Journey into the unknown

This is gonna be a quick one since Im totally motioned sickened right now from riding on the bus..i dunno what the hell happened but my head is spinning. Or maybe I'll feel better as I start typing..whotevah.

Went to pub called The Midlands last nite, a 5 minute walk from me and a one minute walk from The Odeon, a new movie theater complex that looks NOTHING like anything in Bath simply because it's....um...so new-looking. They aint showing nothing I wanna see yet but I'm definitely going there onna these days. The complex has a TGIF's in it and I got all excited!...till I remembered that I cant stand that place. Now if it was a Chilli's, maybe. They also had a restaurant that serves "portugese," so said a waiter, but the menu looked typically typical to me...i didn't see one lick of Portuguese on the menu outside. So yeh, on to Midland, where the World Cup qualifying game of England vs. Azerbaijan is scheduled for 7:45...and it starts on time. I am shocked and awed at myself, cuz I remember seeing the whole game and didn't once come close to blowing my brains out due to utter boredom. buuuut, then again, I was doing other stuff, like talking, drinking soda, eating 'crisps' and playing 'American' pool, cuz apparently the British play differently.

Basically the brit version involves picking up the white ball after EVERY hit, and placing it back to the line where one first breaks the balls. Joe E. Crack! what kinda way is that? wait....hahaha i cant believe I just wrote that. anyway, I argue and say that's not how you play it and eventually we ask someone else in the pub. After hearing my version of how to play, he said "oh, that's the american way" and I say "EXACTLY, so that's how we're gonna play." And of course that doesnt help me cuz I still lost....I got this close to winning. must practice my billiards...

As I sat drinking, I noticed at the table next to mine 4 people sitting there including 3 girls. One was smoking the fastest burning cigarette ive EVER seen and the other was smoking the thinest one EVER...thing looked like the size of the straw from a Capri Sun big pouch. I wonder if the first girl thought the faster it burns, the less carcinogenic, but of course we all know that's not true. And I found out the thin cigarettes are basically cheap ass cigarettes, cuz after a while I saw her rolling something. I was like "is she rolling a joint in public??" But I was told it was just the cheap way. I bet the cheap ones are even more deadly...they dont give u enough of the good shit, just probably "now more benzene!!" If I was a smoker, I think i'd stick with expensive cigarettes, because hopefully, more expensive equates MORE nicotine and maybe less carcinogens. I might be more addicted but less benzene and tar. lol I have no idea what Im talking about. I later saw another guy doing the same and I got sad for him too.

On to the actual match, I am certainly no football expert, but I could tell England was playing like garbahge against Azerbai-paki-uzbeki-afghani-kazak-stan[who even knew they had a team!!] because England had the ball, oh...92.865% of the time, but only managed to score two goals and apparently last week, poland whooped azerbaijan 8-nil so it shoulda been easy. They missed a whole buncha chances which made me realize that watching football consists of one main reaction: "OH! That was almost in!" "OHHHH" "OH..that was a close one!""AWWW" All the news and newspapers picked up on that and were also baffled by their country's performance. Some guy name Gerrard scored the first goal and then my boy David Beckham, aka husband of skinny-ass Posh Spice [she's, like, totally waaay too skinny for a grown woman with three kids: brooklyn, cruz and some other cockamamie name]. Seriously, he is too fine, and this is one of the few times Ive heard him speak so i was def paying attention. AND his hair still looked good even though he'd just been running for 92 minutes! crazy...But I noticed he had a staple of British teeth...the double row!!! ive seen that characteristic over and over again, but their dental problems are no joke. I saw an article about a woman who had to pull out four teeth cuz she couldnt go to the dentist and she sent them to the prime minister!!! HAHAHAHA that's sad, but semi-funny. Apparently, not only is it expensive as hell just to SEE a dentist, much less get actual service, apaprently there's a shortage of dentists nationwide. So if I was studying dentistry in America, I might consider crossing the pond cuz Id prolly get paid beaucoup.

So yeh I stayed til last call at 11 then went home and couldn't sleep a wink, my mind RACING at the speed of light. I twist n turn for 2 hours then decide to get back up and go on the computer. I discovered how to mess with my blog page and ended up spending the next almost 3 hours learning how to change it. My eyes were hurting and, when i went to look in the mirror, they were basically bloodshot. I tried to go back to sleep, but my eyes were TREMBLING...i put the poor buggers thru hell. I wish there were exercises you could do to keep your eyes healthy..like make then run on the treadmill or give them vitamins directly or something. They are SOOO important and yet nobody's ever really told me how to take care of them.

c'est ca. a bientot.

