Sleep deprivation is catching up with me

So I bought my tickets from Liverpool like st station, and it told me to go to Liverpool central which was across the road, and I was like hmm that's strange they have two stations right next to each other. Then I go in and it has those massive escalators that go down, two sets of them, and of course I was like wow this is like DC how strange, like not even dawning on me. Then I get underground and it has those maps like in subway stations and I'm all confused, and there is no time on my ticket and blah blah blah. I find where I'm supposed to be and I look up on the wall and all the stops are street names, and it has the map showing which one you take for which street and it hits me, I'm like holy shit, I'm taking the tube. The train station gave me tickets for a subway into wales so that I can get to the next station to get to holyhead. 

The ferry I took was more of a car ferry than foot passenger ferry, it was still nice, and extremely massive, and it had the normal lounge, cafe, bar and seating areas as the last ferry, but it didn't have the spa, or as nice of a movie theatre, or a play area for kids. I realized the ferry I took to Scotland from Belfast was foot passenger only ferry, and people will take it as a day trip for a nice cruise, where you can fine dine, go to the spa and enjoy the open water.

When I got to Dublin, it didn't seem like anything special, and to be honest it wasn't my absolute favorite. It really was just a big city, but there was plenty to do there, and it was another party capital. I did enjoy the hostel where I was staying, it was very social, and if you went downstairs you were guaranteed to end up in a conversation. I did try to stick in some touristy things, even though I was only in Dublin from 6pm on Thursday to 9am on Saturday. Which gave me Thursday evening and  all day Friday. I ended up doing a pub crawl because I was convinced by a group of people I met in the hostel, when I went out, It was such a massive group of people that they had to split us up. Even after we were split there were still so many people it was impossible to not be trying to hold like 6 different conversations at once. I met tons of people, and I even met a group of English guys in town to see Mumford and Sons, which I didn't even know about, and was upset cuz I literally was in the same town as them, and I didn't go and see them. Maybe Jonathan and I will eventfully get to do that. 

While actually in Dublin, I did a walking tour, and I went to the Guinness storehouse, which was basically a museum, but it was interactive, and I leaned more about Guinness. I was actually able to drink almost half of my pint at the end of the tour so I was proud that I made it that far. It tastes much better straight from the source than it does out of a bottle or can. Dublin was amazing because of the people I met within Dublin, but the city itself was just a massive city, and I have found that I tend to prefer the small cities. 

Being in a different country is starting to become more apparent than it originated seemed to be. When I was getting my train ticket and going through the train station, I realized that the system was complexly different, as well as the trains. I actually really like the train that I toon from Dublin to Galway, each set of seats had a table, and they were nice cushioned seats, it definitely seemed like a newer train. Another thing is the euro is used over here, and I'm once again trying to get used to different currency, and trying to figure out which coin is worth €1 or €2 and it's all mixed in with my American money and the pound. My wallet has gotten more complicated. The Irish also seem to be very bitter about the English and the influence it's had over the country, because they don't want to be associated with the UK, and they want to make sure you know they are their own country. 

My next pet will be a superlambanana

So today I did a walking your in Liverpool after a failed attempt to do laundry, and a depressingly empty common room, where I didn't want to do homework happened. So basically I left to go pick up my tickets for tomorrow so I wouldn't have to do it really early in the morning, and I ran into this free walking your. It happened to be all people from my hostel and I decided it would be a good way to pass 3 hours, and maybe learn about Liverpool beyond the Beatles. Which I did. Turns out Liverpool has a ton of history, from the civil war, to World War II. I even went into a few museums on my own (gasp). One museum I went in had an exhibit about what it was like on the boats back in the 1700s on the way to America, and they had it set up like you were on a dark dingy boat with bunk houses and all that, but it felt like I was in a haunted house with manic and stating at me, so I raced through it and that was the end of my museum adventures. My tour guide who is from Chicago told me about an above average Mexican food place here, which means it's acceptable, and I went and got a burrito. It really wasn't Mexican food, but they did a really good job of trying and I wasn't disappointed. It reminded me more of the burritos I used to get in Collins while at Baylor, where it wasn't Mexican food, but it came close. I was happy and I really can't complain. 

Other things I leaned on this walking tour:

1. There are such things as lambananas

2. The reason you see purple trash bins around Liverpool is because of the rivalry between Liverpools two soccer teams, one red and one blue.

3. Liverpool has a mascot bird which is somewhat of a myth, know as a liver bird pronounced lie-ver

4. There is a red phone booth inside of one of Liverpools cathedrals

5. There is a pub here, the Philharmonic, which had marble urinals. I saw them. 

6.  Liverpool used to be a dirty, scary place with a big mud hole in the middle until the last 10 years when in 2003 they spent over 1 billion pounds to fix the city center. 

So in summary, I'm glad I came to Liverpool, and I'm glad I stumbled into this walking tour. Liverpool is a strange strange place. Here have a picture.

I also got an ice cream come while on the pier today, and it had one of those chocolate things I was talking about in yesterday's blog, so I took a picture so that it might make more sense.

