Squash and Camden Jungle

Happy Saturday! I have decided I utterly delight in posting! And I use too many exclamation points!

What a week-- I remember last Sunday playing Hackey-Sack (also known as "Swoosh") in Bloomsbury park with Manuel, an amazing guy who is from Colombia and works here at the Pickwick, and Carson Wheat, a really cool man of God whom Iv'e gotten the pleasure of knowing through Faith and Caleb. We all get along pretty well. I can see how many of the different personality types are clicking together (maybe I should have been an anthropologist?), and it makes me smile. God is so good that He never leaves anyone alone! To me, it is refreshing to have all sorts of people making connections with each other, sharpening each other's destinies one way or another.

Ahem. As I totally digressed from the point of playing Hackey Sack, I will continue. Right before we all played a few  rounds together, I had gone earlier to the park by myself to practice (sp?) and had sat down to take a break and read "Catching Fire". Some couple sat down beside me and I would have just continued reading had a man not come up to us, asking for directions to a hospital. At least, thats what I thought he was saying-- he held out his arm and showed us a large gash, saying he cut it while riding his bike. What astounded me was how the man next to me responded! He had no compassion and sent him away, saying he had no money. He noticed my concern and turned to me, saying he had seen that very man a year ago with the same story! That sparked an entire conversation about how some people are truly homeless and have no real way to survive other than by trying new schemes. The man said that they usually stay in one spot, for tourists, and they always get money that way. I got to share about doing a poverty simulation at my Uni (this is how they say University, they abbreviate it) and how it changed me. I also got to mention that Jesus had compassion on everyone and got to know them. I told them that I knew if Jesus did it, I wanted to, and that He inspired me to really care about them by asking their names, sometimes, and remembering to pray for them as I continued to walk the busy streets full of people who had no time for them...



The London Coloseum Opera House!

Anyway, that was a significant moment. The rest of the week was great! Some hilights included having JTAP on monday night, seeing an opera by Hoffman, I believe... yes, "Tales of Hoffman", which was a series of 3 short operas and all dealt with strange lovers and the like. One was a doll, one was a ghost, and the last one was a face-stealing stripper. Not your typical TBC show. But, I liked it (it was surprisingly in English!) and I loved that they had subtitles.

Carson, Faith and I all decided to up and go to Primrose Hill, allegedly the highest spot to see London from! It was at a beautiful park, and we went at night randomly (Saturday or Sunday methinks...) and also just decided to roam the streets of Camden. So glad we all went; I found out there was a cool deal on Wednesday to buy a burger and get one free for your best mate! Faith and I went back Wednesday and did it! She got a wild west burger and I stuck to good ole' chicken burger. Good stuff. Although her burger was slightly waaayy too cooked! You must ask to have your meat slightly mooing, haha.

Carson, Faith and I at Hoffman's Opera

On the way back from Primrose Hill

Wednesday night brought some amazing memories with some of the girls from our church! Heather and Kari, if you're reading this, you are such sweethearts and are so dear to me, and Im so thankful for yall in my life! Always praying for you!
It was our first time in a real British home! Sorry, you really have no idea how exciting that is until you get to go out of your hostel you've been cooped up in for weeks...ahhh! After Faith and I studied at the British Library for like 4 hours, we went over to Heather's and brought offerings of Chex Mix (tm) from America!! We tried "Squash" which is actually a drink mix you put in water, like Crystal Light only better! And then she offered us Hot Cross Buns! For real, they are an Easter tradition, thus the cross at the center of the bun, which is curiously like a fruitcake. Alas we ate them before I could get a picture...maybe soon.

Basically we had "Girl's group" at Heather's, where we talked for about an hour and then prayed for one another. I just so happened to have bought a bunch of crafty supplies that day, so we drew and colored pictures together, and then had a big prayer time. I will never forget Kari's sweet prayer, especially about the "Waffles" and Jesus taking us shopping for clothing for our inside and out... I was touched. She even let me and Faith and Kari borrow some cool books from her ecclectic library. Apparently there's a shortage of good, American Christian literature in the UK, so she gladly shared from her stash. Also, I started to draw a memoir of London in the other book I got for 99p. Here  is a pic:

