THE MOTHERLOAD: May 2009

HELLO! It's been an INSANE month, apologies on the lack of update.

The weekend after Dublin (I think?) Emma came to visit London. We had a great time at O'Neill's and Camden.. she and her friend knew of this great vegetarian Indian food buffet place that was outstanding. It was nice to just hang out and show off the parts of this city that I like. I thought, also, it would be the last time I saw her til at least next year, but due to unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) I ended up back in Paris a couple weekends ago. Anyways. Here are some fun pictures:

My favorite way to spend every night. I don't remember what song was on, but it was a good one.

Story of my life

Camden the next day

I guess the next significant event that happened is Claire left on May 16th. The week before, we spent as much time as possible doing "London Things": paddleboating in Hyde Park, going to Harrod's, going to National Gallery/Trafalgar Sq, etc. I enjoyed the last week because I finally got to enjoy things I always knew I'd get to but hadn't yet at that point.

SO fierce on the Paddle boat.

Action shot.

And island in the middle of the Serpentine.

Trafalgar Square/Big Ben from the steps of the National Gallery

I walk on this bridge almost everyday, but decided that week to photograph it. The eye and St. James' Park

We went to O'Neill's again that week (obviously) and my flatmate Anne came out with us, as well as my two friends Megan and Amanda. Amanda is from Jackson! Small world.

Anne and Me

Me, Megan and Amanda, doing that pose because our Modernism teacher reminds us of a Fairy

Claire's last night was pretty bittersweet. We were all ready to go home, but since she was the first to go it was strange. GOOD TIMES '09. London was an experience. I think Claire is coming to visit me in AZ in November. Should be fun! That night, we unfortunately ended up not making it out of our dorm, but that was okay since everyone we cared about was there.

THE TRIO.
Looking at this picture now- it' so weird, they are both gone. Just me left!

I helped Claire take her bags to Heathrow, which was an experience in itself. The same day, a friend from Arizona came to stay with me for a couple nights. I don't have any pictures of the time here but Eric was on his version of a Eurotour on the way to his study abroad program in Namibia, Africa. He is doing something with deserts and desert ecology and U of A has a program there. Pretty cool, but pretty serious too. I haven't had contact with him since he left, but I'm sure he's fine.

THEN, ON MAY 18, KELLY CAME TO LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!! *reunited and it feels so good*
I was SO HAPPY to see her. She arrived around midnight on the 18th, which in turn was really the 19th, WHICH IS MY BIRTHDAY. So on the 19th we just slept and hung around for a while (jet lag is rough) and then went to O'Neill's yet again.. probably spend too much time there but it's okay. My birthday was a strange phenomenon since I have been reaping the benefits of turning 21 since coming here in January, I was sharing the night with Aaron's friend Andrew (his birthday is 20th- AS IS CASEY'S!), and I was in a weird place.

TANGENT: HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY CASEY! WE HAVE COME SO LONG SINCE THIS! But I always liked this picture of us. TOOOGA 2006
I MISS YOU SO MUCH AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU IN JULY!!!!!!!

Back to the blog. I dunno; birthdays never are a big deal to me, I find them as overrated as Halloween or New Year's, and I ended up having a good time regardless but due to a series of unfortunate events, missed the flight to Barcelona the next day. That was probably the most bummed I have been in a few years. Barcelona was supposed to be a great getaway, a seven-day long vacation of enjoying Spanish life.. my alarm somehow didn't go off and we just missed it, there's nothing else to say. It will never happen to me again though, I think, and never had happened before. Whatever. The fact that we missed the flight allowed us to meet up with MARIEL, who came to London for just two days, May 20-21. She stayed with me, and we managed to see Abbey road and Platform 9 & 3/4 (Harry Potter reference) and had a lot of fun hanging out together.

Being dorks for the sake of HP

BFF since sixth grade right here

MP so amped to be at Abbey Road studios

We also went to Trafalgar Square, and since I am such a seasoned veteran I decided to refrain from tourist activities. . .

Kelly snapped this pic of me - too sassy for life.

It was fun to hang out with Mariel since Aaron's two friends were here from BC.

Andrew, Aaron and Mark

We were a nice little group. Unfortunately she could only stay the weekend, and Barcelona fell through we decided to go to Paris for a while with the BC boys. Andrew's flight was taking off from CDG and we all know Emma, so it was a fun weekend. Never a dull moment though, since Aaron since he left his backpack with all important belongings in the back of a taxi in Paris. He couldn't get through the U.K. border on the way back because he didn't have a passport, but it was turned into the embassy by the next day, when he got back to Paris.

I liked this trip a lot because it wasn't about sightseeing. I had just been to Paris the month before (see blog post) and it was fun to experience the city as a student who lives there would. Emma really showed us a good time. We hit up some usual sights but also went to the Latin Quarter, which I hadn't been to since 2002 and enjoyed nightlife culture on a bridge over the Seine where one can watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We also participated in the botellon that I was talking about in the Paris post by drinking on the steps of the hill of Monmarte.

Monmarte at night. A little blurry.

On that night in Monmarte, we somehow got separated from the rest of the group so after trying to find everyone else, Kelly, Aaron, Mark and I just decided to hang out in a cafe around there. We had a really good night, although it wasn't the balls-to-the-wall going out experience we thought we were going to have. We called ourselves Team Crepe and it sounds really corny now. Oh well. I am corny. Enjoy these pictures.

BFFs

Probably my most favortie picture of all.

Judgey McJudgerson

I will spare you the pictures I have already taken. The next day, we went to the Catacombs, Luxembourg Gardens, and Notre Dame, then went to Emma's to meet up with her for dinner in the Latin Quarter, afterwards we hung out on the bridge I was talking about.

This is new! Fountain time
Terrible pic.. on the bridge.

The best part of the trip, perhaps, was the bus ride back to London. We got to take the ferry across the Channel, and it was really more like a cruise ship more than anything else. It was markedly different without Aaron there, but we kind of made the best of that- we walked outside and took pictures in front of the water. RIP red backpack.

LATAZ

Good luck Aaron

The next day, the 25th, Mark headed back to Boston. Aaron got back into London hours after Mark had left, but I took care of getting him towards Heathrow. Since that point, we just had been enjoying ourselves in London. Last Wednesday, Kelly, Casey and I went to this club called KOKO in London (I have referred to it before) where Kate Nash was DJing! It was really fun; she played great music and we danced the night away and felt so British.

Getting ready for Koko - ZEBRA

There she is!

Another highlight was Aaron's last night, the 28th. We again went to O'Neill's.

My Lil' London Family on the 24: me, Lisa, Casey, Kelly

BEST PICTURE EVER. Kelly and I in love in London.

Goodbye Son.

Since Aaron left, we just hung around London wasting time but having fun. Kelly left very early this morning, and I didn't sleep at all. Two nights ago I think she got some version of the flu because she was not feeling good at all, so we just took it easy all day yesterday although I think it was one of the nicest days of the year. That's okay! We had to take night buses back to Heathrow because her flight left too early for the tube to make check-in on time, and that was such an experience. But after having all these visitors I now know every possible way to get to the airport, I think. That will help me greatly, as I am leaving in TWO DAYS! I am so excited to get home. This has been really fun, but I am really ready to bounce on outta here onto the next chapter. This summer should be a strange one, with no set job and thoughts of going back to AZ early. I'm not going to get too ahead of myself though, one day at a time. I will update again probably once I get home with a super reflective corny post that you all can just eat right up. Hope all is well, whichever time zone you faithful readers find yourselves in.

Peace,
love,
all of the above
C