Welsh sheep are fuzzy and cute

Cardiff surprised me with how much I actually enjoyed it, I went in with low expectations and ended up meeting some of the most amazing people, and having a really good time. When I first arrived I saw a different language and everyone in party mode (turns out it was a rugby match everyone was in the streets about). After talking to a guy from wales he told me that it was just a minor rugby match, because if they were playing England, I would know. It know that I never want to get caught in any British country/city/town when a major sporting even happens, it's rough enough when a minor, every weekend type of game happens. Yesterday was great, and I had an amazing time, with some great company. We went to the welsh folk museum, which had old houses from all over wales that were taken down and reassembled in this little park with another castle at the top

. It was right outside of wales, but Dan drove us, which was an experience in itself. The roads are so tiny, and the road rules are completely different, and every time I looked up I thought we were on the wrong side of the road, it was easier to just not worry about it. At the welsh folk museum we got ice cream and enjoyed the sunny day, and then Dan insisted on buying me a sheep for me to remember wales by (which is very appropriate).

We then went to Cardiff bay, where ate pizza walked around by the doctor who experience, and hung out by the water. I'm really living the Italian food here, it's amazingly delicious and fattening, and not really like what we have at home. It makes me want to go to Italy just so I can gain weight by eating pasta and cheese. The weather was so lovely, and since I spent the day outside I came home with a sunburn. I am actually proud of the sunburn because I didn't think it was really possible to burn in this country. I am not alone though, just walking down through the city center almost every white person you see has a sunburn, these people take advantage of good weather, but their skin is similar to mine, and it doesn't end well. I ended last night with reading and finishing up some English homework, but I'm not done, sadly I have about 10 quizzes all due by Thursday, but each quiz is 10 questions except for one 50 question one, so Liverpool may be sitting in a Starbucks, or the common room of the hostel trying to catch up. Once I get those finished up, I have two more papers, and I'll be done with homework until I get home. 

If someone were to ask me to describe Cardiff, the Saturdays are insane, with people everywhere watching ruby, having hen and stag parties (bachelor and bachelorette), birthday parties, weekends away, and basically anyone just wanting a night out. Sunday nights, and Monday nights are quiet and relaxing, and the town almost seems empty, but you still get one or two people wandering around. The welsh people are a different breed as well, I really didn't think that wales and England were any different, but boy was that wrong. Though the welsh are very nice, they seem to be more country, with smaller towns, lots of farmers, and some impossible to understand. My friend Dan who was born and raised in wales agreed that, even though he is welsh and has lived here his entire life, there are still some people he can't understand either. It's amazing how you can take this tiny country of wales and still get tons of different accents from different regions. 

The heat had made it hard to sleep, between having at least 5 other people in the room with you, no fans or air conditioners (because they normally aren't necessary) it gets stuffy and with it being about 80 in the day, the last few nights have been rough, but I showered last night which helped cool me off. 

Sunday morning I got up and had British pancakes with Antonia and Anna-Sophia, which were really big square thin unsweetened crepe type things with whatever you wanted on top, I had Nutella and bananas but it really wasn't all that impressive, I would take an American pancake over that any day. The amount of Nutella I've eaten since I've been over here is probably unhealthy though, these people love Nutella, and for breakfast at almost all the hostels you get an option of Nutella, or some kind if orange jelly on toast, sugarless nasty cereal, and tea, which isn't a bad, breakfast but I have eaten my body weight in Nutella, or it feels that way. I have also eaten another english breakfast and quite enjoyed it.

I decided to try a candy bar last night, as a reward for finishing my homework and a short walk to the corner store. I under up trying a galaxy ripple thinking that sounded yummy, milk chocolate with a ripple in the middle. I had no idea what a ripple was and as it turns out, it was the texture of the chocolate, it almost seemed like they layered multiple sheets of chocolate on top of each other with waves in then so they didn't lie flat, and then coated that in more chocolate. It was nice smooth chocolate, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. While at the hostel though I came across hot chocolate crisps. I swear these people and their strange chip flavors are forever going to amaze/disgust me. 

Alcohol, while I haven't drunken much while over here, partially because I would prefer to spend my money on coffee, because it tastes a heck of a lot better, I have become a big fan of ciders. Koppaburg is my absolute favorite, it tastes like sparkly sweet yummy juice. I've also tried some local ciders and strongbow is always a safe bet. I'm glad I have kind of tried some beers and ciders out just know what I do and don't like. when i go back I'll miss koppaburg, but I won't mind having the excuse that I'm underage again.

While I was out yesterday, and at the train station I took a few pictures of some signs so that you could see for yourself that, you really do have to look for the English translation, and a lot of the times, like in the train station, the English translation still looks foreign. I say that because, just look up some welsh town names and just try to pronounce them for a nice little giggle.

Liverpool is ok, it's just a huge city, with nothing to do unless you're a Beatles fan, I saw a museum I might pop in tomorrow if I need a break from homework, but other than that, I'm really just here to get to Dublin. 

