I'm not dead, but my computer is.

Mar. 13th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Uh oh, I have some catching up to do now!

I didn't get to blog much while Ha was visiting, and then not at all in Wales, and then my laptop redied. So here goes.

Monday
I went to my niner, went back to my room and showered, and then took Ha to Picadilly Circus to catch a bus tour.


We got her ticket at a kiosk, and when she went to get on the bus, the guys taking tickets started messing with her and freaking her out a bit, saying they couldn't take those any more since they'd had lots of counterfeits lately. I was laughing, but she was not impressed. I think they got along in the end when I left though.

I found out I have to have 12-15 sources for my 2000 word architecture paper. He expects there to be original thought how, exactly? I'm going to try to get a start on that this weekend, with any luck, since a bunch of my friends are off on various excursions.

Ha got herself back to my dorm before my last class started, and took a nap, and then we got the biggest group yet together and went to Brick Lane. Caitlin and I played off of each other quite well, and we managed to get two rounds of drinks, starter, main course, rice, nan, pompadons, and service charge for nine pounds a head. It was soooo good, and some of our British friends that had never been loved it. It is going to be tough going when I can't do Brick Lane once a week any more, I'm officially addicted.

We went back round to Paul's after dinner and the Beigle shop, and Ha and I taught the Brits how to play Kings, which they embraced whole-heartedly.

Tuesday
Ha and I got up nice and early on Tuesday and powered through the V&A- I think we spent as much time in the jewelry room as the rest of the museum combined (we're girls, we like sparkly things, okay?). We got some pasties at Budgens and then made our way to Paddington station and onto our train to go see Carly in Wales! I was going to do work but ended up sleeping most of the four hour journey, and we were both famished by the time we got to Carmarthen.

Carly met us at the station and we lugged all of our stuff the twenty minute walk to Carly's campus. Her uni (Trinity I think?) is really cute, and is situated directly across from a picturesque misty meadow with sheep in it.

In Wales, people learn Welsh first, and then start English intensely when they are nine or so, so all of the signs and fliers are written in Welsh and English, it's pretty interesting to look at. I learned more about pronouncing Welsh than Carly has so far- for example, one L at the start of a word sounds like an F, but a double L in the middle of a word has a Th sound.

Carly kindly cooked copious amounts of pasta for us to consume, and then it was getting late so we headed to Jacksons (Carmarthen's version of Hayfield's) for her friend's 21st birthday celebration. The bartender was stellar and opened the bar up early just for them, and kept giving us free credit on the jukebox so her friend could have whatever music she wanted for her birthday.

Wednesday
After sleeping in a bit, the three of us got up and met up with a bunch of Carly's friends for lunch. I actually got tea (I'm so refined now!), and Ha and I split a ham and cheese panini and also a peanut butter and nutella one (I am henceforth always making things with peanut butter and nutella, warmed; deliciousness). Being still hungry, after parting ways with Carly's friends, we meandered through downtown Carmarthen. I bought my first donut since December, and it was delicious (though not nearly up to par with Dunkin Donuts). We also went and checked out Carmarthen Castle, which was really cool, and located in Nott Square, which I thought was a funny name for a square. I mean, is it a square, or is it Nott?

We stopped at Tesco's on the way back to Carly's flat and got dinner stuffs and snacks, and made delicious curry and nan (are you sensing a trend in my eating habits here?) for dinner. We also made some guacamole, and brought houmus, and went to watch Crash in the international student's lounge on her campus. One of her friend's Welsh flatmates was watching with us, and it was entertaining to hear her talk about how relieved she was when she first saw the film and realized we don't all use the obnoxious brown paper shopping bags with no handles on them.

In talking to that girl and Carly's flatmates, I sensed that Welsh girls are pretty tough- they get injured a lot, and laugh it off a lot more than a lot of people I know would. I forget her name, but the one watching the movie with us was talking about how she thought it was so cool to be able to see all the layers of tissue before it started bleeding when she sliced her hand open down to the bone; not a usual reaction.

Thursday
We just missed the train I was supposed to take from Carmarthen, which made me just miss the train I needed to take from Swansea back to Paddington, which meant my trip home cost an extra £65 on top of the £10 it originally cost me. Bummer. I got a chunk of my maths homework done, though, which was good. Some soldier was trying to chat me up acrost the aisle, but I just wanted to get my work done so I could nap.

I went to Nando's for dinner, which is a delicious chicken chain, and decently cheap too. I'm surprised that I'd never been there before, you can order different levels of spiciness and put sauce on it; I got medium on pitta bread (pronounced pit-tah, not pee-tah) with pineapple (yum!), and also houmous (not hummus; who-muss? you must!) as an appetizer. Happy stomach ensued. Happiness furthered by a trip to Cookies and Cream for ice cream.

Also, something I tend to take for granted is often recognizing the brands in movies. This was pointed out whilst watching Hot Fuzz, that Brits often aren't familiar with brands in shops and things like that, so it's fun watching good British movies and recognizing all the names.

Friday
My computer decided to stop working this morning, which was fantastic. So I went to the gym, then the library to do some emailing (I might have another chance at a UNUM internship, huzzah!), and took a shower. I ran out of time to eat in my room, so brought my mashed potatoes with me to Diff Eq. I ran into Haider on the way and he judged me for my lunch, so I went and got a tuna melt (no raspberry vinagarette like Kimmy and Molly put on at Hillside) and chocolate cake, both delicious, to eat in the library while I finished trying to catch up on stuff before Actuarial.

No smackdowns occurred in Actuarial today, which is probably for the best, and then Caitlin and I hit up Leceister Square. We ended up seeing Mousetrap, which is an Agatha Christie play. It's been running for fifty six years or so now, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but it was hysterical and did a pretty good job with the twist ending to the murder mystery. I actually figured out the biggest bits (such as who the murderer is, but I'm not supposed to say!) but there were still lots of intriguing ties that I didn't predict.

I also liked that we were sitting way high up in the upper circle, and had to go outside and walk around to the sketchy back staircase to get to our seats. I decided it was where the pleebs sit; even the bathroom was tiny and dirty, definitely plebian.

I am now finishing my marathon blog catch-up in the library, supported by Mr. Coca Cola and Miss Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies, and should probably leave soon since it's almost midnight on a Friday. Just because the library is open 24/7 doesn't mean I need to spend the entirety of my time here :-)