Deator's European Adventure

5^th May (and partly 10^th May):  Coming to an end

Kelsey, Jessica, Krista, Jordan, and I all decided that we needed to go around London and take touristy types pictures since we hadn’t really done that yet.  For this post, all I’m going to do is explain the pictures since I’ll probably forget what was happening 10 years from now.  Yes, I am sure that I will still look at my Tumblr 10 years from now.

Starting from the top left (obviously):

Big Ben: We wanted a picture in front of Big Ben.  We asked this older lady if she wouldn’t mind taking it for us.  We told her that we would love to have the picture have both Big Ben and us in it.  After shifting around for a good 15 seconds she snapped this one.  Really?  That’s the best she could do?  Even though this became our favorite out of all of the pictures taken (because it’s so bad), we did not ask another old person to take our picture the rest of the day.

Family Portrait: We found a tree stump in Green Park (I think it was Green Park).  We decided to stand on it and take an awkward family portrait.  I was not aware of this phenomenon that had happened on the internets, but later my Facebook wall was greeted with link after link of awkward family photo websites.

Westminster: Closer to the beginning of the semester Krista, Tim, and I got lost.  We asked some guy directions.  We were apparently really close to where we wanted to be.  He called us donuts.  Therefore, we bought a donut and took a picture with it.  Apparently Jordan was not happy that Krista was taking a bite.

Milo Bombing: Milo is a little friend.  Jessica found him on the ground in the park and decided that he was going to be her best friend.  Here Kim and I are waiting for our Vietnamese food.  It was delicious.

A Different Kind of Family Portrait: Krista made us do this.  It was uncomfortable for me.  Our boobs he drew were also uncomfortable to see.

Oh Kelsey: Apparently everyone got the message to do the stereotypical London phone booth picture besides Kelsey. 

Goodbye to the Rainforest Café: This was our final night (on the 9^th).  We went to our favorite sangria restaurant: the Rainforest Café.  It was a magical time.  Jessica sang us part of a song while we were drinking our sangria.  I don’t remember what it was, but it made me do an awkward laugh/cry combo.

1^st May – 4^th May

One of the reasons I was excited to study abroad in London was because I knew I’d be able to go visit Amanda in Scotland. 

I was pretty exhausted after my Barcelona trip.  For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to plan all of my European adventures for the end of the semester.  I left for the airport at 3:30 a.m. on 1^st May.  As you may know, flying terrifies me.  I’d like for you to also know that I not only slept through the entire flight, but I also was knocked out during takeoff.  That not only means that I fell asleep almost the second my butt touched the seat, but it also means that I slept through the safety instructions AND that ‘holy crap, I’m stuck to the seat’ feeling during takeoff.  I woke up when the tires touched down in Aberdeen with drool down my face and indention lines on my arms (I slept with my arms crossed).  I could not have been happier about it.

When I got off the plane, I was still tired, but was too excited to sleep.  The airport was fairly tiny, so it was easy to find Amanda.  Luckily for me, the day was relaxed.  I got to see Aberdeen and went to one of its many castles.  We went back to her house, where I had Jiff and Poptarts waiting for me, to watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Ew.  Ew.  I also ate vegetarian haggis that night.  Not exactly the same, but I would try normal haggis later that trip.

We went to the Edinburgh zoo on the 2^nd.  It was a little chilly, but adorable.  I hadn’t been to a good zoo in quite some time.  The one in Atlanta is really sketchy, and I can’t be sure, but I think all of the animals are on crack.  I may be getting my days mixed, but I think that night we went to meet some of Amanda’s friends for a trivia night.  I contributed very little.  I mainly just answered the American sports questions.  In my defense, one of the reasons is because I couldn’t understand a word the MC was saying.

On the 3^rd, we went to the city of Edinburgh.  No one informed me that this city was basically just one giant hill.  It seemed that no matter which way you were going, you were ALWAYS walking uphill.  The city itself was absolutely beautiful.  We didn’t go in the castle (it was pricey), but we went up to see it.  We went to the Whiskey Experience.  I learned something there: whiskey is gross and it physically hurts me.  An illusionist museum was right next to the Whiskey Experience.  It was MUCH cooler.  A good amount of time was spent in there (especially in the hologram room).  The cherry on top was that on the final floor you go to see a great view of the city (top left photo). 

My flight on the 4^th wasn’t until later that night so Amanda and I went to… somewhere.  There was a lake, some more mountains, and an aquarium.  We had a coupon, so obviously we went in.  Before the aquarium we went to this restaurant that had a view of the lake/mountain combo.  I order a burrito.  It came with chips.  Why so many potatoes Britain?  Why so many potatoes?

I would love to write more about my Scottish adventure, but my phone erased my notes.  Whoopsie.

Sidenote: It slipped my mind that Scotland was in the U.K.  There’s nothing worse than expecting a stamp in your passport just to be disappointed when there is no stamping station in site.

