Merry Christmas!

Hey guys!
These past weeks have been really busy with tests and work, so I haven't written. I figured you wouldn't want to hear about each library study session or piece of work due. Now though, break has begun! The snow here is so pretty. It's been snowing for almost a month (with some breaks-it hasn't been constant), and I still really like it.

It's super weird to be here because everyone is gone except for Kaylee and I. We live in a flat of 8 people, and it's odd to think that we'll be the only ones here for the next few weeks. It's only been two days and I miss everyone haha. I'm really glad that we won't be staying here the whole time.

Tuesday, Kaylee and I are gonna go visit Niamh in Ireland! Her family invited us to stay for Christmas. And then after that I'm off to Norway! Woo!

I feel like my entries keep getting shorter and shorter, what do you guys wanna know?

Love you guys! have a good break and enjoy your time off and with family and everything!

Playlist

Alright, so I have just remembered, as I foolishly procrastinate my lab report writing, that I said I'd dedicate a post to music over here. I'm not really sure of the best way to do this, as I haven't actually bought any of the music, so I think my plan is gonna be youtube. Ill post the links here, and you can listen to them at your will.

Duck Sauce- Barbara Streisand
This song is way better without all the people talking. Especially Barbara Streisand.

Cheryl Cole- Promise This

Katy B- End too Soon

Yolanda be cool- papa l'americano

Take That- The Flood

Biffy Clyro- Bubbles

I know there are more, but this is it for now, as I do need to write this dumb thing. later guys.

Good morning!

What's up guys?

It's been about two weeks since we last "spoke." In that time, quite a bit has happened. Firstly, last weekend I went to Amsterdam! Minus the eternal bus rides, it was so cool! Amsterdam, as it turns out, has more canals in the city than any other city in Europe. Even more than Venice! When we got there, we went to breakfast and ate the best food ever. Literally, these pancakes were the most delicious thing I've eaten in two months. This is what mine looked like; please forgive the hobo-ness haha, we were just off the bus.

Breakfast eaten, we went on the walking tour, and learned all kinds of fun facts for three hours or so. We walked from one end of the city to the other. That's one thing that I didn't expect- Amsterdam is actually pretty small, but there is a lot of stuff there. We walked past Anne Frank's house and the red light district.  The oldest prostitute in Amsterdam is rumored to be 82 years old, with her own room, and...brace yourself...a two week wait list! Umm....no thank you!

After the walking tour, Hanna (my Norwegian friend) and I went back to Anne Frank's house and met up with a bunch of people we knew completely by accident haha. We all went to the museum and saw the rooms that the Franks and the others lived in for two years. If you haven't read the book, you should.

We got some dinner at a nice Italian restaurant after Anne Frank, followed by a night on the town. It was quite an early night though, because Hanna, this girl Claire, and I were tired. So we went home early haha. The next day, the three of us got up early and went to the Van Gogh museum. It was pretty cool, he was a really talented painter, and the sheer volume of his work is pretty astounding. I mean, he only painted for around 11 years, and came out with 900 paintings, among another few hundred drawings.

We went shopping after hanging out with Van Gogh, and it was a lot of fun! I didn't buy much, but walking around in the stores and seeing the different style of the city. Turns out the Netherlands has more tall people than any other country in Europe. I felt short while walking down the street for one of the first, or perhaps the very first, time in my (adult) life. You know how when you go shopping sometimes, there's that group of shorter, older women (like 50's-60's) that are all together and just hanging out? They usually are at least a head shorter than me, but there, we were the same height. It was pretty weird.

Saturday was shopping day, and Saturday night was the red light bar crawl. That was a good night. We went to five different bars and ended up at a club, just dancin away. I have developed a new appreciation for the club scene since being here- it's pretty fun :)

Waking up Sunday morning was pretty interesting, but once we were on the bus, sleep came pretty easily. Bye bye Amsterdam!

