Week Four

Last Sunday (Jan 30) I went to an afternoon service at Westminster Abbey with Grayson, Sonya, Maggie and Megan. As most of you know, I am not a particularly religious person; however I really enjoyed attending this service. My favorite part by far was the choir. The echo in the Abbey was unforgettable. We all rose as the clergy entered, but I had trouble seeing since we were on the side and close to the back. After church, the five of us went to Ben's cookies in Covent Garden. We had chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, still warm and gooey. YUM. I was in heaven and finished mine in a matter of minutes. On Monday, I slept in and then went to a coffeshop with Sonya to catch up on reading and do some homework. Before class, we were hungry so we stopped and grabbed a toasted brie sandwich. Definitely one of my favorite things I've had since I've been here. Simple, yet delicious.

On Tuesday, I had class in the morning. The class is called Designing Communication & Media Projects for Social Change. We have been brainstorming and choosing topics for our projects. Right now, I think I am leaning towards using some form of media to target domestic violence in Argentina. I read a statistic that in 2008 in Argentina, every other day a woman died of domestic violence. In class, we watched a 30 minute video about domestic violence in Africa, which was very emotional and moving. Apparently the video was shown on TV in Africa as a PSA, and contained actual services and hotlines that battered women could contact. This video encouraged me even more to pursue domestic violence as my project topic. After class, I went on a run in Regents Park with Maggie. I felt more confident to explore the park since I had someone with me in case I got lost. Surprisingly, we didn't get lost and I now feel like I can navigate the park very easily. Tuesday night, I met my friend Rachel for sushi. I went to school with Rachel from first grade through high school, so it was great to see a familiar face. After dinner, I went to see Black Swan with Grayson. If you haven't seen it, you should. It isn't a movie I would necessarily choose to see, but I had heard so much about it that I felt like I had to fork over the 10 pounds to see it. It was absolutely mind-blowing, and definitely worth the 10 pounds. The experience in a British movie theatre was also hilarious. The screen was small, the seats were uncomfortable, and we had assigned seats! Nevertheless, Natalie Portman was phenomenal and the movie was great. 

Wednesday was another great day. We got out of class early to go on our group field trip, which was a boat cruise on the River Thames to Greenwich. The boat was windy and freezing, but it gave us a unique perspective of the city. While in Greenwich, we visited the Palace of Placentia and the Royal Observatory. At the Royal Observatory, which was on top of a large hill that we had to climb up, the view of the palace was breathtaking. Also at the Royal Observatory, I got to stand on the Prime Meridian of Longitude (Greenwich Meridian at 0 longitude)! So neat! That evening, our program paid for us all to attend the Fulham v. Newcastle match!! Finally, my first English premier league game. The atmosphere was great. Definitely soccer fever. I went in to the game thinking I would root for Newcastle, but I decided that since I didn't have any allegiances I should root for the home team, and they won 1-0! I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the lack of team spirit on the Fulham side. Newcastle fans, while outnumbered by Fulham fans, stood the entire time and sang songs together. Fulham fans only started singing as soon as they scored, and remained seated the whole time. Overall, it was a great experience and I cant wait to go to another one. I am trying to decide whether I would rather see Chelsea or Arsenal play. 

Thursday was a pretty laid back day. Just went to the gym, class, and packed for Amsterdam. I did run into my first problem since I've been here. Andy sent me a package from the US and I got a letter in the mail saying I had to pay a large customs fee (70 pounds!) in order to pick it up. I marched over to the office determined to reduce the charge, even if I had to cry in front of someone to make them lower it. Unfortunately, they told me they had no control over the charge. BUT, luckily a man came over and asked if I was a student. He gave me forms to fill out and send in and he said I could get most of it back! Thank goodness. That night I made homemade chocolate chip cookies to bring to the girls in Amsterdam the next day. We don't have measuring cups, large mixing bowls, or beaters, so it was more difficult than usual, but they turned out great.

