Nothing better

I just finished my first paper of the semester and it feels GREAT to have it done! It is for my course called London as a Visual Text and examines the Thames River through the lens of engineering. Trust me, it's moreexciting than it sounds.

Earlier today, I had the same course that I just finished the paper for. Usually, it entails studying the history of London by walking around and actually seeing all of the important places. This may sound like a class in british tourism; however, if you think this, you have clearly never met our professor Sarah Chochrane. She is the most adorable British woman who is not much taller than me. But, when she breaks into her "brisk walking" the rest of the class is either in a dead sprint or half a block behind. Oh, and she knows just about EVERYTHING. We spent the morning and early afternoon in Westminster Abbey. It is impossible to describe how beautifully ornate it is. I also love the perks of being in a student group lead by a headstrong British woman. We were able to stand inches away from Edward the Confessor's tomb. He is the one who is responsible for establishing the original Westminster but the space is always closed off to the general public. While much of the Abbey is made up of the large nave, the individual chapels are small and because of the presence of a large tomb, we wove in and out of them like little burrowing insects. Now, this was all well and good until we came to the Chapter House. The sign read that the Chapter house is to houses what the rose is to flowers. While circiling around some shrine my button that indicated my ability to be in the abby popped of and, of course, rolled into the center of the floor surrounded by a velvet rope. No one important seemed to noticed so I wasn't faced with any permanent reprocussions but I am without the free souvenir.

NOW, I must talk about last night's performance. We went to see the production War Horse at the National Theatre. It was INCREDIBLE. The play tells the story of a boy, Albert and his horse Joey in the context of WWI. They are separated when Albert's father sells the horse to the British cavalry but Albert ends up enlisting with the hopes of finding him. The story is extremely powerful but it is only part of the experience. The horses in the story are elaborate, life-size puppets constructed out of wood. They are made of intricate wooden frames that are lined on the inside with brown or grey fabric. Controlled by three people, the puppets act and move just like real horses and, at times, actors actually ride on them. We were all blown away. I only wish more people could see it. Luckily we were among the few to get tickets to it because every performance is sold out and people are actually queuing at 6:00 a.m. to purchase the tickets set aside to be sold on the day of the performance! Amazing.