This week was pretty good, but busy as usual. We are getting a lot more work as the semester winds down. I've got another test on Monday for chemistry, despite having just taken one last Monday. Ugh. On Wednesday, Kaylee and I went to the store for Thanksgiving food, and it was snowing! It's been snowing off and on since then too, it's been really nice. On Friday, Kaylee and I made (ok, mostly Kaylee) Thanksgiving dinner for us and around 8 or 9 other people. It was a lot of fun, especially since a bunch of them had never had Thanksgiving before. Christmas dinner is their big holiday dinner here.

I'll put pictures of the snow and of Thanksgiving on facebook eventually, but it may be a while haha. Gotta run, time to study!

Supa quick

Hey Guys,
this isn't actually an entry, I just wanted to post this link because it's funny and gives you a sort of flavo(u)r for what some things are like here. Yay John Cleese!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/23vccv/starrgazr.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/john-cleeses-letter-to-america/

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

Hey Everyone!

Minus my nearly epic cough, this week has been a good one. Yesterday was a lot of fun because of Guy Fawkes Day. You know the movie V for Vendetta? The day that V is always talking about is Nov 5, and the reason is that a guy tried to blow up Parliament and was unsuccessful. Turns out, that's a legitimate reason to celebrate here! So last night, they had a carnival set up, and a huge bonfire that was burning a big wicker man who looked like he was holding London above his head, and fireworks! They don't celebrate 4th of July here, as they don't have cause to celebrate our independence from them. So that ended up being a lot of fun.

You guys. Yesterday, when I was walking out from my flat, I saw the biggest earthworm I've ever seen in my life. This thing, no exaggeration, was at least 8 inches long. Maybe even 10. Biggest. Earthworm. Ever.

Anyway, on the agenda this week is to hopefully buy some new shirts and see Due Date. Don't tell me anything about it!

Later guys!

Legalize it (?)

Hey guys!

Just wanted to let you know I am indeed  (sorta) keeping up with election time in CA! Obviously, the marijuana prop is the most fun one. Any thoughts? Ideas? Comments, rants, raves?

I just watched Obama on Jon Stewart. My two favorite television men were on the same show....it was lovely. I think I'll watch it again actually. My mom sent me a package and I just got it today. Yay!! She sent me packages ( or packets, as they're called here) of cookie mix, and almonds that aren't stale, and Double Stufs, along with alfredo and ranch packets, and duct tape! And a light up bouncy ball. I guess I am destined to always have one of those, no matter where I go haha. It was really really nice though! Thanks Mom!

Halloween is comin up! I went to a party on Wednesday (yeah, I went out on a Wednesday night lol) as an Egyptian! It was awesome. I am gonna be a ballerina on Saturday as well, which will be cool. Unless I want to be Egyptian again haha.

I have decided that Alexandre Dumas is my favorite author. Turns out I really like French Romanticism as a literary style- it's full of adventure and twists and turns; plus, there is no need to analyse it, but you can if you want. Oh. No. I am starting to spell like them! They switch their z's for s's a lot... Ah oh well. Anyway, Dumas. And Hugo. Both are excellent. Just throwin it out there.

yesterday my flatmates and I got into a discussion about pronunciation, which happens at least once a week, but this time was funny, so I'll try to paint a picture for you. We were talking about the mounds of sand in the desert (not really sure why). Dunes. With a D. They say (and I am not exaggerating) Junes. With a J. They think it's a D, but really, it's a J. Then we started talking about the stuff outside on the grass in the mornings. Dew. I think you can see where this is going. Jew. There's Jew on the grass. hahaha that sounds so bad. it was a good conversation.

I am still on the hunt for the Chinless Wonder my mom is so terrified of- I'll keep you posted.

I have got class pretty soon, and then I am gonna go to a waffle party. By the way, waffle here can mean "useless filler." For example, when writing an essay, you don't want to waffle on about something. This party is dedicated to the food though, which will be fun. Waffles. (Now I bet you want chicken and waffles, right my LA friends? lol)

You're welcome.

