october 23│day 22

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! to the coolest girl in England!


So, today I get to tell you how lucky I am to be traveling through Europe with Heather! I could go on and on about how Godly, funny, witty, wise, brilliant, and just darn cute she is, but I'm sure ya'll already know that. What you don't get a firsthand look at is the way Heath seeks the Lord and trusts Him during challenging times over here. Whether it's figuring out a way to call home when we arrived (and our phones decided not to charge and our calling cards only worked from the US), or regarding the safest, most efficient ways to travel, Heather continually prays for wisdom and discernment. It is amazing to see how the Lord meets us in the simplest ways. She embodies what it looks like to live at the throne of grace and I am so provoked by her example.

Not only is she a little nugget of wisdom, but she is also the BEST person to sit next to in class and I'm always peeking over to see what she's writing. And she can do the most amazing things with just chicken, some olive oil, and a few spices.

So happy birthday, dear Heath Bar. Thanks for tango-ing with me, doing laundry with me, teaching me the ways of the camera, and suffering through MORE thin-crust, cheese-less pizza...

PS: Stay tuned for a massive post on ROMA!!

october 13│day 12

Cambridge: Where Essex students vacation

On Sunday, the study abroad office here at Essex wanted to remind us of our own insignificance, so they scheduled a free trip to Cambridge University. Between the architecture and the history of the university, it has to be one of the most breathtaking places on earth.

We helped celebrate Cambridge's 800th anniversary by stopping for tea at Auntie's Tea Room. (For all you doing the math, yes this town was funded in 1209. Crazy!) We were a cliche group... all the European students ordered hot Apple Pie, but Heath and I ordered Choux Buns. Delish.

Nieves, Melissa, and Alexandra

Me and Heather outside Corpus Christi College... One of the many colleges that comprise the university.

King's Church... built by Henry the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth over a span of 90 years. It was absolutely incredible. Heather is marrying Prince William there next spring.

The ceiling was designed to carry the music throughout the building. We attended the evening service and hearing the choir boys sing was absolutely incredible. These windows are some of the most famous in all of Europe (at least according to our tour guide... but after seeing them I believed her.) The upper panels show stories from the old testament and the lower from the new testament. The OT stories are fulfilled in the NT story below. For example, Jonah leaving the whale after three days sits above the Resurrection.

The Crucifixtion

Heather inducting herself as a true Cambridge student... check out the sign.

october 11│day 10

How to fall in love with London... 
1. Read everything you can about England and her history, from Shakespeare to King Henry VIII and all his poor wives to Lord Cromwell.  Everything.  Read all you can.  This takes about 20 years and it helps if your mom is a history buff. Thankfully, both of ours are. In unison, "Thanks, Mom!"

2. Drag other helpless individuals into your venture. However you chose to get to London, make sure you bring some friends. Of course, it really doesn't get much better than Teresa, Bethany, and Rach.  

Trying to get into the phone booth...

3. Let Rachel plan the trip.  She adds perks like rooftop views of the city.  We're talking a Mary Poppin's kind of moment.

4. Visit Buckingham Palace. Realize that all your life, you've been looking for one thing and you just found it.  No, not the man of your dreams... the house of your dreams. Readjust your life goals to include marrying into British royalty. 

St. James Park next to Buckingham... Great view of my future home.

5. Take a bus tour and change Rachel's headset to Japanese. :)

6. Get off at Big Ben.  Take a peek at Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and listen to the "chimes Big of Ben."  Try to go to the bathroom and realize it costs money.  Hold it the rest of the afternoon.

Ben

Bethany and Ben

Westminister Abbey

Parliament

7. Take advantage of the free river cruise that comes with your bus tour.  Get a great view of the London Eye, WW2 battleships, and the Tower Bridge. Use the complimentary bathroom. 

COFFEE!!

London Eye

WW2 Memorial... forgot the name...

Tower Bridge

8. Bring tissue.  I started crying as soon as I walked into the Tower of London.  Be sure to walk in the Garden where Lady Jane Grey spent her captivity, look at the staircase where the two boy princes were buried, see Edward the Confessor's private rooms, look at the crown jewels and reaffirm that princes are now the only eligible bachelors in existence. 

9. Watch your camera die and a part of your soul dies too. 

10. Go get crepes with your friends and then catch the train back to Colchester in the glow of your new found love, London.

october 7│day 6

Well, if we thought carrying our luggage through London was hard, try going a couple days without internet or cell phone.  I keep expecting my phone to buzz and Teresa keeps hearing hers...  But overall, it's not so bad. We've settled into our flats, stocked up on groceries, and are almost ready for classes to start.  Plus, we've learned some pretty sweet British lingo, but it took us a few tries... so bear with us.  We're practicing.

butty means sandwich, not a cutesie word for your behind.  So when we grabbed sandwiches with the other international students and Ian told Teresa, "Nice butty there." She said, "Thanks, I workout." FAIL. 

chew means dinner (a nice meal of real food... not tesco brand noodle cups), not a giant, nasty wad of chewing tobacco... So when two boys asked us out for a chew, and I said, "I don't really do tobacco.  Thanks though." FAIL.

knocked up means awakened by a knocking or pounding at the door, not, well you know... So when a student told us, "I got knocked up by the cleaning lady this morning," it took Teresa  a minute. It took me about two days of avoiding of the cleaning "lady" at all costs. FAIL.

Well, not all of those little scenarios actually happened, but we will let you guess which are true and which are not... Anyways, you learned three great very british words. Pat yourself on the back.

Today, we went on a walking tour to Wivenhoe Village, a little town by Essex Uni with some of our flat mates...

Tazkia and Teresa walking through the rain.

a pretty church... there are so many old churches here, everywhere we go, we find them.

Adriana and me

So, they named a road after me... very classy place.  Note the cigarette butts on the ground.

Adriana, Pauline, Tazkia, and Teresa at river in Wivenhoe Village.

Riding home on a double decker bus. Rain, walking, double deckers... welcome to England!