26^th April – 29^th April

This past weekend I went to Barcelona with Jordan, Kelsey, Marissa, Tim, Rayann, Ian, and a bunch of strangers.  We had all signed up near the beginning of the semester to go with Andy Steves on this trip. 

I have a thing with flying so I had made a list of personal goals to accomplish during my flight to Barcelona.  I achieved them.  I did not: throw up, crap my pants, have a panic attack or experience any other gross bodily functions. 

When we first stepped out of the airport the weather and scene made me think we had accidentally landed in Florida.  You didn’t need a jacket, it wasn’t raining, and there were palm trees.  I didn’t really know how to handle myself. 

We arrived at our hostel fairly smoothly, so there’s nothing to really say about that. We went to a bar, Fok, where I paid €8 for a Jack and coke.  I don’t know if I was more embarrassed about this or the fact that we went to McDonald’s when we first got there.  :/

After I had gotten settled in I heard my phone ringing.  I didn’t recognize the number so I picked up.  American Deator would have let it go to voicemail, but London Deator picks up unknown calls.  Livin’ on the edge.  This particular call was from Tim’s mom… in America.  Apparently Tim was lost (he didn’t fly out with us), and he needed help getting to the hostel.  I didn’t really know how to give him good directions since I’d only been there once, so I said I’d meet him.  I went to the room, told Kelsey I was going to get Tim, and left.  As I was on my way I realized the road I was walking on was really dark… and it was 1 in the morning… and I was alone.  You know the girl you hear about who gets kidnapped because she was walking around by herself, and you think, “Dumb bitch”?  Yeah, well, that was me.  I didn’t realize it until I was halfway there so I just kept walking praying that no one takes me.

Crisis was averted.  I found Tim.  When I spotted him in the distance I started waving in that “hey, I’m over here!” kind of way.  There was a guy who was selling a single can of beer that thought I was waving at him.  He was so excited that I wanted his attention.  It’s nice to know that even though this man and I did not share a language or culture we did share one thing in common.  We both get really embarrassed when we respond to someone who wasn’t acknowledging us.

The next morning Kelsey and I went to go pick up some food from the grocery store for breakfast.  I wanted to get some fruit.  I bring it to the till, and the lady tells me that I am supposed to go weigh it (I think, I’m not really positive what she said to me).  I was confused, but I thought I would understand what she was talking about once I went back over to the fruit.  False.  I was probably more confused when I saw the machine she had wanted me to use.  You placed your fruit on the scale (easy enough), but then there were about 20 buttons.  After standing at this machine for a few minutes sighing, tilting my head back and forth, and borderline crying (I really wanted this fruit) I gave up.  I was defeated.

After my not breakfast, we started a walking tour of Barcelona.  We saw… stuff.  I really should pay more attention of the important landmark-y type things.  All my notes talk about are how its Dunkin’ Coffee instead of Dunkin’ Donuts (apparently that means something really offensive) and how there was a skinned horse’s head at a market.  Oh, oh.  Here’s something (I’m scanning my notes):  we saw a church (I don’t know the name) that had gargoyles on it.  They weren’t normal ones though.  They had a unicorn, a grasshopper, and an elephant.  All I have to say is that that elephant had nothing on mine.  I would have rocked at sculpting an elephant for that church.

That night, the group went out to dinner.  When we first arrived at the restaurant I heard, “North Carolinaaaaa.”  This was coming from a man who was serenading me with Petey Pablo.  His name was Douchebag McGee; he was about 45, an archeologist and was recently happily divorced.  While he proceeded to tell me his life story all I could think was, “Please leave me alone.  I want to go drink my sangria with these other strangers.”  I eventually escaped, but that was my brush with love while abroad.  I should have gotten a picture with him.

The restaurant we went to showed us how to make sangria and paella.  The sangria was unlimited.  The only word I can use describing the next few hours after my first sangria is whoopsie.  I don’t really like seafood, but I thought I’d try it.  That was until I realized that he was going to serve us the shrimp with it’s head, eyes, and little appendage thingy-s still attached.  I knew Deator wasn’t going to eat that as soon as he said we just needed to cut out the eyes and boca before eating.

We went to see the Sagrada Família the next day.  We went as a group so we got to skip the line.  As I could think as I sat watching the poor losers in line was, “suck to suck.”  The place was gigantic, and it’s not even close to being complete yet.  At first I thought it was really ugly.  Really, really ugly.  Then when I got closer I was able to see that every inch of the building tells a story.  There’s so much going on, but it’s really amazing. 

I’ll just sum up the rest of the time there.  My posts get too long.  I just have so much to say!

We went to the beach.  Kelsey didn’t want to put her feet in the water.  I made her.  She pissed off Poseidon, and he attacked her with a wave.  An escalator was being really slow.  I went up it going the wrong way.  It sped up.  I didn’t think I was going to be able to get back down in time.  I ate anchovies.  Ew.  Got to see a Flemenco show.  It was awesome.  People were so sad when we were leaving.  They had known each other for two full days.  It’s not that sad.  Calm the eff down.