This blog is just gonna be a buncha points...not in the mood to write long ol' paragraphs now...or actually, watch them turn into exactly that.....
1. Who's Aaron? Aaron is just some guy's blog I saw and liked and wanted to be able to go back.
2. Went to "Boston Tea Party" yesterday, a caff across the street from me. not caf-ay, but caff as the kiddies say. Had a bomb ass white hot chocolate..ahhh reminded me of home [aka any Java City location at UF]. I dunno what else they put in it but it was sure off the chain! More than the nutmeg I usually add.....
3. How come nobody knows directions??? lol Anytime I ask anybody where anything is, I never get "turn right on Oakland, then make a left at 36th Ter." alls I get is "when you go up there just past the that, turn right and then when you see the thing, it's right across from that." Some theories I had are that 1) the streets begin and end in like 5 seconds, as evidenced by the map of Bath that has 10,000 streets yet it's such a small town[no 10 mile Commerical Blvd here], 2) most people walk everywhere and because the streets are so short, they don't bother memorizing street names, just landmarks. When I say a street name, I get weird looks lol......
4. There's never a 'downtime' at the Supermarket. Always tons of people shopping...can you tell I don't like crowds? Also, I guess it might be a good thing that they don't have much, but seriously, can I have some more preservatives in my food so they last more than 3 or 4 days?? Milk shouldn't have the same shelf life as freshly baked bread. Gimme at least a week to finish my food rather than saying "after opening, use within 3 days." It's just me, people! Im not shopping for my family too. Guess food isn't made for single people who don't cook. So either I gotta freeze my food or buy small quantities at a time...which means I'll be going to the supermarket more often. yippee.......
5. It looks like I won't be doing anything till at least next week. That's when my preceptor said he might, keyword might, have a timetable of things for me to do. [sigh] whatever.....
6. [As Lumberg] yeeeaaaahhhh, sooooo I don't really like it when, as soon as I hear the toilet flush, I also hear the bathroom door opening. uuuummmmm, that kinda makes me think you didn't wash your hands, a thought that chills me to the bone. Yeh, so my neighbor keeps doing that and i don't like it. I cant be the only one potentially freaked out by that!
7. I realized that I don't really live in the "asian" housing. It's just that basically all the foreign students are the only ones here, even some eastern european ones based on an accent I heard, because the english and welsh ones are the only ones close enough that they actually go home for the easter break. apparently the neighbor on my floor who I have yet to see is Welsh, not too far away, so no wonder. poor foreigners....
8. Called my aunt yesterday, and she told me my cousin wants to phone me..yay! He doesn't really know me [I blame my mother...lol jk] I remember seeing him once when he was little...Damaine or something..i forget. She said he's 17 now. I remember his brother, Dean, more but Dean still lives in Jamaica and goes to UWI, I think. But she took my number and said she would give it to him. Apparently, she does live in London, so Ill be visiting her when I go there too.....
9. Damn tourists! Not only do they never stop coming, they are disguising themselves as real Bath-ists or Bath-ers....what do I call the people who live here? Bath-ans? When I was in the cafe yesterday, I saw this black girl with fairly well done hair[yay] so I asked her where she gets her hair done. The heffer's from Manchester[boo] lol. That's like 100 miles from here. anyway....
10. Screw Bath! Once it gets sunny again[cross my fingers for tomorrow], im gonna hop on the train to Bristol and go blow some money since I have nothing better to do. Gotta look up the weather....
11. Was invited to watch England play some other bunk team cuz apparently it's World Cup qualifying time or something or other. Will be at a pub, but dunno which one yet. Not only do I hate American football, I hate real football too. Not only do they rarely score [actually, i've seen a game where the score was nil-nil...talk about torture!!!], but the game takes like 90 minutes. AND if there's overtime, I swear it's like 45 minutes. Can I get 10? What's with the English and long ass sporting events?? Cricket takes days!! But at least cricket's a little more interesting and they do have one day matches.....
12. I found TWO starbucks the other day. Man that bitch is everywhere! but they don't have Vanilla Bean frappaccinos..what the f?? Still, I will be back.....
13. Had some Chinese food today and it was REALLY good. It was a buffett but I wanted it to go. The man pulled out a to-go container....some microscopic tupperware looking thing....I was like "Um, can I get a bigger one?" "That's the only one." "Fine, how much?" "3.50" "what??? Fine I'll take it." You KNOW I stuffed that thing till it couldnt be stuffed no more! Gotta get my money's worth....

That's all I can think of for now. Holleration.

That's the ? I wouldve had to ask my mummy when I saw a girl last nite in FULL riding gear: hat, little vest, pants, boots, even the whip!! Yes, the english do ride a lot im sure, but I doubt they are doing it at 11 at nite in a pub/club, which is where I gazed upon this young lady. I went back to Delfter Krug last nite[i gotta find out what that means] with my new found African friend, Moussa, not Moses as I wrote earlier.

I had so many titles to introduce this log with, but went with the one above. Other candidates included "Smoking causes impotence? huh?" "Why the british drink: They can't function without it, An essay" "Holy PDA, Batman!" and "African Princess." Now the last of these titles is the most fitting, since that is what my drinking pahtnah wanted to make me lol. noooo... he didn't wanna me one of his many wives as the stereotype some people have about African men goes. lol [AHEM K.B.]