Friday morning we left for AMSTERDAM!!! Three of my best friends are studying abroad there (Michelle, Alex, and Laura) so Maggie, Grayson and I each stayed with one of them in their rooms. Michelle and I squeezed into a twin bed. Luckily she's tiny. We arrived at the airport after an hour delay and a shaky landing on British Airlines. Amsterdam was SO windy, so both the take-off and landing were pretty nerve-wracking. We took a train to central station to meet the girls. Once at the station, we realized that none of our phones were calling the girls, so we had no way to find them. Luckily, I asked a taxi driver if I was dialing right, and he told me that I needed an extra 0. When I finally got ahold of Laura, it looked like a scene from a movie: 2 sets of 3 girls running toward each other, screaming, and hugging. That night we went to dinner at an Italian place and walked around Dam square, saw the beautiful canals at night, and found a place for dessert. Michelle and I ordered mini pancakes covered in butter and powdered sugar. We were in heaven. Michelle accurately described them as "little pillows of heaven." Too funny. On the way home, I had to stop to buy "stroopwafles." They are popular cookies in the Netherlands--basically a circular waffle cone with a thin layer of caramel/syrup filling in the middle. I had them last semester when my roommate's mom went to Amsterdam and brought some back for her. I couldn't wait to buy my first package. 

Saturday was Johnny's birthday, so it was hard to be across the world from my family, but I was so happy that I was with my best friends. In the morning, we met for pancakes. Mags and I split strawberry pancakes and a ham and cheese toastie. The pancakes were huge and very thin, almost like a crepe. I will post a photo on my blog :) After we went to meet up with their study abroad group for a field trip to the NDSM wharf. The tour guide called it an "alternative" area of Amsterdam, and it definitely was. We visited warehouses on the water that had been converted to artist's studios, skateboarding places, etc. It was cool to see this area that we would not have known about otherwise, but it was definitely a little weird and freezing cold. We warmed up by going to the Heineken brewery afterwords. The tour of the brewery was great, and it was nice to be able to go at our own pace (whereas at the Jameson distillery I often got caught behind the group because I was taking photos and the tour guide was moving fast). A woman taught us how to "properly drink a beer" and we got two free beers at the end. After the brewery, we had dinner at another Italian place, where my friends surprised me with a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate John's birthday. They are so thoughtful and I am lucky to have them as friends. At dinner, Alex asked what John was like, and it was great to be able to talk about him and remember. After dinner, we went out to a bar/club called Prime. There was a 10 euro cover charge, so I went to the front of the long line to ask the bouncer if the 10 euro cover got us a free drink ticket (usually in Spain, thats how it worked). He told me to hold on, and he talked to the other bouncer out front. He came back and said we could skip the line and get in for 5 euro each. I didn't even ask for a discount! Everyone was really proud of me and the bar ended up being a blast. 

Sunday morning we grabbed coffee before seeing the "touristy" things in Amsterdam. I tried a "bambino" after Michelle told me I had to. It was more or less a latte made with chocolate milk, so basically hot chocolate with a shot of espresso. It was delicious. After, we took pictures in front of the "I Amsterdam" sign and went to the Van Gogh museum. I absolutely loved the Van Gogh museum and made sure to see every painting. It was amazing how much his style could change. At times it even looked like a different artist. My favorites were his still life and landscape paintings. I loved the flowers, trees, and orchards. Some of the names of my favorites: Sunflowers, Irises, Butterflies and Poppies, Almond Tree in Blossom, Almond Blossom, and Harvest. After the museum, we went to the Anne Frank house. Not having known many details of Anne Frank's life, I really enjoyed learning all about her story and walking through the house. Being inside part of the house where they hid was incredibly moving. Afterwords, we went to dinner, followed by delicious desert: a waffle covered in chocolate. And, I made sure to buy another package of stroopwafles to take back to London with me. 

Monday morning, I had to leave early to catch my flight. I had to take an earlier flight than the rest of the girls in order to make it to class, so I had to navigate myself to the train station and to the airport alone, but I did so successfully. One thing I've learned in Europe is that when in doubt, just ask someone. Most people are so friendly and more than happy to help. While I loved Amsterdam, I was happy to be home on Monday to my own bed, to cooking food rather than eating out, and less wind. I noticed for the first time that I consider London to be my "home." I loved that there were bikes everywhere in Amsterdam, but I also felt like I was going to get run over half of the time. As if its not complicated enough figuring out which way to look when crossing the street in Europe, imagine having to go through multiple bike lanes as well. Most of all, I loved just wandering around the city with my best friends. They made a difficult weekend to be away from home into an unforgettable weekend. I'm hoping they all come to visit London soon! Hope everyone is having a fantastic February so far! Cheers!! xoxo