Formalities

Well, school is officially in session. I have now been assigned another class presentation, and two (soon to be three) papers. British teachers like to pile things on at the very end. They told us this would happen but you can never be prepared enough for it. However, we're all taking it one day at a time, with a little "Help!" from the Beatles. Thanks to a particular professor, we're all Beatles fans now by the way.

I have yet to be extremely homesick. Mainly it's consisted of a longing for familiarity which is normal I think. Last night I had a dream about Applebees. Knowing what to order...paying in dollars... that's really all I want at this point. Not to mention, I never knew I had any sort of attachment to Mexican food until I came here. London has some of the worst Mexican food I have ever tasted. They need an El Azteca here badly.

More about food: I don't know how I've gone 20 years without Indian food. London knows how to cook an amazing chicken tikka. Luckily, our program leaders also share my appreciation for Indian food and have arranged two trips to different restauraunts around the city for basically no cost. Yesterday we took a tour of the London's east end. It's much poorer than where I live, but it's something that everyone really needs to experience. We saw Brick Lane and the surrounding area. Afterwards, we ate at a Lebanese restauraunt (tasting much like Indian food but a little spicier.) The meal was tasty, but I soon realized it was much more like a race than a dignified, slow European dinner. The waiters brought out countless dishes every five minutes and everyone would just pounce, eat and pounce again with the next dish. It was nuts. I don't even think this was just because we were hungry students. It really was served at such a fast pace that your option was to either miss parts or eat quickly. Obviously I chose the latter. hah

In other news, I have officially filled my computer hard drive. This means my picture uploads have been stalled for the time being until I figure out a temporary solution. Although I'll continue to put up this web address www.flickr.com/photos/mcgroves so you can see my other pics.

We are going to stonehenge tomorrow to see some rocks. I'll keep ya posted.