Yehhhh...so im chilling at home. Phone rings at about 10. Tis Moussaka, aka Moussa, saying he was going out and wanting to see if I wanted to tag along. "Sure! I aint doing shit" I reply. I actually kinda dreaded the thought of going there cuz 1) I didn't wanna spend any money on drinks 2) I dont wanna smell like smoke and 3) I think I may be running out of stuff to say[jk]. But dammit, there's nothing else to do, so I agree to meet him at 11. left my house at 10:58. get there at 11 and see him in line. 2 pounds to get in, but he's 'on the list' so we get in for free. Apparently, he's friends with the DJ. TRU! I must be knowing the right people cuz I didn't have to pay the 4 pounds it cost to get in last time cuz mike knew the bartender. We entre, and he introduces me to his friend, the DJ, aka Sy. He's cute, but unfortunately, his lips were lookin a tad darker than theyre supposed to be, if you get mah drift[i.e. he must be smokin sumthin] His hair is pulled back and poking out thru the hole in the back of a baseball cap, so he kinda 'looks' like a DJ, I guess. Obviously he's mixed. Anywhoo, on to the place everybody goes straight to when they come in...EL BAR! Mustafa asks me what I want: "southern comfort and smoke...I mean coke." oops, no southern comfort..fine, Hennessey. He pays. I say merci.

Up the stairs we go cuz he says he usually chills upstairs, but the music is mostly 70s crap and therefore sucks, plus it's too loud to really talk, so I said I wanted to return to downstairs. We chitter-chatter downstairs with 'getting to know the other person' convo: ho-riginally from Senegal, moved to Egypt for school, then moved to Bath[LOVES bath, apparently], but most of his family lives in france; 27; speaks 4-and-a-half languages[Wolof, English, French, Arabic and some Hebrew]; has been to Spain, greece, yada yada; models[doesnt everybody?]; used to work in the Gap, but quit[most of his friends we'll greet tonite used to work in the Gap too]; is in the process of moving; etc etc. I told him he would have to help me with my french since im oh so rusty and he says sure, he'll try to say french stuff to me. He went back to French I up in that piece with "comment tu t'appelle?" "Je m'appelle Marie-Therese." His eyes widen when he hears my name and starts going off in french, but I dunno what he's saying: I dont understand sentences! Also tries to teach me to say stuff in other languages. I learned how to say 'Hello' in Arabic, but of course, I dont remember.

"want another drink?" Back at the bar, I order a shot of absinthe..the bartender looks at me like she's clueless, but i see her go ask another bartender, and she picks up the same bottle...i remember it from the other nite. But Im not gonna order that thing for at least another two weeks....even im getting scared of what it might be doing to me. lol Got a malibu and coka to wash it down. He pays. "Wow, im saving money tonite boy!" I thought. But, as we learn in America, nothing is free and without strings. Continue chatting, he keeps greeting people, I see an empty cigarette carton that says "smoking kills" on one side and "smokes decreases blood flow and causes impotence" on the other. HAHAHA im dying of laughter. I discover he's dressed in GAP from head to toe, but as anybody who works there knows, you gotta wear all gap stuff so you will eventually become their walking billboard. As the night progresses, I notice something...

...why is there so much PDA??? Ive never seen so much kissing in my life..and im not just talking about regular kissing. Full-on googly eyes, let's take this to the bedroom making out! Im shocked and amazed these people are conducting themselves this way in public, and Moussa tells me it's not uncommon. I always knew that about Europe, but when it's all up in your face, it's a different story. My mouth keeps falling open every 20 minutes and he tells me not to be shocked. "But if these people can be that intimate in public, what are they doing when theyre actually behind closed doors??" I ask him. He even tells me they may not even really know each other....now im even more disgusted. "people do that with people they just met??" "sure" he says all nonchalantly. I say "whatever" and just start ignoring. He mocks my "whatever" and tells me I say that a lot. But I don't think I shoulda started talking about that subject, because the conversation started turning towards relationship-type inquiries and flattering comments, and that's NEVER a good sign. Unfortunately the african became a little too friendly, then I went into shutdown mode...not completely, but I was basically deflecting most of what he had to say.

We stay til the place closes at two, i grab some free postcards on my way out, and we see his friend the DJ as we're leaving. Sy invites him to a birthday thingie for some dude named Calvin tomorrow at...you guessed it..delfter krug! [this place must be the shit] he says he'll put Moussa down on the list for him plus two..then Sy asks me what Im doing tomorrow. i say nada and he said I should come back tomorrow. Mr. M. then he walks me home, I put his number in my PDA, I say Ill call and I bid him adieu. Now I smell like smoke, but at least I didn't spend any money.

I told the African I can only be his friend...he said cool. No matter what I gotta keep this up because he promised me he'd introduce me to some black girls, including a Jamaican lady he said does hair. And no, im not a user, but keep people in your life for certain things, I say. and i need to get my hair done eventually! lol.

I dunno if Im going out tonite. I think I might actually like to stay in.

later.

Im about to talk about food, which made me think about feeding, which made me think about feeding tubes. I just emailed my mother saying I want my feeding tube disconnected after, eh, ill say, 5 years. lol Make that count for artificial respiration too[im not too sure if those go together..gotta look that up] If it gets too expensive, take it out earlier. but hell no, don't keep me up for 15 years. why in the lord's name would you have somebody on that thing for that long?? have some compassion. relieve her of her suffering. she's not coming back. Let her continue the journey she started years ago when she first became brain damaged. let her meet her maker. let her go....

