bunch of people headed off to go on the Eye. I decided that it was a once in a lifetime experience (I would suggest everyone do it once, and it is kind of expensive) but I've had my once, and I wanted to make sure everybody knows I didn't die on the flight from Dublin now that I have a chance to use the web... Then as I was writing this I was thinking about how cool that area around the Eye is and how I should have gone with them and wandered around on my own while they stood in line for an hour. Oh well, plenty of time for wandering on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all free days). I may go out to eat or something. It's only 6, but lunch was so recent, and we do have a kitchen here. Maybe I'll just get a frozen pizza from the Tesco down the street. Meal times seem so weird when the sun doesn't set until 9:30.
And Hello to Dear Dirty London... (7-3)
We got up at the crack of dawn today and headed to the Dublin airport for a flight around 9 am to Heathrow. A ride up the Picadilly and then the Northern line brought us to Camden Town where our accommodations are located. Now when I first stepped into the tube station at the airport I felt like I was "home." I love the London I remember from our family visit a few years ago, but this is a different area than we were in before. It's pretty far North. When we got here, none of us were very happy, but our professor had said she'd "seen worse" and that we would probably be fine. Heck, maybe I'm just a wimp. I've never lived in a dorm. We met up with our local guide and explored the Camden Town area a bit. Then we went and got something to eat. I ended up getting a chicken caesar salad, which ended up not tasting like chicken at all, but like fish. I've never had a caesar salad that tastes like fish so I asked them if I could please have something else because it was overpowering and unappetizing. They were very nice and replaced it sans anchovy paste... but also sans chicken. I didn't complain about that since they were so nice about it, and when the bill came they didn't charge us for it.I still felt grateful and pitched in 10 pounds (the salad would have been 6 something) towards what bread and frites of other people's I'd eaten and the tip. Then we came back to the dorms. Mom says I'm just spoiled, but I'm certainly not the only one complaining, and some of us are even complaining for health reasons. Apparently our trip was so low budget even though we were getting single rooms in London because we were booked at a bed and breakfast for university students that's really cruddy. I wasn't even given all of the necessary keys to get into my hallway. Luckily, (depending on how you look at it) the door to hallway P doesn't close properly unless forced, so I've been able to get in and out to do my laundry. That's the only thing I'm glad we're here for. I finally get to do laundry! I had planned on doing it tomorrow during our free day since everyone is doing it tonight, but apparently my professor is on the phone right now trying to get us out early tomorrow. She's trying to arrange for us to stay somewhere else and I'm really hoping it's possible. I don't know when I'll be able to post this because the free web "computer room" closed at 5 or 6 or something, while we were eating, and I'd have to pay for web from my room, if I could even figure out how to set it up... I took an hour nap or so relatively comfortably in my room after dinner, but I was exhausted. Now I'm starting to feel itchy and yucky like other people are saying they are, and even with the window open I'm feeling stuffy here in my room. Maybe we are spoiled, and we're not one of those people out on the street or in the tube station begging for money because they have no place to stay, nothing to eat, but but... I miss Dublin... I miss Daniel... I want to go home...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Goodbye to Dear Dirty Dublin
According to somebody quoted in the history of Dublin that we had to read "Your first day in Dublin is your worst." Well, I would have to say that my last day in Dublin has been my worst I slept heavily last night... once I was able to breath long enough to fall asleep without getting up to blow my nose. Apparently last night it was raining hard, even thundering, according to my roommate. I had my hearing aid out to sleep of course. Today, our very last day, it rained like the internet weather had been saying it was going to... on the day of our coastal tour. I was afraid of messing up my camera by getting it all wet. I couldn't really understand much of what the bus driver/tour guide was saying. It was one of those loud but mumbly microphone things. You know what I'm talking about. It's hard to take pictures from a bus with rainy windows. We did get out at this pretty garden place. It's a shame we had limited time there, not much time to eat lunch or enjoy the gardens, which looked beautiful from what I did see. I don't even remember what they were called. I've still been feeling kind of yucky today. My stomache hurt a little, so right when the bus got back to O'Connell I hopped into McDonald's. I went directly into the McDonald's and down the stairs to the bathroom. My feet were so wet and the stairs so slippery that I slipped on both flights of stairs. My back and butt both hurt now. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a huge bruise on my rear end. I was really feeling horrible by this time, so I went back to the hotel and took a nap for about an hour. I went back out again to go shopping for a bit. Then I came back to the hotel. I'm finishing my packing and going to sleep. We have to be ready to go by 6 am.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Last Free Day in Dublin