Am I in Las Vegas, or Cardiff?

Wales definitely feels like another country. Being in Scotland felt generally the same as England and Northern Ireland, except they had thick accents that could be hard to understand. Here though, in Cardiff everything feels different, the people, the town, and the overall atmosphere. The second I stepped off the train, I had to do a double take because all of the signs were in welsh, and I had to search for English translations. That led caused me to take forever to find my way out of the station, and managed to get what I thought was completely lost. Walking down the Main Street looking for my hostel was another complete shock. The amount of people out drinking in the streets at 3pm and the ruckus from sports games, the women and men shopping and out for a good day of fun almost made me feel like what I imagine Vegas to be like. I found my hostel checked in, where I have a lovely spacious room with all females, and I met two really sweet girls, one from Berlin and one from  Zurich. then went to a pub for some food, and instantly met a couple from Gloucester who talked to me while I ate. They were just spending a weekend in Cardiff for a change of scenery, and a weekend away. They were an older couple in their later 50's and they were kind and had many life stories to share which included some stories about bad chicken from meat markets, and talk about Camden town.

Since I was eating at a spanish bar, all of the dishes sounded unfamiliar to me, and I asked the couple for a recommendation. when I got my meal, these suckers came out, and I got a lesson in how to eat crawdads.When I went back to my hostel I hung out in the common room just to see if I could meet some people. I met a group of guys who were gushing about my American accent and invited me to go to the strip club with them, and I politely refused. Then after they got up to go get ready a hairdresser from Cardiff that is friends with the owner of the hostel came and sat down next to me and started talking about how he was going to take me out to his favorite bars, I wasn't completely comfortable with him though, and thankfully Antonia a girl from Germany that was staying in the same room as me came in and saved me. We decided to let him show us a local pub which was actually really neat, and something we never would have found on our own. After listening to a live band there, we decided to ditch the hairdresser and go find cheesy food. We found some Mozzarella sticks and French fries and ate them while discussing our next plan. The thing about Cardiff night life, is it's even more insane than it is in the day. There were bachelor and bachelorette parties happening left and right, literally all over the place, and there were people in costumes, and people in fancy suits all just walking up and down the streets. You had your normal guys and girls dressed up for a night out, and you even had some guys just walking around in thongs. It was really completely different from anything I had ever seen. Even just walking down the street talking to Antonia I was stopped multiple times by people wanting to talk to me because of my American accent. After we had our cheesy food we decided to head back to the hostel but met these girls who got us into this club for free. There we met these guys from wales that were celebrating a friends birthday but the friend wasn't around. We talked to them for a while and they took us to another local place that was really nice and Antonia and I got to dance some before deciding it was time to go back to the hostel. When we got back to the hostel, the original group of guys were there and were asking us where we had been, we told them we had gone to multiple places and they started begging us to go for another beer. It was 2 am at this point and we were both ready for bed, so we just went up to our room. Not even 5 minutes later there was knocking on our door and multiple guys telling for us to go get a beer. Luckily everyone was still out and it was just me and Antonia in there so they were disturbing anyone. They continued to knock and plead for about 15 minutes before they realized we weren't coming out. Hanging out with another girl was nice for a change, and we even got up and had pancakes together for breakfast. Maybe I will meet back up with her in Ireland, because she is thinking about heading that way around the same time I am. Today I found a park right along side a river directly behind the castle, and I've got plans to read, catch up on homework and have a nice relaxing Sunday in the warm sunny weather. 

Cardiff has been an experience and in curious to see if it calms down during the week, or if this place is always this crazy. 

Sally Lunns Buns are to Die for

This morning I went to the oldest house in bath, and ate one of the famous Sally Lunn buns, and old secret recipe they found hidden behind a secret cubbord in the wall. There really is no way to describe it other than a massive hamburger bun, cut in half, but it tastes more like a pastry. You can have many many different toppings on it, and I had a strawberry cream and meringue topping. It tasted like strawberries in a sweet heavy cream with freeze dried ice cream chunks mixed in. It was delicious and I'm so glad I decided to try it out despite the fact it looked like a hamburger bun. 

I then decided to just walk and browse around outside since its a whopping 75 degrees. Basically unheard of over here. I'm even wearing shorts and a tank top today, it's the most amazing thing I could have possibly asked for. 

I met a guy named will today while hanging out outside of the bath abbey. He works for a company called Friends of the Earth, that originated in the US. He had dreadlocks and he was very hippy, and reminded me of David, he had the same kind of passion. He was really kind and you could tell he cared about what he did. He kept me entertained for a while and he gave me some pointers on what beer to drink while in the west of England. 