Yeh...um....so, today I realized that for the past two days, I've eaten nuttin but scones, cereal and bananas, basically what I bought at Sainsbury's. Mind you, i wasn't hungry, but dang, i needed to eating something filling. Something to let me know that the muscles that are there to stretch and accomodate food are still working. And I actually wanted something american. ix-nay on the burger king and mcdonalds-ay and hell no on the KFC. Now popeye's or wendy's...i woulda been all over that! speaking of which i need to look if wendy's has a location here.... So I made my way to Subway[too bad they don't have quizno's], and got me a footlong turkey, ham and bacon melt. Subway has never tasted so good. of course, i promised myself I would only eat half and save the rest for later, but that shit never works. two hours later, i was scarfing down the other half. but hey, im still not hungry and it's dinner time.

On to more official businazz, i called Dr. Moss today, which cost me 2 pounds for only like 6 minutes! Do they NOT want people to use the fones in this country?? "Actually, I haven't thought that far ahead" was his response when I asked him what to do about Wed. So, basically Ill have another day off at least. I was told that if he doesnt have anything for you to do, you'll basically get a week off. SO IF ANYONE WANTS TO COME VISIT ME, ILL HAVE THE TIME AVAILABLE. [hint hint] lol we'll explore europe and drink absinthe till we feel like Pablo Picasso, creating paintings n shit. But most likely my sister will come and visit me. yay! But yeh, i definitely need to change what this 'experience' counts as...change it to electives cuz i definitely don't want this to count as Adult Medicine...that's way too important to miss.

Dammit, I wish I had tv...at least i could be watching the OC at 9 in the AM, while im eating breakfast. At least that's when Mike told me it comes on. Chatted with him a bit today after I got my fone card hooked up. he don't sound too excited lol. he misses him fammy-wammy. I was calling a buncha numbers Dr. Moss gave me of the two students here from michigan[i didnt get them, but according to Mike, theyre boring...HAHAHAHA] and the girl who's going FROM here to UT-Austin. I told her it's gonna be hotter than a mothertrucker in Texas in the summer. but she sounded excited. And I think Ill be taking over her space when she leaves...good! It's just down the street by Sainsbury's, so still in a good location, not in the boonies like some classmates[i wont mention the name again].

so yeh, been on the internet all day, listening to music, watching daily show clips, and reading about Absinthe. apparently, it just has a bad rap cuz of the way people used to make it...it would be too strong, some formulations used to have too much alcohol, or would contain toxic compounds, etc. But that's no longer the case really. Cuz I swear, the shot i had wasn't bad. It was just like drinking anything else.

gotta register so i can get a bus card, and gotta buy an international fone card from the student union. So i gotta make my way up to the actual university to do all that. Wed.'s the day!

holla.

"That'd be a 25 pound fine." so those "Fire door. Keep Shut" signs do mean something. I thought it was a mere suggestion.

So im sitting in the lounge [id prefer not to call it that since it doesnt even have a TV], using the computer because that's all I have to do and I didn't wanna sit in my room anymore, when a dude with an American accent comes in to put up flyers. He introduces himself and apparently he's the resident tutor, aka RA. He tells me, unfortunately, i can't keep the door open and the reasons behind why. Everything he says goes in one ear and out the other, except when he got to the fine part. That's what I'd get charged if someone saw me doing that, but hey, I just moved in and i missed the fire lecture, so he forgives me...im sure others would too.

This man is a godsend! it's actually exactly his job to tell me stuff and answer my questions but I still consider him my angel cuz I was LOST! He's been in bath for two and a half years [what the F???] but apparently that's because the area of mechanical engineering he wanted to do isnt done too much in the US[he's from Madison, WI], so he had to go elsewhere.....???....yeh I wondered what the hell he could be doing that's so special, too. But good for him, I say. So he started answering all my questions, first off about the fone. He gave me the fone card and then began explaining life in Bath.

Id been wondering WHY THE HELL THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN?? Last Friday and Saturday and even this morning at f-ing 11am there were TONS AND TONS AND TONS of people on the street. Don't yall have homes??? But he[i forgot his name :( ] told me that Bath is what's known as a Heritage Town, and it's like the 7th most visited city in EUROPE..not just Hengland. It's also a pretty big shopping center, which I figured because when you go out in the streets, EVERYBODY has TONS of bags with them. He explains that this is not even bad..wait till summer comes...even the local Bath people don't dare go outside. Kinda reminds me of little ol' G-ville during home games...I would NEVER leave Murphree on a Saturday. yuh mussi mad. Apparently, there are tiers for spaces that stuff can be built and basically, the whole city is on lockdown, meaning nothing can be built here, etc etc. Just because of some hot springs?? lol whatever. He explains to me that it's actually expensive to shop here [no kidding] and a better bet would be to go to Bristol, which is another big city 10 miles away or go to London. "Isn't london expensive though?" I ask, to which he replied "It's basically a tad more expesive than here, but you get way more variety and at least you can do sightseeing and stuff." He also said France was twice as cheap, so im definitely in that piece.