Special Hello to Crystal, as we haven't spoken for some time and I miss you.

That's about it for now, love you guys!

London

Hey guys,
I promised a more interesting blog this time, so here we go!

Tuesday, I went to Cambridge for a field trip for my biodiversity class, which was pretty cool. We started at the zoological museum, which, by the way, is on campus. They have a museum full of bones and other representations of animals on their campus. I can't exactly say I'm jealous, but I think it is pretty cool. They had this HUGE skeleton of a whale outside too, it was massive! I learned what a magpie looks like, and that they are ALL over my school. Magpies are like the seagulls at RB lol. Everywhere. After the zoo museum, we went to the gardens to study the plants there. Woo. It ended up being fun though, because I had a good group and because we met up with a teacher who studies plants, and he showed us around and gave us answers to questions. It started raining while we were outside in the gardens, and at first we didn't really pay attention to it. Rain here is different, sometimes it really does just whisper. You barely even know it's there. A while after the rain started, we went to the greenhouses. After being there for a few minutes, the rain just started pouring. And then the hail started. We were surrounded by cactuses (cacti?) when it was hailing outside haha; greenhouses are pretty cool. We drove by the campus of Cambridge, and I am totally serious when I say these people go to school in castles. it's awesome. This is a picture of the campus:

It's so cool! Look up more online if you are so inclined, it really is awesome. 

Ok, so that was Cambridge. On to London. 

On Friday I caught a train after class and was in the city within two hours. I met up with Dad and we got some dinner. Then we walked around Knightsbridge, which was where the hotel was, for quite a while. By this time, it was pretty late, so we went back and watched tv until bedtime. The next day, we went to the Museum of Natural History, where the dinosaurs were! We saw other stuff too, but the dinosaurs were the coolest. After the museum, we went shopping! Yaaayyyyyy! It took a while, but I got some good stuff and it was fun. We went to Harrods, which is probably one of the most interesting stores ever. Picture Nordstroms or Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales is nicer I think, so picture that one. This store is divided into different rooms, depending on what you want. So they have a whole room for purses, another for perfume, etc. They also have a huge section in the center that looks like a market. You can buy raw meat and veggies there. Remember, this place is like Bloomingdales. With food. They have literally everything from apples to jackets that cost $16,000 to fossils or black jade for house decoration. So walking around there was pretty fun haha. Turns out I don't like expensive things though, so we didn't buy anything there. We also went to Westfield, which is the biggest shopping mall I have ever been to in my life. It's at least 6 times the size of North County, and at least 4 times the size of Powell. Good times!

After shopping, we went back to the hotel, got some sandwiches, and got ready to go to a Michael Jackson tribute concert, Thriller. Dad has been really into Michael since he watched This is It, so he got tickets for this show. The show was really cool, these people just danced and sang to all the hits for two hours, and it was a lot of fun! Thriller was over around 10, but we didn't want to go back right away, so we walked around again. We walked to this one hotel and ate some awesome dessert and then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel, around 12 am. Dad had to leave early the next morning, so we went to sleep. He left and I did a little more shopping before leaving as well. Getting back was a lot tougher than getting to London because on Sundays they do construction on the railways. So, instead of taking 2 hours, it took around 4. It was nice though, I basically just listened to music the whole time. 

Dad says hello to everyone! Hope you all are having a good time! Love you! 

Ava

More (non) events

Hey Everyone!

This week has been good. Lots of class, not lots of work outside of class, which is nice.

The weekend was weird because Aoibhinn and Naimh were gone, as were James and Swany. I was going to be gone as well, but then I realized I'd mixed up the dates. Good news for you guys I guess, it means that next week's entry will be more exciting! I am gonna be in London! Anyway, this weekend, Kaylee and I hung out together a whole lot. We went out on Friday after watching Brokeback Mtn and met some cool kids on the bus, so we hung out with them all night. This guy with a girlfriend was hitting on me that night. Always fun. ugh.

