Hokay. So. Here's de eard...

In case you haven't noticed, it's been about 2 weeks since I've updated this blog. My sincere apologies to those few faithful readers. The reason for my extended absence is twofold: I was a little lazy....and I haven't actually had internet in just over a week...So, i obviously have a lot to catch you all up on. I will try to let brevity be the soul of wit, but bare with me...

• the last week in london was absolutely insane. i visited a lot of museums (british imperial war museum, which i really enjoyed - especially the holocaust exhibit; national gallery - fabulous paintings and i still can't believe i was that close to da vinci, rubens and van eyck!; tate modern - one of my least favorites, minus the fact that i did get to see andy warhol. the rest was a lot of abstract art that i had trouble getting my very scientific, rational mind around)
• also visited westminster abbey - a lot of fun! the abbey is beautiful and decorated so well...just a little bit overwhelming at times! i saw a lot of famous graves and memorials, including Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, Shakespeare, Cecil John Rhodes, Livingstone, Faraday, Isaac Newton and my absolute favorite... Charles Darwin!!! I have realized over the last few weeks that I really am meant to be a science major. I'm gonna wear my nerd label loud and proud right now coz i really miss the sciences and i've notice myself gravitating toward those topics when at all possible in our discussions and even telling other people what i learned in my bio classes and how interesting it is! haha. represent bio! jeff, mcmahon and julio cannot be disappointed! :)
• we also went to canterbury and saw the canterbury cathedral - i have been to a few cathedrals already and have worshiped at St. Paul's (also decided to see an organ recital there by myself one sunday) and i have such a new perspective on other christian traditions. the insides of the churches are all so magnificently decorated and i can't wait to visit more
• the girls (jaq, amy, allyx and alex) and i also went on a ride on the london eye and the guys (cody, dusty and jay) made us dinner one night. our last day amy, jaq and alex and i also went to hyde park and had tea overlooking the lake. it was so pretty! all the girls on europe semester also had afternoon tea at a nice restaurant - complete with scones and fruit cake and cucumber sandwiches! finally, i also got to see the changing of the guard and shopped around in harrod's - pretty much cramming all the touristy stuff in before it was too late.
• then it was off to ireland - gorgeous country but it was a long traveling day...our flight got cancelled so we had to stay in the airport for 7 hours till the next flight came. bummer. we stayed in Lecale Cottages in Northern Ireland though and they were adorable! It was so good to be able to cook for myself again coz i really haven't gotten enough fruits and vegetables. it's a bummer that cheap food is usually junk food...we also visited dublin, belfast and the irish coast while we were there...i realized i've missed the beach a lot too...
• we visited some historic sites in ireland as well: kilmainham jail (not sure of the spelling) and newgrange ( very old temple for the sun and on the winter solstice, the sun comes into this tiny hole in the temple and lights up the inside for a few minutes).
  
• other than that, i spent my time relaxing a bit and going on hikes/a run...it's hard to find time and energy to exercise here but it felt so good to take in some of the fresh irish air and run along the farm roads and the monastery where we went to church. the benedictine monastery was also an experience that i'll treasure...Northern Ireland has been a country of conflict for decades and to see people (including the monks and regular people) work for peace was incredible. We also were fortunate enough to sit in on some traditional irish music by Tommy Sands and his family...it was so touching and I just missed South Africa so much listening to it...He also wrote a book (i think it's the Songman?) that i'd recommend to anyone...

Now, I am in Brugge, Belgium and it's nice to still be in a country where i can pretty much understand the language still. It's absolutely adorable and I can't wait to spend more time here, but for now we're only here for another day before we go to paris and normandy for a week. then it's back in bruges and off to amsterdam after that. hopefully i'll be able to update this before i got to amsterdam again...

i miss all you guys and can't wait to see you all! ps - i posted more pics from england and ireland!

The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, roman, nor an empire. Discuss.

Here I am again - in McDonalds, taking advantage of free wifi at a most pagan hour...I woke up at 6 and didn't really feel like dragging myself out of bed to walk 4 blocks in the frigid English summer and force down the dirt-in-a-cup the British like to call coffee (just so I don't feel too bad mooching some internet).

so...highlights for the week:

• first off - possibly one of the best moments of the week...I GOT MAIL! haha - thanks for the letter Ali...it made my week and it came at the best possible time! i was feeling so home sick and missing everything about home and westmont and friends and family, especially since i've talked to very few people so far - so, to get your card was the little extra strenght i needed to motivate myself for another busy week in london :)
• so, anyway - since i last posted, i've done quite a bit...last weekend wasn't incredibly busy... i tried going to church at westminster abbey but apparently the tube doesn't stop at westminster on sundays (something i found out a little too late) so i had to get off at waterloo, the next one over and also across the thames...needless to say, having to walk from waterloo to westminster took a good 15 min of brisk walking and i made it just in time to be late :( instead i walked around westminster and through st james park to hyde park... it was so relaxing and refreshing to be by myself again after being with people 24/7 it seems like...i met up with friends who attended reality london in notting hill and i think i would have liked notting hill if it weren't for the fact that we chose the one sunday they had a jamaican carnival going on....it was nothing impressive - unless dirty crowds of drunk and half-drunk people dance-walking to thumpthumpthump is your scene...
• monday through friday we spent in birmingham at a quaker study center. it was really relaxing and peaceful - a much needed break from busy london...There wasn't too much to do in Bham in particular (besides the cadbury factory :) ), so during the week we had outings to oxford, stratford and coventry...oxford was absolutely beautiful! we ate at the pub that cs lewis and jrr tolkien spent tuesday mornings discussing their works! also saw christchurch, which was where parts of harry potter were filmed...stratford was small and besides seeing where shakespeare was born we just mostly sought shelter from the rain before going to dinner and then seeing as you like it. the performance was phenomenal! there was so much interaction between the audience and the actors and the actors were so good - indescribable!
• we went to coventry on our way back to london and saw the cathedral that was bombed during the blitzkrieg in world war II...it's hard to describe really what it was like walking through the skeleton of a medieval cathedral that was flattened in a matter of hours...i was in awe...

well that's about it - i hope this wasn't too much of a repeat for some of you...hopefully i'll get to talk to more of you soon this week, but since i'm in london without wifi it might be a bit tricky (sometimes i can get a bit of wireless in my room...you know, if i tilt the laptop 47 degrees against the horizontal and lift it 20cm from the windowsill holding it up to the sky...something like that)

oh and i'm also the lucky recipient of the "you-get-to-get-rid-of-15-pounds-of-luggage reward." that's right. be jealous.