He explained other stuff, like how to take the bus, about how you gotta promise your first born child just to get a mobile phone over here ["here's my money...gimme my damn service" said he], how this is easter break[apparently the students wont be back for at least another week and a half...they have 3 weeks off for easter], and how school works over here. Apparently, finals, which begin when the students come back, is like 80% of your grade! [COUGH..Im liking the US more and more]. He helped me to reset the fuse I had blown with my hairdryer, and suggested I go to Argo's to buy a cheap one to use while im here. Thanks, bud. that's it for now.

I gotta remember to talk about how I actually had a craving for Subway today....SUB-Fing-WAY!! Shows how desperate times call for desperate measures......

experiment: silently mouth the words "OLIVE JUICE" to someone. i bet they think you're saying "i love you." great way to make friends!

anyway, back to the drama that is my boring life here. so yesterday began with me deciding that I really need to go grocery shopping. I was pointed in the right direction on friday and was told to go to Sainsbury's...let's hope it's more like a publix rather than a winn-dixie. it's a 5 minute walk from me and going to thru the doors, i noticed there are a bunch of street vendors lined up before actually getting to the store. i stop at the first couple, who were displaying what appeared to be african jewellery[not jewelry...my sister did tell me they spell it two ways..hmph]. I heard a woman remark "..and here's a nice african girl looking for something today" to which I replied "no, im sorry, im not african." she then questioned what i am to which I replied, with a knot in my stomach, "im american." "ooohhh you're american!" and asked me to specify where. "Florida," i say and she immediately knew what I was talking about. I realize most people here have heard about florida....i wonder if they know about Wyoming?? I sure as hell can never remember it's a state. they usually know about disneyworld, miami and sometimes, fort lauderdale. very few americans know about bath i doubt. a male vendor she was speaking to joined the convo and knew about FL as well. she went on to tell me she's from ethiopia and he said he is from senegal. What? there are other african countries?? jk. but that's cool. never met anyone from either country. i chit chat a bit more then finally made my way to the store.

im lost in the store...of course...trying to make sure im not paying too much for stuff. i end up not getting that much....still water, orange juice[no bits], butter, bananas[from the dominican republic so u know theyre green as hell], grapes, cutlery, paper plates, and somes plain scones. just enough to start me off and last a couple days. im also trying to read the nutrition label....holy crap. that'll take some getting use to. my favorite part of the labels are the health warnings: "it's important to watch your calorie intake, as without regular exercise too many may lead to weight gain" and "you may want to keep an eye on your salt intake as too much may increase your blood pressure, " among others. I wonder if people pay attention to this crap, cuz im sure if they did this in america, people could give two rats asses what u put on the label. but ive seen this freaky label thing the night before when mike showed me the cigarette labels on empty cigarette cartons laying around the pubs. "SMOKING KILLS." "SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU." "DIE, SMOKER, DIE." HAHAHA the british dont play. OK that last one was mine, but i think i get the point across. but I digress.

I get into the queue to checkout and asked if I could use my traveller's checks. Yes, since i was smart enough to get them in sterling. yay. avoid the hassle. a short convo starts with the cashier, who proceeds to tell me his girlfriend is in med school in north carolina. "Have you ever been?" I say "no, but i always hear it's very nice." "that's good. enjoy your stay." "thanks," i reply. I leave the store and meet up again on the two africans i met at the entry. i stopped to chat once more and they introduced themselves as Suzy and Moses [pronounced moo-sah]. here's the sad part.

I had THE NERVE to utter the phrase "so where do all the black people hang out?" to the senegalese man. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WAS PRICELESS. I actually didn't mean to ask it like that, but dammit, the words are already out there in the universe and he picked them up. "all the black people?" the look on his face said "[british accent] whot? are you mahd? black people don't hang out with one another here. where do u think you arh??" but he covered it up by telling me the good places to go out to...he basically named all the places id been to or seen the previous night. nicely, he volunteered to give me his number, but i told him i had not a damn clue how to call and he took my number instead, saying he would call when he was going out. we'll see. i was never more embarrased but hey. i made my way home and put away my junk.

yeh, so, i dunno if it's just Bath but i have noticed that the black people don't hang around each other much. the east asians do, the indians do, but not that other ethnic minority. and another thing, suzy has been the only black woman ive seen in Bath so far, but i can count at least 10 black guys of all ages that ive seen. what's up with that? just curious, is all. i can say it's the first time in my life the men have outnumbered the women. it's just funny because in america, wherever u go, you can count on at least a handful of black people, even ones from your own country, to be there too, and theyre probably looking for you too! we'll see if all that'll change come next week when the easter weekend is over and the town is supposed to have more people, including students, in it. no biggie though...just as with everything else, ill just have to adapt and conform.

just woke up...again. hopefully, i dont grow any taller from all this rest and relaxation.

just wanted to talk about my day yesterday. got up, got dressed, and went downstairs to the payphone to phone Mike Rubio, since i STILL dunno how to dial other numbers. [come on tuesday!] Mike is one of my classmates, but i've never met him since he's on the campus in Orlando. He emailed me a while back when i had some questions, so he seems cool. He starts telling me a bunch of stuff, like watch what i pay[i hear that], what to eat [gregg's has good sandwiches], where the subway is lol [next to Gregg's], etc, etc. he volunteers to hang out with me later, which makes me happy, and told me he'd phone later.

