Another week down. Where is the time going? It's crazy to think that I really only have 6 weeks left here.
This week was much calmer than the last, thank goodness. Even work was quiet, which I have to admit was a relief. And we had Thursday afternoon off from Religions, so it really was a fairly uneventful week. Friday a few other girls and I spent the day in Kingston wandering and talking--it was nice just to hang out in the sunshine and enjoy being outside. Afterwards I headed to my aunt's for the weekend. Saturday we we went to Greenwich to make up my assignment from last week. We took a riverboat from Westminster Pier all the way down the Thames, which was really interesting. It was definitely bigger than the boat I work on in the summers........but same concept. They even had volunteer captains, just like the good old Empress. Greenwich was really cool, but it was absolutely packed. The weather here has been beautiful the last few days, and it seems like every single person in the city has been outside making the most of it. We could hardly move in the markets, let alone find an empty piece of grass to sit on. We finally decided to call it a day around 4 and got back on the boat. About halfway through the trip the guy doing the commentary said really casually 'hang on, there's going to be a little bump.' No one really took any notice, but two seconds later there was a gigantic bump as the boat rammed into London Bridge. A couple of people fell down inside the boat, my tea went all over my arm, and quite a few people screamed. The funny (or not so funny...) thing was that the guy just asked everyone if they were okay before continuing with his commentary! I was waiting for the boat to start sinking Titanic style. Seriously, who just steers a boat with nearly 200 people on it into a bridge? I thought about giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, that maybe a current swept him that way, but the boat hit the bridge head on. Anyway. Someone must have called the police because they were there when we docked....my guess is that the boat company is going to have a lot of questions to answer. Plus, there was a sizeable dent/paint damage on the boat. And who knows what damage it did to the bridge? Major oops. Sunday we went to Painshill Park to go walking with Jenny's friend Jane--it was a beautiful park. After we had a late lunch at a little organic cafe before driving around Epsom Downs, a horse racing facility. I do not understand the British obsession with horse races. And why would you dress up for it? Don't get it. Today we did a little shopping (trying to find that little brother of mine a birthday present...) and then I headed back to Vandon.
Since I had such a non-busy week, I had loads of time to think. I still don't know what I want to do, but that's okay. I'll graduate in May with a liberal arts degree that gives me the ability to do a multitude of things if I set my mind to them. I have at least ruled out grad school for now--I know that I would love it, but it's an expensive way to buy more time to decide what I want to do, and what would be the point if I don't have a specific career goal in mind yet anyway?
The other thing I've realised is that when I finally settle down, it won't be in the city. I have loved living in London the past few months, but honestly, I think it's exhausting. I dread going anywhere near the tube during rush hours, and our area is absolutely crawling with people on the weekends. Sometimes it's literally like I can't breathe it feels so crowded. I miss clean air and space and nature. Walking in Painshill Park this weekend really made me see that I won't be totally happy if I don't have those things. It makes sense, I did grow up swimming in the creek and feeding cows after all. And in Wales, I loved Outdoor Pursuits--the adrenaline of doing those things and the insanely beautiful places we went were just so amazing. At the same time, I don't think I want to be totally isolated from the excitement of a city either. I love the fact that there are museums and historical places and new things to see pretty much on my doorstep. So basically, I figured out that I want the best of both worlds, which is probably what everyone wants. Maybe it wasn't as cool of a realisation as I thought.
Anyway. I'll leave you with exciting news--my name is finally in print, in London. My name is on page 3 of this week's edition of This Is London, which you can all check out at www.til.com . It's not attached to a specific article, since articles in the magazine never do unless it's a review, but I did write a few of the pieces. Definitely a cool feeling.
Have a good week!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
London Life
Phew. It has been a looooong week.
Work has been going pretty well, although it's starting to have its frustrating moments. Last Wednesday they literally told us to 'hold tight' until they found us something to do, which meant Holly and I were basically hanging around Vandon until they finally sent us work that had to be completed in the hour because of a press deadline. I'm starting to see the pressure and time constraints that are part of magazine publication, which are really quite stressful. I think it becomes even more stressful for us to be on the outside too, because we want to help as much as possible but we can't do anything really as we're not physically with them. This past week was a little more interesting. Tuesday we went to a press viewing of the Turner/Claude exhibition at the National Gallery, did some research, went to the Victoria & Albert Museum for a press viewing that actually wasn't happening for another couple of weeks, and did a lot of event research for the month of April.
