Hello everybody.
I have officially two weeks until my flight home. Between me and that flight lay 3 exams, 3 summaries of readings, and one 30 page paper. Oh, and trying to shove everything I own into one suitcase.
Firstly, I would like to saw how much my heart is saddened by the shooting at a gay club called The Pulse in Orlando this week. It hurts to be away from my country when we as a whole community are grieving. I also wish we, as a country, could do something about our gun laws and how easily people are allowed to get them. Living in a country, and visiting others, where only police and the military have access to guns has done wonders for their lack of mass shootings. I wish someday we could maybe live in a country where we don’t have mass shootings occurring on a monthly basis. I stand with the people of Orlando and the people of the LGBTQA+ communities of our country and our world.
I have officially two weeks until my flight home. Between me and that flight lay 3 exams, 3 summaries of readings, and one 30 page paper. Oh, and trying to shove everything I own into one suitcase.
Firstly, I would like to saw how much my heart is saddened by the shooting at a gay club called The Pulse in Orlando this week. It hurts to be away from my country when we as a whole community are grieving. I also wish we, as a country, could do something about our gun laws and how easily people are allowed to get them. Living in a country, and visiting others, where only police and the military have access to guns has done wonders for their lack of mass shootings. I wish someday we could maybe live in a country where we don’t have mass shootings occurring on a monthly basis. I stand with the people of Orlando and the people of the LGBTQA+ communities of our country and our world.
Secondly, last week my two friends, Lisa and Sophie and I, returned from a weeklong trek from England to Wales. We flew from Málaga to London Gatwick Airport, where I stood in a customs line about a mile long because I am not a EU citizen and both Sophie and Lisa are. British security is much higher then Spanish, to say the least. We then managed to get a train to King’s Cross, St. Pancras, the same train station that Harry Potter and his friends take Platform 9¾. We then switched to the London Underground and took a Northern Line train to Camden Town, where our hostel was situated.
Camden Town is an area of London I fell in love with. It’s extremely punky and has Doc Martin stores alongside music stores and venues. They also have an open-air market where loads of bootlegged clothing and music could be bought fairly cheaply. I am happy to say I haggled for an Arctic Monkey’s pullover hoodie and got it for £10.
Our hostel wasn’t amazing, but it was nice to have a 6-bed dorm. I haven only slept in 10+ beds or more. However, this hostel was above a bar that didn’t close until 2am. We also happened to stay in Camden the weekend of a Rock Festival and the bar below us was a venue. Which means I got to hear loud punk and rock bands until 2am when I was trying to sleep.
Camden Town is an area of London I fell in love with. It’s extremely punky and has Doc Martin stores alongside music stores and venues. They also have an open-air market where loads of bootlegged clothing and music could be bought fairly cheaply. I am happy to say I haggled for an Arctic Monkey’s pullover hoodie and got it for £10.
Our hostel wasn’t amazing, but it was nice to have a 6-bed dorm. I haven only slept in 10+ beds or more. However, this hostel was above a bar that didn’t close until 2am. We also happened to stay in Camden the weekend of a Rock Festival and the bar below us was a venue. Which means I got to hear loud punk and rock bands until 2am when I was trying to sleep.
I did lots of sightseeing. The first day I went to see the Houses of Parliament and got an audio tour which took about three hours. Sadly, photos were not allowed so I can’t show you what it looked like. I learned a lot about how the British government works and the history behind the buildings. I also saw the London Eye across the Thames, as well as walked around Westminster Abbey. I never got in because I couldn’t afford the £20 entrance fee. I also went and saw Buckingham Palace. After all this, Sophie, Lisa and I took the London Overground to the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio. There was so much there that I am planning on writing a separate blog on it. Spoiler: I did cry.
The second day I saw Piccadilly Circus, which is a toned down version of Times Square in New York. I then walked to Trafalgar Square, which has giant lion statues and a monument. I stopped for some coffee at Café Nero, which is an Italian coffee chain in London. I really liked their coffee and the wifi is pretty good (reminder: I am without wifi this entire time!).
I caught the London Underground to London Bridge, where I walked over the Tower Bridge, which is the famous one we see in all the movies. I then paid the entrance fee for the Tower of London. The Tower of London is a massive castle and palace complex that has served the monarchs of England for hundreds of years. It was really cool but the best part of the whole thing was the Crown Jewels. I couldn’t take pictures in there but just know the crowns and scepters and everything were glittering so much they didn’t seem real. But they are, and they’re worth thousands of dollars!
I was exhausted by this time, as daily I was averaging walking like 12 miles or something.
I caught the London Underground to London Bridge, where I walked over the Tower Bridge, which is the famous one we see in all the movies. I then paid the entrance fee for the Tower of London. The Tower of London is a massive castle and palace complex that has served the monarchs of England for hundreds of years. It was really cool but the best part of the whole thing was the Crown Jewels. I couldn’t take pictures in there but just know the crowns and scepters and everything were glittering so much they didn’t seem real. But they are, and they’re worth thousands of dollars!
I was exhausted by this time, as daily I was averaging walking like 12 miles or something.
Our third and final day I went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater on the River Thames. I got a tour and got to see the beautiful recreation of what the original Globe would have looked like in Shakespeare’s Day. It was amazing to see the world where so many theater productions that I have been in were originally put on. You see, there’s this wonderful human being called Mrs. Barbara Johnson who was my theater teacher at Faith Christian School, where I attended for 8 years. She had this knack for creating and shaping her students into strong, eloquent, and fearless actors, and therefore people. I was in so many of her shows, and so many of those shows were of Shakespeare. So the whole tour was really emotional for me, because acting got me through a lot of the hard times I had in middle and high school, and gave me lifelong friends.
After this, I met back up with Sophie and Lisa and we got on a bus to Cardiff, Wales. Sophie’s family home is in Cardiff and we spent a magnificent 4 days living in a home, with a family and hot tea and great meals. Lisa was very sick during this time with a fever and cough so we didn’t go do very much, but it was honestly amazing just to be surrounded by a family again. I cannot wait to be home with my family in 2 weeks. I really miss them a lot and soon I will be back in my USA life.
I know I will miss Spain and all of the stuff I’ve done and learned here, but home is where my heart is, and Virginia is calling.
I know I will miss Spain and all of the stuff I’ve done and learned here, but home is where my heart is, and Virginia is calling.