I really didn't do much today, I ended up buying more medicine, and just taking it easy since I had the worst night last night. The room I was in was full and at 2 am we could hear people on the streets drunk and yelling, but the worst part was that I was sick, I had a fever, and I was completely congested. Since I got more medicine I'm feeling much better, and I even bought some fresh veggies and raw meat to cook up for dinner. After dinner I have plans to read for class and get to bed early. I leave for Cardiff in the morning, and I've only heard really good things about it, so I'm quite excited. Bath is lovely, but it's really populated with tourists which makes it slightly less appealing. It's definitely one of the more prettier cities though. I took a walk around a neighborhood area, and it was gorgeous, I would absolutely love to live in any of those houses. 

The Roamens knew how to pamper

So I remember hearing a story once about how Kyle Horton had a friend from Ireland that he took to get dinner at a pizza place. It was funny because he talked about how he had to essentially translate for the Irish guy to the waiter, and when he asked for beer with his meal, he was shocked that they didn't have alcohol and exclaimed "no beer?!?" This story suddenly makes much more sense to me. It is essentially unheard of to have a restaurant here that doesn't serve alcohol. A lot of the times I will get meal deals that have the drink included, and when I don't order and alcoholic drink, they get confused and normally discount it for me. Even in the grocery store next to the pre-made sandwiches and salads they have personal sized bottles of wine. It's a really strange concept to be in a country with such lax alcohol laws after growing up in a place where it's a huge deal.

I met some texans this morning from midland. Not only did they know Cloudcroft, but we shared a moment of silence for the lack of Mexican food over here. They've been traveling since January, and they still have yet to find anything to satisfy their craving for it. 

In Brighton I met a hairdresser that was in Cambodia for the last two years, and he just came back, and was looking for a flat to live in Brighton. He decided he wanted to come back and do hair, but not in the London area anymore. He made my last night in Brighton really fun,  and between him and a guy from Spain we were all on the floor laughing by the end of the night. The guy from Spain went to a salsa class and when he came back he was telling us that it is essential that a woman has good smelling skin to have a good dace. The way foreigners word sentences will forever crack me up. Brighton also had the most massive shopping area I have ever seen. Especially over here in the UK it seemed out of place. There is a chain around here called boots which is a pharmacy, sephora, Walgreens type store all in one. It was the size of the Alamogordo mall, with a second story as well. They had an indoor shopping mall like I'm used to, and there were no random grocery stores thrown in either. It was bigger than the El Paso mall, and I got lost multiple times, and never found where I had originally come in. One of the more strange stores of here is a M&S or marks and Spenser's. the best way I can describe it is like a Dillard's, but then you just randomly find a grocery store in the middle of it, and a cafe off to the side. It is the biggest grocery store I have found in Bath so far, and you would never know it had groceries by the looks of it. 

Bath is great, it's amazing seeing these 1000 year old buildings and just knowing that where you were standing is where Roman soldiers used to come. It was religious grounds, and the Bath Abby is gorgeous as well. Nothing like the York Minister, but very impressive.

Right outside bath Abby is the big square with benches just lining the area, and I sat and people watched for a while just to rest my feet before I was ready to eat. It's graduation day for one of the university's here so it was mostly people in caps and gowns running around outside. I also found an amazing gelato shop, and I had black cheery gelato and grape gelato. Both were so good, and the grapes made me remember how much I loved frozen grapes. I could literally spend all of my money there just eating gelato all day. After the gelato I decided I had a craving for some pizza, and so I found a real Italian cafe (when I say cafe, it still served wine and liqueur) and I instantly felt like I was in Italy. I say that because it'd run by Italians that don't speak English and their menu is in Italian. I asked for a small pizza, or a personal size and ended up with three pieces of toast, with goats cheese, pesto, un-identifiable meat, and tomatoes.

It didn't taste awful, but it wasn't pizza. 

I'm going to take a quick nap while it rains and go back out once it dies up (fingers crossed it will). 

New Zealand Loves RG3

Bath is beautiful, the second you get off the train you can see the gorgeous historic buildings lining the river.

The hostel is great, the beds are comfy it has a huge common room, and the best part, the showed are clean and separated. The hostel in Brighton was strange, the weirdest part about it was that it had an open shower in the room, making it possible for everyone to watch you shower while in bed. I showered the first day since I had the room to myself, but lets just say I wasn't the best smelling person the next two days. One of the first things I did in bath was grab a shower. I also walked around and got lost, but from that I found Jika Jika, a coffee shop Nigel made me promise to try, and I ate dinner there before I found my way back. I never get much done on the travel days. I had an easy trip over, and I even fell asleep on the train. I think the cough medicine makes me drowsy and I've been taking it to try to control my cough, I feel like I sound diseased. I also found a really nice park in bath, where I hung out before coming back to the hostel and meeting about 8 people from New Zealand and 6 from Australia, all traveling separately. We talked for a long time, and one guy from New Zealand even knew who RG3 was when I mentioned Baylor and the extreme August heat. 

I have plans to do the Roman baths tomorrow, maybe check out the cathedral, and enjoy the city center. Friday I might take a trip to stone henge. As for right now, I'm still trying to get over this sickness. I promise tomorrow I will have a more detailed blog on both Brighton and Bath. I wrote out a big nice detailed blog, and of course I accidentally deleted it, and I had no way to get it back. 