Last weekend a group of us went to Liverpool for the weekend. I'd already been twice while I was in Wales, but it's one of my favourite cities so I was up for going again. We left London ridiculously early (the things you do for cheap train tickets..) and when we got there we met Regan, who is studying in Wales. We checked into our hostel, one I'd stayed at before and loved, before heading out to explore. We honestly didn't do much other than just wander, which was nice. It was a beautiful day, and it was good to catch up with Regan. That evening we cooked at the hostel, and attempted to go out but we were far too tired. Saturday morning we went to the World Museum before catching the train. I actually went to Bangor for the rest of the weekend, since one of my friends from Texas that was in the Central program with me (in Wales) was visiting for the week. I couldn't not go see her! Shireen is larger than life, and she is most definitely from Texas. She is so wonderful though. I also finally got to see my flatmate Abi, which was wonderful. And she's coming to stay with me in London next weekend-so excited! It was just so nice to catch up with such good friends. My friend Jessica from Central was also visiting Wales for her spring break, and she decided to come to London for the night on Monday. She had a whirlwind 24 hours in the city--definitely not enough time to see everything, but we packed quite a bit in.
Central's President, Dr. Putnam, was in London this week as well, along with his wife and one other person from Central. A group of us had lunch with him on Wednesday, and it was really interesting to hear what he had to say about study abroad as well as listen to what questions he had for us. I think it's really important and really awesome that the people who make the big decisions about our programs are taking the time to do this at every site. And it was a conversation--not an interview or a lecture, but an actual discussion. Dr. Putnam also met with Holly, Beth, and I later in the afternoon to talk about our internship. I felt bad for Beth--she was absolutely grilled about things that her mum would have been much better at answering. I'm pretty sure Beth is only a year older than I am and she's only officially been at the magazine for a year, but she answered everything well. Dr. Putnam mostly wanted to know what the magazine did and how it was run and how having interns was beneficial. Jen and Mark were both there too, so it felt very serious and grownup! It was cool though that we got to show him what we're doing though. Afterwards Jen, Beth, Holly, and I sat and had coffee by the river just to unwind.
Thursday was an extremely busy day. We had class all morning, barely had time to grab lunch at Vandon, and then had to be in the East End by 2 for Religions. We went to a Turkish mosque in Hackney, as we had started our unit on Islam. The mosque itself was beautiful--it was tiled with blue and aqua mosaic all over, which is typical of Turkish design. We spoke with a professor of Islam studies from a London university, and he told us a lot about the Muslim community in Britain and the internal changes and progress that Muslims are working on. We had to take our shoes off in the mosque, and all of the women had to wear headscarves, which is just a sign of respect. Afterwards we had a meal at a Turkish restaurant, which was really good but I didn't want to eat much since we were also having Indian food later in the evening. We were all basically sitting on the ground for the meal, with a table maybe two feet off the ground for our food. The president and crew had come with, so it was a little amusing to see us all squashed in this little cubicle around a table on the ground. We had just enough time to drop our things off at Vandon before heading to Brick Lane for our Indian/Pakistani meal with the program. By this time, I was starting to feel pretty awful. Flu-like sickness had been going around, and since Abby had had it earlier in the week I knew I was bound to get it. My voice got worse and worse throughout the day, and I was sooo congested. But I trooped through the meal, which was delicious but way too filling. We got back to Vandon about 9:30 that evening and I tried to read but I just couldn't--I was too tired. I woke up about four in the morning and decided there was no way I was going on our fieldtrip that day--it was only to Greenwich, but since it was an assignment for our blogs I'll have to make it up on my own time. I was just so achy and tired, and I could hardly breathe or talk. I didn't get out of bed til nearly one--anyone who knows me knows that I never do that. I finally ate something about five which made me feel better for a while before I crashed again.
I woke up feeling quite a bit better on Saturday, although I was still a little achy. Alissa and I got up at a decent time and went to Borough Market, London's upscale food market. It was like a high-class Des Moines Farmer's Market, if you can picture such a thing. There were so many free samples, and it was all so so so good. It actually wasn't that expensive either, so Alissa and I got inspired and bought food to make supper. We spent the afternoon in the big Waterstone's book store in Piccadilly, which was a perfect afternoon. I have to admit though the day wore me out, so I was more than tired by the time it was bedtime. Today, Sunday, we went to the big Hillsong church in London, which as our Religions professor described it is a 'rock for God' church. That was about right--definitely not my thing. It was interesting, but it was long and it just was not my kind of church. This afternoon I've just relaxed and tried to catch up after such a crazy week.