I spent the day roaming around on my own. I'm realizing that roaming around on my own is a lot nicer than going places with the group. For one, there's no set time to be anywhere and meet up with the group, so I can go at my own pace and if I get lost, so what? I'll get there eventually. For another thing, I don't have to constantly worry about being split up from the group. Also, I don't have to worry about "fitting in" or "being part of the conversation" or anything like that. Sure I might have to ask a few strangers with accents where to go, but (see pro number one of wandering alone). I will get there eventually. This time I was a bit more adventurous than the last time I roamed around on my own. Instead of sticking to O'Connell, I wandered the whole city. Well, of course I couldn't do the entire city in a day, but I went all the way from Parnell Square (where our hotel is located in the northern part of the city) to St. Stephen's Green (which is in the southern part of the city). Embarrassingly enough, I got lost on my way to the post office. It's right there on O'Connell and we've passed it and stopped at it a million times, but somehow I made a wrong turn close to the hotel and wandered around for a bit before finding my way back to O'Connell to drop off some post cards. I never asked anyone to write directions down for me. I just repeated "left here and then a right?" or whatever and they were at the point of nodding and saying "yeah, go on, get outa here" (not really, they were very friendly, especially the Americans). I figured if I made a wrong turn I could take out my map and try to figure out where I went wrong (I did that a lot on the way home) or just ask somebody else. So I went and dropped off my post cards at the post office. Then I went to the famine memorial, which is a couple bridges over from the O'Connell monument. It was eerie, which I guess is the point. It really is sort of offensive that they would sell spaces on it to have your name set there. Then I made my way back towards the O'Connell bridge and then down the Grafton Street area towards Trinity to find that Irish music store I'd passed so many times but never gotten to check out, Celtic Note. I got Grandpa McCallum an Irish folk collection. Then I went and found the Molly Malone statue. That area is so busy that the first couple times I'd passed it I didn't get a chance to take a picture. Then I made my way down to St. Stephen's Green, ate a croissant, a piece of cheese, an apple and a banana I'd saved from breakfast and went shopping at Stephen's Green Shopping Center. It's essentially a 3 story mall. A few of the stores were more high-end. I bought a dress at a store called "noname." The third floor was essentially a hobby shop, an art gallery and framing store, a bizarre, Hot-Topic-like store called... hmm... Asha? I can't remember, and bathrooms, but there were more than just bathrooms. There were baby feeding rooms, changing rooms, etc. After I went shopping I went across the street to St. Stephen's Green, the actual park, and walked around there for a bit. Then I wanted to find this "Secret Garden" place Elise had been talking about. The real name is Iveagh Gardens. It really was "all that." It was so beautiful (see pictures on facebook), though some of the rose bushes were wilted in one spot. Otherwise it seemed like it was very well kept. It really does seem to be "one of Ireland's best kept secrets." There was hardly anyone there compared to St. Stephen's. I made my way back to the Green and went around in circles for a bit trying to find my way back out towards the shopping center. Finally I stopped some American-looking people and we walked out together. One lady was from Florida and her mother was from New York. I told them I was from California and about the class. The lady from Florida said something like "Really? Would the teacher notice if I snuck into that class? That sounds great." She helped me plan my route back to the river and I went on my way back to the hotel. I must have made a couple small mistakes as I kept having to look at my map and figure out which street I was on. It's so hard when the street names aren't posted on signs and the ones that are painted on the sides of buildings are white on light blue so they're hard to read from across the street. On my way home I stopped at Subway and there was a big protest, something about Israel and Palestine, going on along O'Connell. Somebody handed me a little flier. There have also been signs up about a rally against abortion on the 4th of July. Anyway, I came home, ate my sandwich, and here I am now, tired and snuffly. Maybe I'm getting sick. Maybeit's just allergies. As my facebook status says so artistically, I feel like I've been "deliriously roaming the streets of Dublin all day."
