No Place Like London

Spring Break part II

2010-03-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

Once again, I apologize for my inability to write on this blog with any thread of consistency.
Continuing on with my Spring Break (Which has now been a month ago... WOW time flies!)....

As I said in my last blog, I had only 3 hours to sleep before waking up and leaving for SCOTLAND!
I was determined to make this half of the trip INCREDIBLE! With limited sleep two of my Closest friends and headed out to Glasgow and Edinburgh. I must say that I wasn't planning on going originally, however whether or not Becca talked me into it, I decided to go (I am soooo glad I did). Again, We got off to a rough start and by rough I mean missing our bus (Transportation fail 3). Thankfully the Stansted Express runs constantly, unfortunately the tickets are like 20 pounds. So, We got there and had to rush a little to get our passport checked out (Ryan Air requires that if you are not EU, they need to check your passport at the desk). Then, we got in security line which took FOREVER. I kind of begin to get stressed when things take a long time. I tend to lack that whole patience trait. Also, I forgot I had a liquid in my purse and so they had to search EVERYTHING! So, I told Abbie and Becca to go on without me and I would meet them at the terminal (in case they needed to stall). Once the guy was through checking to make sure I wasn't going to use my contact solution for destruction, I RAN to the terminal. However, I was starving so I went to the vending machine and got chips... I panicked because we were boarding and accidentally picked steak flavored (Who knew they had those?).

The flight was SUPER short. As soon as we fully got into the air, it was time for our dissent. When we got into the Airport, we searched for the train to take us into Glasgow then on to Edinburgh. The train was kind of confusing because you have to pay on the train so we were all confused and thought we were going to get kicked off. When we got to Glasgow we walked to the other train station and that is all we saw of Glasgow!

We headed on another train to get to Edinburgh. When we got there we were sort of turned around and so we headed in the wrong direction. In any other circumstance I would have been frustrated, but I had Abbie and Becca and that made it an adventure. We ended up going to a Hilton to ask for directions and it turns out we were on the opposite side of where we needed to be. So we took a bus because there was no way I would be walking ALL the way across town. On the bus, Becca came into contact with a strange man who told her not to use shampoo and soap on her face. To which I tried sooooo hard not to laugh and I held it pretty well until he got off the bus and we all busted with laughter.

We got off at the wrong bus stop.... Perfect.... and we ended up having to walk to our Bed and Breakfast (which was kind of a walk). We finally made it, but had no time to spare! It was 2:00PM and we needed to go to Edinburgh Castle before it closed. So we headed back the direction we came and walked up a hill to the castle. It was so pretty. Perhaps one of my favorites (apart from Hampton Court Palace). They had the Scottish Crown Jewels which don't hold a candle to England's Crown Jewels! It also had a dungeon area where they held prisoners and people captive. It reminded me of Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride (Which made me home sick).

After the tower, we walked down the hill which was lined with shops. I looked high and Low for a kilt and Bagpipes for my dad and anything for my mom (I have no idea what she wants). Scotland is known for it's Whiskey and I really wanted to bring some home for my dad. Not because he can drink it (Mom wont let him lol) but because he collects bottles. Unfortunately, Pepperdine frowns on alcohol in the house and I wasn't going to down a bottle of whiskey so I ended up not getting it. Becca and Abbie were going to do a Ghost Tour because that's what Edinburgh is known for. I on the other hand wanted to hide out in the Bed and Breakfast while they looked at scary stuff. At the end of the day, they were to tired so they decided not to go either.

For dinner, We ate at TGI Fridays (How American!), but really all we wanted was a hamburger and fries after a day of hard travelling. Then we went to a place called Chocolate Soup (basically a hot chocolate cafe). They had a TON of choices! I got this Mint one, It was so good. Things that Britain would do well in America. Like Hot chocolate shops and Bagel sandwich shops. This would also make me not be as "homesick" (foodsick) for Britain! After that we slowly made our way to the hotel and passed out! We were so tired!

DAY 2

The next day, we woke up at 7, packed our stuff, and headed out for a 12 hour bus tour through the Highlands and Loch Ness. Our guide was amazing I absolutely loved him. We stopped at various places through out the trip. The first of which was at the base of the highlands where there was a shop, cafe, and Hamish. Hamish is a cow (I think) or he could be a yak (I don't really know what those are) anyway that's beside the point, he was HUGE and so cute! If I lived in Scotland I would definitely own a cow/ yak thing. As we headed through the highlands, we began to hit SNOW! I love snow, its so beautiful. Whenever something is covered in snow it looks so gorgeous. I had to throw a few snowballs while I could!

Next stop, LOCH NESS. If you would have asked me over a year ago if I would go to Loch Ness I probably would have laughed. But, here I was in the midst of the Loch Ness monster and I couldn't believe it. The story behind Nessie, thats what the people call her Nessie, is that its a huge monster that lives in the Loch. It wdoesn't really harm anyone there has just been SEVERAL sightings of her throughout the year. The most recent sightings being in 2007 and 2008. Some say its a Fish, Some say its a Plessiasaur Dinosaur, and some say she doesn't exist. When looking at the facts I have come to my own conclusion. She is real, now I am not crazy (well not at this current moment), but this Nessie in there now isn't necessarily the same Nessie that was from decades ago. Things tend to procreate you know. If you want to ask me why I think she is real feel free, but it is too much to post on my Blog. Mainly, because the sightings are from people who gain nothing from the monsters existence. Anyway, We did a boat cruise on the actual Loch to a castle and back. It was cold, but it was an awesome experience.

On the ride home, We played a music guessing game on the bus. I was PRO (specifically because it was movie/ broadway music). I almost guessed all of them! The bus was about 2 and a half hours and I studied for my mid term the whole way. We made it back at 8 and then hopped on an earlier train to go to Glasgow. Unfortunately, we had to pay extra for tickets and I am so glad we did because when we got into Glasgow we were in for a long night.

We had a hostel, but before we went to it we decided to look up the bus schedule for the morning (again, I am glad we did). The first train out to Preswick Airport was at 8:00AM and this wouldn't normally be a problem except for the fact that our plane leaves at 7:40AM and we had to get to the airport at 7AM! So we walked to the other train station and asked about trains for that night. Luckily we got there just in time because the last hope of us getting out there was a bus that was due to leave in 5 minutes! So we got tickets and waited outside.

Now in the daytime Glasgow is gorgeous and nice, but at night its awful. There were children everywhere (by children I mean 13-16 year olds). They all were scantily dressed and on drugs and drinking alcohol. Maybe it's just a culture thing, but these were little kids drinking at 11 at night in miniskirts and others outfits and make up not even suitable for my age. I was shocked, no horrified would be a better word, specifically because these are children and they are already throwing their lives away. There was also a girl, who couldn't have been more that 16, with a child and as they walked past us she was screaming at him and then aggressively picked him up. These kind of situations make me appreciate the fact that I have a loving family that actually cares about me.

So we boarded the bus and headed to the airport. We got there around 11, however our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 7:00AM! So, instead of trying to find an expensive hotel around the area, we decided to set up camp on benched in the airport. I passed out, but kept waking up at random times then when the clock reached 6, Starbucks opened up so we sat there for awhile.

FINALLY, we boarded the plane after the longest night of my life. Its was an experience and we laughed the whole way home.

SPRING BREAK 2010!

2010-03-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last updated (Its a good thing I take notes so I can write them here later)! I have been extremely busy as my time here in London comes to a close.
Anyway, For Spring Break 2010 I decided to not only go to Normandy, France (More specifically, Honfleur), but I also went to Scotland!

HONFLEUR!

We got off to kind of a rocky start when we (Myself and 3 others) headed off to Normandy. I wasn't in the best spirits to be travelling and we had had a few issues leading up to it. Anyway, that pales in comparison to what happened the day we left. My friend and I were talking about leaving and everything and I had to go to work. When I returned, I walked in with my friend in tears saying she was really sick and couldn't go. So I immediately jumped into "Mommy mode" (which I had learned from Colorguard). I got medicine and helped her out in hopes that she would still come to Normandy. But, in the end she had to pass. So we left to Portsmouth to get on an 8 hour ferry to Le Havre.

I knew that I was going to get sea sick, but I didn't know it would be that bad. I normally cant sleep when travelling, but those 8 hours were TORTURE! I slept most of the way (thank goodness!). When we arrived, we left the ferry to no taxis, buses, or people to ask for directions. So here we are 4 college students who cant really speak French in the middle of what appeared to be at the time a deserted port town. AWESOME... Thankfully, we found a sign that we barely made out to say taxi. We wanted to go to the bus station to take a bus into Honfleur, but the taxi man said their wasn't on... He lied... so we had to pay 40 euro just to get to our apartment.

Honfleur is a cute little town in Normandy. It's the birthplace of the Impressionism movement, so I was SUPER excited that I was there. The only problem with Honfleur is that they only really speak French. Some speak broken English, but few. The whole week I tried to learn how to speak French and by the end I was pretty decent (at least with common phrases). That night, My mom asked me to walk for Tom Zondiros, while my family walked at the same time in Hermosa beach. Tom Zondiros was my dads boss. He was a WONDERFUL man and he has done sooooo much for my family. I know we are all sad that Tom has passed, but I know he is in a better place now.

The next day my friends were supposed to go to see the D-day sights while I stayed behind and worked on my essays. Unfortunately due to a TYPHOON that day they came back! When they came back they were literally DRIPPING with water. So, we all decided to stay in. One of my friends made Banana Pancakes while the rest of us relaxed (It was spring break after all!).

After pancakes, we went to the Musee Boudin to view impressionistic paintings. That put me in a really great mood! I love love love Impressionism... I can get enough Monet or Boudin! After that we basically had dinner and went to bed.

The next day, I spent the whole day catching up on my homework. It was a great relaxing day to myself.

The day after that, We went to Deauville and Trouville (Famous Beach Towns). We walked around and went to the beach. The sand reminded me of California. I actually ENJOYED stepping in it! We walked along the beach looking at shells and watched kids play football (soccer).

The next day, One of the members of our group had to leave early. But the rest of us went to visit the Eric Satie museum. Eric satie was a composer, but he also created modern art. The museum was awesome. As you walk by different pieces, there were different musical pieces to accompany them . This was BY FAR the best Modern art exhibit I have ever been to. Who knew it would be in Honfleur? That Night, the tree of us hung out in the apartment. I was busy helping a friend with his EMT class while the others were watching Kings. However, the internet is Awful so I kept yelling and moving in order to be heard.

The next morning, I cleaned the apartment before we had to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed the time to myself. When my friends got back from the Coffee shop, we left for Le have to board our ferry back to London. Unfortunately we got to the port way early so we wandered the mall. I can honestly say I have regrets about going. Not because I didn't have an AMAZING time, its just there was tension within the group who went.

We boarded the Ferry and headed home. Once we arrived it was 10:00PM (our ferry was delayed) and when we got to the train station, the last train to London had left! So we took a train as close to london as possible and took a taxi the rest of the way.