I've also been thinking a lot, almost too much, this week about what to do when I graduate. It's...terrifying to say the least. I hate not knowing what's next--I can be a little bit of a control freak when it comes to that kind of thing. I've found a lot of things I don't want to do, but not something that sounds like a good fit right away. Mum can attest to my panic--and her response was an e-mail with the subject Boss Mama--and it was probably exactly what I needed to hear. Still, Boss Mama. Hilarious.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to update a little faster next time! I'm still laptop charger-less, so I've definitely been spending less time on the computer. And actually, that's probably a very good thing while I'm in London.
Much love :)
Work has been going pretty well, although it's starting to have its frustrating moments. Last Wednesday they literally told us to 'hold tight' until they found us something to do, which meant Holly and I were basically hanging around Vandon until they finally sent us work that had to be completed in the hour because of a press deadline. I'm starting to see the pressure and time constraints that are part of magazine publication, which are really quite stressful. I think it becomes even more stressful for us to be on the outside too, because we want to help as much as possible but we can't do anything really as we're not physically with them. This past week was a little more interesting. Tuesday we went to a press viewing of the Turner/Claude exhibition at the National Gallery, did some research, went to the Victoria & Albert Museum for a press viewing that actually wasn't happening for another couple of weeks, and did a lot of event research for the month of April.
Last weekend a group of us went to Liverpool for the weekend. I'd already been twice while I was in Wales, but it's one of my favourite cities so I was up for going again. We left London ridiculously early (the things you do for cheap train tickets..) and when we got there we met Regan, who is studying in Wales. We checked into our hostel, one I'd stayed at before and loved, before heading out to explore. We honestly didn't do much other than just wander, which was nice. It was a beautiful day, and it was good to catch up with Regan. That evening we cooked at the hostel, and attempted to go out but we were far too tired. Saturday morning we went to the World Museum before catching the train. I actually went to Bangor for the rest of the weekend, since one of my friends from Texas that was in the Central program with me (in Wales) was visiting for the week. I couldn't not go see her! Shireen is larger than life, and she is most definitely from Texas. She is so wonderful though. I also finally got to see my flatmate Abi, which was wonderful. And she's coming to stay with me in London next weekend-so excited! It was just so nice to catch up with such good friends. My friend Jessica from Central was also visiting Wales for her spring break, and she decided to come to London for the night on Monday. She had a whirlwind 24 hours in the city--definitely not enough time to see everything, but we packed quite a bit in.
Central's President, Dr. Putnam, was in London this week as well, along with his wife and one other person from Central. A group of us had lunch with him on Wednesday, and it was really interesting to hear what he had to say about study abroad as well as listen to what questions he had for us. I think it's really important and really awesome that the people who make the big decisions about our programs are taking the time to do this at every site. And it was a conversation--not an interview or a lecture, but an actual discussion. Dr. Putnam also met with Holly, Beth, and I later in the afternoon to talk about our internship. I felt bad for Beth--she was absolutely grilled about things that her mum would have been much better at answering. I'm pretty sure Beth is only a year older than I am and she's only officially been at the magazine for a year, but she answered everything well. Dr. Putnam mostly wanted to know what the magazine did and how it was run and how having interns was beneficial. Jen and Mark were both there too, so it felt very serious and grownup! It was cool though that we got to show him what we're doing though. Afterwards Jen, Beth, Holly, and I sat and had coffee by the river just to unwind.
Thursday was an extremely busy day. We had class all morning, barely had time to grab lunch at Vandon, and then had to be in the East End by 2 for Religions. We went to a Turkish mosque in Hackney, as we had started our unit on Islam. The mosque itself was beautiful--it was tiled with blue and aqua mosaic all over, which is typical of Turkish design. We spoke with a professor of Islam studies from a London university, and he told us a lot about the Muslim community in Britain and the internal changes and progress that Muslims are working on. We had to take our shoes off in the mosque, and all of the women had to wear headscarves, which is just a sign of respect. Afterwards we had a meal at a Turkish restaurant, which was really good but I didn't want to eat much since we were also having Indian food later in the evening. We were all basically sitting on the ground for the meal, with a table maybe two feet off the ground for our food. The president and crew had come with, so it was a little amusing to see us all squashed in this little cubicle around a table on the ground. We had just enough time to drop our things off at Vandon before heading to Brick Lane for our Indian/Pakistani meal with the program. By this time, I was starting to feel pretty awful. Flu-like sickness had been going around, and since Abby had had it earlier in the week I knew I was bound to get it. My voice got worse and worse throughout the day, and I was sooo congested. But I trooped through the meal, which was delicious but way too filling. We got back to Vandon about 9:30 that evening and I tried to read but I just couldn't--I was too tired. I woke up about four in the morning and decided there was no way I was going on our fieldtrip that day--it was only to Greenwich, but since it was an assignment for our blogs I'll have to make it up on my own time. I was just so achy and tired, and I could hardly breathe or talk. I didn't get out of bed til nearly one--anyone who knows me knows that I never do that. I finally ate something about five which made me feel better for a while before I crashed again.
