Welcome to America, oops I mean London

So we left Friday morning (super early) for London expecting, certainly, a different kind of weekend, filled with lots of English and money spending and nostalgia about everything English we know. When we got there, though, I felt this weird kind of sadness that I could not pinpoint. I think it had something to do with the fact that the leaves were changing in London just like they do in South Bend (not so much in Toledo), they were putting out Christmas decorations and playing American music. I don't know. Maybe it sounds lame but it made me really miss home. 

At the same time, however, it was so completely awesome to actually be in London— all I could think of was Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, Bridget Jones, Spice Girls, Beatles, Charles Dickens and Austin Powers. The British are such lovely people (yea, and I picked up such words as lovely, charming, whilst and mind, used as a verb, like mind the stairs.) We crammed so much into that weekend that my head was spinning by the end of it, in a great way. We did all of the tourist sites like Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, riverboat tour of the Thames and a double decker bus. I was awesome. And it was also awesome asking for things in English and having people understand you! And I know this sounds really petty, but even when eavesdropping in little conversations in the Tube, I felt really cool because for once I could understand everything they were saying and I got quick little glimpses of English gossip. Later on Sunday when we were on the Metro back from the airport to the train station in Madrid, I realized that it is only different here because we really have to tune in to conversations to understand (which I did to this unfortunate group of Spanish guys talking about getting mugged.) I was, admittedly, pretty proud of myself.

Touring around London, it got dark around 4p.m., which was so weird. I had forgotten that they are on a different time zone. They also go out a lot earlier and come back earlier, and places are consequently closed a lot earlier. The bar we were at Saturday night was super fun, but I realized how much I missed Spain when we found ourselves leaving at 2. I also realized that I miss the awkwardness of getting used to a different place and the struggle of a foreign language, if that makes any sense at all. I was almost overjoyed when the man at customs asked me, in Spanish, if I have enjoyed Spain. I really do love it here, have to admit. 

Today I got a care package from my wonderfulbeautiful friend Beth, who will be studying in Dublin next semester. Thanks girl. Trust me, you're going to get a kick out of Europe. I will be in Dublin in a little less than two weeks— I will give you the full report. In the meantime, Bob will keep me company.