Tue Aug 06 2002 15:16: Back from Ireland, wahoo!!! I had the best time!! It was actually a very relaxing weekend, lots of sitting in pretty parks, church yards, golf courses, beaches, etc. It is a blur of shopping, sightseeing, shopping, meeting people, eating, shopping, walking, and shopping. Dublin is such a beautiful city!!! not very touristy, but that was fine with me. It was crawling with tourists this weekend, though, being a bank holiday, and plus there was a really big gaelic (SP?) football (a cross between football, american football, basketball, and complete randomness) match between dublin and somewhere else, I actually got to see some of it. Fun times! We met this really nice Irish/ Welsh guy named Craig on the ferry and he showed us around the whole weekend. It was soo much fun!! I got to see the book of kells, so that was really exciting, too (Ms. richards class is haunting me a lot this trip). here are some quotes to sum up the good times had by all:

"It's Walish"- Giselle

"I'm not masculine, I'm just the man"- Giselle

"....All 51 states"- Craig "There's 50"- Rachel "51!... Canada."- Craig

On Giselles's potentially dirty nick-name: "I have a shirt with Giz on it."- Giselle "Why didn't you get it cleaned?"-Adam

"Can you see England from here?"- Rachel "No, Wales is in the way."- Craig "Can you see Wales from here?"- Rachel "No, it's misty."- Craig "If it were clear, could you see Wales from here?"- Rachel "No, its too far."- Craig

Wed Aug 07 2002 07:08: heading into town soon to pick up my Let's Go which is finally in, and drop off my gummy pants at the cleaner, hopefully, they will be able to get the gum off. am going to make many observations on the way to the bookstore, in order to make my essay really good!

craziness, but already I am leaving for Edinburgh tommorrow!! tommorrow is also our class walk thorugh the north lanes. should be good. and I definitley going to finish next week's essay BEFORE I leave. and print it out, too.

I love Wednesdays.

Thu Aug 08 2002 03:21: 363. for some reason I thought that my essay would grow longer through asexual reproduction while I was gone. this is not the case. better get cracking.

Thu Aug 08 2002 11:58: Yikes! leaving for Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1 1/2 hours and I still have lots to do. Done with my paper for Tues, though, so thats good! I got a 69% on the one for this week, which, for those of you unfamilair with the English grading system, is equivalent to an A-. All the same, its dificult to get excited about a 69%. Oh well. Had a fabulous day today!! I'm really sad that Sussex is almost over, but bittersweet because soon I will be living in London. Have decided I'm never coming home. (no, mom don't die, not really-wishful thinking.)

Wed Aug 14 2002 09:16: *Sigh* I am steeped in the happiness of catching up on emails after a trip, componded buy the fact that I am exactly where I want to be and this is a segment of my life where everything seems to have fianally fallen into perfect place. I could be content enjoying mild English summers with 4 day weekend mini holidays and a mental state of perma-vaction stacking up student loans for the rest of my life. The only bad news is that, unfortunatley, they closed the computer lab close to our houses so its a long walk now, and I won't be emailing as much anymore, but theres only a week left here anyways, which makes me happy and sad at the same time, because I love it here so much and there is still so much I want to do, but it means that soon I get to go to Paris and Nice and Munich, and then I'm starting in London!! How can anyone possibly be upset about London, the best city in the world? (although, I have newly discovered, Edinburgh during festival season probably comes close!)

Here is my news:

Just got back from an afternoon walk around Lewes, the charming town next door, that I haven't actually made it too yet, with some girls from upstairs. There is a castle and a house where Anne of Cleaves, one fo Henry VIII's wives lives. we just looked at the outside, though, because we wanted to spend out money in the gourmet chocolate shop instead.

yesterday during class break I saw a german shephard puppy. It was the cutest thing ever (besides my own, of course.)!!! I even got to tickle its tummy!!

Last night there was a bond fire in the hills behind east slope. I lost count of how many shooting stars I saw!! atleast 20, probably. The most amazing one, someone said it was a metorite skipping on the atmosphere, and it was bright purple and left a trail in the sky for 5 seconds after. Definetley the most amazing thing I have ever seen in the sky!! It was a good night for shooting stars...

My report on this weekend will be up later tonight, hopefully, and also I will try to send out my address in London.

Oh, and, I had almost given up on going to normandie (which is rediculouly (sp?) close at £20 return and probably 3 hours each way) but I finally found someone to go with!! Beverly from upstairs and I are going this Friday, yippee!

Wed Aug 14 2002 13:41: yay! my pants are fixed! my grey pants are also in the process of being de-gummed. they are currently in the freezer.

Rachel's Adventures in Scotland: (yay)

Edinburgh is an amazing city!!! I was getting a little travel weary and needed a restful weekend! certainly had one- sleeping in late in a real bed, lazy breakfasts, lounging around, watching tv, petting the dog, meandering thourgh town, eating... A LOT!

