02.04.2018 -
On my way to Stonehenge and Bath, and I want to catch up my journaling before I get there! It’s been a very busy week so far.
Tuesday, I talked about my upcoming courses and plans with Dr. Gratson and in the afternoon (Skype is great, it costs the same $0.02/minute as it would if I had been calling him from the States), and in between classes I went to the history museum right down the street. Natural History Museum, that is. I had thought I was going to the British Museum, but walked in to see dinosaurs and an insect exhibit. Definitely not Gilgamesh. Anyway still, it’s a gorgeous building and great to explore.
Wednesday I had my internship, then Olivia and I went to see Les Miserables. We were little far from the stage, but for £25 it was an amazing view and a spectacular experience (I definitely cried a bunch). Thursday, internship again, and the flat went out for Liv F's birthday to Roxy's. It was a very fun, very long, very late night. Her birthday was Friday, so I bought us some drinks to have directly at midnight. Friday I had a late start getting out of bed, but thankfully I had enough time to do some errands before quickly packing up and heading to Golders Green for the start of Passover.
My holiday so far has definitely been a wild adventure... the place I stayed at was an empty house a family bought but has not yet moved into. Turns out, if you lock the door with the deadbolt from the outside, you can't open it from the inside. Found that out the hard way. I tried a few things, trying leverage the lock open and seeing how far-a-way's down it was from the window. But eventually I stood by the window on the second floor and called to a stranger walking by to unlock the door. I threw them down the keys. On the plus side though, the place was warm and pretty comfy, just needs a little TLC. I was even able to borrow some linens from a local family I've met!
I wasn’t there alone, too, which was nice. The other single girl staying there was from South Africa, staying with her aunt near Oxford for a gap year. We were able to hang out for a bit (there was one other couple staying there, but I didn't see them over the weekend).
Since I was delayed getting to shul on the first day (because of the door) I didn't have my lunch hosts to walk me to their home after shul. I walked there myself from where I was staying, and I learned the hard way (only being able to check my phone about yuntif), I wrote down their address wrong. The no mezuzah on the door, and especially the non-Jewish woman driving up in a car and letting me know that this was her house, all tipped me off.
Thankfully I thought to walk to my friend's house, the one who had made the connection for me and invited me for lunch on the second day (this was still the first). They didn’t remember the number either, but were very kind to invite me to eat with them the first day as well. I was sure to send them flowers after the holiday.
The second day, the door was locked again, so the other girl who was staying there and I had to call out the window as I had done the day before. We went to services at an organization called JLE (a Kiruv group) and then I went back to the Newman's for lunch, the same people as the first day. I even got to go to a class and services at JLE after a long nap! Then it was packing up to go. I stopped off at the Kosher Kingdom grocery store on my way back for a few more things food-wise. It was so packed; obviously a lot of people have the same idea.
It was a long trip back to my flat in South Kensington, but I had enough time to catch up with Olivia and prepare for today's trip to Stonehenge before it got too late (Oh, I was also was able to call home for just a few, and will hopefully be able to FaceTime tonight!)
I got up a bit early this morning, to meet my group for the tour today. We will also be going to Bath after (I found an amazing Groupon code that has both destinations for the price of one!) The weather right now is pretty rainy. What a shocker for England...
Almost to Stonehenge!
Best,
-Ruth xoxo
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