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Better
Today I got up, ate breakfast, went to get some cash and then tagged along with some classmates to Phoenix Park. It's such a large park (one of the largest in Europe supposedly) and all very beautiful. This is the kind of nature experience I needed. It was a nice break from the city landscape. We took a bus over there and then started wandering the park. It just seemed the perfect place to sit and read, write post cards, a song, a poem, anything. It was really nice. It was bright and sunny out and the grass was plentiful. There are a few really nice spots I've come across. St. Stephen's Green, which I haven't gotten a chance to go back to (maybe tomorrow), the Garden of Remembrance and Phoenix Park are all beautiful. If you ever go to Dublin, make sure you hit up these places. My roommate was also raving about this "Secret Garden" place tucked up beside St. Stephen's Green. I might like to go, if I have time. Anyway, at Phoenix Park I just sat enjoying the day, writing a couple post cards while one of my classmates was singing and playing his guitar as we sat on the grass beside the Wellington Monument. Then we moved on to a foresty area and another classmate was climbing trees. Then we went to this really old looking building which turned out to be the Magazine Fort, according to our map, but it didn't have any plaques or anything, just plants and graffiti. We even saw some deer. Then we went back to the hotel and later in the evening we went to the Abbey Theatre and saw "The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant." It was alright. I couldn't hear very well. Then I went back to the hotel and uploaded pictures from Phoenix Park on facebook. Now it's about 1 am, and I am going to sleep.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Being myself
Today I made up a bit for not doing much of anything yesterday. I went to the Writers' Museum with a few people early before most people had even woken up, because our official class meeting time wasn't until 12:30. I got up around 8:30, ate breakfast, and discovered that some people were going to the Writers' Museum, so I tagged along. It's pretty close to the hotel, and it was only 6.3 euro for students and included a little audio guide. It made me want to read a lot more, and it also made me realize that more Irish writers than I realized are being tought in "British lit" classes with no distinction. I think they should have "Irish lit" classes. Chapman claims to be preparing students to be "global citizens," but the university keeps narrowing its literary curriculum. At 12:30 we met in the lobby and walked down to the river. We had class discussion there and then went on a Liffey River cruise. Then we went to lunch, but I wasn't that hungry. I had eaten a big breakfast and ate an apple on the cruise. It was already pretty late when we got lunch at the Queen of Tarts and I wanted to save room for dinner, so I just had a muffin to tide me over. We had dinner at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland, for "food, folklore and faeries." Good thing I'd saved room. It was a full 3 course meal. I had a delicious salad with chicken, grilled vegetables with rice, and chocolate cake, along with tea and water. We just got back to the hotel around 11.
As for "being myself," I mean that I get very emotional and feel frustrated that I can't "enjoy" things as easily or as simply as others. The "folklore" guy spoke with an accent and at times rather quickly, and I never really cought all of what other people were laughing at. This wasn't a singular occurence, however. It happens all the time, and it's been bugging me throughout the trip. I feel left out. I feel like I got a bum deal in life. It sucks. Maybe it was because my hearing aid battery went out at one point. I had spares, but it was still frustrating. I always feel like I'm such a burden if I ask for special treatment or anything, though I'm probably more of a burden when I get emotional and sit around and mope until I get some sympathy. Honestly, I feel sorry for myself and I feel like most people would rather just let me pout in a corner than deal with me. I would feel that way if I were someone else.