Yesterday, we hung out with our flatmates Donald, Nick, and Mike. We all had dinner, and then Mike had ordered 2 pizzas, so we ate those as well. It was so nice to spend time with everyone because usually everyone is kinda just doing their own thing. Mike and I learned the Soulja Boy dance from Kaylee, which was entertaining, especially for everyone else when I crashed into the trash can. After dinner and hanging out, Kaylee and I went to the LCR, which is basically the club on campus. They set it up a few times a week and people go to drink and dance. I tried a sip of red bull and vodka, and it was pretty good!

Today has been pretty lazy. I went to the library with my friend to study for a test. It's around 4 pm now, and I'm pretty proud of that productivity. This week should be fun because on Tuesday I am going to go to Cambridge with my Biodiversity class to look at the plants. Obviously, the exciting part will be Cambridge, which is supposed to be beautiful, but I'm sure that I'll have some fun facts for you about the plants when I get back. Speaking of fun facts, I learned a great one.

Do you know what a sea cucumber is? it looks like this:

Right. So when something comes along and thinks it looks tasty, this little guy literally spits out his internal organs for the predator to eat. Let me run that by you again. It spits. out. its. guts. Most sea cucumbers are able to regenerate their stomachs and gonads and whatever else they spit out, so the predator eats and the sea cucumber gets away. However, some sea cucumbers slipped through the cracks and are unable to regenerate. This makes the defense mechanism rather pointless.

PS- if you have any doubts, you can look this up on youtube. No joke.

I think that's about it for now, but next week should be better what with all the traveling around.

Love you!

New Words and weekends

Hey everyone!

I have more words to add to the list. A "twitcher," apparently, is a nickname for bird watcher. Yeah. And a solicitor is a lawyer. There are two types of lawyers here, solicitors or barristers.

This weekend was pretty good. Turns out that getting drunk doesn't necessarily mean that I will be mean and tired. That's pretty cool, because drinking is a huge part of the culture here. British kids start drinking at like 14, which I think is a little earlier than most US kids (although I could be mistaken I guess). The legal age is 18, which is the age of university students, generally, so the campus has no qualms about selling alcohol everywhere. There is a Union pub, and a bar I think, and they sell all kinds of stuff at the little grocery store type thing on campus. Even at school events, there is a bartender. Often more than one actually. So I am quickly learning that alcohol is only as big a deal as you make it, provided you are careful.

More good news: Jersey Shore is much loved around here. The only person I have met who didn't like it was the other American girl, Kaylee. By the way, I learned how to spell Aoibhinn's name finally.
A-o-i-b-h-i-n-n. Naimh's name wasn't as tough to learn.

Yesterday was nice because after everyone woke up, we all went to go get lunch. After lunch, we went and sat out by the lake on campus. This lake is very nice; it's pretty in a different way than lake Merced. And it's closer. I would've liked to say that they haven't found a body in this one, but I think they actually did at some point...

Anyway, being out by the lake was cool, we just sat and talked and made dumb jokes and stuff. Good fun, good fun.

I guess it may get tiring to read about all the little things that happen around here, but when something big happens I'll let you know!

Vocab

Hey everyone!

I know you guys all know that some of the words here are different. Sometimes they sound different, and sometimes they mean different things. But I also know some that you don't. Here's a fun list lol. The British word is on the left, the American is on the right

Crisps= chips

Chips= French Fries

Packet= package/ container or wrapper of some sort. Not a stack of paper. 

Maths= math

Trousers= pants

Pants= underwear

Herb= herb. The difference here is the H. Here, it's pronounced. 

Pasta= italian style pasta/ one piece of this pasta. If you say noodles, they think you mean Asian style noodles.

Walkers= Lays. The weirdest thing ever. Think about a bag of Lays potato chips (or crisps lol). Red bag, rad circle thing with the word Lays written in the center. Now, replace the word Lays with Walkers. I kid you not; check my facebook. 

