Kate and Mom at Fortnum & Mason

I got to show off some of my favorite places in London, including Borough Market which they all just went wild for. I also got a CAMERA so after 6 months I can be all touristy! I was snapping pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye with such tourist-like enthusiasm, I fit right in with the crowd of 2309852p031 school groups, tour groups, families with screaming children, families with babies who wouldn’t remember anyway, and the families with the super emo “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND” teenagers who are my FAVORITE to watch!

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

Kate, Mom and I saw “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” which was absolutely AMAZING! The cast was phenomenal. As someone who used to do quite a lot of behind the scenes work in theatre, it is pretty hard for me to get fully engrossed in the play itself, as opposed to mannerisms and tech stuff, but this show pulled me in and kept me there until the final curtain fell. Absolutely mindbogglingly ridiculously good. All of us saw “Sister Act” on Friday which was AWESOME even the second time around I love that show. Then I will be seeing “Oliver” with my aunt, uncle and cousin tomorrow after we do some serious shopping in the morning. O’ woe is me! Life is good.

If only catholicism could be this fun ALL the time!

On the academic note, I am attempting to complete papers, study for exams and prep for the GMAT all at once, so we’ll see how that goes. Check back in 3 weeks when I write, “I meant to finish all my papers, study for exams and prepare for the GMAT…but [insert poor excuse and far too many emoticons here]” But I’ll pretend I don’t know myself that well and that everything is going to work itself out in a timely, orderly manner!

Risque bunnies outside Spitalfields Market

Hope your Easter/April 2nd-4th weekend was swell!

Claire

Me: Hi! May I have an iced grande americano with hazelnut please? (because you totally needed to know my beverage of choice)
Guy: Sure! (pause)…Why you always so sweaty?

And then I had a giggle fit.

Yours truly,
Sweaty Betty

Due to fabulous friends and amazing family friends coming to visit, I have been having a ball exploring more of London. This is especially exciting since the SUN HAS COME OUT TO PLAY! I know people say that spring here makes up for the rest of the year’s dismal weather, but I honestly thought they were all liars who enjoy crushing the spirit of those who love sunshine. But they were RIGHT! Now that I won’t get drenched to the bone, I have started walking everywhere again. Yesterday  I decided to head out early and walked almost 5 miles to Notting Hill Gate, taking a detour through Hyde Park. All the fountains were alive and well, and the birds were chirping and saying something in bird-talk that I probably wouldn’t understand like “PRETTY COIFFURE AT 10 O CLOCK! POOP ATTACK ON MY MARK!” or something along those lines. But it was beautiful.

The flower market: Columbia Road Flower Market on Sundays ONLY from 8 am to 2. But by 2 I mean get there at 3 because they SLASH prices to ridiculous lows. Example: 20 white roses for FIVE POUNDS! I was in heaven. So much so that I got home and realized I had to buy vases to put all my flowers in. But it has been a glorious investment. I love waking up and seeing the morning sun illuminating all the petals.

Columbia Road Flower Market is also amazing because it is less than a 10 minute walk to Brick Lane, which is less than a 15 minute walk to Spitalfields Market. You can totally do 3 markets comfortably in3 hours. Well, WE did. But then again A and I are market all-stars.

I have also been falling in L-O-V-E with Notting Hill/Portobello Road area. My future apartment and future house are both within 5 minutes of each other. They will be mine. Just have to figure out the finances first, but I doubt it’s really that hard to find a few billion pounds lying around.

Loved having the Lais in town and tagging along on their adventures. It has definitely given me ideas on where to take my family when they visit in just over a week. My mom, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin will be here for the first week of April and EASTER! I really want to have an Easter Egg Hunt. Will keep you updated.

So, favorites of the minute:

• Columbia Road Flower Market
• Borough Market (will and always be my favorite)
• Exploring Southbank (all old warehouses turned into flats and art studios)
• Notting Hill & Portobello Road (Antiques and Awesomeness)
• Kingly Court (Vintage and favorite tea place, Camellia Sinensis)

Life is an adventure. Live it to the fullest.