PS- There was a girl named Monique in our group.  She was white.  Whaaaa?

1^st April – 22^th April

Did I really wait this long to write another post?  Good Lord I am lazy.

Jordan and I discovered an awesome place all the way back on the first.  We went to Primrose Hill.  It is a hill (dur) where you can see all of London.  The thing I remember most from that day was not the view of the Gherkin.  It was an old man.  I was near the top of the hill admiring the view when I see an old man behind me with a walker.  This hill was made out of grass.  I’m talking the type of grass that is begging for someone with less than amazing balance to walk on it.  This bitch grass loves to make old people fall and break their hip.  This particular ancient man was shuffling down the hill in his tennis shoes like he was on a mission.  The mission was either to not die or to run away from his caretaker who, I’m sure, was looking for him somewhere.  Luckily he did not fall.  Actually, he disappeared.  I have no idea where he went.  The man, his sneakers, and his walker were never seen again.

We left Primrose and went to Camden Market.  I introduced Jordan to Cyberdog.  The booming bass, black lights, rave dancers, and workers with 7-inch Herman Munster shoes sucked her.  That store puts you in a trance and then takes your money.  We both left with unnecessary purchases.

On the 2^nd I got another reason to think I’m awesome.  Amanda, Kim, Leah, and I got a review on our project thus far.  He basically told us that we were his best students and he’s going to use our project for next semester’s students.  To celebrate we went to the Dutch Pancake place.  My notes don’t really make sense on it.  Something about really tart berries and a looping conversation about The Giver and The Truman Show.  I’m still not sure.

Jendifer Szarka is the love of my life.  Why?  She sent me birthday cake oreos, big league chew, and Stovetop.  The bday cake oreos were a big hit around Atlantic House.  Good choice Mama Rice.

Fun story that Jordan told me:  She was trying to moon walk on the platform of the Tube.  Some woman apparently kept bumping into her on purpose.  The woman looked at her and said, “WHAT?”  Jordan then gave her a double bird as she continued moonwalking.  To quote Jordan, “I pay for the tube, and it’s not like I’m peeing on it.  I just want to moonwalk.”

April 6^th 2012: a glorious day.  I went with Tim, Jordan, Kelsey, Krista, and Jessica to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant and then to see the re-release of Titanic at the Odeon in Leicester Square (the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre of London).  Jessica had never seen it before.  I sat next to her so I could hear gasps from shock and see the tears just to remind myself that this movie is A.W.E.S.O.M.E. and deserves to win another Academy Award this year.

There was some drama during the day though.  We spent a lot of time looking for tickets.  I’m going to say it was easily 30 minutes.  Krista was searching and found seats at Leicester for really cheap.  Awesome right?  Wrong.  We get to the movie theatre loaded up on Cinnabon, ice cream, and anything else that will make you die quicker to find that our tickets aren’t for that theatre.  They’re for a theatre in Leicester, which is apparently NOT close to Leicester Square.  Luckily we were able to get a refund and bought new tickets.  I chose to add this particular Titanic picture at the top just because you can see Krista’s worried look on her face as she tries to get our money back.

Everyone knows famous quotes from Titanic.  “It was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was.  It really was.”  “I’ll never let go Jack.  I’ll never let go.”  “I’m flying Jack!”  I’d like to stop a moment and concentrate on this last quote.  You can imagine the scene.  The sun is setting and they’re both at the front of the ship about to make out.  Apparently some people in the theatre wanted to relive this moment in the future.  Instead of buying the movie or watching it on Netflix when they got home, they decided to take photos of the scene… with the flash… of a 3D movie.  People. are. retarded.

The Oxford/Cambridge boat race was on the 7^th.  I think those were the two schools.  It’s kind of a huge thing here.  People tailgated for it.  Krista, Kelsey, and I went to the start of the race, but it was packed so we didn’t really get to see anything.  I am almost certain that the only reason people go to a boat race is to drink.  You only get to see two seconds of the actual race, and you have no idea who wins.  It don’t make no sense.

After that we tried to find an Easter market that was near the Eye.  My directions I wrote down that read “left, left, right” turned out to not be as affective as I thought they would be so we gave up and ate at Wagamama instead.  We spent a lot of time on the tube that day.  We spend half our day doing things and the other half on the tube.  I’m sure it was the District Line’s fault.  NO ONE LIKES YOU DISTRICT LINE!  Krista got the pleasure of sitting next to a breathing seat.  No joke.  This seat would move up and down with air.  It was hysterically terrifying. 

Easter is kind of a blur.  We decided to drink.  All I know is that Krista was mooning people on the street, Kelsey really sucks at Kings, and I finally rode a double-decker bus.