On Friday after a nap Anne and her husband took us to Linlithgo Palace where Mary, Queen of Scots was born. it was really pretty, and we climbed to the top for a great view!! there was a wedding there, too. I decided I want a Scottish wedding because the kilts are soo sexy!! haha! Then we had good scottish food for dinner and took the bus into town to find Kristi, which we actually eventually managed to do! In the meantime, though, I bought a cosy scottish wool blanket in thomson camel (aka burberry) and suprises for my brother and sis for christmas! Edinburgh was soo beautiful at night, with the castle all lite up...

On Saturday we went into Edinburgh with Laury, Anne's daughter. we went to the castle, which was great! there was another wedding there, too! *sigh* its time for someone in my family to get married in a year and a half or so *cough* susanna *cough*... In the castle were the crown jewels, which have a very exciting history, don't you know. I thought the exhibit leading up to the jewels was a lot better than that at the Tower. After the castle we walked down the Royal Mile and ate a cafe named after Deacon Broody/ Bradey/ something, the inspiration for the character Dr. Jeckle/ Mr Hyde, which is actually set in Edinburgh. You'd think I would have known that, but you'd also think I would have known that Belgium had a king and queen, so.. what can you do. After lunch we said goodbye to laury and took a city sightseeing bus tour (of Oxford classical trance fame, but the music was decidedly bagpipe-esque). After once around we got off at grass market, hiked up to take our picture with the Bobby Greyfrair's statue (DOGGIE!!!) then back down to eat dinner, where some guy attempted to stranggle me with a pair of panty hose. After dinner it was time for our Ghost and Torture Tour, which was very gruesome at some points but also very good. Part of the tour includes these underground vaults, but the lock to get in was broken, so this guy from seattle picked the lock, that was pretty exciting. he also said I look like Princess Leia, which I have been told before...

Kristi left early Sunday morning, later Giselle and I went into town and went shopping at Jenners, the Harrods of Edinburgh. I thought this was funny because I knew a girl in high school who went by Jenners and I had never heard it before, but who knows, maybe she got the idea from the store.. I bought a package of Turkish Delight because Giselle had never had any and I thought she should try it (this also happened with a different friend today in Lewes) and I was reminded of the time when I had never tried turkish delight, but wanted to know what it was because it is mentioned in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and so my mommy bought me some! Hurrah for Turkish Delight!! After Giselle left I went back to Anne's house, then Laury and I went for a bite to eat and a movie (scoby-doo!)and generally got to be friends.

on Monday I got on late (again) and me and Laury went into Edinburgh. we got some yummy food then walked down the royal mile and met her boyfriend. We decided to see a show and it took us a while to find one, but we eventually ended up at this radio show comedy routine thing. I actually understood quite a bit of it, but there was this one song about a washing machine (swish... *bing*.. welcome to the washing machine) well, I got the swish part, but what washing machine goes *bing*? after the show Anne picked us up and we went out to a yummy chinese place, I picked up my stuff at the house and said goodbye to Ruddy (one of my fav. parts of the holiday was having a dog!) then went to the station and said goodbye to the rest! :(

I had such a great weekend! Laury promises to come visit me in LA, and I think I might go back up. Maybe with mom when she comes to visit me. there is still so much of Scotland I want to see... teh highlands and Invernes (Loch Ness!!!), and maybe go on the west highlands railway thats in Harry Potter!! plus, I'd love to go back suring festival season and just see shows and maybe the Tattoo! yay for Edinburgh!!!

Thu Aug 15 2002 13:37: today was very exciting, not really. class wasnt that great, and somehow I managed to get one of my shoulders sunburnt... yes, friends, it was actually hot in england today! i would estimate, 90 degrees. amazing.

normandie tommorrow, wahoo!!

and, after much ado, I finally got shampoo!

Fri Aug 16 2002 02:36: Soo, the ferry was full, and I'm still in England. Oh well. Its 10:30 and I've been up for 4 1/2 hours, that hasn't happened in a long while. Maybe today will actually be productive. Trying to enjoy my last weekend in Brighton, sadness...

And I'm still not quite sure what to do with my stuff next week, since I can't leave it at the study center in London. The lady there is supposed to email me details about a storage locker place, so I'll probably do that. Hopefully I'll be able to bribe a big strong boy to help me drop it off on Wenesday morning, since I seem to have accquired two times the amount I came with, and I had trouble enough with that in the first place!!!

Fri Aug 16 2002 09:50: Instead, had a lovely afternoon in Brighton all buy myself, shopping in the north laine. I think I was in a pink mood, because I bought a pink dress and a pink sweater. Not baby pink, the really cute, bright MK "pink dream" pink. It was warm, today, too, so that helped me feel summery. Also, I bought: A mini Maglight (maglights are ridiculously expensive here, but I really needed one for trips), a luggage lock, various cosmetic goods for travel such as more stacking jars, frizz ease leave in conditioner, and a new kind of curlers to try! Also, saw 2 things that combined would be a good idea for presents (shhh.. suprises!!) And had a bagel sandwich that was really good and filling, but I didn't get another milkshake from this really cool milkshake shop that we all went to when we were in the north laine for class- you can choose from 101 things they put into milkshakes, such as smarties or chocolate orange- because it was too crowded. I went to this used bookstore that consists of several rooms of book stacked everywhich way and sometimes priced using a dot code system. I found a really cute antique "school history of england" but it was 2 pounds and by this time I only had 1.30 because the shop where I bought my pink dress didn't accept credit cards either, so I bought The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, which I have never read and was £1. I noticed on my way out they also had Mansfield Park for £1, and I have never read that, either, so I will probably go back.