I woke up feeling quite a bit better on Saturday, although I was still a little achy. Alissa and I got up at a decent time and went to Borough Market, London's upscale food market. It was like a high-class Des Moines Farmer's Market, if you can picture such a thing. There were so many free samples, and it was all so so so good. It actually wasn't that expensive either, so Alissa and I got inspired and bought food to make supper. We spent the afternoon in the big Waterstone's book store in Piccadilly, which was a perfect afternoon. I have to admit though the day wore me out, so I was more than tired by the time it was bedtime. Today, Sunday, we went to the big Hillsong church in London, which as our Religions professor described it is a 'rock for God' church. That was about right--definitely not my thing. It was interesting, but it was long and it just was not my kind of church. This afternoon I've just relaxed and tried to catch up after such a crazy week.
I've also been thinking a lot, almost too much, this week about what to do when I graduate. It's...terrifying to say the least. I hate not knowing what's next--I can be a little bit of a control freak when it comes to that kind of thing. I've found a lot of things I don't want to do, but not something that sounds like a good fit right away. Mum can attest to my panic--and her response was an e-mail with the subject Boss Mama--and it was probably exactly what I needed to hear. Still, Boss Mama. Hilarious.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to update a little faster next time! I'm still laptop charger-less, so I've definitely been spending less time on the computer. And actually, that's probably a very good thing while I'm in London.
Much love :)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Paris!
This post isn't just Paris. That was just the highlight of last week. :)
Last Sunday, the 26, we had to go to two different church services for my Religions course. In the morning we went to a Unitarian Church in Hampstead which is in North London, and in the evening we went to an evangelical service. It was definitely an interesting contrast between two forms of Christianity. In between services, Alissa and I rode bikes again because it seemed silly to waste the day inside again.
Monday I caught up with a few things and then went to Covent Garden for a while just to look. On Mondays the market is entirely antiques, which was cool but not exactly my thing. On my way back though I stumbled upon a map shop---so awesome. I probably spent an hour in there just looking through all the travel books and different guides and maps they had.
Tuesday I had my work placement; we had to pick up information from a few different places before meeting Julie at the National Gallery cafe. She went over some press releases with us and gave us a few other things to do. That evening the program paid for us to go on a Jack the Ripper Tour in the East End, which wasn't scary but was really gory.
Wednesday for work placement Julie had us go to Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, two of London's most expensive department stores. I don't think I've ever felt so poor in my life. They were both still really fun to walk around though--they really are more about the experience than the shopping. I especially liked Fortnum & Mason; it was really quirky and fun compared to Harrods. I was so mad though to find out that the Queen and Kate were there the following day though! We literally just missed them. That night I hung out with a few girls for Abby T's birthday--it was her 5th birthday since she was a Leap Year baby.
Thursday we had lectures all morning which were about the monarchy--it was kind of interesting. I feel bad that I don't like these classes (Contemporary Britain), because they SHOULD be really good. Our lecturers though are just so dull. In the afternoon we had Religions, in which we went over our church visits and watched a couple of documentaries that explained the theology behind them a bit more.
Friday we had a day trip with the program to Canterbury and Leeds Castle. In Canterbury we had a tour of the cathedral, which was really beautiful. Then Abby and I found a little tea shop and had cream tea--soo good. Then we wandered the high street a little before heading back to the bus. We drove through Dover to see the cliffs before arriving at Leeds Castle. I wasn't really that excited to go, because I saw sooo many castles in Wales. But, this was the first castle I saw with a moat, and this castle had peacocks which obviously made it cool. It was kind of strange inside as it had been lived in until the mid 1900s. There also was a maze outside, which was so annoying because everyone that made it to the middle before us could see us struggling. Then we headed back to London. I had loads to do before Paris--laundry, planning, packing. Plus I wanted to go to bed early, because we left London at 4 am!