off the fone, i wonder off to find a bite. i asked a guy at the bus stop across from the phone where the city center is and he tells me 'walk that way and you can't miss it.' he aint lying. i walk that way and see TONS AND TONS of people. mind you this is Good Friday, a huge holiday in Britain and all its commonwealth countries, but apparently the need for shopping doesnt compete with that. there are a few streets that are lined with many shops where only pedestrians can walk.

as im looking into the store windows and stopping in every other one, all i can say is the clothes are awesome! im also noticing this when i see how the girls on the street dress: very accessory-oriented, the most interesting and bright shoes, the nicest boots. nothing simple about the way these people dress. hopefully i have some money left over to buy some stuff, but the way things are looking, i dunno. might have to break out the card. i get to the famous hot springs where Romans and the like used to bathe. hence the name Bath...TADA!! it's basically a big old tub of water in the middle of the city. jk..its a little more impressive than it sounds and apparently now they have newly built hot springs bath that uses the actual Bath water...lol. and of course, can't have an attraction without the obligatory gift shop and restaurant. but i leave and head outside where i see Bath Abbey...aka a church. it's very impressive...actually makes me want to go to church. it's not just some building by the side of the road or some plaza space. outside the Abbey a man starts whistling, so im guessing he's trying to get people's attention. and he is. he begins performing tricks, making jokes and the like, so im guessing im gonna have to fork over money when he's done. it was cool, snapped some pictures, and gave two pounds when he announced this was his job.

i finally get something to eat: an apricot croissant and some 'still' water[aka regular water], because i realized i haven't had much since i started my trip...big mistake. i walked up and down the street a little more, took another picture, then get tired and head back home.

Mike calls me around 6 and tells me how nightlife here works: pubs open about 9 and clubs open about 11 and everything shuts down around 2. doesn't bug me much. thanks gainesville! we agree to meet by the fancy pizza hut around 9 and meet up with some of his newly found friends. come 9, im by the pizza hut then a dude in a tommy hilfiger shirt stops in front of it too and i figure its my classmate. we greet and head off. we first go into a pub called D---- Krug[i forget the name]...it's literally 3 minutes from me, but mike says it would be a 45 minute walk for him. apparently he had to take the bus, so he doesnt live too close. one of the bartenders is his friend, an australian who lived in hong kong and now lives in bath named Nick. Mike introduces us, he leaves his jacket and we head to Revolution to see if his friends are there. I asked if he's not freezing, he tells me it's not freezing and that i should be happy cuz two weeks ago it was freezing and the people here were complaining about how it was the coldest march ever. thank god. We get there, but no sign of his peeps, so we start drinking. In revolution, i would have a double malibu and coke, a shot of grey goose, and a warm-ass smirnoff ice. Mike informs me they don't do things cold here, you gotta beg for ice. we chit-chat a bit: pharmacy school, where he's worked, what he's been up to. I find out his roomate was steve duverglass, my fellow intern at walgreens last summer. he looks around a bit more for his people, no sign, so we got back to the first place.

Back at ...Krug, we hear hear hip-hop music, talk about 50 cent and Game, movies, etc. He asks if ive seen any 'messed-up grills' since i've been here, i crack up and say 'one so far.' he tells me the people here can't dance, not even the black ones, and i tell him im not surprised because i've heard that before. we proceed to make fun of the people dancing, including one guy i said danced like James Brown. i would have a shot of Absyinthe, an illegal drink in the US. Mike said he scared because he heard it's like acid, i tell him it smells and tastes like Nyquil. Cant be that bad, im still alive today. next drink is Southern Comfort and coke, which is SURPRISINGLY good[thanx mike]. i stay and chat a little bit more, then decide to leave at one. i bid mike goodnite and hopefully we'll hang out again. i sleep.

later.

so i finally get to my 'room' aka a box! on the fourth floor no less! but it's cool. it's one of four rooms in a long corridor, where there are two bathrooms and a kitchen. i meet one girl who lives in the room beside me but english is obviously her 2nd or 3rd language. she will inform me later that i need a phone card to dial out of the complex!! WTF??? i can barely dial the phone numbers as is, now i got another hurdle to jump over. I swear...there are 10 different ways the english write their phone numbers, and i've only got the dialing of one way down so far. i still have no clue how to dial a cell phone. anyway...i IMMEDIATELY go to sleep. i tell myself i'll call my mother and sharon later to tell them im safe...too tired right now. slept for a good three hours, then went downstairs to the pay phone to phone my mummy. i couldn't tell the last time i saw a pay phone in the US! i think gas stations still have some, but i digress. im hungry as hell, so i start walking. Dr. Moss told me i live close to the 'city centre' so keep walking north and ill hit stuff.

i notice there's very little activity. i check my watch...it's approx. 7:15 pm. WTF? why are no businesses open?? i look at windows....stuff closes at 5pm, 6:30?? huh? can i get a 9pm, 10pm?? lol...jk. guess that's how they do it here. i buck up pan a pizza hut, the fanciest pizza hut ever!!! looks like a restaurant/jewelery store with recessed lighting and shit, the pizza all aglow as the patrons eat up the....what's that? 20 pounds for a 4-for-all?? i don't care if Queen Latifah is promoting pizza hut now, i still aint paying $40 for some sauce and dough!