We finally got in at 2:00AM and I had to get up and leave for Scotland at 6:00AM! GREAT! But, I am in College, I can handle no sleep!

To be continued.......

Sand, Sand, and More Sand- Cairo, Egypt

2010-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last Semester the house went to Greece, this semester however we went to Africa and the edge of the Saharan desert to CAIRO, EGYPT!

To tell you the truth I was a little nervous about going as was a lot of people in the house. I didn't tell my ma this but recently 10 Christians got killed there. Sorry mom, I didn't want you to go into panic mode while I was there. But, after our house briefing of how to prepare I was as ready as I would ever be.

We had to get up at 5:00AM Sunday morning to head out. 41 College Sophomores at 6 in the morning is not a pretty sight. Regardless we all headed out to the coach at 6:15AM, fed and ready to travel all day. The flight was 5 hours long and I knew I wouldn't sleep. I tried watching a movie or two on the plane, but the system was not working so instead I read the WHOLE time!

As we were landing I looked outside and all I could see was the Saharan desert... When we landed we got our things and separated into two buses. We have so many people that we all needed to be divided into 4 groups. Unfortunately, I didn't get the group with the people I normally hung out with, which I found odd. But, I get along with pretty much everyone so it wasn't to big of a problem. We drove for about 1 hour and a half to get to our hotel (It was only supposed to be a 30 minute ride). Let me just say that, if you thought L.A. driving was awful, come to Cairo. If you can drive there I am sure you can drive ANYWHERE! There are no lines, no rules, and no stop lights or stop signs for that matter. Everyone cuts in and out and make their own lanes. It is CRAZY! By the time we got there everyone was hungry and ready to sleep.

DAY 1
Our day began at 8:00AM, we ate breakfast. Throughout the week, we had pieces of information or advice that we should follow. One being to be careful of what you eat or drink. Like Mexico, we couldn't drink the water (unless it was bottled) or have ice in our drinks. Also, it isn't recommended to have fresh juices and other various foods because of the differences in water used and other reasons. My breakfast however consisted of bread, croissants, and potatoes... mmmm carbs! I also ate a yoghurt specifically because eating yoghurt from a different country right away introduces you to the bacteria and other things in a positive way. This helps you from getting sick from the food and water.

After breakfast we headed out to the Great Pyramids at Giza. The pyramids The pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the only one still intact. We had the option for going inside the middle pyramid and of course I took that offer. We didn't have enough time to go in the greater one, which is filled with several passages and tunnels that lead to the tomb, but we made due with the smaller one. You can't take pictures inside, so I will have to describe it: Basically, you go under it via a 4 and a half to 5 foot tunnel. Then you hit a small cavity and begin to climb up again until you reach the tomb. There were other passageways, but they were all blocked off. For me going into the pyramids was mildly uncomfortable because I had to crouch down, however for my friend A.J who is 6 foot 6 inches it was a challenge. He literally had to crouch down to half of his height just to make it through. After that we were free to explore the area around.

Next, we ventured up to ride our camels in between the pyramids. Our director told us it would be a short ride, but it was like 20 minutes long! We got to either ride by ourself or ride with someone else, but me being the independent I am rode alone. My camels name was Yankee doodle dandy a typical American name go figure. I was attached with two other girls from the house, but our camels didn't get along. Then about halfway through our guide got in a fight with someone and ended up throwing a rock and yelling. All I was thinking at this point was leave it to me to get the dysfunctional camel and angry guide who doesn't speak English. The ride itself was amazing though, we had the BEST view of the pyramids ever! The camels let us off at the Sphinx where we took pictures and then headed off to lunch.

Lunch was at a place called the carvery and it was basically barbecue lamb, chicken, and beef w/ hummus (as usual) and bread. I realized thorough out my time here that I really like lamb a lot actually, it is probably my favorite type of meat now. We hopped back on the bus and headed to Memphis ( The first capital in ancient Egypt). All that was there was a statue of Ramses the 2 and another sphinx. After a 40 minute bus ride for nothing we headed back to the hotel.

We all wanted to go swimming so bad especially since the weather was so nice. However our plans were ruined because the pool guy had not turned on the heater. :( poor us... We are in Egypt at a five star hotel without a pool... life is hard... Just Kidding. Instead of the pool we all just kind of hung around until dinner. Me, Becca, and Tessa decided to play a prank on one of the boys rooms. First of all we didnt break in, one of the boys was stupid enough to give us a key in exchange for amnesty. But that amnesty got thrown out the window when we realized that we couldn't get into the other boys rooms because they locked their balconies which they never usually do. So we hid all their stuff and spread remaining things all over the room. It was a lame excuse for a prank, but we didnt want to get in trouble.

After we returned a group of us decided to play sardines. Sardines is a game where one person hides and everyone tries to find them and then hide with them. The last one to find them is it. What started out as a small group of 6 turned into a group of 23 all searching throughout the hotel. I am pretty sure we all looked odd searching and running around the hotel. But, what else were we going to do? I was definitely not about to leave the safety of our hotel and venture out into Cairo.

Day 2

We left the hotel at the same time to go to the Al Rifai Mosque. We were told before leaving the hotel that we had to be covered up a certain extent and it is preferable if you have something to cover your hair. What they did not tell us is that we needed to be barefoot in the mosque which was surprising for some reason. The mosque was massive and we learned a lot about how they pray. For instance, They have to face a certain way to pray (they must face Mecca) and they have to be in perfect lines. Also, the women are kept separate from the men (as it is in their society already). This specific mosque is where the tomb of King Farouk and the last shah of Iran are.

After that we headed for Sakkara. It is home to the Step Pyramid if King Zoser. We couldn't go in this one, but we walked around it and then went into a smaller one that looked like a pile of rubble. Very promising... We also went into a tomb and saw a typical burial area in ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphics and stories that they had imprinted on the wall were very interesting. It tells various stories of how they hunted, danced, and other things they did through their lives. The Egyptians were very religious people and everything they did was for their religion.

We ate lunch at a chicken barbecue restaurant with a side dish of (you guessed it... Hummus). There was a playground there so once again we showed our age and played alongside some 5 year olds. After lunch we went to a papyrus shop. We learned how to make papyrus and got to buy a kartushe with our name written in hieroglyphics. I got one with my name and three Egyptian musicians.

We were all excited to go back to the hotel, because the pool man promised us he would turn on the heater for us. He lied. The pool was FREEZING when we got back. A few of us however (myself included) could not resist the temptation to go for a swim. Even though the water was like 50 degrees and we didn't have anything to play with. We threw around a water bottle like it was a football as we tried to ignore the fact that we were slowly getting hypothermia. Once we were done being foolish, we played cards until dinnertime.

A few people decided they thought it was fine to leave the hotel so they went to the market to pick up snacks. The first thing they said was not to leave the fortress. What had happened was a few of the girls foolishly went out wearing shorts. In a country where a majority of the women are all covered up, this is a bad idea. From then on, we decided it was best we not leave the hotel. We even continued after dinner by playing a game where you have to guess who you are based on what someone wrote on your card.

DAY 3
Day three was all about the mosques, synagogues, and churches. We woke up at our normal time and headed to old Cairo. First stop was the Hanging Church of Saint Mary. I soon found out that this church is not in fact "hanging". I was very saddened by this detail. It is called the hanging church because it has been suspended by a beam underneath. It was an interesting church and we learned how all churches had a sort of "theme" to them back then.

Then we went to the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Right next door to that was the church of saints Sergius and Bacchus. This church was the site where the Holy family hid in Egypt in order to escape King Herrod. That was the most interesting fact to me. I finally connected that I had been in the same place Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were so many years ago. It brings me chills just thinking about it. After that we went to a perfume shop and got a demonstration of how they make oils and perfumes. Then we had a police escort to our lunch location.

Much to my dismay and many others disapproval, we headed for a traditional American meal... McDonald's. Except for the time in Paris (in which I had something small). This was the first time I had McDonald's in 5 years! I was not to pleased with the food location to say the least. When we got there the police stopped traffic just so we all could get off our buses and walk across the street to McDonald's. How embarrassing and ironic was it that the Police literally STOPPED traffic just so 41 American's can go to McDonald's. Like our reputation isn't bad enough. I have noticed several interesting things about McDonald's in Europe/ Africa:
1) They are much cleaner
2) They are a LOT nicer
3)They each have a different menu depending on the location
For Example, In London they have scones and mince pies and in Egypt they have lamb pita things

After that interesting meal, We went to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. The main purpose for this was to look at the treasures, jewels, and burial things of King Tutankhamen. I assumed king tut would be there, however he resides at the Valley of the Kings. I am not all for looking at mummies anyway. Half the group wanted to go back to the other hotel and half wanted to shop at a store. I didn't really want to go back to the hotel because there is nothing to do, so I went to a shop. The shop was cool I didn't buy anything though. I had spent 3 days in Cairo and I just noticed at this point that there isn't a Starbucks to be seen. Take that Globalization!

Once we went back to the hotel we didn't even try to swim, but a few of us watched a very potter musical in mine, Jenn's, and Lauren's room until dinner. I however did not watch too much of it because I noticed my stomach begin to feel not so good. I don't know what it was, but I am going to blame the McDonald's.

I started to feel a little better. A few of us were hanging out by the pool when one of the other students came running up to us telling us that the lounge singer was going to let us hook up our Ipod and play music and Dance. So, there we were 20 or so American's dancing in the middle of the hotel to our music. We must have looked hilarious cause many people gathered to watch, however it was our last night and we didn't care.

Day 4
We woke up a little earlier because it was our last day. So we all packed and got ready to leave. In the midst of packing. I realized that my flip flops that someone borrow were missing! :( we searched but couldn't find them. I guess you could say that a little piece of me was left in Cairo.

We headed off to the citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque. This Mosque is MASSIVE! Once again we had to take off our shoes and girls who weren't properly dressed had to adorn a green robe. This is the mosque with the tomb of Mohammed Ali. The outside was more interesting than the inside. We got a perfect view of the city (well except for the smog).

After that we headed to the Khan El Khalili Souk. A souk is a marketplace, but a little different kind of like shopping in Mexico, but not in stores. It was recommended that we go in groups and have a guy with us. Having a guy with us was really good advice. The way the men were yelling at us you would think that they had never seen girls before. They called us Mrs. Obama, Shakira, and Ms. America... Could it be that those are the only Americans they know of? We have a great impression on them. Also, in the Muslim culture, men are allotted multiple wives, but they have to get the permission form the previous wives before they marry again. So to them it looked like the guy we were with was a very lucky man with 6 wives. Neil got so many complements its not even funny. The market guys didn't even acknowledge that we could hear them except when they called us sugar or say we melt their heart.

We headed to the Al Azhar Park for lunch before we left. The park is Gorgeous! we ate a nice dinner (chicken, pita, and hummus) and we were free to explore the park. We were stared at as we walked around and people took pictures of us. I really felt like I was some sort of animal in a cage.

Egypt was fun, but I was so ready to get back to LONDON!!!!

1 week til I leave for Normandy, France! :)

Relaxing Day in Brighton!