But seriously, over the last few weeks, I 've realized what a GIRL I am!! Not that thats bad, I've only just begun to realize it. I always knew I was girlie, it extends beyond all comprhension. Exhibits:

No matter what dreadful traveling conditions I am in, I always try to take care of my appearance. (Until the last morning, after an all night train/ ferry/ bus/ flight/ sleeping in the airport/ station/pub...)

The way I dress.

My job.

My music selections: countless CDs of Broadway musicals, Madonna, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, The Corrs, Harry Connick Jr, etc...

My favourite part of any tourist attraction is always the gift shop.

There may be 1,000 gift shops in Edinburgh that sell plaid wool blankets, shortbread, and little stuffed 'Nessies', but I will happily go into everyone just to browse.

With me at all times is my purse, including but not limited to: water, cell phone, diary, travel journal, keys with lipgloss and pocket knife with scisors for cutting split ends, wallet containing up to 3 kinds of currency, 5 forms of ID, 2 credit cards, and picture of dog, portable CD player, pen, camera, sunglasses, eye glasses, and a velocity orange makeup bag of supplies such as a compact, tissues, hair brush and band, cinnimon altoids, hand sanitizer, bandaid, 'beauty blotters', lipstick, lip protector, nail file, 5 different kinds of over the counter medicine, and 4 different kinds of lotion. 4. Why do I need 4 different kinds of lotion? I don't know, but I do. I think its a tribute to my packing expertise (improving weekly) that I am able to use such samll purses as I do!

But don't think I am self disgusted and vowing to change my inner psyche or anything like that. Rather, I see this as a breakthrough in my quest for self discovery. My girliness is an essential part to the whole, and is an enduring character adding to my personality and uniqness... yeah.

Sat Aug 17 2002 10:41: ARGHH! Simply cannot concentrate on dumb paper for class. Also, am very frustrated with little things that keep going wrong, such as my lunch falling on the floor and not being able to find a hotel in Nice.

I still need more information for my dumb paper. Maybe I will back into town tommorrow (by myself, brave girl) and go to the Local Studies Library like our teacher said to. Plus, I can go back to the book store so I can buy the books I wanted and note the name so I can include the conversation I had with the owner about credit cards in my paper. Yeah. Thats what I'll do. Then my paper will be a lot easier to write. Now I'll.... go see what Kristi is up to.

Mon Aug 19 2002 07:49: Can't believe it! only about 2 more days left here... very sad. Soon, however, if I am able to conectrate, I will be all done with school work and just be able to enjoy myself for the next 2 weeks until classes for fall start! I just have to worry about finding a place to stay in Munich (which is dificult sinec I have been having problems calling..)and hope it does not get flooded in the next few days, having transfered my responsibility for getting somewhere to stay in (Somewhere In The South Of France) to Kristi, since she has been there before. Off to work on my paper!!!

Tue Aug 20 2002 08:30: yay! I have a place in London to store my stuff!! Now I just have to get it there... hmmm. I can't believe I'm moving out tommorrow! This makes me very sad.

Still have had no luck calling Germany, which is a little bit disconcerting. Perhaps it will help to try from France. Also, Munich is apparantly not under water, so we should be safe. Good times.

Must not put off packing until the last minute.

Tue Aug 20 2002 14:52: well, I have a busy day ahead of me tommorrow, including leaving, so nobody be alarmed when you don't hear from me for a week and a day or so...

almost done packing, which is really depressing. had to vacuum pack clothes again. its amazing how much stuff I accquired in just 2 months! amazing. my suitcases are super heavy and I have no idea how I am going to make it to the storage place all by myself.

also, pray for rain so class walk tommorrow is canceled!

Fri Aug 23 2002 12:38: Safe and in Munich!! and having a great time! someone is waiting for the internet, so full adventures will have to wait, but trust me, they're good!!!! (and totally safe, mom)

Sat Aug 31 2002 11:44: a safe hello to everyone from London, the greatest city in the world, where I am now living! yes, I actually survived last week! whats more, I triumphed! except in the area of sunburns, but really, I should no better. almost gone by now, anyway.

I was going to have a super long internet session and type up all of my adventures from the best week of my life, but I forgot to bring along my journal, and there's way too much to try to remember without consultation, so everyone will have to wait a little bit longer, sorry guys! in the mean time, just know that I love London and have never been happier!!