I feel like I just returned from Narnia. Honest to goodness. Cambridge has already taken on that distant, almost hazy feel of a magical realm where I spent what felt like years, but came home to find out was only two short months. Now that I'm back in reality, I'm just waiting for the day that I'll be summoned back there. (Grad school?)
Not to worry, the parallels do not end there.
The Lion:
So Majestic.
The thing to notice here is the shirt, not the boy.
The Witch:
Neal says I remind him of Elphaba. Jordan says Jenessa reminds him of Glinda. So here we are, posing as such.
The Wardrobe:
I swear this happened.
Oh, and one more.
The Lamp-post:
Need I say more?
Well, yes I actually do need to say more. Namely, I need to address a few of the wonderful things I learned from Cambridge. Don't worry, I made a list on the plane. Shout out to Jenessa. (She makes lists).
1. I can write 13,000 words. Or 53 pages. Depending on how you look it.
2. I can function on 4 hours of sleep. Albeit not well, but I functioned just the same.
3. Take time to learn from others, because everybody has something to offer. Whether it's at dinner, in class, or on the train, ask questions. And if you need a jumping off point, there's always the ol' "tell me something I don't know about you."
4. Take time to stop, explore, ponder, and yearn. This is one of those links that I really want you to follow.
5. Count your blessings and remind yourself of them often. It went a little something like this: "Feeling stressed? Don't worry, you go to school in Cambridge, and you get to soak up the beauty of King's College everyday." I'll have to make some minor adjustments to the mantra, but the idea holds true.
6. Be happy! Keep friends, learn, explore, do- it makes life great.
7. Solidarity sister. Go find your people- they're out there.
8. Always seek after knowledge - do what it takes to learn and digest.
9. Let yourself be part of a community. One of my favorite things about Cambridge is the atmosphere of the college system and the unity it breeds. I don't typically let myself become immersed in my ward in Provo, but I think it would be wise to make an adjustment there. A sense of community is powerful.
10. Lift one another's burdens. This may be my favorite lesson from Cambridge. I had the privilege of witnessing a lot of wonderful people lifting each other up on a regular basis, and it was inspiring.
In short, the two months that I spend at Cambridge were arguably the best of my life. I learned, discovered, reveled, and loved, and I hope to high heaven I go back there some day.
But something tells me that the key to a happy life is not to live in the past, but to love where I am and look forward to the future, so here are some thoughts on that note.
Yesterday, I realized something. Provo is, on the whole, my least favorite place to be. Nevertheless, I'm not a victim of my circumstances here. I have chosen to stay here because I am receiving a first class education at BYU. The last two years felt a bit like I was trapped in Provo, but I think going to Cambridge showed me that I have the ability to go anywhere and do anything. If I wanted to leave Provo, I could, and that feels liberating. So now that I've made the decision to stay, it just comes down to finding ways to be happy here. Utah has plenty to give, I just have to go get it.
If you don't, I recommend you rethink that, and if ever there were a place that would change your mind, it would be the Harry Potter Studio Tours in London.
Do you ever listen to the soundtracks of movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, Chronicles of Narnia, and, most prominently, Harry Potter, and just let the music grab you. If you don't, I recommend you rethink that. Well the studio tours used the magic of music to their advantage. You walk in, and you are overwhelmed. I can't even really begin to describe the experience. Just know that I think we all came close to tears at one point or another. Also know that frozen butterbeer is much better than non-frozen butterbeer. Also know that chocolate frogs are like chocolate Santas, and by that I mean they are both delicious to the taste and delicious to the soul. And now just soak up these pictures:
Happy Christmas Harry! Happy Christmas Ron.
Reenactment of events that took place in Godric's Hollow, 1981.
We stopped at Baker Street on the way there. Monocles up!
Doors to the Great Hall.
The soundtrack was powerful in this room.
Number 4, Privet Drive.
I'm not sure if this was one of things where you didn't want to see 5,000 pictures, but this was definitely one of those things where I couldn't NOT show you 5,000 pictures.
Also referred to as the Olympics... in some cultures.
August 6, 2012
Men's Volleyball
USA v. Tunisia
8:00 pm
If I were to tell you that my friendship with Jenessa was predicated entirely on the fact that her cousin is an assistant coach for the USA Men's Volleyball team and I had a sneaking suspicion that he would be able to get us three tickets to the Olympics, it would be a dirty lie. But it wouldn't be entirely implausible, because how cool is that?
But seriously, big thanks to Jenessa and her cousin Chris for providing the experience of a lifetime for the trifecta.
Did I get ripped off by the Indian family selling flags
in the market? Maybe, but mine has character.
We won!
Scratch that, he won. Because he's an Olympian. And that's his mom,
whom we had the pleasure of sitting near. Matt Anderson, it was a real pleasure
Before I sign off on this post, I'd like to refer you to Devon's blog for a nice post on the spirit of the Olypmics, and I'd also like to tell you about the security at the games.