April 10^th was when it was all crashing down in Camden Crawl world.  Lisa claimed that I didn’t turn in a report on Thursday before I had left.  Multiple people saw me turn in the report.  Does she handle this like an adult and talk to me?  No.  She gives me the silent treatment.  Literally.  She would ask Debbie (who sat next to me) “what is she doing?” while I was sitting there. 

I quit working for the Camden Crawl.  I am a quitter.  I am officially a quitter.  Drugs in the office made me uncomfortable, but the silent treatment is apparently the thing that pushes me too far.  Whatevs.  I worked for the internship office my last week.  I accomplished a lot there.  I opened a Pottermore account, made multiple lunch plans, and lost a lot of fake Facebook money by playing bingo.

On April 14^th we went on a group tour of Bath and Stonehenge.  I finally got to see what ‘rolling hills’ look like.  They’re pretty.  This entry is getting a bit long, so I’ll bullet point the rest.

Bath:

• Jessica kept stumbling everywhere.  I was disappointed she did not fall into the bath, but maybe another day.
• There was major tension for a good hour between Jessica and Kelsey over 20 pence.  Counterfeit money was involved.
• We had famous buns.
• Kelsey was trying to be fancy and was eating her orange slice with a fork and knife.  What a douche.

Stonehenge:

• Rocks
• Big rocks
• Alien rocks?
• Piggyback rides galore

Ride Home:

• Saw a cow laying on its side
• Asked someone if it was sleeping
• It was not sleeping
• Tears

April 20^th:  HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!! 

• I bought a wand
• I cried a little in the last room
• Bought a wand
• Drank some butter beer
• Wand
• Got in the flying car
• Brought my wand to show Krista at builder’s.  I felt like I was carrying a concealed weapon.

April 21^st

• Went to Abbey Road
• Found out that Abbey Road is still very much in use, but the crosswalk was not in use
• Blocked traffic to take the picture anyway
• Brick Lane is sketchy.  Sketchy?  I mean murder central.  BUT they do have good market food.  I will miss markets.

Time is going by too fast.  I have so little time left in London since I’ll be going to Barcelona this Thursday, Scotland on May 1st, and Rome May 6^th.  There’s too much to do and not nearly enough time.  :(

PS-  My camera died, so most of these pics are courtesy of the lovely Jessica Steele and Kelsey Grode.  Jessica’s blog:  http://inthesun-jms.blogspot.co.uk/

PPS- I’m kind of obsessed with Rihanna’s new CD ‘Talk That Talk’.  How are you not supposed to fall madly in love with lyrics like ‘Suck my cockiness lick my persuasion’?  They are both classy and catchy.

9th March- 31th March

So it’s been a few weeks.  Oops.  I’ll try and remember what has happened.

Spring Break happened since my last post.  I decided to skip a Friday class and go with Kelsey and Jordan to Ireland.  I could not have made a better decision.  Ireland was cool, it was.   We took the train and ferry to get to Dublin.  It was much better than flying.  We got to see the countryside and we went through Wales.  There are a lot of sheep there.  Like a lot, a lot of sheep.  I also got to enjoy seeing two cows make sweet love in a meadow on the way back.  Oh, nature.

I was thinking the ferry would be some tiny boat where I would be sure to vomit on all of the passengers and become the “eh, it’s that girl” girl.  False.  This “ferry” was technically a ferry, but it was more like a cruise ship.  We walked in and it was a huge floor with couches, a gift shop, a restaurant, a bar, etc, etc.

I’ve recently been on a Titanic kick.  It may have to do with the fact that the movie is so close to being re-released or the fact that I downloaded Celine Dion’s Greatest Hits not too long ago.  “My heart will go ooonnnn.”  That’s not the point.  The point it that I was convinced that our ferry was going to sink.  The ride was about 3 hours.  “A 3-hour tour, a 3-hour tour.”  Sound familiar?  Gilligan’s Island anyone?  It was also really windy on the deck so it was a Titanic “I’m flying, Jack.  I’m flying” moment.

Even though there were many foreshadowing moments letting me know we were going down, we did not.  When we got to our hostel my first order of business was to look at the bathroom.  Large showers are now so precious to me that I tear up when I see them.  After the tears in my eyes had dried I saw that we had a mysterious 4^th roommate.  She wasn’t in the room, but all of her stuff was.  We didn’t see her the whole weekend.  There was a locked door in the bathroom that would make loud noises all night.  I’m pretty sure our 4^th roommate was hiding in there all weekend.

While in Ireland we did a hop-on, hop-off bus tour.  We also visited the Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and saw one of the cutest dogs ever.  He was white, puffy and a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e.  Kind of like me.

Fun facts about Dublin:

1.     People are fairly drunk by 6:30 and don’t stop drinking until 2:00 am.

2.     The crosswalks made a “pew pew” noise when it was your turn to cross.  It sounded like the lasers during a cheerleading routine (you know what I’m talking about Debs)

3.     Everyone is incredibly friendly

4.     They have a pub that Julia Roberts went to once.  It was eerie inside.  It reminded me of a pub I would be murdered in.  I believe that’s why Julia went there only once.