Wait, is it Winter or Summer Time?

While in Brighton I finally hunkered down and tried some English specialties, including bangers and mash, as well as the full English breakfast. Maybe because I was anticipating the worst, or maybe because I was starving both times, it really wasn't too bad at all. I really enjoyed the breakfast, due to my lack of dinner, or maybe because I was expecting it to be so much worse. It was generally what you would get in the states as far as how it was cooked. The strange part was the combination if foods. It came with 2 fried eggs, cooked over-medium which was more done than I had anticipated. It also had a side of baked beans, that tasted ok, but really catsupy as well as 3 triangles of had browns, a grilled tomato, mushrooms, sausage, and toast.  All that and a cup of English tea for a whopping £3, I was more than satisfied and full.

The bangers and mash wasn't as good as the breakfast, it just seemed more bland, with less variety. It came with three massive sausage links, served over a huge pile of mashed potatoes, with peas and topped with gravy, that tasted like barbecue sauce. It was ok, it filled me up, and now I can say I've had bangers and mash. 

Going to the post office this morning I wasn't sure if I was even in a post office. The post offices I've seen haven't contained any post office boxes, and inside is more of a gas station convenience store with a window at the back where you can mail big packages. I saw one in Belfast that was exactly the same and I thought it was one of a kind. 

Last night I did homework to pass time, but I ended up meeting a really nice hair dresser from London. He has just gotten back from south east Asia, where he lived and cut hair for the past two years. He didn't want to go back to London, but wanted to move back to England to be closet to family, so he decided to open up a studio in Brighton. I was teasing him saying that to work in London he must be a great hairdresser, and he told me he charged about £200 for a haircut, and it only went up from there. It got us on the topic of hair, and he studied under one of the most well known hairdressers (I don't even know who it is) and he's been doing hair for about 9 years now, and he's only 27. I'm sure my hair looks like some kind of hot mess to him but I'm trying to grow it out, and I won't give into the temptation of cutting it, even though he's cutting someone else's hair latter on tonight for something to do. I also met an english chef that's moving to Brighton and he's staying at the hostel until he finds a flat, and he talked about how much he loves Mexican food, which makes me curious as to what his definition of Mexican food is. While talking to him, he also confirmed the fact that all Poms (a nickname like yank but the British version) think that the second they step into the U.S. they will be shot. They all seem so obsessed with our gun laws, and most of them think they are crazy. I have met a few that like our gun laws, but they were in the army so they are familiar with guns. 

Sitting out in front of the water on the hove side of Brighton there are very few people out, and it's so cold it makes me feel like it's winter, I'm curious what this place is like in the winter. It's the 2nd of July and its dead, and cold. 

It ended up raining on me today and I'm still suffering from a sickness, I ended up buying cold medicine so I'm staying in and trying to rest up and get better. The medicine here seems oddly cheap, only £2 for caught medicine and 30p for a pack of lozenges.

Hot eggs and long lasting milk, no thank you.

Last night was magical. I had the room to myself which also meant I had the bathroom to myself. The hostel is in a residential area meaning it was quiet outside except for sea gulls. I had a great nights sleep and a long hot shower this morning. 

This morning I went to a tesco I passed coming in, it was massive compared to all the others, more what a real grocery store would look like. I went in to pick up some tea and biscuits for the family and some lunch for me. I was in there for a good hour just looking through the isles, and trying to make sense of what I saw. Because it was such a bigger store, there were so many more options that it made it difficult to choose, especially because I'm not sure what I'm picking up in the first place. An example would be that I finally settled on Yorkshire tea, which was a hard enough decision considering they had about 1000 different brands of just breakfast tea. When I decided to go for that brand I was then faced with the dilemma of do I go with original, medium or dark tea, once I chose original do I choose hard water or the original. My mind just about exploded looking at the tea, much less everything else. Don't even get me started on the candy, the biscuits or the bread. 

I was shocked at the price of honey here, I found a massive jar of raw organic honey, the solid kind I can never find anywhere but the health food store for over $15 a small jar back home. It was only £2 and looks so tasty and creamy, it was the perfect honey, and they had tons of choices of it, they had multiple brands and jar sizes all not over £5. If anything I will move here for their honey. I couldn't justify buying any though, because it's big and heavy and I don't want to have to lug that around with me as well, and it would cost a ton to send it home because of how big it is. 

They also have their eggs on the baking isle, and I know they don't have to be refrigerated, but it's still strange to see eggs just sitting on shelves, next to long lasting milk, whatever that means.

I walked up Brighton the 45 minute walk today. It was a nice walk along the beach and it wasn't busy until I made it to Brighton pier around noon, when everyone was getting lunch. I actually like where I'm staying not directly in the middle of Brighton, it makes it less busy and much more quiet. The weather isn't as bad today as it was yesterday but there is still a chilly breeze and I don't know how people were actually in the water, I half expected them to get hypothermia.