2010-02-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a few of us wandered down to the southern coast of England to the beach town of Brighton. It was a last minute trip before we out to Egypt.

We woke up at 8 and left for the Train station at 9 in the morning. The train ride was about 52 minutes and when we stepped off the train I was so glad I went. We began by walking down the main street towards the ocean. As we were walking the smell of the ocean filled the air and we began to hear the seagulls. I never have been a huge fan of the beach, but for some reason I was SOOOO EXCITED! Of course there isn't any sand on the beaches here. Brighton is home to one of the most Famous pebble beaches. Which was right up my alley considering my loathing of sand. However, I came to realize that I actually MISS the sand. Which is very weird...

We relaxed and enjoyed the beach for a while and then headed down the path towards the pier. Being in a beach town, we decided that it was proper to eat fish and chips! They were really really good. Then we went on the pier which had a huge arcade and lots of rides. Unfortunately the rides only operate Saturday and Sunday so we sat on the pier and relaxed for a while. We tried to go to the Aquarium, but it was 15 pounds! which is ridiculous for the small aquarium. It became evident that this is THE place for Englanders to go when the summer season hits.

Next we found the royal pavilion, which George the IV commissioned. This structure is oddly out of place in England. The outside is sort of a mosque I guess whereas the inside is all Asian inspired. It was so pretty and amazing! After that we went to the mall. I swear we have ALL seen malls before, but for some reason we were all so happy and excited!

After that we walked back to the beach and watched the sunset. For dinner we ate at this buffet place called Gekko. I kid you not there was a dish from every ethnicity. From Curry to crepes to pasta to stir fry. We had such a great dinner.

Finally, we headed back to London to prepare for Egypt!

BY THE WAY.... I leave for EGYPT tomorrow!!! SOOOO EXCITED/ SCARED!

Guys... We're in PARIS!!!!

2010-02-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

So It took me awhile to post this blog... What with Mid terms (yuck) and Egypt I have had no time! or sleep for that matter. So this post was written on various occasions throughout the week...

I just got home from Paris like an hour ago! I am trying to write everything down that I remember as fast as I can for fear I may forget something!

PARIS IS AMAZING!!!! I love it! I think it is one of my favorite cities in the world (apart from London)

Day 1

We left Friday morning at 3:00AM.... which means I had to wake up at 2:30AM. I am exhausted even thinking about it! Originally there were only 8 of us going, but it magically turned into 16! I really don't know how word spread so fast! But, there were only 8 of us that stayed together (Well, 9 but I don't want to talk about that just yet!). With the whole gang up and ready at 3AM we headed for St. Pancras Train station to catch the 5:30AM train to Paris... Here is a picture of our Crew, Jordan, AJ, Tessa, Becca, Emily, Amy, and Abbie (AJ deemed us Gang Green) minus me because I didn't want a picture of me THIS EARLY in the Morning! The Train ride was 2 and 1/2 hours, but it felt like longer because I couldn't sleep at all and everyone was passed out.

When we arrived, we were greeted with Freezing weather and French speaking citizens. College students trying to figure out where to go in a foreign country at 7 in the morning with little sleep was a bit of a challenge. But, eventually we found our Metro line! The Tube in London is like Beverly hills compared to the Paris metro lines. They smelt so horrid that I almost gagged when we first walked down. When we walked out of the Metro stop, we were greeted by the National Opera house. Then we headed down one of the streets to Mine, Emily, Becca, and Amy's hotel (we were separate from the other 4 because Emily's dad got us rooms at the Hyatt). The Hyatt is one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in (it should be for 2,000 euro a night!). Me and Becca shared a room and Emily and Amy shared one right next door. The rooms were decent sized, and the Bathroom was as big as the room itself... I am SOOOO thankful that Emily's dad was able to treat us to a hotel like that we enjoyed it so much! After we checked in, All 8 (9) of us headed out to the Louvre.

I think it must have been below freezing and we were walking through the streets of Paris. I was in charge of navigating through the city because generally I am good with maps and directions. However, may I remind you that I was running off 3 hours of sleep so we kind of got lost. But on a positive note we got to see Paris! On top of the chaos, we were terribly hungry and stopped at a traditional Parisian Cafe. Thank goodness for Becca (who speaks French) because none of us knew how to understand, read, or respond in French. She probably got annoyed with how many times we asked her to pronounce stuff or what stuff means. We eventually made it to the Louvre and were so excited to get somewhere indoors. The Louvre is massive! It has so many AMAZING pieces of Art and sculpture (the most famous being the Mona Lisa). We looked around there for a while. Naturally Becca and I got split up from the group, but we planned on a meeting time and place so we wouldn't loose each other completely.

After the Louvre, We walked to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was HUGE! We went inside and then AJ and Jordan climbed the stairs while the girls drank hot chocolate in the cafe across the street. After that we were so cold and tired that we went back to the hotel. We speculated what we were going to eat for dinner. We then came to the conclusion that we would order pizza and just stay in our rooms. However, like all plans that fell through. We couldn't really fit everyone in our room and we had some complications early on that led us not to want everyone up in our rooms. So we headed out for a traditional French cuisine, Pizza hut. Yes I was in Paris and I ate American food... I am a disappointment! However, We did get a crepe afterwards. :) After that Me, Emily, Becca, and Amy stayed at our hotel while the rest of the gang headed to theirs.

DAY 2

The second day in Paris was gorgeous! It was so sunny and the skies were Blue.

Becca, Emily, Amy, and I packed up all our things and headed out for another hotel (where the rest were staying at). We picked up breakfast at the PRETTIEST and FANCIEST Starbucks I have ever seen! complete with Leather couches and Chandeliers! We entered the Metro once again (YUCK!) but, thankfully we knew what we were doing. We met the other 4 at the hotel and dropped off our stuff. Then Headed for Versailles.

I have heard about the Palace of Versailles my whole life and was blown away when I actually saw it. It is HUGE (what do you expect from the French monarchy?). We got in (after a photo shoot out front) and walked around the actual palace for a few hours and then ventured to the gardens. As we were walking out it started SNOWING! a big flurry of snow then it stopped leaving the Versailles gardens with a fresh blanket of snow. The gardens were my favorite part of the whole thing! The palace property is so big and it took us a good 4 hours (I think?) to walk around them. Of course within that time, we HAD to stop at Marie Antoinette's estate (a château the king made for her). Around the back of the house there was the CUTEST village I have ever seen, it was as if I stepped into the Storybook ride at Disneyland. It took us like an hour to walk through even though it was rather small. We took a lot of pictures throughout the back of the house and then went to this pond area. Becca, Emily, Jordan, and I were sitting on this rock right by the pond and a few people were taking pictures of us. Upon noticing that Jordan's camera bag was in the shot, he moved it behind him. Unfortunately, that was not a smart idea because a second later he scooted backwards and the camera bad fell into the pond. A variety of things happened at once. Becca and Emily started yelling, I started asking what was going on because I couldn't see, and Jordan (who doesn't really like gross pond water) was standing there trying to figure out how to get it. Luckily, A.J. being the 6 foot 6 giant that he is, simply reached out his arm and got the bag out. EVERYTHING was soaked. Jordan's Camera, his video camera, his bag EVERYTHING! So we tried to dry it all out. Looking back on it is hilarious and his camera is AMAZINGLY OK. After that we made our trek back to the metro station and onto the tour de Eiffel.

Like all of our trips, we tend to stumble across the big landmarks without knowing. First it was the Colloseum, now the Eiffel Tower. When I first saw it I thought it looked rather small, but upon walking closer I was wrong. It is massive! Also, I wasn't aware until this trip that there are still such things as gypsies. It was weird seeing them because I was really excited, but also kind of afraid. So we all stuck together. The lift took us up to the central area and the view was Spectacular. It was night so all the lights were on and the city looked gorgeous. We tried to get crepes up there but they ran out (THIS is France people, who runs out of Crepes? Really?). We took the stairs down, there were a LOT of stairs! After that we got crepes across the street and ate them right in front of the tower.

Next, we walked to get to the Arch de Triumph. However we took a detour because there was a two story merry-go-round that we simply couldn't resist. There we are, 8 COLLEGE students riding a merry-go-round. Yes, we are mature! Then we walked on. The arc was cool, I had seen it in a lot of movies and things, so we took pictures and headed down the champs elysees. We made our trek to the metro to go in search of the legendary Moulin Rouge.

I have been told by various people not to go there at night because it is not a safe place. But, we had AJ and Jordan so we felt like we should be fine. Surprisingly, when we stepped off the metro the area was fine. Not bad at all. I have seen worse in LA and Hollywood. We took our pictures and walked around it. Then AJ found this club attached onto the main area, so he and a few people went inside. Becca and I stayed back because we weren't all that keen to see what really goes on inside the Moulin rouge. The rest of the group came and motioned us inside so we followed. This portion was a type of music hall. there were children and on stage a band was playing. it was a fun experience to say we had been in the Moulin rouge. After that we hopped back on the metro and headed for our Hotel.

When we got on the metro we had to sit in pairs. each sitting across from another pair and in the center was a pole that people hold on to if they don't have a seat. Me and Becca shared, Jordan and AJ, and Emily and Abbie share a seat on the opposite side of Becca and I. At one point I looked over at Emily and Abbie and they were surrounded by men (like 5 of them) and one of them was literally on top of them. I motioned to AJ to go do something, but he obviously didn't understand what I was trying to say (I need to work on my sign language skills). So in the heat of the moment, I shoved my purse at Becca and told her to hold it. I then proceeded to snake in and out of these guys til I reached Abbie and Emily. Then I spread my arms around them and pushed the guy back. The guys continued to crowed around. AJ must have seen me get up and know something was wrong because before I knew it he was tapping the guys on the shoulder and they all just looked at him and his height and moved out of the way. He got a nice ego boost that night!

At the hotel, we talked over our plan for leaving tomorrow and headed to bed. Me and Becca shared the pull out couch which was like a queen sized bed. I woke up at 3 in the morning shivering because of the cold, when I couldn't take it anymore I went and put on a jacket. Next thing I know Becca goes and grabs her jacket as well. she then says to me huddle for warmth (thats how cold it was, I kid you not it was like 20 degrees or something). Then she asks what time it was and I told her 3, then I said we have 5 more hours of this, Its gonna be a long night! and we laughed for like 10 minutes. When we woke up we realized that the AIR CONDITIONING was on! not only was it already below freezing outside, we had the air conditioning on! We left the hotel and headed for the train station.

Then the train finally pulled into St. Pancras station in London, we all were in a rush to get home! It is always good coming home to the London house!

Two Weeks already?

2010-01-24T07:19:00.000-08:00

Time is flying here in London and I have been SUPER busy! Not only am I trying to take in the city and all it has to offer, but my classes this semester are also much harder and its hard to balance my time what with working 2 jobs, going to the gym (some days lol), horseback riding, Planning, and Homework to top it all off.

As I may have mentioned before, we have 14 new people in the house. The returning students are slowly but surely trying to adjust. Of course we like everyone, but its hard when you have 14 new personalities. We have had a few issues, but I am confident that everything will work out all right.