In a word, jovial. In another word, lighthearted. I could go on, but I'll save my energy. What? It doesn't take energy for you come up with synonyms for jovial and lighthearted?
Really though, these people were great. Cracking jokes left and right (or left and wight, if you're Jenessa), smiles on their faces, so warm, so welcoming. It was a beautiful thing.
When: 2 AM. Nightly.
Where: 204 Market Hostel, Cambridgeshire, UK
Why: 13,000 words. Looming.
What: Personal Struggle Montage circa 2004. (What even happened in 2004?)
feat. Green Day
You're Invited!
But Sirius Black, school is hard. I guess that's why I came though right?
Fortunately, I do other things that are worthy of film credits. Such as? Such as:
Eat at The Green Man pub in Grantchester with these two lovely ladies.
Me, Giselle, Jenessa.
I like to match my friends.
You want to talk about perfect evenings? We'll talk about it. It's about a two mile walk from Cambridge to Grantchester, half of which puts you in beautiful meadows inhabited by cows and elderly couples. (Jenessa covets the lives of those elderly couples). Not to mention...
The Cam really is beautiful, and I hear it's great for swimming.
Well anyway, as we're walking through the meadows, a very eccentric woman on a bike stops and offers to take a picture of all three of us. We chatted and she told us about this eccentric pub called the Blue Ball. Well, we had our hearts set on eating at The Green Man, but we decided to check out the Blue Ball afterwards. Fast forward a couple of hours - we're done eating and heading for the Blue Ball, when we run in to a middle aged couple who take up conversation with us.
"Where are you heading?"
"The Blue Ball."
"...Why on earth would you want to go there?" In your heard, please insert a British accent.
Were we deterred though? Not one ounce.
And thank the high heavens we went because what was waiting for us but this beauty, serving up a heaping platter of musical prowess.
Meet Matt Woosey.
I mean this pub is tiny. I don't know where you live, but I'd bet my bottom dollar this pub is smaller than your living room. And all of these people are friends. Very much reminiscent of Stars Hollow. So we're just sitting there, I'm sipping on my Black Currant Lemonade (wait... you said vodka and lemonade right? No, no I didn't. Crisis averted), and this guy just sets up shop three feet in front of us and plays a set. I fell madly in love, and we bought his cd.
Last week I went to London, this weekend I went to Barcelona. So what did I do in the interim you ask?
I studied. Up the wazoo. Out the wazoo? According to this guy it doesn't make a difference; they're both terrible.
But seriously, it was the final week of Spooks and Spies which meant final paper, final exam, final readings, final eye-popping stress, etc. But it's over! It was actually a very interesting class. In fact I'm surprised by how much I was able to learn in just four weeks. Also, you should know that Jenessa and I are killer study partners. The exam will require us to choose two out of sixteen possible essay questions you say? Alright, we'll study the Cuban Missile Crisis and intelligence ethics. What's that? Those are both on the exam? Oh alright, we'll just kick that exam's trash. That was satisfying. Don't be fooled though. I knew the facts, but my essay construction was mildly terrible, so we'll see what happens.
Anyway, we had a long weekend between modules, so six of us decided to take off to Barcelona.
Travelers: Brooke, Chauntel, Giselle, Jenessa, Kelsey.
Here's a rough outline of what we did:
Friday, July 27
Fly Ryanair
I don't know any other way to describe this experience than to share this video:
Arrive in Barcy, taxi to hostel.
This hostel was awesome. So fun, so friendly, so helpful. If you're ever in Barcelona, stay at the Garden House Hostel.
Seafood paella.
Some of the Ryanair ads told me that people go to Spain for the paella and stay for everything else. But they key there is that paella is good. So when we arrived at the hostel and they had some ready and waiting we all pitched in a euro and split a bowl.
One word: creatures. Second word: legs.
Next word: delicious.
Shleep
Sara... Shelley... I hope we're all reliving the same moment right now.
Saturday, July 28
Boy, this day was a blur. All I seem to remember is the heat. Hot, hot, heat.
But seriously, I remember things. Most importantly, it was Kelsey's birthday. Holla! The day began with birthday breakfast donuts. And birthday breakfast cough drops, because Kelsey and Brooke were sick.
La Rambla
Cool street.
Market
Great fruit juice.
Some scenic square that may or may not have been significant.
Decent lunch
Gelato
Mango and Stracciatella. Delicious.
Park
Relaxing break from the sun. For the beauty of the earth.
Child's birthday party. On a scale of one to fun, how much fun is it to watch foreign children at play in their native environment? So fun.
Arc de triomf
Photo op
Pier
Beauty all around. There were all kinds of vendors and musical acts and pirate ships and things like that. I'm just kidding, there was only one pirate ship. There was a cruise a ship though.
