Choirs, Councils, and Comedy.

     I am so sorry! I know I haven't been posting as regularly as I had been. Unfortunately, as we get deeper into our semester the projects/papers have started to build and I haven't had the motivation to stay up an extra fourty-five minutes to write a post. But tonight I caved (mostly because I have a good story to tell), so we'll just pretend like its not 2:10am here...haha.

   Sunday was pretty laid back, complete with an awesome day of worship at Hillsong. Monday, after class, my friend Mary and I had to do some research for our government project. For our project, we have to create a Profile for a few of the constituencies in London. In order to do this, we had to visit one of them so we could report on it better. This constituency was the poorest of the ones that we were assigned, so we thought a Monday afternoon would be a safe time to go. It was admittedly very bizarre to be in an area that I visibly did not belong in. We walked up and down a few of the streets, ate lunch, and then headed home. I have to say though, It was a very interesting experience. The area is mostly Muslim, and we were able to find this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with Middle Eastern food. They had fun Arabic music playing and Mary and I loved our meal! Later that night, as promised...we returned to our pub for TRIVIA NIGHT. Unfortunately, most of our teammates were busy. So we went alone, with half the brain power. And as expected, we did not bring home the victory. We got....maybe half? Haha. But, before you judge my trivia abilities, keep in mind that I am missing a lifetime of British cultural references. Regardless, we made some friends at the table next to us and had a really great time. I'd say it was worth it!

before the concert!

     Tuesday was another "adventure walk" for class! We have been reading Great Expectations in that class, and so after walking to Charles Dickens house and what not, my professor (Keffer) decided that we really needed to read exerpts from the book in the streets of London...so we just went with it. So here we are, all sitting on the sidewalk standing up one by one to read out sections. People just walked by staring at us, very aware that we were tourists. haha. THEN, Keffer realized that this would be much more educational if we could hear the words in a British accent. Here began his hunt. We all just sat in a mob on the sidewalk watching him walk up and down the streets, flagging down strangers, asking "Do you like Charles Dickens?", "Could you read us part of this book?", or my favorite....."Charles Dickens?" I'm fairly sure that when he asked the latter, people thought he was asking them if they were Charles Dickens, to which most people just shook their head in confusion....It was quite the sight. Finally, an eight grader agreed to read for us. I think he was just curious as to what we were doing, so he played along. He was so adorable, it made for the perfect ending to an otherwise bizarre afternoon. That day was mine and Olivia's turn to cook, so we settled on Chili! We found an easy recipe that would be fast and accommodate our vegetarians. The problem was, however, these British groceries stores don't exactly stock up on southern comfort food. We had to practically rewrite the recipe in the store, with all substituted ingredients, but hey, the pan was scraped clean so I'd take that as a sign that people liked it? We had to eat/ clean up super fast, put on our fancy clothes, and make it to this beautiful church for a boy's choir concert. At the intermission, or as they call it "interval," they had tea and pastries in the crypt. Yep...the crypt. Sounds weird right? Thats what I thought. Actually, there was a full scale restaurant down there, along with a fancy book shop. Who would have known? Sadly, that night, I got pretty sick. All sinus infection-y and what not. My head just had a lot of pressure in it, and it felt like it might explode...But it didn't! Good news! I just skyped Kyle, which made me feel better, and then fell fast fast asleep.

     Wednesday we didn't have class, which was good. I just needed to sleep off what ever bug I had. And boy, did I....I woke up at 2:30pm. But, feeling much much better. Yay! That night, our government professor had arranged for us to sit on a council budget meeting. It was so interesting! We got to sit up in the balcony and look down on all of the Counselors sitting at their benches. They mayor got to set up in a judge's booth with this big medallion necklace and a scepter (So British...). My favorite part of the meeting was not necessarily the content of the budget or the party divisions but the heckling. The Counselors would get into it with one another, calling each other names and booing when the others would stand up. It was ridiculous...they were like children on the playground! Then end vote was exactly how our professor said it would go, so I guess in the end, all that heckling was for not. On the way home, a few of us stopped into McDonald's for their easter time speciality....Cadbury Egg McFlurries! They have Carmel and Chocolate all swirled in together, and it is very very yummy. I'm thinkin' the US could adopt this.

    Today, after class, we took a tour of the National Theatre. It was so cool! The technology that they had for the stages and all the space backstage was incredible. They had 85,000 costumes in storage as well as props from every show from the last 30+ years. Plus our tour guide was Irish and super spunky. She was great! Then tonight... (this was the good story I had), Olivia and I went see "One Man, Two Gov'enors." It's a comedy about this man who accidentally gets hired by two rivals and he has to try to not get the two jobs confused, even though the often overlap. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt!! There was a lot of audience participation that showed how truly witty the actors were. However, halfway through the second act, the lead actress was climbing down off of a bridge and instead of being caught by one the male characters, they both fell and landed on the ground. We thought this was just part of the play...normal comedy. However, he said something to the effect of "are you alright my darling" and she replied with something like "no actually, I am not" and he was able to help her to a nearby bench. Basically, she broke her ankle and they had to carry her off stage. The curtains closed, the house lights came on, and the Male lead came out and told us all that the show was going to have to pause while her understudy got into costume and we'd all have to sit tight until then. Now keep in mind, this is not a small show. This is a West End show, equivalent to Broadway back home. Picture going to see Wicked or Phantom of the Opera and the play just stopping halfway through. It was quite bizarre. However, instead of just going back into the wings, the actor stayed out on the stage with us all and tried to entertain us. He told jokes, did magic trips, and led us all in an audience-wide sing along. During the sing along, I was laughing so hard I couldn't take it seriously. I just kept thinking, "Is this real life?" He was up there doing improve for about twenty minutes, then the curtains opened, the understudy went out, and the show went on! It was a great time! I have a video that I will try to put on facebook soon.

Now, things i've learned...
1. They call jumping jacks "star jumps"
2. If you eat in at a restaurant, they charge you more than for carry out.
3. It doesn't rain all that much here...
4. Play programs cost money
5. There are always street performers in the Leicester Square Tube Station
6. I say "cool" a lot. It's a very American phrase, and I never hear anyone saying it here. Its made me very aware of my "slang"...

Also, on a much more serious note, keep my family in your thoughts. My Mammaw passed away this week. Her funeral is today (friday) and I know that we could all use the prayers.

Love from London,
Deanna