Cheers,

Claire

Wow what a month! My computer crashed the day before I left for Egypt, so after running to the Apple Store with the mac cradled against my chest like it was my baby, I had to wait until I got back to London to bring it in, whereupon they told me it would be FREE (my favorite number) but would take 5 weeks (cue: fainting spell). So after being without a computer for 2 weeks, my lovely mom sent my netbook I bought this summer over and I have been doing papers and applications ever since. But, readers, remember that I still love you and you are special just the way you are!

Egypt. Goodness. What can I say about Egypt. Okay there is one thing I can say about it: GO THERE! It was absolutely amazing. We got into Cairo around 3 am, and one of our friends’ bag decided he liked Istanbul just a bit too much to leave. We filed a claim and left the airport in search of a taxi. Empty streets. Then a man came up to us and asked if we needed a cab. The others said yes and followed him into this shadow-filled parking garage. I, on the other hand, remained about 10 feet back with my overactive imagination playing the Law and Order soundtrack in my head, specifically the part when someone screams and finds the body. BUT he turned out to be a blessing, and was our driver all week in Cairo.

Cairo. Is. Huge. It’s the size of London but with DOUBLE the people. 22 million to be non-particularly exact. There are no real crosswalks, so every day when you return to your room, you truly feel like a hero for not being a pancake somewhere in Downtown. In London, we have “The Green Man” for the signal to cross the street. In Cairo, it is the running man, due to the fact that you MUST run for your life. I did not know this, but it is a very straightforward lesson as 22 million cars are speeding towards you as you stand in the middle of the street with a metaphorical “HIT ME!” sign glued to your forehead. I think one of our most proud moments happened as we were trying to find Al-Azhar Park. We saw the park entrance, but it was, funnily enough, on the other side of approximately 8 lanes of traffic. It was like an Indiana Jones adventure but without dead things or magical Arks.

The first leg of the Cairo trip involved a trip to the Giza Piramids and Saqarra, which was totally ridiculous. Within 24 hours of leaving London, we were on camels in front of the Great Pyramids. When you’re totally out of it, seeing an Ancient Wonder of the World is totally possible. But it was ACTUALLY THERE!

We took the train to Luxor which was an adventure in itself, and, I must say, I do love Luxor. It is FAR smaller than Cairo, and the air is so clean and fresh. Since we were staying on the West Bank of the NILE, we had to take a ferry across the NILE at least twice a day. Oh, did I mention I got to go on the NILE?! Just wanted to make that clear

In Luxor, we woke up at 6 am every day to head out to the ruins and tombs in order to beat the heat (and the crowds as it turned out). Our usual day went like this:

1. Leave at 6 am
2. Dance around (fill in the blank) ruins like it was our playground
3. Repeat at archeological wonder #2
4. Repeat at archeological wonder #3
5. Head home for lunch and hottest part of the day
6. Eat lunch at our AWESOME hotel, play cards and drink mango juice
7. Head across to the east bank to wander around the markets and see museums
8. Eat dinner and play cards
9. General merriment

I couldn’t have wished for better people to travel with. I also couldn’t have been happier with the exchange rate, a phrase I never thought I would be able to utter again after 5 months in London (damn pound.) It was approximately 5 egyptian pounds to the dollar, so a 4 pound juice was LESS THAN A DOLLAR! And a huge bottle of water was about 50 cents. I must admit, when we would get a bill for 150 pounds for our dinners out, our hearts would jump in our chests because it was so easy to forget, for a moment at least, that we weren’t paying in pounds sterling. Needless to say, coming back here was painful.

So after our adventures in Luxor seeing the Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hapshetsut and all other brilliant and mind-blowing places, we returned on a train to Cairo. That trip took a (casual) 11 hours, but both of them were night trains. I’ve mastered the art of weaving my feet through my luggage so that if anyone wants to steal it, they will have to touch the legs of the most ticklish person alive. INSTANT ALARM SYSTEM.

Cairo round two was much less daunting and the 22 million people were still there, so it was good to know nothing much changed while we were gone. Two of our party left that night, but before they did, we had an amazing dinner and took a boatride down the Nile. Yep, the Nile was still there, too. The next day, one more of our party left in the morning, and Quinn and I hung out with her Egyptian family friend who took us horseback riding out by the Giza pyramids. Sitting on the roof of a 3-story building, overlooking the pyramids as dusk fell over the desert was the most amazing and magical part of my trip. I finally fully realized I was in Egypt and not the victim of an incredibly creative hallucination…just in time to leave.