More ice cream. This time it was Ben and Jerry's phish food, and I got it in a waffle cone. Yum.
THIS:
SO FUN
Sunday, July 29
Mercy mild this was a good day. Phillipe, one of the guys working at our hostel, recommended that we make the trek out to Ocata beach. Phillipe really came through for us.
We started out with some fruit from a little place right by our hostel. Jenessa and I had some sirius black good apples.
We ate a generally unsatisfactory lunch at a place on the beach, but that's ok, because we got ice cream... and we were at the beach.
Remember those perfect moments? Here's a few more.
Chats/ walks on the beach with dear friends: priceless.
Chicken dinner at a different place on the beach. So delicious. Finally.
Tomato bread. Yum.
Don't worry, we got ice cream again.
When we were leaving the beach we had to walk through this tunnel to cross the street. As we were walking through I noticed the acoustics in there were killer. Kelsey had her ukelele, so we all sang some hymns in the tunnel. It was a beautiful thing.
Bonding on trains/metros/busses/planes. This applies to all days. Public transportation makes the heart grow fonder.
High fives with Jenessa.
Light fist bumps with Kelsey.
Ok, here's a good one. We got back to the hostel and desperately wanted some chips and salsa. Especially since vegetarian Giselle did not have a satisfying food day. So Giselle, Jenessa, and I went out in search of the goods. It was about a fifteen minute walk to the market. On the way back, as we were winding through the neighborhood, I realized I had no idea where I was, so I asked Jenessa, who was the world's best navigator on the trip. She had thrown away the map like two minutes prior. It was a hoot. We just had to walk a relatively circuitous route back to the hostel, but that was fun. So.
Ok, here's another good one. We were all splitting shampoo/ conditioner/ shower gel/ etc., so Jenessa and I had this really great system of throwing the stuff back and forth. (There were several shower stalls). That night though, Jenessa threw the shower gel to Giselle on the other side, unaware that there was an open window over there. It went sailing right on through. I can only hope that shower gel is still out there somewhere. It's kind of like we left our mark on Barcelona.
After showers we ate the chips and salsa and Kelsey gave everybody love fortunes. It's this great talent she has. You should get to know her and ask her about it some time.
That night Giselle prayed for us in Spanish. She's amazing. It was beautiful.
Monday, July 30
In the interest of time, this day basically consisted of shopping and travelling. It was relatively stressful, but here's a few great things that happened:
In 6th grade, we went on a field trip to Point Bonita, where they taught us to eat the entire apple, top down. To this day, a lot of us still eat our apples like that. On this particular morning Jenessa gave it a shot. I'm pretty sure she loved it.
We ate lunch at another mediocre place. I got a hamburger, which I ordered with solely lettuce, tomato, and meat. It came smothered in mayonnaise. I wasn't going to say anything, but Giselle came through for me big time. That was a nice thing.
Bonding on the plane. Unfortunately, Kelsey and Brooke weren't able to sit near us, since Ryanair is the the spawn of satan (too much?), and made them check their bags, which took awhile. So Giselle, Jenessa, Chauntel, and I sat in the back of the plane. We bonded big time. We all some extra euros to spare, so picture this:
Ryanair flight attendants: "Anything from the trolley dears?"
"We'll take the lot!"
It happened almost exactly like that. We bought so much chocolate, soda, and vegetable chips. Chauntel bought these starbursts that came with humorous tasks printed on the wrappers. She got one the told her to do five press-ups (that's British for push-ups) in the aisle, so she did. It was great.
Alright, I swear I'm coming to the end.
OVERALL
Barcelona is beautiful, but I think England is more my style. It may just be a little too laid back for my taste. The people are very friendly though. And we didn't get pick-pocketed, so that's a nice thing.
Last night I was reading in Mosiah 18, and when I came across verse 8, it was one of those "aha" moments. Spending the weekend with these five wonderful people very much strengthened my testimony of "bear[ing] one another's burdens, that they may be light." The entire weekend was built on lifting up, supporting, comforting, validating, edifying, encouraging, and bearing one another's burdens. Watching my friends lighten loads and lighten lives was such a blessing. They are wonderful. You should get to know them.
Until next time.
P.S. In an effort to minimize losses in case of robbery, I did not bring my camera. Pictures to come later after I retrieve them from others.
You know how a lot of times I start out a post by apologizing for falling behind on blogging? It's kind of like, with each passing day that I don't post about something that happened, I feel this looming presence ticking off the days that I continue to drop the ball. Well, I found the source of my discomfort.
FACEBOOK. It's like living in a perpetual pressure cooker.
So here's what happened to me eleven days ago. Actually it was ten days ago. On Saturday July 21, I went to London for one of the official day trips put on by the program. I spent the day with Kelsey, Jenessa, and Taylor. We just hoofed it all over town and checked some sights off the list. What list? This list:
British Museum
Trafalgar Square
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey
Parliament/ Big Ben
Globe Theater: Richard III
Misery. All alone in the moonlight.