My classes are a bit of a challenge. In other words they are not my strongest subjects and therefore have to try hard to keep up. I am taking Political Science, Economics, Humanities 313 (Which is about the time of the American revolution to Now), and British Music. Thank goodness for British music because I would go crazy! First of all I know NOTHING about Political science... I don't really keep up on Current events, so that's a problem. Economics started out pretty easy, but now all the graphs get me confused. As for Humanities, American history has been drilled into our heads so how come I dont remember any of it at all?

As for my 2 jobs, they aren't challenging at all however I need that extra cash for traveling.

Which leads me to travelling in general:
Paris is THIS WEEKEND!!!
Egypt in in 2 weeks
Normandy France is for Spring break
and somewhere I need to fit in Ireland and Switzerland

Any other Suggestions?

Baby, Its COLD outside!

2010-01-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

Winter break was a TON of fun! I saw mommy, daddy, and lots of other family. As well as hanging out with friends like everyday! All in all a success I think!

But now, back to Londontown!
I had forgotten how much I absolutely LOVE it here!

My flight to London left wed. night and Thankfully there were no delays (unlike most people in the London house). I got to the airport 3 hours early because my parents figured that LAX would be horrid due to extra security thanks to that idiot terrorist attack on Christmas. Think again parents! I got into my terminal in a total of 15 minutes, leaving approximately 2 AND A HALF hours to kill.... so what did I do? I ate... but that only took 15 min. so I people watched! Apparently there was this MASSIVE Texas football game and it seemed like I could not get away from the cowboy hats and boots! My plane flight went semi-smoothly but the landings scared me so much!

upon arriving in London, I realized that there was a ton of snow! :) (and frigid Temperatures!) .... Unfortunately, I had to make it through a long customs line and baggage area to reach it. Then, I got on the Tube and headed for south ken. The London underground (Tube) is meant to be infact UNDERGROUND... which it wasn't until a closer stop to the south kensington one. This unfortunately means that the tube system doesnt know how to run well in snow, which also lead to a 2 and 1/2 hour tube ride to south ken (Its usually 30 Min.). I finally made it to the house and was so happy! I was warmly greeted by those that were there and I went to bed.

Everyday since then I have woken up at 4:00AM London time and cant get back to sleep til 5:30! This is very unfortunate :(.... In the past few days I have sampled ALL the food that I had missed terribly (Including Ben's cookies EVERYDAY! haha)

To put an end to my spending, Classes start tomorrow! I have mixed feelings because between two jobs, classes, horseback, and the gym everyday I am going to be booked! But, I think it will all be worth it.... I hope....

P.S. Guess who is going to PARIS in 2 weeks? ME! yay

FINALS!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-05T17:19:00.000-08:00

My first semester in LONDON is coming to a close : (... On the plus side, I get to go home in about lets say 6 days? WOW! But until then, The London house is undergoing some stressful times. Not only, do we have to pack, say our good byes, and fill up on London's Food (Dad... The Nutella MUST be stocked in the kitchen when I get home), But we also have to study for FINALS! Everyone has spent this weekend indoors or at the local Starbucks in order for us to manage good grades on these finals. So, I am writing now because I may not have the opportunity to write again before I go home...

Friday- Instead of studying, my wonderful science professor decides to take us to see Darwin's House. Not only are we all extremely bitter because we are wasting valuable study time, but the house is about 1 hour and a half bus ride out to kent. Oh Joy... Naturally, I brought my science notes but didn't study. Darwin's house is just that his house, with a backyard, and a greenhouse. How we spent 3 hours there I will never know. Appearently we occupied our time quite well. It could have been that in this one particular room there are interactive activities. Such as, evolution flip books, creating your own cross breed of bird, classifying animals depending on their lineage, and my personal favorite how many sheep can you fit on the island? (This includes little wooden sheep and an Island that would tip depending on where you place the weight)... Me and Becca managed to fit ALL sheep on the island and it only took us like and hour! I don't have any pictures of this because photography in the house is not allowed. Who knew Darwin was a stickler about photography?
The group I was in got bored so the 4 of us headed outside to greet the crisp England air. We quickly found shelter in Darwin's greenhouse. Which all of us then turned to and made and immediate Twilight connection (I LOVE us!)... So, we of course HAD to film a parody of it. After that we went to the Cafe for some afternoon tea. I got hot chocolate and scones w/ clotted cream. Clotted cream sounds gross, but it is AMAZING! yum! and highly fattening. We stayed there until we got to leave. When we were walking back to the bus, we noticed it was snowing! unfortunately it was light and didn't travel back to London with us. :(

When we got back to the house, we had to get ready for our "mind the limit" dinner. Basically, minding the limit means if you don't get too drunk throughout the whole semester you could go. So the whole house went because apparently our house has been one of the calmer houses that they have had in the past. First, We went to take a night ride on the London eye. The London eye is this MASSIVE Ferris wheel thing that gives you the best view of the whole city! It was breathtaking at night. After that we shopped at the Christmas markets and then went to MY FAVORITE restaurant Giraffe. I had Schnitzel and Chocolate cheesecake! I swear I have laughed the HARDEST that I have laughed in awhile that night. My table had a blast, I couldn't really tell you what went on, but it was hysterical. Becca, Emily, Michelle, Meggan, and Lauren Hunt sat at the table and the jokes kept on coming.

Saturday (Today)- Has been all about Studying :(... I HATE finals and the fact that we have to spend our last weekend here studying! o well, I go home in 6 days and then come back in a month! :)

My final schedule is as follow
Monday- NO CLASS!
Tues- Humanities and Science Finals
Wed- English

WISH ME LUCK!

Thankful for......

2009-12-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

This past Weekend was Thanksgiving weekend/ Parents week... I was a little depressed throughout the week because pretty much EVERYONE's family came to see them. Obviously, Mine could not :(. Thankfully, Cindy came to visit me! So in a way, I did have family here! Which was great!

Thursday, was THANKSGIVING. Although it certainly did not feel like it at ALL. No one here celebrates so it didn't feel the same. A lot of us in the house actually forgot it was Thanksgiving until we went on Facebook and saw all our friends posting about it. Instead of having time off, Like ALL American schools, we had class. Which was o.k., but it made it feel different because I don't think I have ever had to go to school on thanksgiving. We had a traditional style thanksgiving dinner at imperial college at around 6 PM. It felt awkward because since everyone's families were there, the people without families sat at separate tables. We deemed these the "kiddie" tables. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "I am 19, haven't I gotten past this? I feel like a child". The food was pretty goof except to add to the depression that hovered over me, it wasn't the same at home. Where is the Yams w/ marshmellows? Where is the stuffing with Apples? The potatoes? and Most important to my diet on Thanksgiving, The cranberry sauce in a can that comes out looking like a can!? What is this MADNESS?!?!?! However, on the brightside I did spend it with my new London family! and........ CINDY came that night!

Friday- We woke up and went out for a day of tourist attractions! Which, I hadn't really done since being here... Well, only once... Here is a list Cin sent me beforehand of what she wanted to do:

bens cookies
ben himself
the big bridge
guards that don't move
the palace
oxford street for shopping?
picadilly circus, leicester square, & covent garden?
hyde park
kings cross?
abbey road

the question marks are for things that roxanne mentioned but i'm not even sure what they are haha

So we tried to do as much as possible...

First stop was Buckingham palace (Or Both the Guards that dont move/ Buckingham palace), Except today on this rare occasion, the guards actually did move... Huge disappointment? I think not, because it was a special ceremony called the Changing of the guards. They do it every other day.

Next, we walked through Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden.... We ate Traditional British food at, of course, a pub. Because a pub is really the only place in London to get British food, kind of ironic?

After that, we went to Big Ben (Ben himself) and walked around him and saw Westminster abbey and the houses of Parliament. The tower of London and the tower bridge was next. We looked at those a bit and then went off to St. Paul's and across the Millennium Bridge, also known as the wibbly wobbly bridge.The nickname to the bridge certainly did NOT make me want to cross it any more. We then saw the Globe theatre, which was home to many Shakespearian plays.

We stopped at Ben's Cookies (Of course) for cookies! Don't worry Mommy, I will bring some home to you to try, along w/ Hob Nobs.

We were so tired, but we still went out to dinner at my FAVOURITE restaurant Giraffe.

Saturday We basically SHOPPED the whole day. Don't worry parents, I didn't spend too much and go over on my account! so we are safe! I bought clothes and Gifts For Lawrence, Caleb, and Shy. I need to get Eli's still. Cin tried to find boots EVERYWHERE but she couldn't :(.... We were SOOOO tired after all that shopping that we just came back to the house and ate Crepe's, more Bens, and watched a movie.

I will miss her! but, will see her and Rach in a little over a week!

Cindy had to leave the house early Sunday, however the tube lines were down and she missed her flight! so she was stuck in Gatwick til Monday afternoon! :(

I only have a WEEK AND TWO days left til Break. Until home, I have 3 presentations and three finals... Great... Wish me luck! Here I go on my home stretch!

2 1/2 weeks to go!

2009-11-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

I realized that I hadn't posted anything new in a while... oops... so I am going to try and make up for that!

After the Italy trip, It was time to settle down into the final stretch of school before I get to come home for a month! There was a few tests and mid terms that I had to do the week we got back, which I am not gonna lie was pretty annoying. Also that week, seeing as how New Moon (the second twilight movie) is being released, the cast of it was IN LONDON! So of course I wanted to see them and I am glad I have friends crazy enough to go with me! I was looking it up and I found out that they landed in London Nov. 10 and I read that the event was held the 11. Me being too excited about the prospect of thinking they were here for a red carpet event, thought that it was the 10th when I looked it up, when in actuality it was the 11th. FAIL! We found this information out at about 8 o' clock and we basically RAN to where the stars were. Unfortunately we missed them, but it was an awfully great adventure with great people. And we got to see a cool area of London which I hadn't been to yet.

The following weekend (Nov. 13-15) was pretty much my chill out and catch up week. However, a few of my friends and I decided to take a day trip to Surrey for Hampton Court Palace. This palace is where King Henry the VIII lived so its a pretty decent size. The palace is complete with multiple courtyards and gardens as well. The trip was only 40 minutes from London by train (my 3rd train trip!) so it wasn't to bad. We stayed for about 4 hours then ventured back home.

This week however is more action packed and exciting! Me and my friend have named it "our week of fun!":

Starting Tuesday, a group of people in the house went Ice skating. so fun! It was great except the skates hurt my feet a bit, but skating in an outdoor rink was pretty sweet. It was at the Natural history museum and incidentally under a LOT of trees. Leaves + Ice skates= Stinks! A lot of people in the house went so we all enjoyed each others company while at the same time having fun watching people help eachother and occasionally fall. I didn't though ... O wait... once. I only fell once.

Wednesday night we basically geared up for The Twilight saga: New Moon movie by watching interviews and videos.