So Saturday Lindsey, Mallory, and I caught the bus from Victoria Rail Station at 4, which got us to Luton Airport at 5am. We went through security and then boarded the plane. We were so tired, but it was so hard to sleep with people talking all around us. We got to Charles de Gaulle, and then we had to figure out how on earth we were getting to the city centre. We finally decided on a bus that dropped us off at Opera, which sounded like a good idea until we got off and had no idea where we were. We literally walked in circles for an hour--we actually asked this random bus driver and he just made hand gestures in circles since he didn't speak English. Finally we decided to just hop on the metro. We got off at the Louvre and walked around the outside before finding a cafe for lunch--we were SO hungry by then. Then we walked along the Champs-Elysees, a famous street, to the Arc de Triomphe. Then we spotted the Eiffel Tower in the distance, so we headed that direction. I can't tell you how excited I was to finally be there. It was just amazing. We walked up part of it--so many stairs! But it was definitely worth it for the view. Then we went to the hostel to drop our backpacks off before heading right back to do an evening bike tour. One of our friends had done the tour before and said it was awesome, so we thought we would check it out. I am so glad we did--we got to see so much of Paris that we wouldn't have otherwise. We were so cold (this genius didn't take a coat.......) and we hadn't had any supper, but it was so cool to see the city by night. The tour ended with a riverboat cruise on the Seine, which was the perfect way to end the day. We grabbed food and then headed back to our very sketchy hostel. The worst bit of where we stayed was waking up the next morning to find that the bathrooms outside our room had flooded, and no one had cleaned it up. So gross. Our room was pretty awful and the other bathrooms weren't very clean, so we didn't even shower and just got out of there. We took the metro up to see the Sacre-Coeur, a beautiful church in the Montmartre area. It sits on a hill and overlooks the city, which made for incredible views. Montmartre is a really interesting neighbourhood so we spent most of the day there. There were markets, loads of good restaurants, and an entire square where artists just sat painting. We had time so we ventured to see Moulin Rouge, but we scooted out of there as soon as we realized what it was. Then we had to figure out how to get back to the airport. We made it to the central train station, but when we got there there was no one at any of the ticket desks and the self-serve ticket machines wouldn't take our cards or cash. We were starting to panic when a lady came up and asked us if we needed help. We told her what was going on, and she just handed us three tickets that would get us to the airport. We tried to pay her but she wouldn't let us--it was definitely a pay it forward moment. We had encountered a few fairly rude French people, but she more than made up for them. We got back to London with no problems, and I absolutely crashed, as in I was asleep before 10. I'm so glad I decided to go. I was cold, hungry, tired, and unshowered for the entire weekend, but it was worth it for Paris.
Monday I slept in, ran errands, and tried to work on my papers. Then I went to Aunt Jenny's for the evening, and we went to her friend Manju's for Thai takeaway with her family. It was so nice to relax and be taken care of after the weekend.
Phew.
I will have pictures from Paris soon, but my laptop charger decided to not work as of Sunday, so I can't use my own computer at the moment. As soon as I get that sorted I'll post them!
Hope you all are having a lovely week and enjoying the warm Iowa weather!
Last Sunday, the 26, we had to go to two different church services for my Religions course. In the morning we went to a Unitarian Church in Hampstead which is in North London, and in the evening we went to an evangelical service. It was definitely an interesting contrast between two forms of Christianity. In between services, Alissa and I rode bikes again because it seemed silly to waste the day inside again.
Monday I caught up with a few things and then went to Covent Garden for a while just to look. On Mondays the market is entirely antiques, which was cool but not exactly my thing. On my way back though I stumbled upon a map shop---so awesome. I probably spent an hour in there just looking through all the travel books and different guides and maps they had.
Tuesday I had my work placement; we had to pick up information from a few different places before meeting Julie at the National Gallery cafe. She went over some press releases with us and gave us a few other things to do. That evening the program paid for us to go on a Jack the Ripper Tour in the East End, which wasn't scary but was really gory.
Wednesday for work placement Julie had us go to Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, two of London's most expensive department stores. I don't think I've ever felt so poor in my life. They were both still really fun to walk around though--they really are more about the experience than the shopping. I especially liked Fortnum & Mason; it was really quirky and fun compared to Harrods. I was so mad though to find out that the Queen and Kate were there the following day though! We literally just missed them. That night I hung out with a few girls for Abby T's birthday--it was her 5th birthday since she was a Leap Year baby.
