London Calling

Oy, where to begin! Oy is my new favorite phrase. I am loving my time here, and I am not certain I ever want to return to the US. I know the grass is always greener on the other side, but here the grass is lush, beautiful, and slowly grabbing at my ankles to stay. I have already made friends and memories I will NEVER forget. The second day I was here I set out for an adventure and accidentally ran into the British Library. It is free to enter and it is like a mini museum. I saw the Magna Carta, a piece of the first manuscript of the book of John, Mozart's wedding certificate, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland manuscript, Beethoven's originl tuning fork, the original score of Handel's Messiah, the original score of Hydn's Hallelujah Chrous, Jane Austen's writing desk and glasses, and hand-written lyrics by The Beatles. I was blown away to be in the presence of these great works. This is only the beginning as I will be at the British Library on Friday.

As for the people, the words I could use to describe them are endless. So far I have met wonderful locals and foreigners, as London is populated by many travelers this time of year. Ilya is a local who gladly gave us a tour of which pubs to go to and what not to do because in his words "they are a bloody rip off for stupid tourists." He is quite a character. Ilya introduced us to Nick who is from Edinburgh, and will be telling us what to see while we are there. People here are so helpful and friendly. I am navigating the city much better now that I have been here for one week, and I know my way around the tube which is very helpful. Luckily I am good at remembering directions, Mercedes is good at remembering names, and Chelsea is good at remember numbers, together we are a super human willing and able to conquer London!

I could spend decades describing the architecture in all its glory. I go to school in a building which has never been renovated since 1720, on a block which is original from this year as well. Great James street to be precise. I keep looking out the window in class trying to tell myself everything is real and I am not in a dream. As I walk down the streets there are no skyscrapers towering the ground, smog filling the air making breathing difficult, but rather, beautiful buildings which have withstood time itself (which in my opinion is truly magical). There is nothing quite like seeing original brick with windows that are not perfectly spaced out, and walking on stairs where some steps are longer than others, and higher or lower than others as well. Nothing is perfect, and yet, everything is perfect.

Last night we went to a pub to watch the football game where the atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever experienced in the US even with "American Football." The venue was Yatess, and as we three girls tried to squeeze passed people jammed packed like sardines in the pub, we noticed much country pride. Everyone was wearing white and red, and yelling at the screen when the ball was anywhere near any goal. We took our seat with Ben who is super attractive and totally into one of the ladies in the group who also saved us all seats (which is a whole side story in itself). He is a bartender at the bar whom we met a couple nights before. One fan had a trumpet and was rallying the crowd to cheer with him at every game interval. The game was intense, but finally, the English triumphed and scored a goal. The crowd at this point erupted into a cacophony of sound unparalleled to anything I have every heard before. Leaping, cheering, crying, and hugging. The experience was amazingly fun. Now England moves on to play Italy, so I get another chance to experience the excitement.

I know I should not have waited so long to write, because now that I have I feel as though I am missing saying so much. I am so grateful to have Mercedes and Chelsea with me to travel and explore with, we have become best friends so quickly. We have already booked our flight to Edinburgh together, and can't wait until July 7! Class has been wonderful and I am learning what it takes to write marvelous journals. I go to Wimbledon on Monday which I never thought I would get to experience in person so I am overjoyed about the opportunity. Today I think I will take a trip to Big Ben, because I am finished with class for the day. Hopefully I will write again soon, so I don't miss all the fresh memories I am fortunate enough to have. Until next time cheerio chaps!