Thursday night was a lot of fun we watched GLEE (an amazing T.V. show) and The first twilight movie to gear up for the midnight showing (which we get to see 8 hours before everyone on the west coast!). About 15 people in the House went which was a pretty decent size group of American college students all congregating for an American film. The British movie going experience is very different than good 'ol America. At a midnight showing in the US for this movie, people were lining up to go in at 9:00AM! Here, we were like the first ones there and we got there at 10:30PM. When we got there, I asked the guy, "Where do we queue for New moon?" and he looked at me like I was crazy and said they dont queue up for a movie... Weird huh? Most of the time during the movie I felt like we were the ONLY ones laughing and reacting to the movie. All our Oooo's, Ahh's, and gasps were appropriate, its just that British humour and the way they do thinks is very different. The Movie was AMAZING! It was so funny and quite the opposite from the previous Twilight Movie. The acting was quite improved from the last moment... NEWS FLASH: Kristen Stewart can actually act! who knew? and not to mention the Male leads were going strong...

Disclaimer on the Above picture: There were a few guys that went with us, but naturally they didn't want their New Moon experience to be on Facebook so they opted out of the picture!

Friday night I went out to dinner with a few people and then we went to Hyde park because a carnival thing had just opened up for Christmas. Its called Winter Wonderland! When we got there we were shocked because it was so cute and it has so many rides. Upon walking around a guy came up to us and gave us bracelets for free rides for the rest of the night. SWEET! so we took advantage of that. The first ride we went on was a haunted house thing. Haunted house for Christmas? really England? Anyway, me being afraid of a lot of things caused me to shut my eyes and scream non stop through the whole ride... Fun. Next we walked around and went on another ride. The winter wonderland thing is heavy in its German routes. Everything there was like a mini German town it was so great!

Saturday was the JONAS BROTHERS concert! It was So so so Good! The concert started at 7:30PM, but one of my roomate's had her brothers driver pick us up at 3:00PM to get her and my other friends tickets and go to dinner before the show. We got picked up in a Mercedes SUV. That was exciting primarily because I don't think I have ever been in a Mercedes before. Let alone with a driver! I must admit though, after not being in a car for over 3 months I got a tad bit car sick! O no.. the ride home from LAX is going to be a LOT of fun! After we got their tickets, we went to my FAVOURITE restaurant here called Giraffe. It was Amazing like always. We got to the concert on time, however this cute shirt that I wanted to buy was sold out which I am extremely upset about because I cant even find it online... but its ok... I am not bitter about it or anything. Our Seats were AMAZING! in the US these seats would have costed probably $200, but thanks to London it was only 30 pounds! The stage was a circle in the center of the arena and it allowed the brothers to move freely and see all of the crowd! I got some Amazing pictures and had a great time. When we walked out I couldn't hear ANYTHING! That's what screaming 15 year olds will do to you I guess.

PICTURES of the Brothers from my camera!

Brothers Entrance

Joe Jonas

Kevin Jonas

Nick Jonas

Monday Night was my Taylor Swift Concert! She was great too! our tickets were in the WAY back but we still had a lot of fun. We got a kick out of all the British people singing Country songs with a British accent and chanting "Tayla" as opposed to "Taylor". Four of us made T-shirts for the big event. Complete with matching tattoos on the sleeve for this supposedly famous kid back in the states. I guess we had been out of the loop so long we didnt even know. We found out about him Via one of the boys in our house. The kid is this like 15 year old hip hop artist from Canada, named Justin Bieber. He may be little, but he has a good voice! so we made tattoos on our shirts as a memory to one of the boys in our house. He somehow managed to sprain his ankle on stage! we watched as he limped off... Poor Justin! The rest of the concert was great! however, I firmly believe that Taylor Swift is a bit psycho.. But whatever...

Pics from the concert!

P.S.... For the people in America COMPLAINING about gas prices, look at England's Gas prices:

**That's 108 Pounds ($173) just to fill up your tank! Never again shall I complain about Gas in the US!**

When in Rome.... and Florence!

2009-11-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we left for our FALL BREAK!!! Me and a few of my friends all went to Rome and then on friday took a day trip to Florence...

Wednesday-
Wake up time was 5:30AM (I am not a happy camper at this hour let alone getting ready and packed to travel ALL day!), you will be proud to know that I fit a weeks worth of stuff in one backpack, can you believe it? I have pictures to prove it! We plan to leave by 6:30 AM which of course does not happen. Our flight leaves at 8:40AM, but we have to take the Tube to Liverpool station (45 minutes) and then take the Stansted Express (1 hour) to our Airport. We make it there with just enough time to get approved by Ryan air (because appearently they dont trust Americans to just go through security) and make it to the plane. Ryan air is a funny airline becuase you pick your seats when you get on (kind of like a bus) and it is highly cheesy. They mentioned that the airline wants to create standing airplanes that allow someone to travel free of charge (right like that will pass safety regulations). I dont really like to fly that much, I am not as bad as mom but the landing and take-off really get to me so I was stressed the whole day. Thatnk goodness for my Ipod! We arrive at Ciampino airport and meet one of Becca's friends, katie from the heidleburg program. Then we bored a bus and travel 40 minutes to the main station in central Rome, Roma termini. From there we walk to find our hotels. 6 girls walking with Stuffed backpacks for an hour to find our hotel is not fun at all. Finally, when we do find our hotel (Thanks daddy for getting the room the first night!) we are informed that it is undergoing rennovations. So the guy tells us all to get into a white van to be moved to another hotel (sketchy right?) so we have no choice but to go. We are sitting in the van not knowing exactly what to do, but we reach our hotel ok. Then we try to check in, but the guy says he needs our passports for an hour due to police regulations and then he says the reservation is for 2 not 4 so we get a room that on;y fits 2. Really hotel guy, where are the others supposed to stay. fortunately it all worked out, we got our passports back and the others got a room somewhere else (I am FINE mom and dad! no need to freak out anymore!)... Since it is only 4 PM at that time we decide to walk around Rome. Its a bit difficult navigating a foreign country but we managed. Luckily, we sort of Stumbled upon the Colloseum and thats when it hit us that we were in ROME or "la citta eterna" (the eternal city). We ran into some heidleburg people from Pepperdine which was fun. Then we walked to the Trevi fountain where the heavens decided to open up and flood all of us! my socks STILL are not dry! We then managed to get back to our hotels although we had to wring out all our clothes. I swear I have seen more rain traveling that in LONDON its Great!

Thursday- We all wake up early to see the sites. First stop, the Vatican city! We run into some fellow Londoners on our way to the vatican so we are one big blob traveling together. We get into the vatican after some security and everything only to be led by a large maze of paintings and sculptures Galore! IT was amazing what was in the museum, The school of athens by Rafael (one of the Ninja Turtles down AJ!) being one of them. Then at the end was the sistine chapel with the famous roof painting of the creation of adam by Michelangelo (2 ninja turtles!). I am sure we saw something Di Vinci while we were in Italy also so (3 ninja turtles down!). We then made our way to St. Peters Square and St. Peters Basillica people could not go in because of a funeral for a cardinal. We ended up walking to the Spanish Steps from there, which is a FAR walk! but on a positive note, we walked through a cute shopping area with GELATO! After that we went back to the Trevi Fountain. It was at that point I found out that some London people ran into some switzerland people and cindy was one of them! Its ridiculous that we were in the same city FINALLY and didnt see eachother! o well roomie, London awaits you in 3 weeks! From there we eat and go to bed.

Friday- We got up at 5:00AM to take a train for a day trip to Florence! (My first Train ride! that I remember at least!) The train ride was 4 hours and I think I slept about 2 so that was good. When we got to Florence we were in a rush to get everything we wanted done. First stop, Michelangelo's David. The David was really AMAZING the museum not so much. 10 Euro (15 dollars) to see one statue and several medieval art I dont know if it was worth it. but it was THE DAVID! Next we went to the Duomo. Its this big dome church thing in Florence. It was pretty cool. We then noticed the Florence pick up line that guys use, "You dropped something.... My Heart" (very original guys) only we didnt like it or fall for it cause we really thought they were trying to steal from us by averting our attention elsewhere (Mom and Dad this is where my new found street smarts come into play). The florentine guys also like hoping into our pictures. We ate at a cafe again I had pizza and bruchetta (I think this in the 4 time?) and Gelato (definitely the 5 time). Since we have been learning non stop about the Medici family (an influential family in Florence) we went to San Lorenzo's basilica and took a picture each of us pretending to be a different Medici (I was the unfortunate one). Florence has a market area that we DEFINITELY took advantage of while there. After that we walked to the River and hung out there enjoying the scenery. Our train back to Rome departed at 5:13PM, in which we had our own compartment to be as loud (and American) as we please! We got back to rome around 10 and went to bed.

Saturday- We woke up at 8 AM for breakfast and to get in some sites before we leave Rome. We went to the Pantheon and saw the McDonald's that Sonia Sorell was raving about having the best view. It doesn't the cafe next to it does, sorry sonia! On the way to our last stop, the Colosseum, we saw many different sites. But, I didnt really know what they were, they were just really old things to me. I think they were the forums of peace, Trajan, and Rome or something like that. For our last stop we hit the Colosseum and the arch of Constantine. I actually TOUCHED the colloseum! Then we headed back to Roma Termini and the Airpost to fly Home to London! We were so anxious to get back. I called my parents once I got off the plane and found out that they were SUPER worried about me the whole time! (Dad you can stop calling the hotel now!) and I am sorry to not have called, now will you get a calling card!? It feels good to be missed!. We practically RAN once we got off the tube at south Ken and got our crepe of course!

What I did while traveling in Rome:
Read "Rebel Angels" by Libba Bray
Listened to "Lines, vines, and trying times" the Jonas Brothers album (In order to prepare for their concert in 2 weeks)

Things I ate:
I always had margherita pizza and Bruchetta (ALWAYS)... No spaghetti please!

People I went with:

Becca, Emily, Lindsay, and Jazmyne (with the occasional visit from other Londoners)

Things I learned:
I can Pack lightly (barely)
Twilight is Very popular over there as well
Italian is close to Spanish (Which I failed so that didn't help)
You consume a lot of calories in Italy
I can get up early (dont count on it during christmas holiday parents!)
People think Americans are incompetent idiots
Italians are cold sometimes but outgoing at others

My Backpack!


                                                                 Outside our window...     somehow they knew we were American

Two person room

"O look I think we found the colloseum!"

Trevi Fountain at Night

Sistene chapel

mmmmm GELATO!!

I also learned that Italians either can't park or choose not to listen:

(Next time you comment on my parking or driving dad I will remind you of this)

Parking fail #1: just because its a "smart car" does not mean it fits ANYWHERE!

Parking fail #2- If you park behind someone horizontally how do they back out?

Parking fail #3- The sidewalk is for Pedestrians only!

Parking fail #4- The median crosswalk is not a valid place to park your vehicle!

Coming this November!

2009-11-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

So, I have pretty much decided that November is going to be THE BEST MONTH EVER!
With my mom doing amazingly well and everyone beginning to move forward November is PACKED with Amazing stuff!