Ireland was really fun.  I wish I had the chance to stay longer, but I had to get back in time to go to work on Monday.  I didn’t want to miss the fun work environment my boss provides. 

My favorite quote from Lisa since my last post: “Go to the post office, and stay there the rest of the day”  (this was at 1:00 pm).  She freaked me out a couple weeks ago.  She bought everyone a bento box (which I apparently pronounce incorrectly), but then halfway through lunch she went crazy.  She started yelling, cussing, and calling people stupid.  The phone rang during one of her fits.  She picked up the phone and kept banging it into the receiver.  I thought it was going to burst into 1000 pieces.  Her phone didn’t ring the rest of the day.  Pretty sure she busted it.  I am truly terrified of this woman.  I think she’s going to slit my wrists if I do anything wrong.

After that workweek, Krista, Jordan, and I went to Portobello market.  It was much different than Camden.  It was more antque-y and smelled a bit like weed. 

The ghetto bathroom on our floor has three stalls.  The one in the middle locks you in.  Fun story:  my roommate got trapped in the stall, and she had to climb over the door.  Can you picture that?  I would have killed to see it.  That is hysterical.  That’s not all either… it happened twice.

Speaking of the roommate, she pretty much rocks.  I was having a bad day and had to stay late at work.  When I got back to my room my bed had been made, and I had dinner waiting for me on my desk.  Jennifer=thebest.

St. Patty’s Day also happened since the last post.  Krista, Jessica, Kelsey, and I planned on drinking from 10:00 am until who knows when.  We were on our way to Trafalgar Square for a St. Patrick’s Day parade.  We had on our green and were ready for a kickass day.  Apparently the Brits don’t celebrate the holiday quite like Americans do.  In fact, they don’t really celebrate at all. 

When we arrived at Trafalgar all we found was rain and French people.  Ew.  Krista asked a guy when the parade started.  He told her it was the next day… not St. Patrick’s Day.  After the fail, we went to the ‘best Irish Bar’ in London.  It’s called McNasty’s.  It turns out no one goes to McNasty’s.  We ended up going to some other pub and stayed there for six hours.  The only good thing about being in a bar before 1:00 on St. Patty’s Day?  They give you free hats.  By the end of our time at that pub we were the only ones with hats.  I think they just felt bad for us.

Dean Thomas from Harry Potter was starring in a play that was happening in the theatre above the pub.  We got to meet him.  That brightened our day a bit. 

Our day ended with us at the Rainforest Café sucking down some sangrias.  Somehow that’s where we always end up when we want to drink.  So sad.  Actually, no.  Their sangria is delicious.  The Rainforest Café is for winners who are so awesome that they don’t need to be where the party is.

I went to Oxford.  Our tour guide was a douche.  He kept asking us stupid questions.  “Do you know what Harry Potter is?  Do you know who Jesus is?”  He didn’t ask us those questions, but they were about as stupid. 

I didn’t write notes on what happened since Oxford so I can’t remember any specifics of what I’ve done.  It’s probably a good thing since this post is already huge.

Sorry to my plethora of followers for the lack of flow in this post and the length of time since I’ve last posted.  Blogging making me want to jump off a boat into the freezing Atlantic waters.

27th February - 4th March

I started my internship with the Camden Crawl.  What… an experience it has been thus far.  I finally experienced Tube rush hour.  Normal rush hour is awful in America.  You sit in a lane that never moves, and when you switch lanes the one you were in starts moving while the one you’re currently in comes to a standstill.  I’m sure that was a run-on sentence, but it can’t be said any other way.

Rush hour on the Tube is different (obviously).  Instead of cars being bumper to bumper, it’s people being butt to crotch.  I got in a very inappropriate position on the Tube Thursday evening.  Unfortunately, there was no way for me to move because there were so many people.  A nameless lady and I got to a new level of closeness during the ride from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus.  I remember the stops because I kept thinking about how I never noticed how long the distance between the two felt.  I probably made the situation more uncomfortable when I couldn’t stop chuckling softly.  (I didn’t take the picture on the left.  I found it on Google, but this is exactly what my mornings look like.)

My internship is a hot mess.  I went in Monday, and my head boss wasn’t there.  My supervisor, Vincent, and the other interns there were making fun of her all day.  They talked about how awful she was and how she is Satan reincarnated.  I thought it was funny, and I was really looking forward to meeting this supposedly awful human being.  Then Tuesday came.

Let me set up the office for you.  It’s very small.  There are six desks that are connected in a rectangle (three on three).  I sit in the one in between Lisa (the main boss) and Vincent.  It turns out that Lisa likes to yell a lot.  She likes to constantly talk, and is never positive.  Here are two of my favorite examples from this week:

1. 