As for "being myself," I mean that I get very emotional and feel frustrated that I can't "enjoy" things as easily or as simply as others. The "folklore" guy spoke with an accent and at times rather quickly, and I never really cought all of what other people were laughing at. This wasn't a singular occurence, however. It happens all the time, and it's been bugging me throughout the trip. I feel left out. I feel like I got a bum deal in life. It sucks. Maybe it was because my hearing aid battery went out at one point. I had spares, but it was still frustrating. I always feel like I'm such a burden if I ask for special treatment or anything, though I'm probably more of a burden when I get emotional and sit around and mope until I get some sympathy. Honestly, I feel sorry for myself and I feel like most people would rather just let me pout in a corner than deal with me. I would feel that way if I were someone else.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Relaxing Day
I didn't do much of anything today. Some people were going to a Catholic mass really early, but that's obviously not my kind of thing. Then we had class in the Garden of Remembrance again. I love that place. It's so pretty! Then we all went to lunch. I think the name of the place was "In Cahoots Cafe." I had a panini, which was kind of a weird combination. It had chicken, barbeque sauce, mozarella and grilled peppers. I think the odd part was the barbeque sauce. After lunch, which was kind of late, I headed back to the hotel and took a nap. Then I woke up and realized it was already around 7:00. Tomorrow we're going on the Liffey River cruise and later to "food, folklore and faeries" at the Brazen Head. A lot has been happening over the past couple days... to the guys. A few days ago one of them was playing his guitar in St. Stephen's Green and some businessmen on an office break heard him and had him play at a party that night. Then yesterday the guys' laptops were stolen from the hotel room, which was scary. The professor talked to us about it today saying that this is the city. These things do happen. We gave each other some tips on keeping our stuff safe and the professor said that if we felt unsafe to talk to her. We all had to get our keys changed today. In addition, one of those guys is really sick and hasn't been out of bed all day. People have been bugging me about whether I'm eating enough or getting enough protein because I've been living primarily off of croissants, little pieces of cheese and fruit from breakfast with the occasional sandwich, and because we're doing so much walking. Also, some people are getting sick and they want to make sure I keep my strength up I suppose. I'm fine, really. I'm just being cheap. A lot of the money I have was already spent before I left the States, and my job situation once I return is a little iffy, so even though I'm traveling and it should be time to splurge I'm being a bit conservative with my money. Then again, I'm typically conservative with my money.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Joyce, Yeats and Wilde... and lots of random pictures
I'm posting pictures on facebook, just in case you're wondering. I'm too lazy to figure out how to upload them again on here. Today we started with Joyce tours. The first one was given by a girl who totally looked Irish... and sounded American. Turns out she's from Alaska, go figure. She showed us some spots mentioned in stories from Dubliners. Then we met up with another tour guide who showed us spots mentioned in Ulysses. It was very interesting. I tried to take pictures of the plaques on the ground marking places mentioned in Ulysses, but I don't think many of them turned out well. The sun light and shadows were kind of weird because it was mid-day and the inscriptions of text would have been hard to read anyway. After the Joyce tour we split up and went to lunch. After that we split up again and some of us went to Trinity College for the exhibit on the Book of Kells (no photography allowed because the texts are so old). That was pretty interesting, and I got a Trinity t-shirt at the gift shop. Then we walked through the campus. There were a couple of games of what looked like cricket going on as we passed. Then we went to Archbishop Ryan Park for the Wilde statue sitting on a rock there, or as I read somewhere on the internet, what Dubliners have affectionately dubbed "the fag on a crag." My roommate and I were cracking up at that. I was online trying to figure out what another (unmarked) group of statues we saw there was all about. It turns out that the group of statues in question is called "The Victims" and is a memorial for (the sites were vague and differed) "torture victims" or "victims of war." What war I could not find, and it said that the actual form of the statue was up for interpretation. It was certainly eerie, whatever it was meant to be. Then we went to Oscar Wilde's house and Yeats' house and took pictures of plaques outside. You couldn't actually take a tour or anything. The group split once again after that and the remaining three of us grabbed some subway and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow it has been decided that whoever wants to go to Catholic mass can meet at 8:45 in the hotel lobby but the rest of us who aren't Catholic and would like to sleep will meet everybody else in St. Stephen's Green by the Emmet statue at 11.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Exploration