I was talking to another American and it turns out they are just as confused as I am about the greeting "are you alright?" We both stutter and come up with yes after a few seconds never knowing how exactly to respond no matter how many times it's asked. We both also decided there are no public drinking laws what so ever. I saw beer for sale at the train station yesterday, they have pubs lining the beach all with outside seating, and today when buying a sandwich, you get chips and a drink with it for £3, and wine was an option. It's mind blowing to see that when your used to it being so slickly hidden. 

I've noticed that when I tell anyone I'm from New Mexico and I explain its by Texas, their next question is always about guns, whether I have one, or if I go shooting all the time.

I've also decided that foreigners, or Brits and Aussies in general are much more interested and fired up about American politics than Americans themselves. 

I don't have plans for the rest of the day but I decided I'm going to enjoy staying here though it's not my favorite place I've been. Hove is almost like a small sea town with a big brother just walking distance away, and I like being on the quieter edge of things. 

I Shall now be called Coka the Beast

Everyone says that it's inevitable that you get sick after about a month, between the lack of sleep, and the close shared quarters of other people. I know its only been 3 weeks but I think I'm hitting that point. I wasn't feeling the absolute best yesterday, and when I woke up this morning I had a nasty cough. It really isn't that bad, but I'm going to find some vitamin c to try to give me a boost.

I also feel like it's time that some lovely family members of mine receive a care package. I have some stuff I'm lugging around that is really just weighing me down, and I was going to send it home, but I figured if I do that I might as well add a few English treats in there.

I know I complain about the coffee here, since there doesn't seem to even be such a thing as fresh ground coffee, but the breakfast tea is amazing. It's nothin like what you can get in that states, so be expecting some real English tea, and maybe some biscuits to accompany them. Also I may or may not include some Vegemite in honor of all the Australians I've been meeting, I met another 4 last night. We played pool and talked and of course I was asked about Obama and my opinions of him, I've realized everyone thinks that he is amazing over here, and when i say otherwise they are shocked and don't understand and I have yet to quite understand it completely. 

I've learned a lot about the Aussies, and it's really interesting to hear about their nonsense. Apparently they call catsup either Dead Horse or tomato sauce. They also have a kids treat called ferry bread, which is white bread with butter and hundreds of thousands (also known as sprinkles). They never pronounce R's at the end of a word, so my name becomes Coka, and tartare sauce is pronounced tar tare.

The most confusing thing that has happened to me while being over here happened last night though. I walked into my room to go to bed and I thought my bed had disappeared. It turns out that my bed and all of my belongings had just been moved into a little cubby in the room, taking me about 30 minutes to find my bed and my pajamas. Of course the hardest part about staying in hostels is it feels like form life, everyone's on different schedules so you have those that go to bed early and you have to work in the dark and try not to disturb them. You also have those that sleep in, and you have to stay quite in the morning as well. It also works out that the ones that come in later than you always wake you, they just manage to do so no matter what, and the ones that wake up earlier than you also disturb you. It's just a constant trying to tiptoe, and wishing everyone else did they same when they don't. 

My train was delayed this morning so after waiting around the train station for well over an hour, all my connecting trains I had missed as well. I had to talk to multiple people and after a lot of switching trains and running around before I ended up in Brighton. I had to take a train to central London to connect with a train that took me to Brighton, it was huge with three seats on one side and two on the other, and it was the emptiest train I've ever been on. Going into London seemed scary but wasn't that bad, so I'm reconsidering the skip I did with London, but maybe I'll take a day trip from Brighton. I really do think i would enjoy London more if i was with someone and not by myself, but i also may be surprised. Once I was in Brighton, I realized my hostel is located in Hove, a good 45 minute walk (with a backpack) I decided to jump on one more train since it was only £2 for about a 3 minute train ride and find the hostel. The hostel is only a block off of the beach (pebble beaches, but not bad, I've never seen pebble beaches before). The food here still weirds me out. I had lasagna last night that wasn't anything very similar to what we consider lasagna, it felt like it was made with more of a gravy than tomato sauce. I figure Brighton might be better, being a coastal town, it might have some delicious sea food but I don't plan on getting my hopes up. Sticking with ham sandwiches, at least I know what I'm eating, and it's healthier than a lot of the pub food you'll find around here. I still haven't tried bangers and mash, but that is because I really don't care for sausage so much and I don't want a meal that consists of sausage and mashed potatoes with some gravy. I plan on getting some before I leave, but I might save it for a meal when I'm not starving. 

Even going into London by train, there is literally nothing between stops until you get to the main part of the city. You get a few houses and cows but mostly fields and trees. It's such a small country that I would think there wouldn't be so much country side, but even these big cities seem to be somewhat small, all walkable. Since it was a clear sunny day, it got up into the 70's and I couldn't help but laugh that all the signs kept reminding people to drink water and stay hydrated in the heat. The funny thing is, it was a gorgeous day, until i got to Brighton, then it suddenly turned cloudy and cold. I also feel like Sundays mean that they do not check the tickets. I hadn't had anyone check my tickets all day long, which made it easier to explain why I was on the wrong train. Just because of that delayed train, it made my day a lot more stressful with a lot of running, a lot of waiting and a lot of confusion. In in station I got off on platform 1 and had 1 minute before my train left on platform 13 I was running through the station, and I literally jumped on the train as the doors were closing, I sat down ten realized I had no idea if I was even on the right train. It didn't help that it was scrolling Wimbledon across the screen, but it was in fact for Brighton.