Lisa: “Vincent, come over here so I can show you your stupid mistakes and everything you did wrong.”

*he walks over and stands by her desk/right next to me*

Lisa: “You see this. Why did you do this?”

Vincent: “Well, I think I’d rather have it…”

Lisa: “I’D RATHER YOU SHUT UP!”

2.  On my first day with Lisa I was given a task to do in Excel.  I know some shortcuts in Excel to speed up the work.  I finished the work fairly quickly, and asked her politely if she’d like for me to do something else.  The following then took place:

Lisa: “You’re already through?” 

Me: “Yes.”

Lisa: “Let me look… Ugh, that’s fine.  Look everybody.  We have a little miss genius over here.”

The work did not look fine.  It looked fabulous.  She is a witch from Hell.  If there had not been an article about smiling animals in the Evening Standard on my way home, I may have cried.  Not really, but still.  She was mean to me :(

I was talking to another intern on the day I met Lisa.  She told me that she has been working there for two months, and she has seen three employees come and go.  She said that one came for one day, met Lisa, and was never seen again.

Lisa also likes to send me on errands to get very specific things.  She sent me out once to get an Americano coffee with cold skim milk, salt and vinegar chips, and a can of diet coke (“NOT A BOTTLE!”).  This was all at the same time.  I guess that’s the meal of crazies.

Friday was joyous because I didn’t have work.  Instead, I slept, booked a four-day trip to Scotland to visit Amanda, and finished reading Lord of the Flies.  I also got a package from my mom.  Girl Scout cookies, Cheetos, deodorant, gummy vitamins, and gum in stick form.  It was awesome.

Saturday, I woke up dizzy, sweating, and throwing up (too personal?).  I think it’s because it was so hot in my room.  I even had a dream I was somewhere really hot.  It involved Tim, Krista, Chelsea Lindsey, and myself.  Tim was driving all of us in a Jeep through the woods.  We got lost and were going to turn around when this whole society showed up and made us get out of the car.  They wouldn’t let us leave.  We then had to have a leapfrog race in front of the church.  I woke up before we could escape.  I think I should invest in a fan.

Kelsey and I also went to Harrods yesterday for tea and crumpets.  We were going to go to Camden Market, but the weather was pretty gross.  We spent a few hours in the store.  I think it was mainly because we kept getting lost. 

Today, I went to the Natural History Museum.  It was so full of children.  It’s a hands-on type of museum, but I could never play with the demonstrations because children wouldn’t leave them alone.  They pushed buttons just to push buttons.  They couldn’t care less what they did.  After I saw the dinosaurs I had to go.  I couldn’t stand the screaming, sticky, smelly, annoying children anymore.

Tonight Kelsey and I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to watch a choir.  The cathedral was amazing.  It was so beautiful, but they wouldn’t let me take a picture :(.  After that we made the long walk to Tower Bridge.  I love the Tower Bridge.  It’s awesome.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve taken 30 pictures of that bridge.   

I’m slowly crossing off things from my “what’s left to do” list, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get it all done.  Not with this internship, classes, and trips.  That’s ok.  It’s just another reason to come back to this wonderful city.

Side note:  a Brit asked me for directions today on the Tube.  I was able to direct him.  I think I must look a little British because people keep asking me if I know how to get to wherever.  It’s very exciting.

Another side note:  a British child swearing is hysterical.  It makes me very happy when I hear, “oh for fuck’s sake” come out of a five year old.

22nd February - 26th February

Last Wednesday I went to the Tower of London all by myself.  I thought I would feel like a loser, but then I realized something.  When you go to a museum, a gallery, or a Tower of London you eventually split from whoever you came with anyways.  So the only time I had to pretend I had a friend was when I was buying my ticket.  I decided I would make the French guy in front of me my temporary best buddy.  It didn’t work out seeing as he only spoke French.  Stupid French.

Back to the Tower.  It was, at that point, my favorite thing in London.  It had some really gross history.  An example the guide told me was how they hung someone, revived him, and then cut him from nipple to navel and played with his insides while he was still alive.  That is so rude.  I saw the Crown Jewels while I was there.  There was a moving sidewalk in front of them so girls wouldn’t stop and stare for two hours (I assume). 

Thursday was heavenly.  It was 63 degrees outside, and I had never seen so many Londoners outside at one time.  Krista, Jordan, Kelsey, and I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens.  We played tag… kind of.  It was a grown up (meaning a more lazy) version of tag.  We passed Princess Diana’s Fountain when we were there which obviously means we were splashing Diana water on each other.  There was this one kid sitting on the edge of the fountain.  I will never forget the look in this kid’s eye when he saw us splashing.  I thought he was going to pounce.  He did not, but I have a feeling we barely got away in time.