So today was a "free day." During the first half of the day I ate breakfast, bought some alkaline batteries because my charger died, and went back to the hotel to upload pictures, the blog from yesterday, etc. During the second half I ate a power bar for "lunch" and went out on my own. I wandered around for a good 4 hours. Sure it was pretty much stuff we'd passed or gone through a half dozen times already, but I was exploring it on my own! Anyway, I went up and down O'Connell St. and went off into some of the little shopping areas. After a while of wandering aimlessly down O'Connell I found myself all the way by the river. Once I'd gone that far I started to make my way back, popping in and out of little shopping areas. At first I was wandering around aimlessly, but then I stopped to ask a couple of ladies where the fashion stores like Next and things were. Now I know that they are on Henry St. So I spent a great deal of time in that shopping area. For the most part, when I walked around I tried to fit in like a real Dubliner. The reason I was wandering aimlessly was that I was walking quickly and going with the flow of people rather than taking my time and looking like a tourist. I really tried to go incognito for a while... Then there were statues and guys performing in front of department stores and girls making sand sculptures to take pictures of, so I got out my camera. Also, when I went into the stores I asked the salespeople what size I should be looking for. I'm so obviously from America. They essentially said that I should try to look for the smallest thing available and try on everything. I only ended up trying things on in one store, and I didn't buy anything. On my way back to the hotel it finally started raining, after all that internet weather telling me it was going to. It was refreshing and annoying all at once. It was barely sprinkling or drizzling. It was getting my glasses all wet, but it was refreshing because I was so hot from walking all over the place. I stopped at "SuperMac's" on the way back to grab something to eat and got a 350 ml (12 oz) bottle of coke for a euro at a Londi's. That is I think it was a Londi's. I don't remember which store I actually got it at, but I'd been good all week and thought I deserved just one coke. With SuperMac's I was expecting a carbon copy of McDonald's (though there are those, too, as well as Burger Kings, which are both way overpriced... "euro saver menu 6 chicken nuggets for 2 euros?" [yeah, right, that's like 5 bucks American, a whole meal at In n Out!] and there are ads for Burger King everywhere claiming they have really cheap food... hah). Anyway, I got some chicken nuggets and fries at Supermac's. The restaurant itself essentially looked like it was meant to accommodate tourists with children who wouldn't eat anything besides Americanized fastfood. There were meals with burgers and fries, chicken in various fried forms, pizza, sandwiches, etc. I brought my food back to the hotel and ate it. One of my roommates got back not too long after I did. I've just been sitting here updating and iming with Daniel. I miss him. Anyway, I'll probably go to bed soon since it just actually got dark (10:30).
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Long but exciting day
So apparently in all the confusion of my roommate's phone adapter blowing up I just saved this blog instead of posting it...
Today was pretty interesting, and I'm begininning to get the notion from my classmates that the real way to experience Dublin actually is to get drunk and talk to a Dubliner, haha. So, I started the day by going off with a couple classmates and getting some money. Then we walked to the Kilmainham Gaol (the jail). While I couldn't hear everything because I was often pushed back into a corner away from the tour guide, what I did hear was interesting. He pointed out the actual spot where Connolly was executed. After the jail, we ate and then there was the pub crawl. We started at The Duke and went to three other pubs. The guides were very entertaining. We ended up at Davy Byrnes, where I had Bailey's and milk. Chapter 8 of Ulysses is set there. Most everybody was drinking Guiness at the first couple pubs. I didn't decide to drink until the last one. I stayed with the last four people and we walked back to the hotel. When the majority of the group left people kept asking me if I'd be ok staying and walking home. I wanted to have my drink at leisure and I hadn't stayed out late any night so far, so I thought I'd be adventurous and stay out. We got back at about midnight. The way back was interesting. There was a girl in front of a store going on about Michael Jackson and when we heard about it we were like "omg" and the girl was like "Finally, somebody cares! You're American, yeah?" It's really weird having something that "big" happen in our own country while we're so far away. Well, I guess celebrities die every day, but you know. Come to think of it, MJ was a nutter, and he was probably already half dead from all the plastic surgery. Then there was a Dubliner guy that Vanessa was asking about the Michael Jackson issue and they got into a big long conversation about the hot spots and night life. We had a feeling he would have liked her to join him, wherever he was going off to party. It was kind of funny. He walked along with us for what I thought was a really long distance, but maybe I had no concept. When we had gone to the gaol it was pretty much the opposite end of the city from our hotel That felt like way too much walking. I thought maybe the liqeur made the walk home seem less bad. Then I realized that we had taken the bus from the jail area to the Duke for the pub crawl. Anyway, I'm exhausted... To sleep!
