Afternoon at the Coffee Republic

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Today was delightful! I actually woke up in time for breakfast AND the milk nazi didn't scold us for drinking a lot of milk. That was a brilliant start to the day. Actually, the milk nazi wasn't around at all today...it was glorious. By the way, the milk nazi is this woman who works in the dining hall and refuses to let us have milk at lunch and dinner. She literally stands in front of the milk machine and will not let us drink any. So, we take great pride in getting all the milk we can when she isn't looking or isn't around. Anyways, it's always a good day when she isn't there.

Our lectures today were pretty good as well. The second lecturer, Richard Cross, was amazing. He talked to us like adults, asked our opinions and was very engaging. Not to mention the fact that he was wearing a bow-tie and suspenders...he was so classy. 😊 Cross is definitely the best lecturer we've had so far and he made me excited to read Anselm for our next Colloquium. Yay! Because of this amazing second lecture, I was all stoked to finish Augustine for today's first Colloquium. After lunch, I tried reading in my room but the turkey at lunch made me sleepy, so I went out in search of caffeine and a nice place to read.

I left St. Michael's Hall and turned right from Shoe Lane onto New Inn Hall Street. I passed St. Peter's College and contemplated going to the library to read, but like I said, I needed to stay awake. A few blocks down I remembered the coffee shop on the corner of George Street and New Inn Hall Street!! Its called the Coffee Republic and it had a great mocha when Mandy and I went on Friday, so I decided to try it out. When I got there I noticed a lot of empty seats, some comfortable and some with tables. I ordered a caffe latte with vanilla and took a seat by the window on George Street. I actually read for a good 30 minutes before I was completely distracted in my people watching.

What caught my attention first was the woman who I like to call the Pigeon Lady. She had a bag of bird food and threw some of it on the ground outside the movie theatre. Like a scene from a movie, the pigeons came swarming down from the sky and surrounding buildings. They took over the ground and were all over the place, scrambling for food. The Pigeon Lady even let them land on her!! I wanted to run over to her with my travel size bottle of Purell and disinfect her, but I didn't. I was afraid I'd scare the birds, be attacked by them and/or lose my lovely table by the window. Thus, I stayed in my seat and watched from across the street. I watched this woman for a good 45 minutes. I watched other people go by including a nun, various couples, a couple on the verge of breaking up, fathers carrying children, business people hurrying from place to place, students coming out of STA Travel, people catching coaches (buses) and some crazy drivers. It was fantastic.

Inspired by everything I witnessed, I decided to write it down in a letter to a friend. That letter ended up being 5 pages hand written on binder paper and took me an hour to write. I think of it as preparation for my 3 hour essay exam on October 5th. 😊 Even though I didn't read much more (it's Augustine's "Confessions" which I read as a sophomore for Integral...which means I was rereading as a review, even though I remembered it pretty well), I was content with myself. I really feel like I got more out of today than any of my days here so far. It was one of those aha! moments when you realize that you made the right decision and you are supposed to be here. It also reminded me that I am not here just to take classes for school...I'm here to learn more about myself, another culture, another country and life in general. Cheesy, I know. But I'm so grateful for this experience and I've been in a foreign country for a total of 12 days. Really, if you get the chance to go abroad, I really encourage you to do so. It's cliche but true...it's a life changing experience.

Anyways, after my first Colloquium group, which went very well I might add and I spoke a few times, I was all fired up to do more reading for Friday. But alas, after dinner, my roommates and the Internet proved too distracting so I didn't get started until around 8:00pm. But, I read about a third to half of it in the course of an hour. And since then I've been online. Yay. I have plenty of time to finish the reading tomorrow on the bus when we head to Winchester. And yes, after tomorrow I'll probably have many more pictures and even a new blog for your viewing and reading pleasures!

I almost forgot some exciting travel news! I am most likely going to London on Saturday to see the changing of the guards, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park with some girls here (Casey-SMC, Vicky-SMC, and Amaranth-USF). I'm super excited! And I'll be in London on Tuesday evening to see WICKED!!! That is incredible. I'm mroe excited than ever!! Liz, Mandy and I are all going and I couldn't be happier because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true! Yes, that cheesy line was from Wicked! 😊 And, at the end of September/beginning of October I think I am going to Rome with Casey, Vicky, and Amaranth. That should be really cool. Mandy and Liz were also talking about going to Edinbrough, Scotland for Halloween. So, those are my (potential) trips so far. I love travelling!

Until then...farewell and thanks for reading!

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