Jordan, Krista, and I went to Piccadilly Circus on Friday.  We bought some Cuban cigars on the way (just because we could).  After gambling at a casino in China town, we decided to go get a drink, but Jordan forgot her ID.  We looked in souvenir shops and had piggy back rides until we finally found a place that would let us in for drinks… the Rainforest Café.  It was the most magical place I have ever been to.  It was clearly meant for children, but I found it incredibly entertaining.  There were monkeys, trees, fish, and everything else rainforest-y.

Krista and I hit up the Camden Market on Saturday.  There was a little girl on the tube with us who decided that she wanted to make out with/lick the pole.  I almost passed out because (1) that’s disgusting and (2) I was laughing so hard.  Camden Market is my favorite thing I have done in London thus far.  It was huge.  I bought some knockoff Raybans called Ray-flectors, and I love them more than most things.  They also have a “future fashion”/rave store called Cyberdog.  The store had really loud rave music, dancers, and neon/black light friendly clothes everywhere.  I tried some on.  I developed more swag in that moment than I had in my entire life.  They also had lots of food and live music.  It was my place.  To paraphrase Hercules (the Disney one), a voice kept saying that is where I’m meant to be.

That night I went to go see the Marigold Hotel.  It was a movie for old people, but it had its moments.  The most exciting part of the movie was the preview for Titanic at the beginning.  Words cannot describe how excited I am to see that movie back on the big screen (even if it is in 3D).  I heard, “you’re here, there’s nothing I fear”, and I cried.

I’m getting bored with writing.  Jordan and I went to Windsor castle on Sunday.  The Queen was there.  I didn’t see her, but that’s the closest I’ve been to the Royal Family since I’ve been here.

Internship notes:

Sarah Douglas told one of my friends that she couldn’t believe we were able to get me this internship.  We.  We?  No, not “we” Sarah.  It was I.

I started today.  It was slow, but he said it would be better tomorrow.  Also, the tube is really crowded in the morning.  Really, really crowded.

17th February - 21st February

Before I start on my weekend I need to say one thing: my bed is the most uncomfortable bed I have ever encountered.  I must have thrown my pillow off of the bed last night in a fit because when I woke up this morning I had a circle imprint on my face.  This was from a mattress spring.  It’s really bad.

Internship drama:  Sarah (my internship advisor) tried to get me internships at small theatres.  After multiple failed attempts, I came up with my own list.  She informed me that all of choices were too mainstream, and I would not be able to get any of those.  She obviously didn’t know who she was dealing with.  I am a Deaton.  My top two choices were the Camden Crawl and the Koko (a venue).  The Camden Crawl (which was just way too mainstream) contacted her back.  They gave me an interview.  Oh, and I got the job. 

The Camden Crawl is a three day festival where they showcase new, emerging artists.  It looks awesome (http://www.thecamdencrawl.com).  I went in for the interview on Thursday.  I walked in the conference room, and they had three Bon Iver records laying on the table.  At that point in time, I knew I wanted to work there.  I asked what venues they used for the festivals.  He listed a lot (which I didn’t know).  Then he said, “Most of our main artists perform at the Koko”. OOOHHHH Suck on that Sarah!  I not only got the Camden, but I kind of got the Koko.  So sweet.  If you want it to be done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.

On Friday, I went to go see “The Woman In Black”.  I wanted to see if I would be able to watch a movie with Daniel Radcliffe and not think about Harry Potter.  Turns out, I can.  I did want him to whip out a wand and “stupefy” that ghost though.  Magic would have come in handy.  I went with my friend Krista.  She was funny.  So much jumping.  There was one bird that scared her twice.  I’m not sure if I jumped because of the movie or because she was scaring me.  I’ll never know.

Saturday I went to a football game.  It was Chelsea vs. Birmingham.  The people who surrounded us were the stereotypical football fans.  I heard “bloody hell”, “lazy bastards”, “for fucks sake”, “wankers”, etc, etc multiple times.  It was an experience.  The game ended in a tie.  I didn’t know that could happen.  I couldn’t help leaving feeling incomplete.  Overall, it was a fun experience, and I’d definitely go back for another game.

We went to an “American” place after for some grub.  They had ribs, coleslaw, coors light, and some other American foods.  I appreciated their effort, but it didn’t compare to what Americans can do with a slab of a pig meat.

Sunday, Jordan and I went to the Tate Modern.  It was fun trying to figure out what was art and what wasn’t.  The picture on the right is of a piece of art.  I assume they roped it off so people wouldn’t sit on it.  There was also another piece of art that was basically just tic-tac-toe.  I didn’t get it.  The Tate did have some really cool art though.  The weird art was just on one floor. There was some Monet pieces there which were pretty cool to see.

I planned a trip to go to Ireland last night.  We’re going to Dublin by train and ferry.  The only way to get to there in my opinion.

I think that’s all for now.

9th February - 16th February

You’re welcome for this novel you’re about to read about my trip to Paris.

We arrive at our hotel.