Today was pretty interesting, and I'm begininning to get the notion from my classmates that the real way to experience Dublin actually is to get drunk and talk to a Dubliner, haha. So, I started the day by going off with a couple classmates and getting some money. Then we walked to the Kilmainham Gaol (the jail). While I couldn't hear everything because I was often pushed back into a corner away from the tour guide, what I did hear was interesting. He pointed out the actual spot where Connolly was executed. After the jail, we ate and then there was the pub crawl. We started at The Duke and went to three other pubs. The guides were very entertaining. We ended up at Davy Byrnes, where I had Bailey's and milk. Chapter 8 of Ulysses is set there. Most everybody was drinking Guiness at the first couple pubs. I didn't decide to drink until the last one. I stayed with the last four people and we walked back to the hotel. When the majority of the group left people kept asking me if I'd be ok staying and walking home. I wanted to have my drink at leisure and I hadn't stayed out late any night so far, so I thought I'd be adventurous and stay out. We got back at about midnight. The way back was interesting. There was a girl in front of a store going on about Michael Jackson and when we heard about it we were like "omg" and the girl was like "Finally, somebody cares! You're American, yeah?" It's really weird having something that "big" happen in our own country while we're so far away. Well, I guess celebrities die every day, but you know. Come to think of it, MJ was a nutter, and he was probably already half dead from all the plastic surgery. Then there was a Dubliner guy that Vanessa was asking about the Michael Jackson issue and they got into a big long conversation about the hot spots and night life. We had a feeling he would have liked her to join him, wherever he was going off to party. It was kind of funny. He walked along with us for what I thought was a really long distance, but maybe I had no concept. When we had gone to the gaol it was pretty much the opposite end of the city from our hotel That felt like way too much walking. I thought maybe the liqeur made the walk home seem less bad. Then I realized that we had taken the bus from the jail area to the Duke for the pub crawl. Anyway, I'm exhausted... To sleep!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
First "Official" Day
Today was the first "official" day of class, so I'll start trying to make this a little less whiney and a bit more... scholarly observational? Anyway, after breakfast we went to the Garden of Remembrance and read poetry from our little blue Dublin books and talked about the story of the Children of Lir and the statue representing them in the garden. The garden itself was to commemorate the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and those who gave their lives for Irish independance. This is exactly how I'd picture a travel course, sitting in gorgeous gardens, reading poetry about the city. It couldn't be more perfect. Dublin is said to be a city of poets and the poems we read really seem to capture the spirit of the city. The "Description of Dublin," although it refers to the city in the 18th century, with its "streets unpleasant in all weather" and "beggars of all ranks, age and condition," could still be fairly acurate today. The streets are really old, like they haven't been kept very well, and there are a decent amount of homeless people sitting on the ground. The city is definitely busy. We walked all around the city today with our tour guide. It was exhausting. I remember walking a lot in London a few years ago, and of course the cities have been compared, but Dublin is smaller. There is no need for anything like "the tube" as far as size is concerned. There is definitely plenty of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, but most of the vehicular traffic is tour buses, and buses and taxis from the airport to hotels. It appears that modern Dublin capitalizes on its disturbed past through tourism with exhibitions on everything from the vikings to the twentieth century revolution. There's probably more that could be said about today, but I'm getting tired.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Unadventurous
I still feel like I'm being too much of a wimp. I'm pretty disappointed in myself considering how much I've been looking forward to this trip. Here I am in my room again, been here for two hours and the sun is just starting to set. I'm afraid to get lost anywhere and have to ask directions and then not be able to understand someone's accent. People get irritated when you make them repeat themselves too many times. I don't really know any of my classmates that well, even though I've had classes with most of the undergrads before. Of course I would say that they don't like me, but I can't say that because they don't know me. Tomorrow is our first "official" day of planned activities. Today was a "free day" but we came up with something to do as a group. I set my phone alarm for 8:30 to make sure I got breakfast. I had a roll, a croissant, cheese and butter with those, some grapes, a banana, some hot chocolate, (which was kind of weird, coming from a machine with various buttons for "cappucino", "cafe au le," "choco" etc.), some tea, a tiny bit of orange juice, and about three glasses of water (they were really small water glasses). We walked to Dvblinia, which is an exhibit