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This weekend was pretty chill for me. Some of the people in our group travelled, but I have yet to leave for a weekend getaway. However, plans are in motion for a trip to France or Italy, and Germany will definitely happen within the next month. The other day I went down to Camden market with four other people from the group - it's so cool! Tons of funky little shops with cute clothes and jewelry and music, even fresh fruit vendors and Chinese food everywhere! I didn't end up buying anything (yet), but it was fun to look around. After the markets closed we decided to go to Trafalger Square, it's beautiful at night. We watched the platform performer, he was juggling and playing an inflatable guitar. There is a huge chess set arranged in one of the corners- think Harry Potter but more sparkly... and not alive. Apparently there is a tournament going on later this week. We decided we were hungry and wanted to go for an adventure. We wound up in Leicester Square, right in the heart of the theatre district, and found a wonderful Italian place. After a lovely dinner of some of the best pizza I've EVER had, we took the tube back home and spent the rest of the night hanging out with the housemates and a few local buddies we've acquired.
Also, good news: I found the local rugby team- great success! It actually happened quite randomly: I was grocery shopping with some roommates and two guys came up and started hitting on one of our girls. He figured out that we were American and started talking about American football, then made a comment about playing rugby because it's a real sport (ha!) and telling us that he played for the Kilburn team. Of course, my ears perked up at that, and I told him that I played back home. So we started talking, and he gave me information about the team. I got home and did some research, and found the email address of the team captain. An email and two phone calls later, I found myself on the way to play a Sunday afternoon match with the Kilburn Cosmos! The girls are all really cool, although most of them are considerably older than me- the average age on the team is about 30. So anyway, practice is on Thursday, and I really think I'm gonna start playing with these girls. There is another American on the team! She's from New York State but has been living her for about four years. The rest of the team is made up of Brits, Kiwis, and Australians. So freakin cool.
For our Brit Life and Culture class on Monday we discussed our research we had found over the weekend, then spent about an hour and a half doing a mock-Parliament. We are going on a tour of Parliament tomorrow, so Lyndon wanted to get us prepared. It's a pretty interesting form of government, although the Queen seems to be rather useless because she doesn't really serve a purpose other than ceremonial traditions. Later that afternoon we had Art History and met Giovanni at the British Museum. We talked about the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Stay tuned for pictures, I still have to get them off my camera. It's a pretty cool museum, but I'm more into modern art, personally. After class I broke off and went on a little walk around a park near the museum. This is such a cool city because there are so many interesting buildings and amazing architecture, but they also manage to squeeze in bits of nature here and there. After my walk I met up with a couple girls from the group and we caught the tube back home. I went for another walk after dinner, just exploring the neighborhood and getting to know Kilburn a bit better. There are tons of cute little pubs and exotic restaurants- I had a kebab this weekend! And I went back to that Lebanese place for lunch the other day- the hummus is just too good.
Today was the Theatre class, and we did some exercises in the Stanislavski technique. We also talked briefly about Brecht and Shakespeare, it's an interesting class, and Lucie, our professor, is super cool. After class I did some grocery shopping, and now I'm hanging out at the Old Bell messing around on the internet with a few of the girls. Tonight is another birthday, so we might be going dancing later. Parliament and Westminster Abbey are on the agenda for tomorrow! Hugs, kisses, and London Love. Cheers!

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