37 degrees= normal body temperature

I guess this list isn't as extensive as I'd hoped. Oh well, I'm sure more will be added as time moves on. 

Today was a good day. I went to class, and I had about an hour for  break, so I came back to my room. I have started sitting on my windowsill (which is sorta big enough) and reading my favorite author. So I opened my window and sat and right away a bug flew at me! I shook it off and thought to myself "I think that was a ladybug!" Then, another one landed on me! There were a total of four different lady bugs around my window when I opened it. They all looked really different too; one had lots of spots, another one was black with red spots, and one was yellow with black spots. I thought it was pretty cool. Especially since the day was so pretty today. No rain! Yesterday afternoon was the same way. I love it when there's no rain here, because the campus is gorgeous. There are no sprinklers here, grass just grows naturally, and it's everywhere. There is a lake too, surrounded by trees. It's almost visible from my room, but there is a big hill in my way. The buildings here have a lot of thought put into them. There are sidewalks that are more like bridges than anything, so you don't have to walk where cars or back alleys are to get to class. 

Classes are tough. I have class Mon-Fri, for hours at a time. At least daily I have classes that are back to back, often three or four classes back to back. One other difference here is that the classes meet on different days at different times. In the States, you'll have class Tues and Thurs at 1:00. Here, I'd have a class Tuesday at 3, Thursday at 1. So that's been odd. 

One of the biggest differences between here and there is the knowledge they have of America, especially compared to the knowledge I have of Britain. We were talking about politics because I was trying to figure out how they work here, and the American girl on my flat was there. She made a comment about Bush, and one of the Irish girls asked what she'd said. She passed it off saying "Oh just something about one of our presidents." The girl asked which one, and rolled her eyes and scoffed when she heard Bush. She goes," Tch. Of course I know who that is."

Now, who can name three British PMs? See what I mean? It is really different. PS- the current Prime Minister is David Cameron. He named his opponent Nick Clegg as a sort of assistant Prime Minister as well, so they are working together, but Cameron wears the pants in this relationship. I now wonder why it is that America is so self centered. I realize that a large part of it has to do with information, what is presented and what isn't. I just wonder why only American information is presented. Why European politics are never addressed, except briefly in a historical context. 

So, lots of thinking going on over here. Hope everyone is well State-side. 

Ava

Two new posts!

This one is a quick one though. I just wanted to let everyone know that my "meeting people in weird ways" trait is alive and well. I was sitting on my bed, deciding not to open my laptop and instead do something more productive, when i looked out my window. I live on the second story, but there was a guy standing outside, looking in.

...

He smiled and waved so, I went to the window, and he told me about how my room was his old room and asked me what the flat was like now and everything. It was kinda sweet, you could tell he really enjoyed his time here (like we did in 212). But.

Still weird.

Double Rainbow !!!

haha now I fit in! stupid double rainbows.

First things first, I have been listening to Mumford & Sons all week, and I gave it a break today (until now haha), and I super love them. This is beyond regular loving of a band. I know I'm gonna get sick of them, but right now, their songs are like crack to my eardrums.

Ok, moving on.

We went into town today to buy grocery type things. I PROMISE to take pics of the town soon, I just am cautious to because the pictures I take won't really explain the feeling here. It's quieter than San Fran, and much, much older. It feels..inspiring in a way. Especially the older part of town, even though there are newer shops. The roads are stone and a lot of the buildings are brick. Turns out Norwich is famous because you can go to a different church every day of the year, and a different pub every night! Alright, I will take pictures soon and try to describe more of it when there's an image to accompany it.