i realize i gotta stop converting prices to dollars in my head because it is only making me crazy!! just take the UK price as is, man. anyway, i see a sign for a fish-and-chip shop, so i decided when in rome.... i decided to eat-in [not dine-in] rather than take-away [not take-out]. it was AIGHT. i think ill try the ethnic food next time as was suggested by a classmate. that was 6 pounds...$12 dollars for some deep fried fish and some big-ass fries?? damn..gotta stop converting. i left, forgetting to leave a tip, but as i will be informed later, NEVER tip. i walk around the town randomly, snap some pictures, see people at pubs. I get cold after 20 minutes so i head back to my room. i sleep for a couple more hours, wake up and go on the computer for a bit just so my battery isn't ALL the way dead, then back to sleep. gotta find a UK adapter for this thing.....I then sleep for 12 hours, the longest EVER in my ENTIRE LIFE!! but hey, time zone changes are a bitch.....

NEVER ask that question in this town, or most of England im sure....u will be looked at like youre crazy. more on that later.

Anyway, since it's been a day or so and ive probably forgotten most of what happened, ill just summarize. got to London-Gatwick Airport, walked 800 miles to baggage 'reclaim' [first difference!!]. so many corridors! if i saw one more, i was gonna scream!! anyway, got my HEAVY ASS luggage [OMG what was i thinking???] a kind man help me put it on a stroller. started towards the exit of the airport, where i was met by a family friend, apparently one of my uncle's ex-girlfriends, who now lives in London...a nice lady by the name of Sharon. of course she has a cool accent, sometimes i dont even know what she's saying lol. but i get used to it. she helps me buy a train ticket for Bath, i gotta connect in Reading...damn. but i buy a return ticket because it's like 10 pounds cheaper and Sharon says i can come back to london and stay with her to use my ticket. YAY! she waits with me for about 20 minutes and we chit-chat. she has three kids, the oldest 14..pity theyre not my age. that's what im looking for. she tells me what train to take to get back to visit her and i guarantee her i will.

off on the train ride. i see my first "messed-up grill." takes about 40 minutes to get to Reading. i struggle to get both suitcases and my duffle bag and my purse to other platform where the next train will be arriving. get on. arrive in bath in about 30 minutes. BROKE MY SUITCASE WHEEL getting off the train!! daaaammmmnnnnn. now the shit's TWICE as hard to pull. lawd help me jesus. waited for about 5 minutes for Dr. Steve Moss and his daughter, a girl with 'fiery red hair' as he puts it. Didn't see them. there's no elevator so i was told i had to walk down the back of the train station where there's a ramp. pulled one bag at a time, embarassing myself. then i waited a bit and asked some kid who was 'too cool for school' if i could use his phone [i dont have the nerve to call it a mobile yet]. i call Dr. Moss and he told me to stay put and he'll come get me. as i wait, i see kiddies galore...i guess school just let out. as i look up, i actually see blue sky and sun!!! england's not ALL rain and clouds. but apparently this is rare. Dr. Moss and Susan finally arrive. she looks like somebody on tv, i tell her, but apparently not cuz she said she's studying computer programming. we leave to get the key to my room...apparently im not staying in private residencies anymore but in 'post-graduate housing' aka where all the asian students live lol.

done for now. cheers.

1:08 am and i guess it’s officially my ‘second’ day in england, but it still feels like the first. its not as cold as i expected it to be, but ive been told that’ll change come easter monday, a ‘bank holiday’ here in england, aka ‘national holiday.’ the school has a holiday next tuesday too, so i wont officially be starting anything until at least wednesday.

my trip began with the removal of ‘non-essential stuff’ from a grossly overweight suitcase….83 lbs[must convert to kg!!]. had to give back all the food i was gonna take, including all my orbit gum!!! my mother just told me i left them all….now im really sad. turns out i was still overweight at 73 lbs but the guy let me go w/o charging me the obligatory $80!! i woulda died if I had to pay that. but i didnt even bring that much!!! only clothes, shoes…and ok, maybe my printer, but ill need that…eventually….i hope. so, on to boarding, which began 15 minutes late [an ominous sign of things to come]. im in ‘zone 4’ aka at the back of the plane next to the damn bathroom, but no biggie. we take our seats and we sit and wait, and we sit…and sit….and sit….for a good 40 minutes. finally our good buddy captain ‘bob’ comes on and announces we are 17th in line for take off!!! i didnt even know that was possible. but i remember seeing something on the news earlier in the morning about how there were tornado warnings in orlando, so I figured that was causing the hold-up...and ‘bob’ confirmed my suspicion by announcing weather was to blame. another 30 minutes later, were 10th in line…moving on up like the jeffersons, but doesnt feel as good. next, we’re 5th in line….another 20 minutes later. all this didnt bother me much really, because I was sleeping, hopefully not snoring and bothering my flight pahtnah, a businessman from louisville, kentucky…or that’s what I assume from when i was eavesdropping on his phone conversation. people are calling their people, saying their gonna miss their connecting flights...i was like “suckers.” little did I know I was to have the same fate. 2 hours later, we’re finally in the air. on to atlanta, the busiest airport on the f-ing planet!!