The most exciting part of the hotel (besides it being next to a “restaurant” that I like to refer to as Swami’s) was that the bathroom had an amazing shower.  I could walk in it.  I could shave my legs in it.  I could cry in it from happiness.  I think showering may have been one of the top 3 happiest events that happened to me that weekend.  You would understand if you could see how tiny my shower is here in Atlantic House.  It’s torture.

After we got settled we went to get a crepe at Swami’s.  We were crepe-in’ it up within 30 minutes of our arrival in Paris.  I got three Nutella crepes this past weekend.  We were there for just about 48 hours.  I ate three crepes.  Is that not disgusting?  Worse part: I lied.  I didn’t eat three crepes.  I ate four.  :/

After stuffing our faces, we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower.  To get there we had to travel on the metro.  I didn’t think it would be a big deal.  Just another tube, right?  Wrong.  This place was disgusting.  I’ve always heard that hygiene isn’t a top priority in France, but for the love of God, deodorant is a public good.  It should be illegal not to wear it during rush hour.  I was smooshed between smelly people on a smelly train.  I felt like I was swimming in a trashcan full of old food and poop.  Not an exaggeration. 

Speaking of poop, when we left the metro I saw something very disturbing.  A pigeon had flown down and gone the bathroom.  Since the city doesn’t feel cleaning is necessary, this poop had frozen and created a pigeon poopsicle.  I was repulsed.

Other notes about the Metro:  they don’t care about you.  London constantly tells you to “mind the gap”.  There are only a few stations with an actual gap, but they want to warn you anyways.  The metro has huge gaps.  I could fall straight through.  They didn’t tell me to mind the gap at all.  Not in English, not in French, not in anything. 

We finally made it to the Tower.  My first thought was how rusty it looked.  I was a little concerned going up it after eating my gigantic crepe.  I didn’t know if this rusty tower would support my weight.  It was really windy when we went up.  My fingers, nose, and ears almost fell off this past weekend due to the cold.  I think the average temperature was -2 with a 50 mph wind.  Lovely weather.

We went to a restaurant after.  I got a pizza (because Paris is known for their pizzas :/) and some crème brulee.  It was delicious.

There was a bus tour the next morning.  Paris is an hour ahead.  This would usually not be a big deal, but when your phone doesn’t change time it can be an issue.  I was rooming with Kelsey.  I told her I would set my alarm on my phone to wake us up.  Long story short: we woke up late, hauled it downstairs, and made it just in time to catch the bus.

The bus tour was ok.  Meh.

The bus let us off at the Louvre.  We went in and were ready to see… the things that are in there?  I’m convinced the map they give you is supposed to get you lost.  They probably want to watch you get lost and laugh at you.  Oh Parisians, you all suck.

The Mona Lisa is tiny.  It’s on a huge wall, and no one is allowed to get anywhere near it.  I don’t know why they put it on a huge, blank wall.  It’s disappointing.  That’s what Paris is.  It’s a city full of disappointment.

After the Louvre we walked to Notre Dame.  We stopped at a bridge on the way.  It had hundreds of locks attached to it.  Couples would go there, write their names on a lock, attach it, and then throw the key in the river.  Besides the encouragement to liter (which does not surprise me), that’s kind of cute.  Notre Dame was actually really pretty.  Fun fact: There was a nun at the end begging for money.

We went to a restaurant after that.  They were rude.  They pinched Kelsey because she was standing in front of the pastries.  The guy beside us was eating cat food.  The waiter was really rude.  He came to get our check, but we hadn’t finished counting it all.  He grabbed the money.  I may have tossed a coin in his facial direction. 

We went back to the hotel for about an hour nap after that.  I watched some NCIS in French instead.  It was either that or CNN in English.

That night we wanted to go to the Moulin Rouge.  The lady at the hotel told us all we had to do was walk straight.  That was false.  There actually wasn’t even a straight to go.  They said it would take about 15 minutes to walk there.  It took us about 45.  Part of the delay may have been that we all stopped at a sex shop.  They had a “toy” that looked like a curling iron.  That whole place grossed me out.  Speaking of sex shops, there are about 25 near the Moulin Rouge.  There is even one that is five floors.  I was not feeling adventurous enough to go inside.

The next day (our last day) we went to the catacombs.  So many dead people.  So, so many dead people. 

Overall, if I had to describe Paris in one word, the word would be filthy.  If I had to describe the Parisians in one word, the word would be douchebags.  It was disappointing, but thanks to my friends I had a great time.  I also now know that I would rather have a slit my wrists party than go back.

It’s kind of funny.  After seeing all the trash (including a rotating bucket of fried chicken at the end of an escalator) I kept thinking that I wanted to go home.  The weird part was that I was thinking about London.  It’s starting to feel a little like home here.  I missed you London.  I will never take you and your clean public transportation for granted ever again.

PS- I got Starry Eyed stuck in everyone’s head.  It was sung all weekend.  I’m spreading my disease I have named Ellieitis.  It’s chronic and highly contagious, so watch out.