I know this blog is unorganized and all over the place, that's how my brain feels right now at the moment at least, but I plan on just getting some rest and checking Brighton out tomorrow. 

Awkward children

Last night my friend and I went out to find all the old English pubs that have been in Oxford for years. We found the pub eagle and child where c.s. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to meet to write and talk about the books they were working on. There was also a pub that had ties in cases plastered all over the walls and ceilings, with a picture of Bill clinton sotting at one of the tables. These pubs were quite and quint many of them with little fireplaces and a great atmosphere, so much better than any bar or club I've ever been to. 

After we decided to head back, we realized we were hungry, so we found a kebab truck. Josh ordered a chicken kebab (he said it was nothing like what he was used to) and I just order a regular amount of fries. The kebab was spicy and I ended up eating most of it enjoying the first real spicy food I have found since being here. When I ordered my fries though, it said £2 on the menu but the guy working the truck only charged me £1 and I'm still unsure if it was my charming looks or my lack of knowledge of the currency, and trying to pay in coins.

I'm sad I'm leaving on Sunday now because Josh, my new Aussie friend invited me to go to church with him here in Oxford. Since he's applying for his phd he's been checking out churches and bible studies in the area.
This morning Josh made me try Vegemite for the first time, and though it wasn't discussing, it wasn't good either, and I just ate a little bit of it. I would choose Nutella over Vegemite any day, but I can officially say I've tried it.

Today we went to the history museum and found shrunken heads which was interesting, and I'm still unsure about what I saw and how I feel about it. There was lots of interesting things in the museum but I'm not one for museums. 

I also tried punting for the first time, it was really fun, and our guide knew a lot about the history. The only awkward part was that there were tons of kids sitting in one of the parks we passed by chanting kiss, and when we didn't kiss, they started chanting friendzoned. It was a really neat experience all together and I'm glad I did it.

The architecture of the buildings here are just amazing. I enjoy just wondering around this city because there is so much to see and do, but it is small and compact and it has more of a small town feel. I love it here but I'm getting excited to move on to Brighton.

Shires are all Lies and Deceit

Oxford has been great, and just like with York, I find myself wanting to stay, and I am. I've met even more Aussies here, and run into the Aussies from York as well. I'm staying in a hostel right on the river Thames, and walking distance to the city center. I even found a huge park, just outside of the city center, with massive fields and horses. it was the most breath taking thing to find just by talking 10 minutes outside of the city center. there are rivers that twist and turn and split and flow all over the town, with more by the park and these fields. they even have punting, or what i think to be a gondola.

I went out and saw some of oxford college which in itself is breath taking and incredibly old and majestic. if i couldn't stay in York, Oxford would definitely do. There are plenty historic buildings with cobblestone streets and bookstores, museums and art galleries galore. 

I met a guy from England, Worcester, who was biking from England back to Worcester since had a week off from work. He explained to me what the shire on the end off all the English towns meant. Anything with a shire on it is a county, which includes multiple towns. The county town is the one that is in the name. So if someone says they are from oxfordshire, they are just saying a general area. If they say they are from Oxford, oxfordshire they are saying they are from the town Oxford in the county oxfordshire. If they just say they are from oxfordshire they could be from bisbon, it just depends.

I ran back into Nigel and Brad from York, and they introduced me to some amazing cookies, as well as meat pies. I've learned that Aussies don't mess around with meat pies, and it is a serious offense if it isn't done correctly. 

My new friend Josh who is an Aussies is here applying to do his PHD at Oxford, and he took me to try a deep fried mars bar (like a Milky Way) at a fish and chip shop. It was the most fattening awful but delicious thing I've ever eaten, and very similar to a deep fried snickers bar.

Nigel and I also tried out a gaming lounge, where we paired £3 to play portal together on the PC and it made me miss being home, playing games with Jonathan.

I also met a guy from Austria, finishing his PHD in Law, and about to become a judge in Austria. He's currently living in Cardiff, but come the end of the month, he goes back to Austria. I also met a guy from England that is a teacher, and is fluent in 7 languages, and he came to oxford to teach, he's just in the hostel while looking for a place to live. While being in Oxford,  I've met plenty of prestigious people, and its making me nervous about finishing my degree and deciding what the next step in my career is going to be for me. 

I can't even begin to tell you everything about Oxford, but it has been a great week of my life that I've spent here, and this is another place I would come back in a heartbeat. While being in Oxford I've also realized that English people don't eat cheese on their sandwiches unless its a cheese sandwich, count that as something else I'm starting to miss. When I get home, I want big enchilada, or a nice hearty blburrito with lots of chile. I miss my normal diet with delicious food.