Then, tonight we went out again. Last night was MUCH better than tonight. Last night we stayed at our place and pre-drank, which is a big deal here. Everyone pre-drinks before they go out. I think the idea is to save money on buying drinks while you're out. Sometimes it works and sometimes not so much haha. Then we went to a couple clubs, and generally had a good time. Tonight just wasn't as good, partly because I wasn't feeling it, and partly because Aibhilin and Naimh weren't either. Aoibhinn and Naimh are the two Irish girls on my flat. Their names are pronounced Aveen and Neev haha, I guess the Irish just use a lot of different letters. Turns out there is no letter V in Irish, so bh or mh combines to make the sound. Weird huh?

Good news! Aobhinn told me that the group we hang out with likes me, and they think I'm cool. Obviously, you all know this, but I wanted to let you know that I am not a reject with no friends here haha. I was a little worried there for awhile, but I think we're good! yay!

The weather here is not quite as bad as you might expect, which is nice. It's a lot like SF, except more unpredictable. Today, for example, I woke up to bright sunshine. Well, reasonably bright. And now, it's raining. This happens pretty often here. Apparently, this is one of the rainiest areas in England, so this whole hair straightening/straight bangs is not gonna work haha. Does anyone have any ideas to tame this lion mane of mine? Ahem Jamie?

Classes this semester are gonna be intense, so I can't promise to blog a whole, whole lot, but I know this thing gets checked often :) so I'll try to at least post a little something every now and again!

I love you guys, I miss you, don't fly kites in lightning storms or anything risky and dangerous of that nature!

Lion around

Haha that was a pun.

I haven't had class yet; I start tomorrow, so today has been pretty lazy. I went into town though, and I had a cornish pasty. They sound awful, but they're pretty good. You know how a calzone is pizza in a shell? It's like that, but they put stuff besides pizza in. Mine had salmon and potatoes and...onion I think. Something else. Turns out that in Norwich, you can go to a different church and a different pub every day of the year. Anyway, going into town wasn't my best idea, because now I think I'm getting sick. We had a speech given to us by the head doctor at the medical center, who said we would all get sick, due to the fact that we aren't immune to the bacteria here. I didn't think I'd get sick two days after he said that. ugh. Hopefully it goes away!

Last night there was a show in the LCR (which is where the icebreaker thing was, and where other events happen), and the Irish girls in my flat invited me to pre-drink with them, so I did. But not much haha, because Ava drunk is a bad situation. Remember how I got super grumpy when I was tired? (and sometimes still do?) It's EXACTLY like that. It was fun hanging out and playing drinking games with everyone though.

So, not a whole lot of news at this point. More later I guess!

Norwich

Hey Everyone!

I am officially moved in :)

Once I get some hangers, I will even be unpacked! I will tell you more about my room in a second, first I want to tell you more about London. I will keep it short, considering you guys are all on facebook and have access to the mountain of photos there haha. In short, the British Museum was epic. Truly life altering. Go if you ever have the chance.

After the museum, we went on a bus tour for like 3 hours, so we heard a lot of info and I remember almost none of it. I did learn though, that Westminster Abbey was built in 1066. And is standing still. It did have some remodeling done though. In the 1400's. So this building has been around for a super long time. That is almost 1000 years. Crazy!

The next day we left reasonably early to catch a train to Norwich. Long story short, the journey was very frustrating and my suitcase handle broke off. But we made it to the train, and as soon as I'm done writing this I will post pictures of the train ride, because it was really really pretty.

We made it to the school with no real problem; the town is beautiful. I can't tell how big it is though, because it seems small, but then when I want to go somewhere, it's big. And everyone says it's a small town, but there are quite a few bus routes. So I guess the town is medium sized haha. The people here have been very friendly so far, including the people on my floor.

Well, floor is really the wrong word; the word I wanted was flat. Each door accesses 6 flats, 2 on each floor. Each flat has 8 rooms. Each person has their own room and own bathroom, and each flat shares a kitchen. Basically, yes I have my own room and bathroom, no I don't have my own kitchen, and yes or no to any other questions haha.