November 1- Today! :) Alex's Birthday!
November 4 to 8- Fall Break in Rome, Italy!
November 13- Free weekend! Maybe a Musical? money permitted of course
November 20- Twilight Saga: New Moon!
November 21- Jonas Brothers Concert! FLOOR SEATING for 30 pounds!
November 23- Taylor Swift
November 26- Thanksgiving

All in All AWESOME month!

Yes, We do celebrate Halloween here!

2009-11-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, as you know was Halloween!
Our SGA reps. had a lot planned for us to do!
First at 4- Caleb and Alex (the faculty families Kids) trick-or-treated to our rooms! they were dressed up as Superman! SO cute!

At 5- The house went on a Jack the Ripper tour. I was sooooo scared, because I HATE all things scary!
for instance, I was helping AJ set up for the Halloween party and a fake spider fell out of the web, not once but twice, and BOTH times I jumped! Anyway, I was terrified the WHOLE trip and it wasn't even that scary!
Things I learned-
"Jack" was super sneaky
Rats are EVERYWHERE in London
Don't go anywhere at 3 in the morning by yourself
And the person who was jack the ripper was Druitt!

At 9- We got back and dressed up for the Party! I was at a loss for what to be and I didnt want to buy anything new so I worked with what I had! and since I had just seen Les Miserables I decided to be Eponine (she is a beggar, Kind of).... All I did was wear my clothes and throw some Bronzer on my face as dirt!

At 10- The party commenced! Everyone was WAY into their character. The whole night everyone acted like who they dressed up as. We had:

Edward and Bella (Genius!)

James Bond and Money penny (lame name if you ask me)

Jenny Weasley (She is from Harry Potter, mom and Dad)

Two Mexicans and Two Asian tourists
(Our House isn't Racist I SWEAR!)

Billy Mays (Was he carrying Oxy Clean or Cocaine?),

Bubblegum stuck on the bottom of shoe,

The fantanas (Wanna Fanta?), ect....

We also had lots of food, games, and mildly entertaining dancing! So LOADS of Fun!
It was Brilliant!

Patriots

2009-10-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in awhile... Oops... there are people in the house who post everyday! religiously... Me on the other hand not so much.

This week has been all about adjusting back into actually studying as opposed to being in Greece. Wait we actually are expected to go back to school now?

This week was actually pretty normal, I had my classes like usual and a Humanities test which I studied my BUTT off for. Positive note, I received a B on my English mid term and an A on my Science paper. I think I did well in Humanities but we will see and for fine arts I need to write an easy essay on the comparing and contrasting medieval art to Renaissance art. I am thinking of contrasting something to one of the "ninja Turtles" (Donatello, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo)... I believe I am making my brother proud by listing all of them! Equestrian was fun as always still haven't fallen off yet, but we still haven't galloped yet : /...

I got a package from my grandma, which made like the whole house jealous... I take many things for granted like Mac and Cheese, back home its like 90 cents here its like $7.00 for one box! also we may have cadbury chocolate, but it doesn't hold a candle to good old Sees candy!

Thursday night I saw LES MISERABLES. I cried like non stop through the second act. Its a very sad play... as if the name "the miserable ones" didn't tip you off. Its about the French Revolution (which sounds boring I know but Its not). Its an amazing story about this guy who used to steal, but then found God among other various sub plots. MUSIC was great, it made me want to revolt against something I am not quite sure what yet. But, when I revolt that music will be playing in the background.

Which leads me up to today, I went to "explore London" with a few friends which I surprisingly haven't done yet. first stop Kings Cross Station off to platform 9 and 3/4 (for the people who don't know HARRY POTTER its the platform that they go through to get to Hogwarts Express)

Next we went to the Tower Bridge and followed two very oddly dressed obvious Americans. They were dressed as Patriots and being followed by a camera crew that had NFL official video t-shirts on... I was thinking the whole time "too bad I never paid attention to football otherwise I would know what team they were on"... I found out they were the New England Patriots and My friends and I were following them sub consciously we Even got our Picture w/ them before we knew who they were. After that EVERYWHERE we went there were people with Patriot stuff on.

Next we went to the Shakespearean Globe theatre and then the Millennium Bridge (AKA the wibbly wobbly bridge) that name kinda freaked me out. I was hesitant to walk across it! Again this bridge was used in the latest Harry Potter film (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) so I HAD to go on it. Me and my friends actually wanted to video record us running across it screaming "the death eaters are coming!" but we felt that that wouldn't be appropriate.

Then we came home and we just hung out. So a lot of people in the house watch a show called GLEE it is the BEST SHOW EVER! I love it! and they dance and sing in it. So for the London video a few of the girls are doing a dance from it. My friend and I just spent the last 2 days learning the dance for Halo/Walking on sunshine. Its Intense and my neck aches!

Stuff I take for Granted:

Mac and Cheese

Mexican food

Having someone else cook for you! especially when you realize you haven't been taught how to cook!

Family

being able to run in Hyde park everyday

the lift in our house (when it isn't broken)

Milkshakes (Here there is no Shake... If you ask for one it is usually like flavoured milk)

little differences in London as opposed to the USA:

When on an escalator, ALWAYS stand on the right (not the left or you will get hit!)

Look Right when crossing the street (again, not the left cause you will get hit)

The stop signs turn red AND yellow before turning green (it gives the stick shifters a chance to get in gear)

No tax is added as you pay. Whatever it says is the TOTAL price

Don't yell or do anything juvenile in public(If so, pretend you are from Canada)

People here dress "smartly" not casually

The fork should be held upside down

Look like you know what you are doing

Order Take away as opposed to eat-in (it costs less)

Family :)

2009-10-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

So I just got finished with a GLORIOUS Sunday in London... Today I woke up and ate breakfast, then ran in Hyde Park, Caught up on a few key TV episodes I missed while in Greece, Went Grocery Shopping, Called Mommy, Went to Church, Ate Dinner, Watched a few more TV shows, Went to house Church, Called Daddy, and now I am blogging before I actually start studying for my humanities midterm.... That was my day in a nutshell, now on to more pressing matters. Throughout the day, just like EVERYDAY here in London, I think of my family constantly (Not just here and there, but really like 24/7). But, finally today it hit me just how AWESOME my family is. I mean really if you really think about it I have THE BEST family Ever. Sure we are crazy and mildly disfunctional (Who isn't?). I guess it finally hit me in prayer requests for house church. People were asking for prayers for there family and themselves (Disclaimer: I am not trying to discredit an individuals prayer request I am just trying to prove a point). Basically, they each asked prayer for things that quite frankly my family has been through already. Um Panic disorders (Me... Great), Heart Problems, Lungs collapsing, Cancer, ect.... I was about to say been there, done that but I realized that that is probably not a good idea when people are sharing there issues (I tend to be a little in to myself sometimes, sorry). The point is we are AMAZING.

Top 10 reasons WHY my family is AMAZING:
1-Um, so my mom just got finished with a liver transplant and is currently AT HOME! (she wasn't due out for another month). Way to be an overachiever mom and heal so fast!
2- My dad is the thing that holds this family together! Seriously he has the hardest job of us all. Keeping tabs on everything is some serious work. I can barely keep tabs on my laundry let alone everyone else's LIVES.
3- My Sister is Doing an Amazing job with her children and balancing her own issues out. Even in the midst of the surgery and everything else going on in her life she hasn't lost it yet.
4-My younger brother basically had his mom nearly die and he is doing surprisingly well (I think?) for a 13 year old.
5- My grandma has to deal with her work (which is AMAZING considering how much she actually has to do) and everyone else's lives. Including, helping my mom, supporting my aunts kids in their various activities that they are amazing at, and helping others through their difficult time.
6- My cousin who flew a long distance away just to help my mom out and was willing to give half of her organ for my mom when we haven't seen each other for an awfully long time.
7- And for myself NOT having a panic attack in London (except for that one time) in the midst of all this chaos in my life.
8- My parents raising me so well that I actually know how to be considerate. Mom, if you were here you would be proud, I unload and reload the 3 dishwashers throughout the day (even though I don't have to) and I clean up every ones mess in the kitchen when I can (Who knew I would be that disgusted by the mess 41 college students leave in the kitchen for me actually to clean it up throughout the day?). Also, whenever someone is sick I always ask what they need and if I can help as opposed to what some people do and ignore them. Thanks for raising me well, you guys did a good job in my book.
9- We are not the stereotypical family that everyone strives to be, we are comfortable with our family and lives are and we have no shame telling people how it is.
10- My family is Amazing because no matter what happens, we stick together and ALWAYS (miraculously in most cases) manage to pull through!

So in case it wasn't clear.... I LOVE MY FAMILY.... and we can only go up from where we were about 2 weeks ago!

It's all GREEK to me!

2009-10-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

The London house went to Greece this week!

I have always wanted to go to Greece, so I was super excited to be able to go this week with the house. We had a VERY busy schedule complete with waking up EVERYDAY at 7:00AM (which is 5:00AM London time!). You would think that they would plan that a little better I mean 41 college students waking up at 5 to visit ruins.... right that's a brilliant idea. Anyway, The first night was interesting we had just had a full day of travelling complete with a mercedes-benz bus ride! (Oh pepperdine) and then we got to the hotel which was amazing and had a perfect view of the akropolis and the parthenon. It was a 4 star hotel (in true pepperdine fashion). Then we ate at the hotel, I had never had Greek food before so this for me was a BIG deal. Then we toured the plaka (or marketplace area) and then went to bed. Let me just say that Athens isn't what I expected Greece to look like it kind of reminded me as a cross between L.A. and Mexico. Suffice it to say that if you go there once you don't really need to go back again, except maybe to the Greek Isles.

The next day we had to wake up at 7:00 AM to go to the Akropolis, the Agora, and the Benaki Museum. One girl in the house fell down a few stairs and sprained her ankle quite badly. So our walk to the acropolis was unpleasant for her. So the acropolis is the high city of Athens, it over looks all of Athens and is home to the Parthenon and the Erecthion. It was at this point when I realized that I should have paid more attention in Sonia Sorell's Humanities class back at Pepperdine. Apparently, the Newly Elected Prime Minister of Greece was there that day so we got to see him which was impressive because he had only been in office for a week. Next we walked to Mars Hill where Paul talks to the Greeks about the "Unknown God" that is in Acts 17:16-34. One of the guys in our Group read the sermon from the Bible and it literally gave me chills just thinking about how Paul stood on that same mountain and preached to the Pagans. Indirectly, he caused the start of the Greek Orthodox church. After that, we went to the Agora which is basically a marketplace for the people of Athens in ancient times. Let me just say that I am so clumsy and I trip and fall ALL THE TIME. So in Greece it was difficult for me to walk anywhere let alone on the ancient pathways of Greece. The group then walked down the Panathenaic Way which was used by many people in the ancient times to get to the Akropolis and the Agora. After all that climbing and Walking we went to the Plaka to have lunch. I had a gyro, which in my opinion is the Greek equivalent of a taco. Oh, and on a side note, London is Getting a CHIPOTLE finally Mexican food in LONDON!!!! :). Back to Greece, so gyros are AMAZING! After lunch we walked to a museum, which I am sorry to say was a WASTE of a 40 minute walk. Basically, we had been up since 7 and had been walking all day and now we are going to a museum that is completely irrelevant so we were not happy at all. Then we went back to the hotel relaxed for a little and found dinner on our own.

