After a finishing finals and a stint in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, I am back in London. Only 3 days till I come home.......then I leave for the Middle East. But I will be in the U.S. for a small time which is what matters.
Seriously missing home and my bed and especially my cat Tabbi (yes, i'm that cat lady).
But finally have some time to relax and write a bit for the blog. Have only had a brief time to journal so I have to catch you up on everything that has happened.
We finished up finals and said goodbye as everyone dispersed to their various destinations. It was super sad to leave our London home and especially each other. Before I left for London, I was super afraid that I wouldn't have time to make friends and be able to experience the U.K. with other people. That fear totally disappeared after a few days in our flat. Flat 18A was my family away from home and we all got along super well. They have all since returned home, making London quite lonely at the moment but we made some awesome memories.
After a picnic of food and wine for dinner/lunch (linner?) by the Thames and London eye, we went home to pack. What a horrible, horrible thing to pack away such amazing experiences. Even worse when you realize how much stuff you have to try to bring back. Our last night in London we fiesta'ed of course. Cassie and I ended up wandering around to say our goodbyes to London. We somehow ended in Trafalgar square and I accomplished my dream (not really a dream, but more something on my list of things to do) of climbing the giant lion statues. After climbing off the lion, we ran since the cops were coming to yell at us and found ourselves outside of Heaven, the gay club, on the banks of the River Thames. Seriously the best club ever, we made tons of new friends and didn't have to worry about creeps. Plus we still managed to get free drinks while dancing our way around the multiple rooms of the club. My favorite was the disco music in the main room. Totally my fave jams.
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| Castle AAAaaahhhhhhh.... from Monty Python (Scotland) Highland Cattle: The big one in the back is called Hamish |
Since then, I went to Scotland and saw the beautiful Highlands and Loch Ness. The weather was ridiculous and everything was just so beautiful. Hoping to one day go back with the family. The hostel that I stayed at was in an old church and super cool. I even made a few friends and we went out to this awesome rock bar called Banshee Labrynth. It's in an old dungeon and has plenty of different rooms you can wander around in. My new Irish friend Rory made me get up and sing since one of the rooms had an open mic night. Totally embarrassing but still super awesome. I ended Scotland with a tour of the beautiful city of Edinburgh and a Harry Potter tour (which was equal parts embarrassing equal parts awesome since we all got wands and our guide was dressed in wizard robes). Edinburgh is seriously the best. They have a castle that just looks over everything....all the time. WTF, all we have is disneyland (which is awesome but still not as cool as a castle on a giant rock).
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| Loch Ness Edinburgh Castle and the Observatory |
Belfast was an...interesting city. It is definitely not like other cities that I have traveled to. More like L.A. but with a ton of tension. The first day I met with Liz and she took me to where I was staying. My teaching got cut short a little bit because of the royals babies arrival. The Loyalists decided to march a whole bunch to show their British pride, causing the school where I was supposed to teach to close down for a few days since it was made up of both Protestant and Catholic kids (which is why I went to Scotland for a few days). But still, it was awesome getting to teach the little kiddies. I only helped out for like 3 classes but it was fun. Little kids with accents are the freaking cutest. Also, everyone has a ton of musical talent their. They may not be able to read music but it's just...in their blood. They all have a ton of rhythm and were just so cute. I can't wait to see what they turn into later on. Hopefully I can go back someday and visit them. I taught a sea chanty to little little kids (about 5 years old) and some other songs. Then did a little fiddle with Liz and some older kids (about 7-10 years old). Taught them some easy stuff since a lot were beginners. I cannot express how wonderful it was to be working with them.
I got to learn a little more about the background of the conflict (aside from what I learned in classes) by going on a Black Cab tour. It's a tour in a cab of the murals and the peace wall. Our driver was an amazing guy who lived through the troubles. He took part in the protests and is a devout Catholic. His story was just amazing and the wall just blows my mind. The recent G8 conference took place in Belfast because it was a "post-conflict" society. Which is a joke considering everything that I had seen and heard. From a lady screaming at a marching band calling them traitors, to a few teenagers loudly applauding the boys who were marching. It really blew my mind. The city is truly fantastic though. I even had some free time to go and see the Giant's Causeway and walk across a rope bridge (I can't remember the name right now). Even saw some amazing castles and places where Game Of Thrones was filmed. Super awesome. So many historic places and buildings in these countries. It is ridiculous how much history a random field or pile of rocks can have. My last night I went out to a great bar, it was more like an Irish saloon where they had a ton of musicians just jamming. I even sang a song and got up to dance with the bartender who showed me some Irish dancing. It was completely awesome. I was in heaven. I ended up staying up all night at the bar and with some Liz before I packed up my stuff. I had a really early flight and had to be at the airport at like 5am.
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| Peace Wall Graffiti |
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| City Hall in Belfast |
The early flight really took a toll on me. Allnighters while traveling are totally exhausting. Not to mention that I am feeling a little sick. Slept all yesterday to recover and am sitting in drinking tea trying to study since it's all rainy outside. Only 2 more days till I get to the U.S.
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