Day 36 Summary

This morning was a struggle. I was supposed to go to Oxford on a day trip, but when I woke up to leave I just was not feeling it. I felt exhausted from all of the late nights and walking. I decided to sleep in and when I finally woke up again at 1:30 pm, I found out that Jamilla and Rachel both overslept as well! The three of us when to Spitalfields Market and had a late lunch.

Jamilla at the market

Later, we decided to go out on our last Saturday back at Roxy. Being that it was our last night, we may have gone a bit crazy. We stayed out dancing until bar-close (3:30 am), talked to some locals until 4:30 and finally got home at 5 in the morning. This all would have been great if it hadn't caused me to lose feeling in my left heel. I still have no feeling in my heel as I write this retrospectively four days later.

Channeling my inner Eminem

(yes, I'm in there somewhere)

Day 34 Summary

As the heat wave continues in London, I think I am starting to melt. I never thought that heat rash was an actual thing... but I haven't reached a comfortable temperature since first term. The only thing I remember from this day before ten o'clock at night is sweat and tears. The sweat on my body. And the sweat vaporizing and emanating from the people on the tube. Tears from not feeling cold in weeks. We spoiled Americans are dying a slow, moist death.

Drama aside, we had a girls night out (as if any night out includes another gender). A few of us went to the Court and they took advantage of the drink specials while I sipped on my new drink of choice: cranberry juice with a lime. The night was not particularly eventful, but that is usually better than the reverse.

So much hair between the two of us

Day 32: A Wicked Good Time

Today, the Social Programme at the University of Westminster led us on a trip to see London's production of Wicked. I haven't seen the show in years and I was thrilled to get to go back. The biggest difference? British accents. It was interesting, though. The biggest problem? No air conditioning. I have been understanding the past nine days as each educational, cultural, and commercial building that I have spent time in has come in at a whopping 85 degrees. But for a theatre filled with hundreds of people and actors in costumes and makeup to not be cooled in any way... that is torture. I am not sure if I was emotional because the play was so well done or because I was suffering from a heat stroke. Still, we dressed up and looked hellagood.

The heat was getting to us and we got a wee bit silly...

Afterwards, we went to a bar called Roxy. It was nice to finally find a place filled with people that were actually our age. I swear, every night I have here is the new best night I've had. 

Day 7 Summary

Today I overslept. We had a meeting at 10:30 am and I slept until 1. So there's that.

Then, some friends and I went to hang out on the lawn near the London Eye. We people watched and talked for hours about the trip and our lives back home.

Later that night, some girls and I went back to the bar from the night before (see previous post) and were greeted by the same crew as the night before (owner, manager, bouncer, and bartender). They recognized us and graciously let us in for free. We were pleasantly surprised when we realized that the bar opens a dancing area on fridays and hires a DJ. We danced until we literally couldn't dance any longer. It looked something like this:

Day 6 Summary

Today my photography professor taught our class the basics of flash photography. I was thrilled because I have been around so much instruction about how to light an image (see photos by the wonderful Bob and Dawn Davis) and have been mystified by the complexity of flash photography.

After class, some of my close girl friends and I went out on the town. At the pub we went to, three locals tested our English accents and one of them knew Lily Allen. That was a blast. Then we found a bar that we now call our own. It is a very relaxed bar with a wide variety of young people in London. The manager introduced himself to me and I had a chat with him, the owner, the bouncer, and the bartender. We stayed until bar close like the college kids we are.

The only downside of the day is that we got lost going home because the tubes do not run after midnight. It took us two hours to find our way back after asking two local guys to show us how to get home. Next time, I'm calling a cab.