The next morning we woke up again at 7:00AM just in time to hop on a bus for 2 hours to get to Corinth. We had the option to Bungie Jump off into the Corinth canal (on the left) for 60 Euros, but I opted out. I don't care what you say dad, that is SO dangerous (Mom would not approve). After that we went to the agora in corinth which is just a bunch of old ruins of the city which isn't to interesting. I forgot to mention that there are a TON of stray dogs, which made me very sad all the time because I wanted to talk them all home! After Corinth, we climbed up to the top of the Acrocorinth (Its a LONG way up there) and me being the clumsy person I am almost fell countless times. But, I made it! It was so pretty seeing Corinth and the Gulf from that high up! That night we had a traditional Greek dinner complete with dancing and Belly dancers. It was fun, except the belly dancer was like 50 and not in the best shape and she was trying to fit in to a 13 year olds costume. Wow... Just as mom says, "Just because they make it in your size does not mean you have to wear it".

I CLIMBED TO THE TOP!!! :)

On Wednesday, we woke up ate 6:00AM that's right 6 o' clock. which is technically 4:00AM London time! We went on a cruise to 3 Greek islands, Hydra, Proros, and Ageina in the Agean sea. The problem with that is that the boat is not very big and apparently I get seasick on small boats who knew? so for the 2 and a half hours until we docked at our first port I was super sick. Hydra (the first island) was by far the best it was sunny. The Greek Islands is what I envisioned Greece to look like complete with seaside houses and donkey rides. My friends and I walked around the city a bit and then a few of us went to a place where you can jump off and swim in the Agean sea. It was too cold for me so we just sat for a bit admiring the view. The next island we went to was Poros. This is more of a city island and more inhabited than the last. We only had an hour so we walked around a bit and then went back to the ship. On the Third island, Ageina, There was more of a port town. We basically just ate there and then went to the beach to hang out before heading back to the ship to Athens.

Day 4, we went to Delphi, This is about a 3 hour bus ride from Athens. Delphi is where the Athenians and other people would visit to get the answers they sought from a priestess (oracle of Delphi). Delphi is said to be the "center of the Earth" because Zeus sent out two birds in opposite directions of the world. they met at Dephi and this is what was said to be the center. It was rainy and cold (about 40 degrees) and I was freezing. It was a very cold, wet, tiring day. We then went to dinner where I ate Spaghetti (That's right mom I ate Spaghetti!) After Delphi we went to an ornate Greek Orthodox church to learn more about the Church. A few of the girls in our group had to put on Skirts because their legs could not be shown. After that was another 3 hour bus ride back to Athens. So the whole trip was 7 hours in a bus in the freezing cold rain... Perfect....

On the Last day, we woke up at 10:00AM (YES!). We had to check out by 12 so it was a lazy day. Then we went to go to a Pireus port to have lunch on the water. It was THE BEST Food I had in Greece all week. Complete with a 4 or 5 course meal! We had the best Crab Salad, Salad, risotto, Chicken, and the Chocolate Mousse. It was so good. We then drove to a little cultural center where then taught us how in the ancient times they used to make olive oil and wine. After that we were just a plane ride back to LONDON!!!!

I missed London SO much on this trip, I think the whole house was homesick for London. Now, its only 2 more weeks until we go to ROME, Italy!

Home away from Home!

2009-10-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hey, here are a few pictures of the house I will be living in for the next 6 months!

Our house entrance

56 Prince's Gate

Our Backyard!

Stairwell in our house (It stinks when the lift is broken)

The desks in the 6 person rooms

Hallway in between bathrooms

DVD collection in our house

Student Lounge where we watch our movies

Kitchen!

Reception Area

And this is A few of the students I will get to know over the next couple of months

Waiting....

2009-10-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that whatever we do in life, whether it be going to the supermarket or to the tube (London Subway- yes Roxanne I can take a picture of the sign that calls it a subway!) we are always waiting for something. Life wasn't meant to be easy. If you dont wait or look forward to something it seems less important than somthing that is just handed to you. Today for example, I waited for my 8 AM class to be over, for the tube on the way to the Tate Museum, For my coffee to heat up, for my pizza to cook, For me to be back home from the play "the black album" so I could take off my high heels, but MOST IMPORTANTLY I waited for any news at all on my mother.

To my family, waiting is a part of life its a way of living. Be patient, people will come around and grow in time. It just takes them a while. We all need to work in order to help mom through this rough patch. Dad, take care of yourself! Brothers and Sisters, help watch out for eachother we NEED eachother. Grandma, keep encouraging and making people feel at ease (Its working!).... As for me, I still need a lot of growing up but I am trying my best at a distance and I promise I will get there eventually.

Waiting... We wait for mom to be able to walk, for her to be out of the hospital, for her to sing to her grandchildren, for christmas when we all will be together, for the cruise she insisted on planning in April, and for her to live a LONG healthy fun loving life! but, until these things begin to happen... We just have to be patient and wait

Faith in London

2009-10-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

Before I came to London I had absolutely NO idea that a majority of the people that reside in the UK are either athiest, do not know anything about God, or refuse to even speak his name. That I would have to say is one BIG culture shock for me. Especially coming from parents who are great believers, a WONDERFUL church family at Los Altos, and Pepperdine.

For the past few weeks I have just been going to our House Bible study. I dont know if it is because I didnt want to go to a church that wasn't CoC or if it was because of something else, but I decided not to go to a church around here until Today. I go to Holy Trinity Brompton weekly (sundays) for a lunch thing. They basically feed college students. But, even more than that this gathering allows Christians of the same age to talk and relate to each other. It also allows us "Pepperdiners" to meet the locals and talk to them about the culture here in general. Today, for some reason, I felt a pull to attend the 5:00PM service at the church, which is the youth or college students service.

When I walked into the church I was a little shocked at first. Not only had all the seats been removed from the chapel, but cusions were placed on the floor for you to sit on. When the worship started I was taken aback by how AMAZING and indescribable their worship was. In a way it reminded me of the youth group (Aftermath) from back home in Hesperia. I was completely moved by the worship. The message was completely realateable and interesting, it brought up new insight into my life. After the sermon, basically the director asked a kid about the holy spirit in his life. Then he asked for prayer on everyone to be filled with the passion to want MORE of God in our lives. He also said how we should get up each and every day an d the first thing we should do is crave and hunger for the Lord in our lives. After that we prayed and meditated basically on that thought. Seeing so many Christian youth gathered in that church all dancing and praising Jesus (especially in a country that doesn't really practice faith) was the most uplifting thing I have EVER seen! I was almost brought to tears.

After that I attended my House Bible study. A few people in the house know what I am going through and more importantly what my mom and family is going through. But, when we went around for prayer requests I just couldnt hold back the tears. Usually when people ask about my mom I am calm and collected and stated the facts in a highly eloquent manner. Tonight I just couldnt control myself for some reason.

Once we were done with the Bible study, I went to check my facebook. My dads secretary had written me a message telling me to call my dad ASAP cause my mom had accepted a Liver! I ran to call my dad and sure enough the Liver is being transported and checked as I write this!

All in all to day was an amazingly spiritual day for me! and I cant wait to see what God wants to shape me to be!

Inside Scoop

2009-10-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just as I am settling in.... We leave for Greece in a little over a WEEK! Which means mid-Term things THIS week! fun.... I actually am quite proud of myself for keeping ontop of my homework, I was the first one out of my science class to finish our Essay (a majority of them haven't even started it) and I finished it almost a week ago. So I get a gold star I think!

All my classes are going surprisingly good. The classes here are actually interesting, Who knew? and the Professors are absolutely the BEST I have ever had (and this is coming from a whole 1 year of college experience haha). The plays for english are a bit boring and dull and the professor thinks its a great idea to watch the movie of the plays we read. At 8 AM? right professor getting college students up at 8 to watch a movie we know all the words to and turn off all the lights is a GREAT idea? haha... not... Its actually quite hilarious when I look behind me and see that half the class (and occasionally the professor) has fallen asleep.Other than that, classes are lively and exciting which may have a great deal to do with the weekly museum visits.

As for adjusting to life in London, well thats an entirely different story! So I cannot count how many times I have nearly been hit by a car (sorry mom and dad)! I guess you never realize this in America, but we are trained to look to the Left when crossing a street.... this is WRONG. The cars drive on the opposite side (whoops). Also, I am an extremely LOUD and outgoing person, appearently people here are quiet and reserved (another whoops). Also, there are little differences that I cant even remember but they are very different. Its like learning a whole new way of living. The best thing is that now I dont even notice people have an accent anymore. Its like I got used to it, which in a way is sad, but now it seems quite natural to me.

Living in this house is GREAT! I love people, and the high desert generally isn't this exciting 24/7! so I am adjusting to the 6 people in my room AND the 41 in the house... I have met so many new friends and I feel like this house was so well put together. In fact the professors say that we are very different than previous groups. According to professor Hicks, "you are the most quiet, Well-behaved group we have had". Also Carolyn, the Director or "headmistress" as we like to call her, said we are the most healt conscious too. Which in my opinion is a steryotype. I mean you get 3 vegitarians, 1 vegan, and a person who ONLY EATS ORGANIC food and we are all "health conscious"? she obviously hasn't seen us eat at meals. Not to mention, when every Wed. night we get a Dessert made for us in the kitchen!

Here is the deal with equestrian. I LOVE GULLIVER! he is sweet and hasn't thrown me off once! :). which is a plus in my book. The group I go riding with consists of 6 girls and its so much fun! every week I look forward to it. I have realized that our group is BY FAR the funniest and most liveliest group. We go at 11:00 AM and we have to walk so far to the stables. First of all, I have had my horse 3 consecutive times and I have gotten quite good at trotting and I tried cantering (running?) today! Our horses and people are hysterical... My horse decides to eat trees (appearently it really likes to eat!) so when it ate a tree I was the one who got the blame! Sure lady who runs the stables I know how to stop a horse I have only been on once from eating a tree! (good job Gulliver!). Another girl had a horse that, previous to her ride, had bitten the instructor! I am glad it wasn't me and when she asked what happened to her old horse appearently it got hauled off to disability services. The girls respose to this was "well thats why I liked him so much, he was slow like me!". Another girl had a horse that was afraid of EVERYTHING. You name it bag, leaf, a statue he had never seen before. So that horse is nuts! I just pray that everythime I get Gully so I dont DIE while riding!

Future plans= Italy for fall break? only it is quite expensive so it depends if I can save up, if not I will be here at the house for a week BY MYSELF! Sad....