We returned to London which promptly greeted us with its rain-soaked arms and jumped back into school things. But as I went about my life here in London, the notion kept swinging back to hit me in the face that I had just been in Egypt speaking Arabic, drinking mint tea, seeing the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings. As dorky and Disney-esque as it may sound, it was truly magical.

I was also offered 15,000 camels for my hand in marriage. Who says America is the only land of opportunity?

More adventures to come,

Claire

LOVE,
Claire

Halas lilmasa’a,
Claire

My apologies for the lack of updates. I’m heading to Egypt on Saturday and I’ve been running around like a crazy person. I just got back from shopping for some modest/non-Euro clothing and looks like i’m ready to go on the clothing front! Now I’m just making sure I have the right bank stuff and visa things (aren’t I just great at being specific?)

I am VERY excited about Egypt. This is my first time in the Middle East and I will actually be surrounded on all sides by Arabic. I’m sure that it will be overwhelming, but I’m totally up for it

After a 6 hour layover in Istanbul (oh hey, attention span!) we will be in Egypt for Sunday and Monday, and then we’ll head to Luxor on a sleeper train which I am SO excited about. Yes, I’m excited even though I’ll be asleep for 90% of the time. Stop judging!

We will be in Luxor all of Tuesday, Wednesday and leave Thursday night for Cairo on sleeper train deux. On Friday night, two of our group will be leaving, so it will be 3 of us for the evening, and then 1 person leaves on Saturday leaving Quinn and I to EXPLORE! Personally, I am just excited to BE in Egypt, as dorky as that sounds. I’m looking forward to wandering and getting used to hearing the hard G’s that confuses me so much in Egyptian colloquial.

Overall, should be a blast

I will take a lot of pictures and post them here when I get back!!

ila liquaa!

Claire

Prepare yourselves for:

• Politically Incorrect Improv show
• A day of playing hooky in Oxford for (wait for it…) an improv show!
• Oxford bookstores
• Christy’s visit!
• American pancakes (from scratch! Huzzah!)
• Rewriting the lyrics of Ke$ha’s Tik Tok to pay homage to Martha Stewart and her pancake recipes (ie “Wake up in the morning feeling like M. Stewart (Hey girl)”)
• QI
• No mention of cover letters. I won’t put you through that pain.

Until then!

Claire

More tomorrow

Claire

Alright. This past week. What was this past week?!

Saturday:

Went to visit the lovely Yaffa in Oxford and it was glorious! I liked being on her turf haha. Oxford is a b-e-a-utiful city and, as the 23580315 bookstores exemplify, incredibly academic. Definitely some smart cookies there…or would it be smart biscuits? Well getting to oxford was the first adventure, as MegaBus conveniently forgot to mention that their buses might not say “MegaBus” on them. So, I got a nice workout running up and down Buckingham Palace Road for 20 minutes looking frantically for the 8:50 bus. I was pointed in about 42 different directions until I learned (from a man who obviously deserves sainthood) that MegaBus actually uses the London-Oxford Tube bus to go to Oxford. The bus sounded familiar. And then I realized I had sprinted by it approximately 9 times. As this realization occured at 8:55, and my ticket was only valid for that one bus, I went up to National Express and booked a ticket. I had a nice chat with the woman about MegaBus Suckage and she remarked that I was a lot calmer than most people who are usually in my situation. I responded with some hippy crap about “going with the flow” and was on my way.

Got to Oxford where Yaffa and I went out for lunch and tea at The Rose, an adorable restaurant which was a fabulous introduction to the city. We then went shopping for costumes for a “bop”/dance that night. The theme was London Underground, so the possibilities were endless. I had brought a lot of green with me, so I suggested Green Park, but I was sorely tempted to go as Kings Cross as a Crusader. However, upon finding some fabulously (cheap) crowns, it was destiny that Yaffa and I would go as Victoria and Albert. So whether we were Victoria station or just representing South Kensington, we’ll never know! After a fabulous dinner, we got ready for the bop. Alright, all I am going to say is that if you are at an Oxford party, avoid the Crosskeys drink unless you really enjoy losing feeling in your legs. We’ll just say I was VERY happy and Lady Gaga music was all I needed to complete me.