Thursday we had lectures all morning which were about the monarchy--it was kind of interesting. I feel bad that I don't like these classes (Contemporary Britain), because they SHOULD be really good. Our lecturers though are just so dull. In the afternoon we had Religions, in which we went over our church visits and watched a couple of documentaries that explained the theology behind them a bit more.
Friday we had a day trip with the program to Canterbury and Leeds Castle. In Canterbury we had a tour of the cathedral, which was really beautiful. Then Abby and I found a little tea shop and had cream tea--soo good. Then we wandered the high street a little before heading back to the bus. We drove through Dover to see the cliffs before arriving at Leeds Castle. I wasn't really that excited to go, because I saw sooo many castles in Wales. But, this was the first castle I saw with a moat, and this castle had peacocks which obviously made it cool. It was kind of strange inside as it had been lived in until the mid 1900s. There also was a maze outside, which was so annoying because everyone that made it to the middle before us could see us struggling. Then we headed back to London. I had loads to do before Paris--laundry, planning, packing. Plus I wanted to go to bed early, because we left London at 4 am!
So Saturday Lindsey, Mallory, and I caught the bus from Victoria Rail Station at 4, which got us to Luton Airport at 5am. We went through security and then boarded the plane. We were so tired, but it was so hard to sleep with people talking all around us. We got to Charles de Gaulle, and then we had to figure out how on earth we were getting to the city centre. We finally decided on a bus that dropped us off at Opera, which sounded like a good idea until we got off and had no idea where we were. We literally walked in circles for an hour--we actually asked this random bus driver and he just made hand gestures in circles since he didn't speak English. Finally we decided to just hop on the metro. We got off at the Louvre and walked around the outside before finding a cafe for lunch--we were SO hungry by then. Then we walked along the Champs-Elysees, a famous street, to the Arc de Triomphe. Then we spotted the Eiffel Tower in the distance, so we headed that direction. I can't tell you how excited I was to finally be there. It was just amazing. We walked up part of it--so many stairs! But it was definitely worth it for the view. Then we went to the hostel to drop our backpacks off before heading right back to do an evening bike tour. One of our friends had done the tour before and said it was awesome, so we thought we would check it out. I am so glad we did--we got to see so much of Paris that we wouldn't have otherwise. We were so cold (this genius didn't take a coat.......) and we hadn't had any supper, but it was so cool to see the city by night. The tour ended with a riverboat cruise on the Seine, which was the perfect way to end the day. We grabbed food and then headed back to our very sketchy hostel. The worst bit of where we stayed was waking up the next morning to find that the bathrooms outside our room had flooded, and no one had cleaned it up. So gross. Our room was pretty awful and the other bathrooms weren't very clean, so we didn't even shower and just got out of there. We took the metro up to see the Sacre-Coeur, a beautiful church in the Montmartre area. It sits on a hill and overlooks the city, which made for incredible views. Montmartre is a really interesting neighbourhood so we spent most of the day there. There were markets, loads of good restaurants, and an entire square where artists just sat painting. We had time so we ventured to see Moulin Rouge, but we scooted out of there as soon as we realized what it was. Then we had to figure out how to get back to the airport. We made it to the central train station, but when we got there there was no one at any of the ticket desks and the self-serve ticket machines wouldn't take our cards or cash. We were starting to panic when a lady came up and asked us if we needed help. We told her what was going on, and she just handed us three tickets that would get us to the airport. We tried to pay her but she wouldn't let us--it was definitely a pay it forward moment. We had encountered a few fairly rude French people, but she more than made up for them. We got back to London with no problems, and I absolutely crashed, as in I was asleep before 10. I'm so glad I decided to go. I was cold, hungry, tired, and unshowered for the entire weekend, but it was worth it for Paris.
Monday I slept in, ran errands, and tried to work on my papers. Then I went to Aunt Jenny's for the evening, and we went to her friend Manju's for Thai takeaway with her family. It was so nice to relax and be taken care of after the weekend.
Phew.
I will have pictures from Paris soon, but my laptop charger decided to not work as of Sunday, so I can't use my own computer at the moment. As soon as I get that sorted I'll post them!
Hope you all are having a lovely week and enjoying the warm Iowa weather!
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