too many people in the atl airport…too many. i swear ive never seen this much people in mia. not only are there a shiteload of people, I land in terminal T at 7:35, when im supposed to get to terminal E at the OPPOSITE end of the airport for my flight to london at 7:50. hell no, im not gonna make it. the boards informed me my flight had closed and departed so I go to the desk to be put on the next flight for 10. arrive at the gate at 9:15…and was informed I would be on standby! I didnt even think about that! if I didnt make the flight, i actually wouldnt have minded cuz my back was killing me and I could lie down for the night. 9:30 they call ‘MARIA jackson’ over the loud speaker[READ CAREFULLY BITCHES!!]. I go, and luckily get a seat. 9:50 rolls around, announcement comes on that the flight would be delayed 30 minutes. my default angry face kicks in and im sure I looked like the meanest person in the world at that point, cuz I wasnt laughing. 10:15 rolls around and we’re boarding. off to london at 10:45….late again. my flight pahtnah this time was a little old man. he looked like had 1 ½ feet in the grave but he was so little and cute. at first I thought he was black, but then I thought he was indian[I mean we ARE going to england]. my suspicion was confirmed when the flight attendant uttered ‘ready for your special meal, Mr. Patel?’ seriously, are there any other names besides patel?? there are like a billion people over there! come on! anyway, I didnt think he should be traveling alone, but hey, who am I to say. so…slept most of the way, woke up to ‘shall we dance,’ another crappy movie in which jennifer lopez still has the accent. kept going in and out, but overall slept well. I laughed when the captain said he hoped we would choose delta for future flights. laughed really hard at that comment. british airways or virgin next time for me, no matter how much I gotta pay.

1:38 am…im tired…later.

im about to leave for europa in...hmmmmm.....4 hours. i still have NO idea where the hell im staying, but my preceptor's gonna be meeting me at the train..ooooooo. to make matters worse, im gonna be walking with a shiteload of money..dear jesus, i hope i dont lose any. plus, did u hear camilla and prince charles are getting married?? apparently thats old news, but i just found out. im proud of that though because it shows that me NOT watching the news is paying off...i have no idea what's going on in the world.

annnnnyyyyyway, quick recap of last weekend: went to prive on south beach with karen and company, thought i wasnt gonna get in, but eventually did thanks to karen's patience[i woulda been like f- this], got told to get up off the couch by apparently one of a duo of skinny, weave-wearing oreo biatches, and OMG I SAW P. DIDDY!!! whatever. its so ironic how i completely detest this man when i see anything about him on tv, his arrogance turning me off everytime i see him, yet when appearing in real life, i had the nerve to say "omg, for real? he's here??" damn celebrities. aj from 106 & park was there too, celebrating his impending loss of bachelorhood by getting on the mic and annoucing it to the whole world. i wonder who the lucky woman is...not. it's free. hahahahaha ew. and i swear he's like 5'10"! but nobody beleives i and i man. but he's not THAT tall. but hey, most guys aren't tall to me. i told will that most guys are probably 5'10" but he swears the average height is his, which is 6'. i was like no way in hell are most men walking around 6'. not even 5'11"!

that's all for now. wish me luck. im not gonna understand a word theyre saying and theyre gonna hate me cuz im an 'american'. maybe i should put on a little patois accent. HA! i can barely keep up the accent for more than a sentence....anyway...holla!!

My lovely bro.. ain't he cute??

it's my first time.....blogging that is! HAHAHAHA! OK that's enough. it's 4:51 in the am and why am i up? Because, as i just discovered this weekend, i was born at 6:30 in the morning and now I always have to wake up early as hell. in addition, i have a crazy mother who also likes to wake up early so apparently this shit is hereditary. she's up right now! i just saw her in the kitchen! can't argue with genetics! but she's up for a different reason these days and let's just say i'm very proud of her and hope she does her best. [sidenote: i love my mommy]

anyway, this blog was created because i have a lot of free time on my hands today, but that will all change in a week when i move away FOREVER to the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland!!!! joking, im only gonna be gone for 3 months, but that's still a long time right? i'm scared i'm gonna be homesick, the weather's gonna suck, it's gonna be expensive, etc. but i'm SOOOOOO looking forward to it...get outta here, change my mindset a bit, because imma be honest with y'all, my mind is not a nice place. a short description: it's an incessantly pondering, always roving, overly concious entity. do u know what it means to be overly concious??? i wouldn't wish that state on osama bin laden. at least he has a focus. i have too many. it needs some spring cleaning and it needs a time out to chill. hopefully, when i come back, a few things will have changed and the peeps in my life will notice it too. hopefully i meet some wonderful people, meet a classmate i've never met before, have some fun, soak up another culture, visit yet another country while im there, etc.

right now, my stomach is grumbling and i've been eyeing those frosted flakes since yesterday. come back for more posts. I'll be talking about my journey abroad. also be prepared to hear some boring stuff related to my 'advanced clerkship experience' aka real work in hospitals and stuff.

love ya lots,
marie