I've got lots of homework I have to do this weekend, mostly for the english class, but it shouldn't be too bad now since I have found the most perfect park. I'm starting to hit that mark, where I'm homesick, and missing my bed, and washing machine. I'm having to do some laundry tonight, the hostel has a wash and drier, but its just not that same as having your own. I miss my dogs too, I love traveling, and I wouldn't cut this trip short for anything, but it gets hard, I'm about at my 3 week mark, and its starting to become a lifestyle and no longer a vacation. I don't know how people do it for a whole year. If I was given the opportunity, I would do it for a year as well, but I can't imagine how hard a few months might get. 

Stereotypical French people

So I really liked the hostel I was in, the common room was nice, and even though no one spoke English the Spanish people were nice and they tried talking to me and I tried talking to them. Turns out the Spanish people don't like the French either, they are to rude to them as well. It makes me afraid to go to France, because if they're all like this I'm not going to have a fun time. The people in my room though pretty much made my life suck. I got a total of 4 hours of sleep this weekend, and not to mention I feel like the French had something against me. I tried talking to them, in Spanish and English and they would either just stare at me or ignore me all together. Last night when I got in the shower they were also turning the light and water switch off and on to the bathroom I was using (the switches are on the outside of the door). I'm not really sure how they're still alive either, I thought I didn't get any sleep, but it was because they weren't sleeping either. They don't go to bed until 4am, every single night. I thought they had work at 7 this morning. But none of them got up and left. When I packed up and left at 10am this morning I was still the only one awake.

 When I left this morning it was raining once again. I originally planned on walking the entire way down to the train station and maybe stopping to get some coffee just to waste time and enjoy my morning since my train left at noon. That obviously didn't happen since I didn't want to get soaked, or soak everything I am carrying. So I decided to take the free bus that takes you from the north end of town to the south end where the train station is. When walking into the bus station right by the hostel I realized it was attached to Victoria shopping center, the huge mall with a tesco and some sort of market within in. After I realized this I shrugged and got on the bus that took me to broadsmarth bus station at the south end of town. When I got off since I had time I started wondering, and I realized it was also attached to the broadsmarth shopping center. Which is basically a more ghetto version of the Victoria shopping center. In between these two shopping centers is market square, where all the nice, high end shops are located and one of the biggest best preserved market squares in Europe exists.  What smaller town has two bus stations both attached to malls with a huge shopping/market area in between the two? The whole concept is crazy to me, but literally everything you need is right there.

Since it was still raining when i got to the train station, i figured it was no big deal, especially since the train station is covered. When I looked at the board to find my train, i decided to start looking for times and not destinations, since my destination was not the final one, its much easier. I found the time my train leaves, and I found the platform and i headed off in that direction. Of course, my luck my platform is the only one in the station that isn't covered. There is construction going on in this station, and yup, it was right by my platform. So sitting in the rain waiting for a train I still wasn't sure was mine wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done, but I had a latte so I was as happy as I could get. 

My hair here doesn't like to cooperate, I'm not sure if its the weather, since my hair is now always wet, or if it's because I'm using different shampoo, or if it's the awkward length. Im getting to the point where I'm looking for scissors to try and make it more bearable. I still feel like a hobo, just with cute accessories now. 

My feet are almost healed from Edinburgh, they don't hurt anymore and there are just scabs and loose skin from blisters. They are almost back to normal, and I can walk without a limp again. My problem now is my hip, and my leg, of course both on the left side. My hip has been hurting since the log plane ride, I think since I didn't get up the entire time, and I didn't move around much it hurt pretty badly. I thought it would stop hurting eventually, but with all the walking the pain is still there. My leg, only when I've been walking all day does it hurt, but where I had the surgery, it still makes it hard to walk after the excessive walking. I might as well be a war vet at this point. 

I'm really enjoying my English class too, I read beauty and the beast, which contained multiple stories, and the history of how the original story originated and transformed. It's a nice way to pass time with a purpose. 

People around here like to make a point to talk to me because of my accent as well. It's kind of nice, because weather I'm in a store or on a train, at least one person strokes up a conversation. Every single time this has happened though, it has been a young guy. Today while sitting on the train from derby to Birmingham, I was next to a young guy, once everyone got off in Birmingham the train had more seats available to I moved to the seat across from him and said "just to give you more room" and from there he started questioning me, where I'm from, what it's like, how I like England and everything else. He's from London but is traveling for business, and he told me, London is a must, and to try not to take the tube, but walk because there is so much to see. In Nottingham it happened with every server, or cashier I had. I bought some nail polish and ended up having a 30 minute conversation with a guy who had just gotten back from Miami, but loves America and wants to move there. It's really interesting and the people are quite nice, but I also feel that it only happens that way because I am different, because at home, I'm not as interesting to the people around there. 

Oxford is really nice, as well as the hostel I'm in. It has strict rules but that's a good thing. I think I'm going to like it here. Here is picture coming out of the train station.