next to Christ Church Cathedral on the vikings. It was fairly interesting. It was a long walk to get there. I ate another croissant I had tucked away in my backpack with a piece of cheese while we waited for people outside. I wasn't very hungry when, about a half an hour later, we all walked to go have lunch. Half the group split and went somewhere else. The half I stayed with was the calm group; the professor, my roommates and the grad students, although one of my roommates went out really late with some of the rest of them last night to a club at Temple Bar or something and didn't get back until like 2:30 am, which was annoying. Anyway, I skipped lunch, but then right after lunch, we went to "The Queen of Tarts" for dessert. I had a piece of Bailey's chocolate chip cheesecake (mmm), which I wouldn't have had the money for if I'd eaten lunch. Haven't eaten anything since then, but I figure I'll just go to sleep when it gets dark and eat another big breakfast. Guess that's it for now.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wandering
So today I did not set an alarm. Justine told me to call her if I needed anything, wanted her to bring me croissants or anything, whatever. However, I ended up sleeping until about 10 (a total of about 11 hours of sleep last night). I opened my eyes to discover that there was someone in my room! It was only one of my roommates who'd just arrived, though. She called Justine and I told her to ask her to bring me some croissants, but it was 10:30, and breakfast ends at 10, apparently. Oh well, tomorrow breakfast is free (well, included in the cost of the trip). So I finally got up and out of my jammies and went down stairs to talk to Justine and whoever else was there. Then I started to wander around a bit outside, but I'm a wimp and didn't want to wander too far, so I started to head back when I ran into one of my classmates. She had some things she wanted to look for, and I needed some eye drops because something exploded in my little carry-on ziplock (I'm thinking the glasses cleaner) and I didn't want to use contaminated eye drops. So we wandered around a whole lot more. At 5 we walked to this "Little Ceasar's" restaurant, led by our tour guide for, I think, Wednesday (who didn't seem to like us very much, shhh) and then people went their separate ways; to go find chocolate, pubs, or back to the hotel. I wasn't feeling well, so I went back to the hotel with Justine and a few others. Tomorrow is a "free day" but we're planning on going to "Dublinia" around 12:30.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Arrival
Okay, so I'm sitting here in the hotel in Dublin, really worn out, can't take my melatonin and go to sleep quite yet because it's not completely dark. You knew it was coming. That's right. My complaints about the actual "travel" involved in traveling. So at first I was really nervous about traveling international on my own. Daniel spent the day with me and tried to make sure I was as calm as possible when I boarded my first flight. I was. I really was. Honestly, it didn't seem as bad as the last time I flew international, but that was my first time. So then I was sitting at the gate in LAX when I heard an announcement that boarding would be delayed. Great, I originally had an hour between landing and boarding in Frankfurt. How much time would I have now? Apparently about 5 minutes. I was such a nervous wreck in Frankfurt, it's not even funny. I had to push through the security line and explain the situation, and if any of you know me, you know I'm not good at being aggressive. People started asking me if I was ok. I wouldn't be surprised if they assumed I was an unacompanied minor. I lucked out that the flights were with the same airline and the gates were pretty close (B26 and B33) but the numbering didn't make much sense. So the people at the gate sent me down some stairs to a bus. This made absolutely no sense to me! I figured the whole "walking up the ladder on the runway" thing was just a Hollywood convention these days. I didn't remember people actually doing that anymore. So I sat on the bus and was still panicky. I was texting my parents like crazy, at 35 cents a text. :P I finally got on the plane and I was ok. Then we got to Dublin, and I got $40 converted to 23 Euros or thereabout. The cab driver wanted 30! He claimed it was because it was a busy Sunday afternoon, but Justine said she'd had to pay 30 yesterday. So I finally made it to the hotel, texted Mom and Dad, took a nice, long, bath, got in my pajamas, and here I am. It's a good thing this place has free internet, or I'd have one more thing to complain about. :P Adventures begin tomorow (or just sleeping and eating and relaxing until dinner with everybody around 5). I still need to change the time on my computer and phone because they didn't automatically convert. I expected the phone to, not the laptop. Anyway, to sleep!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Departure in less than 72 hours!
So I've set up a blog so all y'all back home can read about my exciting adventures in Dublin and London. I'm bringing my laptop and camera, so I promise I will *try to remember to take lots of pictures and update this blog at least every other day while I'm gone... hopefully... unless I just have too much fun and fall asleep the second I get back to my room, or the internet doesn't work out quite like I'd hoped.
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