My room is pretty much set up, minus coat hangers and a cute boy! Lol. Classes start Monday, and I'm taking a lot of bio courses. 70 credits, as they are called here, and all are devoted to Bio. They don't really do General Ed here, as far as I can tell; they have a three year program and you focus on studying and go to work.

Alright I think that's about it..ask me your questions! I gave you paragraphs this time, so your cute little eyes don't pop out!

See ya

Londinium- part 1

Hey Errbody!

We made it!! Ok so here's the story, as well as I can remember it. After a few last minute goodbyes (Crystal, Jamie, Derek!), Dad and I went to the airport and flew to Dallas with no trouble. Until we landed. When we landed, we had a little less than half an hour to make it from terminal A to terminal D. Not a big deal, except that we landed late, and the plane had to hang out on the runway for a little while. So Dad and I are sitting there, getting more and more nervous as he tells me about the time he missed an international flight to Budapest in a very similar circumstance. Then the flight attendant announced that our flight was delayed! Yay! (how often do you hear those words?) We hurried off the plane as soon as we could and took the little train thingy (which was a lot like the one at SFO, but a tad nicer), and then we got to our gate. They had already boarded around half the people, but we made the flight.

I have learned one thing from continually flying coach overnight. Sleep is terrible and hard to come by. On this plane, the seats were very close together, the plane was so cold that my toes were numb even with my shoes, and my only covering was a blanket-like table runner. Flying over England was really cool though; even the clouds felt different. I dunno, I understand that clouds are basically the same everywhere, but over the green fields and fairy tale houses, they seemed to be more fluffy, and more pretty. But that was probably me haha. Anyway, flying over England was beautiful. On the West Coast, we flew straight over the dry, brown, isolated desert, and here we flew over green fields and brown fields, constantly arrayed in different patterns. We even saw sheep grazing just a few minutes before we landed. Finally the wheels touched down and we (after waiting a few minutes) reached the gate. Then came Immigration, where we waited in line and spoke to a really nice lady who let me into the UK, even though I forgot the ONE paper I was supposed to remember. Now that you are probably laughing and shaking your head-we got our bags and went through customs, which was basically like walking through a metal detector, but must have beeped if you tried to bring in illegal things. Luckily, the guy who was working the scanner in San Diego kindly eliminated my brand new, obviously dangerous, super smelly good lotion.

We bought tickets for the train, and then took a cab to our apartment. Turns out that renting out a full apartment for two nights is cheaper than a hotel room, and a whole lot more awesome. The problem was that the cab driver had never heard of Fox apartments. Neither had the cab driver our driver yelled to from the car window. But our driver sort of knew the area, and he gave us a nice tour along the way. The apartment is so awesome. You walk into a hallway, which leads to the main room, equipped with a tv, two couches, a dining table, a full kitchen, and a conference room-like table. Then, up the stairs, (yeah, the STAIRS of the apartment!), are two bedrooms and two bathrooms. My room leads out to a balcony. Yay! We freshened up (10 hours on a plane means you smell bad lol) and went outside to the train station, which is maybe a two minute walk, and that's because of the stairs.

We took the train to the city and got off at Green Park station to find some food. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and a bunch of cafe bakery type things, but we hadn't eaten since breakfast on the plane (around 10:30-11 AM London time), and it was now around 4. Breakfast, by the way, for the vegetarians of the flight, was some yogurt (which I didn't eat), some melon, and a vegan cookie that actually wasn't bad. In other words, we were super hungry. So we ate at the Hilton restaurant, which was pretty good. Guess I'm not vegetarian material though, at least not right now haha, thanks to my turkey, bacon, egg, and veggie sandwich. Yum.

After lunch we went shopping for shoes! Haha I feel like Bree. I only bought one pair though. They are really cute, they are purplish pink (or pinkish purple) and are sorta lace ups. You'll see them in pictures. Oh! I totally forgot to tell you what my first picture that I took was. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't big ben. Or the London Eye (which is a big ferris wheel). It wasn't Buckingham Palace. Or a double decker bus. Ok, ready?

