Forty Love, Falafel, & Five Abbey Road

It's hard to believe I've been here for 27 days or just about 5 weeks now. It's July, and time is really starting to fly by. But when I look back, I feel that we've done so much, and still have so much more to see and do. This is also probably the longest I've ever gone without speaking to my parents, because at the current moment, they are in the Bahamas. I can't say that I'm jealous, since I'm so happy to be here, but....I am kinda jealous. I really want to slide through a shark tank and lay on the beach with a pina colada!

So anyways, on Monday evening, we got to go to Wimbledon

and see one of England's most popular sports! It was a bit

confusing initially, since the place was so big and we had cheap tickets that limited the places we could go. Rachel, Sam, Katie, and I picked a court and watched a whole match between Mark Knowles/Katarina Srebotnik and Kenneth Skupski/Elena Baltacha. It was fun because I have never actually sat down before and watched a full tennis match. Before we left, Katie and I got a spicy (aka mild) English sausage in a baguette, which ended the day perfectly:)

Tuesday morning is our Media & Society class, which is probably the most random class I've ever had. Mo, our professor, is all over the place, but he is still really nice and entertaining. This week he took us on a walk around south West End. One stop was Neil's Yard: a little, secluded courtyard made up of colorful houses, shops, and restaurants, once belonging to London hippies. I loved the creativity in this place and could see why people would have been drawn there back then.

We also walked by the Pineapple, where I took a dance class, Scoop, an AMAZING authentic gelato shop, and ended up in Gaby's Deli. This was a cute Eastern restaurant that was popular among theatre actors and locals. We all got to taste the falafel, pita, and hummus. For free:)

After going shopping with Professor Maune for supplies for the pizza party happening that night, Sarah, Jackson, Leslie, and I traveled out to the infamous Abbey Road. Lining the street were tributes to the Beatles, quotes, marriage proposals, and love for a band that was truly spectacular. It took us three times to try to walk on the crosswalk like the Beatles' signature album cover because the street was so busy. It would have been suicide to try and stand in the middle and take the picture too...

We also got a quick side look of the apparently well-known Lord's cricket field (don't really know anything about cricket...) and Jackson bought a cricket ball from the gift shop. That night, almost all of the group came out for a pizza dinner in Russell Park provided by JMU, which was lovely. It was a nice evening to just take a break, eat, laugh with each other, throw the rugby ball around for a bit. Free food=happy kids.

Wednesday, Katie, Rob, and I went to the Pancake Cafe for lunch and had some yummy crepes. For Art History, we got to study Rococo art at the beautiful Wallace Collection. That night the theatre class went back to the National Theatre to see "Women Beware Women", an intense Jacobian play. The guy who played the Ward was the actor who played Dudley in the Harry Potter movies! Except now he is a lot skinner, taller, and funnier:)

Song of the Day: Gettin' Over You (David Guetta)