Thursday I decided to tag along with the Rock N Roll and Music Appreciation class. They were taking a field trip to see the London Asian Music Exhibit and then toured this amazing school of R&R-making history! Some of the Alum went on to bigger things, such as Radio Head, &c. No big deal ;-). Our tour guide, Les, wrote a song apparently a big-name band ripped off because he did not do the copyrights right. The Asian music place had so many wild instruments on display that we could hear played and demonstrated, and there was a really high-end machine that made music to fit the mood of a certain season (which you could set yourself) whenever you danced around! Then a little "guru" box taught Heather Bullock and Caleb Cruce how to sing... this was amazing and funny and awkward at the same time. By the time we went to sit down for our last session, we got to fall asleep in a good sort of way! The music was very Eastern and thus, meditative. I loved it. Faith and I are thinking how great yoga sounds right about now.

Class all this week was really funny, because we ended up going to Lincoln's Inn like 3 times, all in different classes! Not that I minded-- it was beautiful and breath-taking! There's a certain someone who thought the teacher said "to be a Barista, you would have to train at one of the Inns of Court!" Thats funny, in the US you can just get a job at Starbucks and poof, you're a barista! Apparently this, ahem, person couldn't understand her slight accent. "Barrister". I think. Okay, so there's so many pics of this place you'll just have to view them on Facebook!

Friday was our class' day trip to see King Henry VIII's palace. Going there, we had the prior conception that he was just a man eager to sleep around with many women and that because of this it was the basis for our churches to-day, which was upsetting. If you are confused I can explain later, but anyway, the point is that we saw he was not the kind of man we thought he was. He was athletic and ambitious and loved all of his wives... as the rhyme goes, "divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived". This shows the line of the 8 women was married to, and indeed reveals how the nex one came about. Regardless, the castle was brilliant, to say the least! A marvel of gothic architecture with Tudor chimneys and rooms lavishly laden with paintings and wooden closets by Cardinal Wolsey that would send Christopher Wren's stomach churning... Such lovely gardens too!

Tudor Palace walls with a 24-hour clock and lunar calendar!

Now, it is Saturday, and you have come to the last story on this blog post (again, Im long winded in weekly updates, so bear with me!). Waking up, knowing our tickets to Paris were paid for, I went to have breakfast and spent a bit of time with Jesus. I always, always wish I had more time with Him! So, after starting the day off right, Courtney Officer and I went off to see the Camden Market! We had also planned on going to the V&A Museum, but that did not happen-- there was just so much in Camden! It was literally a jungle of clothes, people, food, and trash. Mainly people and food, though. Our first market we met a young woman who not only sold us cute bargain jewelry, but told us all about her life and longing to go somewhere hot. Ahem, Texas. We ended up scavenging through piles and racks of vintage clothing, this time not getting pick-pocketed!
Best part of the Camden trip:
1.) We tried not only a fried Oreo, but a Fried Snickers and ROLOs as well!
2.) So we got our feet tickled soft with these crazy sucker fish which have enzymes that break away dead skin and leave you silky smooth. Freaked out yet? Only 5 Pounds, go for it!
3.) Saw some deadly-cool indie bands playing live. Ryan O'Reilly band, FTW!
4.) I got a pocketwatch for a good friend of mine and decided now was the time to buy earrings.

Later tonight I got back to the hostel; but I didn't stay there long! Carson, Caleb, Faith and I all decided to go get some authentic Lebanese food! Well... we had one setback. Faith commented on Carson's new fedora hat and said he looked "hipster". He threw it above the door, expecting it to come down through the hole. Nope! After fruitless efforts of chairs and broom handles, Faith used her secret skills to hoist me up onto the ledge, and she and Caleb helped me get all the way up there to where the dust monsters live. I retrieved the hat and prolly now have contracted a severe case of the dust bunnies. Onward, to the restaurant! Faith tried Lamb meat and Baklava for the first time, and I got a schwarma...mmmm! After dinner we headed back to change into shorts to do a quick Tae-Kwon-do lesson in Russel Square garden with Caleb as our teacher. Also, we brought the guitar and sang some Death Cab for Cutie lyrics and then worshipped. The best. To end a perfect day, we watched a British comedy/horror called "Shaun of the Dead". So funny! I think I love British humor because Im secretly a Brit inside. Shh don't tell. I was a bit more worried at my reactions to laugh as opposed to scream at some parts. Am I really becoming that open here in the UK?

Cheers, my dears!
Diana