Sunday:

Yaffa and I got fabulous crepes for breakfast and then I headed back to London for a fantastic Wellesley tea party! I found this place called Camellia Sinensis in Kingly Court (SoHo) and luckily for me, I had some great friends who wanted to come along! This place was absolutely glorious. Instead of a tea menu, there is simply a wall of shelves full of tea jars. You can actually smell all the different kinds of teas and pick the one you want. It was so nice catching up with everyone, and it definitely reminded me how much I miss hanging around with Wellesley ladies.

Afterwards, we did a little shopping and then went out for dinner, had gelato, and it was an all-around great night.

Monday:

Monday evening featured dancing nuns. And by dancing nuns I mean the dancing actors dressed as nuns in Sister Act THE MUSICAL! It was quite possibly the most awesome feel-good musical I’ve seen in a while. Due to Kat’s marvelous ticket discount, we got fantastic 4th row center mezzanine seats for a fraction of the price! We went out for dinner beforehand, and it was very fun introducing my NCHS friends to my SOAS friends to my Wellesley friends. Upon realizing it was 7:25 and our show was at 7:30, we got some great exercise running up the street. Then WHAM Sister Act happened. I won’t even try to explain the awesomeness. The only thing I will say is that I wish church was like that every day.

After the show, we decided to go find dessert. On the sugar prowl, we happened upon this rocking little diner on Carnaby Street playing old school rock ‘n’ roll. Way too cute to pass up! I had a fabulous pistachio milkshake, which I didn’t feel so guilty about once we essentially walked all the way back home due to a confusing bus situation. So all was good! Can’t wait to do that again

Wednesday:

Improv Day! Well it wasn’t all improv day, but Politically Incorrect did take up quite the chunk of it. But you don’t see me complaining! After classes that day, Quinn and I hosted a tea party in our flat. I must say that I think tea parties are the most magical creation on the planet. It’s so much fun sitting around a table with good people and every getting to know each other. Ok dorky “peace love tea” moment over.

That night we had practice for Politically Incorrect Improv. It was the last practice before our show and it was FUN! After running around to find an open room, we did some warm-ups. Until we were interrupted by a language class, that is. Whenever anyone walks into our practices, I’ve noticed that they tend not to make eye contact with us. I know it’s sad, but I find that hysterical! So we moved back to the common room and played the games that will be in our show, and then we practiced the hysterical political sketches that I still don’t understand but have become an expert at laughing at on cue. Apparently, it’s going to take some time for me to get over the straightforward notion that TORIES ARE EVIL! REDCOATS REDCOATS! notion that has been programmed into my by the 10 or so years of revolutionary war history classes a la my American education. Although some of my friends do agree with me

All in all, I am very excited for the show!

Thursday:

I think Thursday can be summed up by one word: food. After getting coffee from my favorite Baptists (they chill out outside our building on thursday mornings and feed us) I was getting ready to go to Borough Market with Ashley when I got to take to my fave brother in China! Still don’t think that’s sinking in but hopefully it will haha. Afterwards, we went to Borough Market and basked in the awesomeness that is that place. We ended up getting this fabulous curry and dessert for the road. Then we headed over to Sainsbury to pick up ingredients for PIZZA BAGEL NIGHT! After seeing Precious last week, Anagha’s friends and I had been talking about pizza bagels, and about how much the high-school/college-aged boy seems to make them approximately 68% of their diet. We realized enough talking, more cooking, so pizza bagel night was born! It was really fun having people over for dinner, and everyone helped. There were about 7 of us, and it was quite the evening!

Friday:

So now I’m sitting here, attempting to watch as much YouTube of David Cameron as possible while simultaneously attempting to write my internship cover letters. Ahh! I think tomorrow will officially be Hermit Day to get these puppies done. Hmm. That phrase just sounds so much better out loud. Oh well! Improv show is tonight and I’m getting excited! A bit nervous, but excited nonetheless. I’m apparently going to have a cheering section a la the Pizza Bagel Night crowd, and I already made them promise to laugh at every single thing I say haha. It will be weird performing without my Dead Serious ladies, but if our show tonight is anything like Wednesday, it is going to be absolutely baller!

Cheers,

Claire