August 6
Today was an n ordinary day. I went to bed kind of late and therefore had a difficult time waking up. After class yesterday, Celina, Eileen and I decided to meet in front of York House at 10:30 so that we could go up and pay our “class fees” for our Shakespeare trip that is on Monday and then head over to the library since we were meeting there for class instead of the usual place in the Arts Building. Well I had to wake up in enough time to shower and eat breakfast before then, so I rolled out of bed at 9. After leisurely getting ready I headed down to meet where we designated. The only difference in the plan was that we were no longer meeting in the library but back in the normal room.
We all walked, paid our fees and headed back to Arts D. On our way, I saw Sarah out of the corner of my eye walking briskly towards the library. She had her headphones on so I knew calling her name wouldn’t get her attention. So without any known reason to Eileen and Celina, I took off running. I followed Sarah and finally stopped to tell her that we were actually meeting at our normal class instead of the library. So all four of us proceeded to Arts D instead of just the three of us. When we arrived in the building our instructor was leaving. He told us he would be right up and for us to go in and be seated. So we did. The projector was set up and we knew we would only be watching film clips of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, so there was no surprise. After waiting a little, I began to wonder where on earth our instructor could have gone. Either way I was going to have to wait and then he walked in carrying Malteasers (a candy that is the English’s superior to Whoppers) and toffee popcorn. He placed them in front of us and told us we couldn’t have a movie without popcorn or Malteasers.
Of course, the discussion and comparison of Malteasers to Whoppers inevitably ensued, but we were in class for only an hour and a half instead of the usual full 2 hours. It was a nice break especially since I am still used to class like my first session always ending early. After class Eileen, Celina and I were going to head over to the farmer’s market over at Falmer House. We trekked along campus to find that the market was held on Tuesday that week and not Thursday. I was really sad since I was so looking forward to the fresh fruit and veggies. Since the market was closed I headed over to the library to check out the rest of the books I needed for class. After that I went back to my dorm and ate lunch. I called a few people on Skype, but not much else.
I did attempt to read one of the articles I need to for the coming week, but it is in a very different kind of English and I spent most of the time de-coding it than understanding its contents. The article is from 1582 and written about the theatre. It is interesting to see a piece of writing from that time when theatre was so controversial, but I wish it didn’t take so long to read. When I finished with that article I went to the store and bought some broccoli and cauliflower. I really wanted some fresh steamed vegetables. So I made a small bowl, but the cauliflower they had available at the store was much, much larger than I needed. Usually they have segmented pieces, but this was an entire head with the green leaves an all. I brought it up because I wanted it still and the clerks were shocked that the supplier would send one that size. They pulled off the leaves to take the weight of it down and it only turned up being 95p for the thing. I was impressed since I was sure it would have cost 2 or 3 pounds. Before checking out I did grab a can of garbanzo beans for those of you who know what I have in mind. I am quite excited for that meal.
I returned from the store and watched movies on my lap top. I watched a couple and just when I was getting bored/ lonely who calls me? My mom. She doesn’t even know that her timing was that impeccable, but I was able to talk to her and felt a ton better. I also loved the fact that I knew if I stayed up late I would be able to talk to her in video chat. I watched a couple more movies and had the craziest conference call I have ever experienced.
I was on the phone with just my mom. Then Lauren calls her cell and Lauren was on speakerphone as I was on the computer with my mom. Then when Lauren got in to her apartment she was conferenced in to the call mom and I were on. Jake was there too so I was talking to Mom, Lauren and Jake. After some time, Auntie Tina signed on to Skype and wanted to talk so we conference her in as well. So total it was Mom, Lauren, Jake, Tina, and Russ plus me on the same call. You could only imagine the conversation that ensued. It was perfect.
When I got off of the phone at 2:30, I remained awake to finish the movie I had been watching when mom called me. When I finished that, I tried to go to bed. The problem, I was not really tired and someone was still talking really loudly so that it was echoing in the quad. It was a humid night so I couldn’t keep my window closed. When I still couldn’t sleep at 4 am I got up to walk around and find the sound’s source. I walked around my floor to see if it was one of the kitchens on my level. It wasn’t. I walked up the stairs by my room and immediately found the source to be above me. Not the room directly above me, but the room next to the one right above me. I knocked on the door and asked very politely if she wouldn’t mind talking a little quieter as it was echoing in the quad and keeping me awake. I felt bad, but I was actually tired at that point and wanted sleep. Of course people waking up and moving about woke me early so I woke at about 9:30 this morning. There will need to be a nap today.
P.S. sorry about the inconsistency of tense. I am aware that I started it as if it were still Thursday, but it is in fact Friday and I don’t care enough to go back and fix it.