Likes=
The food is actually really good here
There is a Taylor swift concert Nov. 23 and I AM GOING!
Speaking as if I am British and NOT realizing it
Gulliver
the AMAZING people in the house
T.V. time

Dislikes=
Money issues
Mommy issues
Not being able to see the Jonas Brothers the night before taylor swift
NO NEW MOON PREMIERE IN LONDON (really summit entertainment really?)

Kew Gardens tomorrrow!!!

Music of the Night

2009-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

There is really only one word that can descibe the performance of Phantom of the Opera I saw last
night... AMAZING!!!

Phantom of the Opera is playing over at Her Majesty's theater, Which was where the musical was originally written for. A bunch of us went together as a group, but we split up due to the cost and what people wanted to pay. Which is why I was in the back row.But in my defense the tickets did only cost 27 pounds. Being in the back sounds like a drag, but the seats were amazing. There really is no bad seat in that house! The theater itself was a sight to see itself it really did show what the theater was like in older times. The theater is the oldest theater still in operation today so you can only imagine what an experience it was. What with its rickety stairs and old carpets. The cast was also spectacular, it was by far the most talented cast out of any musical I have ever seen. The phantom literally gave me chills every time he sung, Gerard Butler has nothing on him.

Gulliver... That's the name of my horse! I love him so much! At first I was super afraid that I was going to be allergic to horses, but it turns out I might not be. Some people say he is old and senile, but actually I think he is just scatter-brained like me! So apparently horses aren't allowed to eat trees who knew? and when my horse decided that was a good idea he simply walked over and started eating. Bear in mind this is the second time I have been on a horse so I have no idea what I am doing. So when the instructor yells at me to keep him from eating the trees what am I supposed to do? Trotting is very hard for me as well and good old Gulliver decided to trot whenever he feels like it with out getting a cue for me or for the instructors. Basically this caused me to nearly fall off my horse multiple times. But, other than that I love horseback riding and when I get home MOM AND DAD I WANT A HORSE!!!

The Art of Bonding

2009-09-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

If you think about it, bonding is a very wierd concept. You can go into a situation not knowing anything about a person (or people in my case) and then when you least expect it, you can begin to form friendships. I mean people bond over life struggles and something you have in common. But, some bonding experiences happen (more often in my case) when you are just being yourself and enjoying peoples company.

Being in a house with 41 college students may sound tough. But, here it is actually quite easy. Sure there are clicks and everything, but generally people branch out and make new friends that they never would have noticed otherwise. This London house has been time and time again contrasted to earlier groups and appearently we are the most quiet, well behaved, and most health conscience people (I dont know where that one came from ha) that this faculty has ever seen. What makes us so different?

The house in general has had a lot of opportunities to begin bonding. As wierd as it may sound, the Swine flu scare in our house was one of the very first experiences. Also little things like watching T.V. shows together. Specifically because american T.V. doesn't come on til 8 hours after it appears in Cali. (and I am not staying up until 4 AM to watch Gossip Girl) we tend to have a T.V. gathering to watch shows that interest us.

Now I have always been made fun of by EVERYONE of how ditzy and "blonde" i am, but here everyone thinks its hysterical. I dont quite know why. but, even me doing stupid things is a way I am bonding and forming closer relationships. Just being myself can go a long way. It is kind of like jumping headfirst into a swimming pool. I just have to do it as opposed to being closed off.

You really do learn a lot about yourself when you are in a foreign country with people you didnt really know.

Sickness and Perseverance

2009-09-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

So I knew what I was getting into when I came here. Away from family and friends and more importantly away from my mom. Now that they are all in the states (except Cindy) who do I turn to when my life isn't going for the best? Sure there are people in the house I am close to, but am I close enough to them to tell them how my mom is in and out of the Hospital awaiting for a liver transplant? I dont think that after the first week of knowing these people I should feel comfertable enough to tell them. and even if I do feel comfertable where do I begin?

Sickness is a part of everyday life. People get sick, then they get better. That's how it works right? So its only a matter of time before my mom gets her transplant right? Tonight we had a bible study in the Apartment of our professor. Coincidentally enough it was about perseverance through trials. What I took out of it at least. I apply scripture to my everyday life and a lot of stuff that was discussed tonight hit home for me. Ultimately God has a plan it is just hard to see it now, but he is in control of the situation. My faith at this point is highly being tested right now and I am trying as hard as I can to pull through this one. My family and I am being pushed to pull together and trust God. But, being so far away makes it harder to adjust. My mom's illness is definitly a HUGE concern in my life and I am finding it difficult to focus on anything but that.

I don't mean to be a downer or upset my mom by posting this, but who else do I turn to when you all are so far away? I guess I knew what to expect, but I also thought that this (London) is where I needed to be and so did my mom. My friends and family might be upset I chose London over my family or whatever, but thats not the case. I didnt chose london over family, on the contrary I came here for my own health. I wouldn't be able to deal with everything if I was overthere. Sad as it is to say I need distractions. For me not to lose faith, here is where I need to be. No matter how much my heart is telling me otherwise. I am sorry for the people I am letting down by being here, but I feel good about being here.

I am praying Each moment of the day for my mom to get better. Whether it be in class, walking in hyde park, or even on the tube. I love you mom SOOOOOOO MUCH and I hope you get better soon!

Stonhenge and Salisbury

2009-09-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

So waking up at 8 o clock to sit on a bus for 2 hours to stonhenge isn't exactly how I like to spend my friday mornings, but what the heck.

We got up early and drove to stonhenge. Again, everyone slept on the bus EXCEPT me. Great. and when we got there and it was literally like 20 degrees. Burrrrrrrr..... but, it was a good thing I was bundled up.

So the story with stonhenge is that it shows how advanced the people were many years ago . Its a pretty famous sight, but it was smaller that I expected. Other tales of why and how stonhenge got there was because of aliens. which is true?, you tell me. But, we walked around for an hour taking pictures and admiring it before we set off for salisbury.

Now, I have no idea what is so special about salisbury other than the fact it has a HUGE cathedral. O yea... and the magna carta was there. Salisbury is a little town and very remote.
We had lunch (I had the BEST potato and cheese patty). The cathedral itself was immaculate, complete with dead people buried inside. Kinda creepy.

But, anyways the trip was worth it and all in all I had a blast!

Wait... We Actually have to go to school?

2009-09-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

So appearently when in a Pepperdine abroad program, you HAVE to attend classes... haha

First of all, My professors are brilliant and they think we need to EXPERIENCE London and not just sit in a classroom and learn that way , but by seeing all London has to offer.

I am enrolled in English: Modern british literature, Science:A way of Knowing, Humanities 212, Art and Architecture, and Equestrian.

Basically in modern British Literature we read a play (about 100 pages) then we discuss it in class. The next time we meet, we watch a movie of the play. Do you see WHY I love my english class so much? and to top it all off the professor says it gets easier and its just a heavy load for now. right... you call this heavy professor? I think not. Also, we are seeing 4 different plays live throughout the course.

Next, Science. Yuck right? but We go to a museum once a week and study the ancient ways of science then we lecture the next day on why it was important. This class is quite simple too. Except for the 6-8 page paper I have due in 2 weeks... YIKES!

For Art and Architecture, we just simply go to galleries and look at paintings. Our professor Rachel Barnes is genius. She tells the story of the paintings rather than the dull details of how it was created. Class seems to fly so fast with her.

Humanities is still the same. Lecture one day, museum the next.

EQUESTRIAN is great. I had never ridden before and I very well might be allergic, but that is not stopping me whatsoever. My horse was named Guliver appearently he was an older horse. I was lterally TERRIFIED of trotting, I was pretty convinced I was going to fall off and get trampled. Good news... I didn't! :)

Day 3

2009-09-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, I began my first week in London...

Orientation into the culture was divided into 3 ways
-Learning about your house (Day 1)
- Venturing around your neighborhood (Day 2)
- and finally, being thrown out into the city and figuring out a way to get home (Day 3)

Our last day of orientation we had a scavenger hunt to view the city of London. Let me tell you its not a generally small city. We were divided into groups of 5 and sent out to take pictures of monuments and places to be found. I am glad the boys of my group could figure out the bus schedule cause I would have been utterly lost. My group and I discovered the city while having a blast along the way. Some points of intrest were:
-Picadilly circus
-The Ritz
-Buckingham Palace (no dad, the queen does not live there)
-National Gallery
-London Eye
-Royal Opera House

The public transportation system is pure GENIOUS I admire the man who invinted the tube

...and We're off...

2009-09-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Leaving for London was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do in my life. Not only did I have to leave my friends and family behind, but I had to venture out on my own.

I felt all alone when my dad left me at the airport. To tell you the truth I didnt know really anyone in my program of 41 people. I only recognized a few faces. A lot of people dont really know this about me, or they tend to forget as soon as they get to know me, but I am a very shy person. SHOCKER right? I would rather be approached then approach someone so learning to branch out was quite difficult for me. But, in the end I did make friends with the people on the plane.

The plane ride itself was miserable for me. I dont sleep on planes/cars/ busses/ well u get the picture, and as a result I had to suffer through the 10 hour plane ride in the middle of the night no less without sleep.

The plane landed (finally) in London, England at 11:23AM (London time) or about 2:23 AM (American time). Mind you I had been up for 18 hours at this point and I was excited. Getting off the plane was ridiculous! WE had to stand in a long line at customs, then get our baggage.

Now, I have always been a heavy packer. I need 3 suitcases just for a 5 day vacation, so you can imagine how much crap I was convinced I needed to bring to London. Basically I packed the DAY BEFORE I left. I packed my suitcases full just the way I wanted them. Appearently airplanes have a weight limit (who knew? Just Kidding). So I tried comparing my luggage to my nephew. My bag was WAY to heavy. Finally, I got a scale aand as it turns out one of my bags was nearly 80 pounds (AFTER I had already taken out a lot of things!). So I pretty much had to repack everything. I guess what I am trying to say is that, have you ever pulled 100 pounds, a laptop, a purse, and yourself through a crowded airport following 40 people with being awake for 20 hours straight. Let me tell you, Its VERY hard!

We got on the coach out of the airport and I immediately was terrified that the cars were driving by on the Opposite side of the road! and for that hour coach ride I pretty much freaked out everytime a car passed.

The rooms were assigned when we got to the house and I got put in a room with 5 other people. I love people so it wasn't that difficult for me to adjust. I absolutely LOVE it! our room is HUGE and everyone of my roommates is super nice!

As program directors, it is their job to help us settle in and more importantly get over Jet lag. That is why they kept us super busy so a nap was out of the question! o BOY! Now I had been up for 24 hours straight. Geez...

We were kept busy with oreintation stuff ALL day and into the night. Money is another thing I encountered the first day. A pound here is $1.70 American dollars. So, if I buy food for 5 pounds it is actually 7 or 8 bucks back home. GREAT....

So finally, at the end of day 1 I went to bed at midnight (London) or 4 PM (California). With a grand total of being up for 32 hours straight. AMAZING

London- The Beginning

2009-09-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

So, let me first say that London is AMAZING! I absolutely love it here and have adjusted quite well. I am keeping a blog on my Adventures and travel and I hope to post regularly...