One Full Week

It's official! I have been in London for one full week. In some ways it's flown by, but in others I feel like I just stepped off the plane. Mostly the former, though. I at least know how to read the tube map now, so that's something I've learned in the past several days.

Today we had our London in Literature class. I freaking adore literature! This class is seriously the most amazing thing to me. We discussed King Lear  for a full hour and I couldn't get enough! We could have gone on with the discussion for a couple more hours and I would've been just fine with it. It's incredible to me that I can read the same play several times and find something new every time I do. If you ever want a long conversation with me, you know what to bring up.

We then spent the third hour of class talking about T.S. Eliot and his poem, The Wasteland (I actually don't know the proper way to write the title of that poem. I know you can purchase it in a book, but it's also a poem. . . whatever. Not many people care, probably). All my past English teachers have looked at that poem and told the class that we should be grateful they weren't assigning such a beast and headache of a poem to us, so I've always skirted around it with fear. We only read sections of the play today in class, and those sections all related to London in significant ways, and it's always easier to get a reading out of a poem if there's a teacher in the room, but I actually found it fascinating and full of meaning. Literature is the best. I think I should be an English major. . .

The only downside of this morning's class was that the classroom was hot, humid, and there must have been sleeping powder in the air because everyone was struggling to stay awake. The wind was also super strong so my professor closed the window to prevent further rattling of the blinds, but that just increased the temperature. It was hard to stay alert the entire time. I'm excited for the assignment we were given today, though; we're going to be visiting the place in London where T.S. Eliot spent most of his time and where some of the poem takes place. I cannot wait.

After class we all took a power nap. By the time we woke up we didn't have enough time to do a London Walks assignment, so we went to Borough Market for lunch.

Borough Market is SO COOL! It's a small market right under the train tracks in the City of London and it's all food. It was so fun being there, and I absolutely want to go back. I even knew how much to pay them with cash! That's an accomplishment for me.

Anyways, I got Pad Thai and it was delicious. There was a cheese stand, and a bread stand, and a nut stand, and a pastry stand, and a few burrito stands (which was unexpected for me), and an Indian food stand. . . and other delicious places that I can't wait to try. It was a lovely early afternoon adventure.

We decided that we wanted to take a bus home instead of the tube because we were relatively certain we had the time and the bus is more fun. We took a few buses before realizing that we were going to be late for kitchen duty (tonight was my last night, though. I'm free!) and hopped on the tube. We were only a few minutes late.

It was so incredibly windy today! This was not the strongest gust of wind. There was a point where Lizzie's hair was pointing skyward.

The Shard

This is a church right by Borough Market.

Borough Market. Look at how cool this place is! You may have to consult Google for a more complete feel. I was too busy eating to document. Sorry.

Desserts.

On the bus

Pictures from the bus

And that was today. Tomorrow we're going to Stonehenge and I can't wait. The weather is supposed to be awful, but hey! A little adventure in life is good.