It was a Roman Wall. yep.

But how cool is it that a piece of ROME is here?! I even know whose wall it is. Well, almost. It's one of two haha. I think. Anyway.

We bought shoes and walked around for awhile. Around 7 or so we started slowing down, so we decided to head back. Upon arrival, I changed into pjs and began writing this entry. I have been interrupted many times though. You see, about ten minutes after getting back, we realized the tv didn't work. And that was kinda ok with me, and probably with Dad too. But I guess he was gonna go down to the adjacent pub (Fox also), to see if he could get someone to fix it, and he couldn't open the door. So I tried to open it, unsuccessfully.

It was locked. Even though we had unlocked the door to get in, and were inside the place, the door was locked. Ugh. So we fiddled with it for awhile, and then we decided to call the number on our paper that came with the apt. Dad was trying to figure out how to call someone (with a US number, from a US phone, with international roaming, little service, and AT&T coverage) for at least 30 minutes, probably closer to 45. He was getting more and more frustrated, which got me sorta tense too, so instead of writing to you guys, I was trying to help him. Anyway, finally we hear a knock at the door, and a click in the lock.

Salvation!!! This guy had obviously run to help us after he found out what had happened, because he was very out of breath. Then he proceeded to explain how the TV worked. His name is Sam, he runs the bar next door. And before all you weirdos get any ideas, he is married with kids. So no. After the rescue, Dad wanted a beer, and I was hungry, so we went to the bar and got nachos. Nachos were not a good idea, my tummy is now upset. But they tasted pretty freakin good. And now, we are back, and I am writing to you. But now I have nothing else to say sooo....nighty night.

And if you got through this massive entry...yay for you!

5 hours

Hey Everybody!

I am leaving in a matter of hours now! This week has been super busy with packing and getting my hur did and making sure to see as many people as I could, but it's been a good week! Denny's was super fun last night :)

UGH. I tried to get the Denny's pic up, but it WOULDN'T WORK. Stupid blog thingy, I will figure you out!!

Sorry Crystal and Jamie, I tried :(

But I had a really good time with you guys and Derek and everyone last night!

Jamie, no fisting.

Counting down~

Hey Everyone!

Four days left! Thank you again to Bree baby for my awesome booties and hatteries! At this point, my room is a mixture of boxes (?), things I need to get rid of, put away, or pack, and an open suitcase brimming with stuff I don't want to forget. I can tell I'm getting nervous or stressed out (one of the two..maybe both lol) because I am seriously procrastinating, like I do at finals time. Yesterday was my last day at work! Woot! Today is cleaning/packing day (hahahahaha yeah right), tomorrow is movie with friends and hang out with Mom day, Saturday is haircut day, Sunday is holy crap what am I forgetting day. And Monday is goodbye day. Wow. I got new glasses yesterday! You will see them in pictures maybe lol, they are shaped like my old ones but have red frames on top, and the bottom of the frame is silver. I can't think of anything else really...so see ya later everybody! I love youuuu!

PS- Alysha, what's the name of that song you made into my ringtone?

I miss you everyone!

Ava

Numero uno

Hey everyone,

I guess the best way to start this is to say that I haven't ever had my own blog or anything like that. I guess the closest thing I've had is a journal. You know, the paper ones. Like the ones you write in with pen. So I think I'm going to treat this as a journal more than anything. I like Laura's blog already, I read all of it just now haha. Thanks for the inspiration Laura! And thanks for the link Alysha haha! And thanks for shaking your head at my ignorance Bree!

I just got my visa today in the mail, which was a big relief; I was starting to think it may not show up. But, as is my style, it showed up a little late with no harm done. I didn't realize how little time I have in SD until today... it's super weird to think that I only have a few days left. 11 to be exact. (Minus today). 11 days! I know that life is gonna get super busy too, and that time is going to speed up as it only does when a deadline approaches and there is much to do in the meantime.

Nighty night for now!