Walking all day + groundling/ peasant tickets (meaning two hours of standing) + my general indifference to Shakespeare => exiting the theater at intermission. I feel like I got as much of the experience as I needed to.
Perfect Moments
Do you ever have those perfect moments? When you are just at peace with everything and everybody and if time froze right then you'd be perfectly content? Well that happens pretty often around here, and I think two of them in particular are worth mentioning.
Oh by the way, Jimi Hendrix used to shop here.
1) I grew up playing the piano and the trumpet, so band was a big part of my life for awhile. Concert band, marching band, jazz band, you name it. Some of my dearest friends were in band as well, and we all had about as much fun as any middle/ high school age kids can have. Hayley played the saxophone (several varieties), and Kelsey played percussion. And as much as I loved my trumpet, I was always a little jealous of Kelsey, and I have always entertained fantasies of being a drummer in a band. So when I was walking through London last Saturday and I passed by this great little music shop, I thought - how cool would it be to get a pair of drumsticks in London and finally pursue my dream of becoming a drummer? So I did. Hats off to Kelsey (trifecta Kelsey, not band Kelsey), for the encouragement. Since then I've been playing a little bit in one of the music practice rooms at King's College. It's bliss.
2) After I got my souvenir, we went in to this little book shop where Kelsey found a hymnal from 1927. It had some really great stuff in it, so she bought it. Later, while at Green Park by Buckingham Palace, the four of us sat for awhile and read some of the verses from the hymnal. It was a nice time. You can read her blog if you want to taste some of those words.
And if case you're feeling picture starved, here's a few to tide you over.
Thizzin with Easter Island.
Channeling the gift of tongues with the Rosetta Stone.
That guy.
I was greeted by this sight after I left the Globe at intermission. Obvs it was the right choice.
I'm kind of kidding, it's not that great. But life is great. And every now and then we get some sunshine, and that's great.
So why is life so great? Because I get to do things like (1) go to the botanical gardens, (2) go on night runs, (3) have FHE in King's College Chapel, and (4) hold conspiracy theory parties.
From the beginning then.
(1) Yesterday (who here is impressed I didn't wait an entire week to write this?), Devon, Jenessa, and I went to the botanical gardens. It was sufficiently beautiful. Although there were a few too many dead roses. Fortunately, we had a noteworthy encounter with an Asian couple, that I cannot wait to tell you about.
As we were walking through the garden, we saw this Asian couple. Let's assume they were married to make the story easier to tell. So the husband is taking a picture of the wife, and Jenessa, being the humanitarian that she is, offers to take one of both of them. They readily accept, she takes the picture, everything is fine. Next, the wife seems to indicate she wants to take one for us. She sort of gestures at Jenessa, and pulls her over to a perfect backdrop. Only, before Devon and I get in the picture, we realize this lady is posing with Jenessa, and the husband starts snapping pics. Ok, that's weird. Will they take one of all three of us now? Nope, I'm next. Apparently the deal is "one by one, then all three." Devon takes her turn. Ok, finally, all three of us. But wait, why won't they take our camera? Wait, why is the wife in the picture with us? Why are we being photographed by this guy? I dunno, but it was a whole lotta fun.
Our new friends. So glad I captured this moment.
Had to navigate through that flora to get to that seat.
Jenessa, Devon, Me
We blend in.
(2) Night run 3.0!
I cannot express to you how much I'm mclovin these night runs. First, let's talk about the fact that I can officially run miles. That is to say, I'm no longer limited to 100 meters... That's a great feeling. Second, I'm so thrilled by the company of our little running group. Third, I'd like to share with you a little miracle:
As we're coming up on the 3.5 mile mark, Jenessa accidentally drops her key card, and proceeds to kick it... to an unknown location... Fortunately, she noticed right away, but the thing about night runs is that you don't always have the best lighting for finding key cards. The worst part was that we were running next to a little creek, so there was definitely a concern that the card could have fallen in. We spread out and did a sweep of the area, but no dice. After a few minutes, Kelsey suggested we say a prayer, so we did. Did we find it? No. But I'll tell you what did happen.
This car pulls up, and out comes this wonderful girl who saw us looking and thought she might be able to lend us a hand. Mind you, this was literally within the first minute of the conclusion of our prayer. And what does she do but spot it right off! "Oh, is this it?" she says. What a gem of a person. I mean, it's about 11:00 PM, so there are not a ton of cars driving by. Add to that the probability that any given car would pull over to help us, and it makes the whole thing even more miraculous. And she just finds it! What an absolute blessing. We also had the privilege to talk with her for a few minutes. She even taught us some Tai Chi. I hope to high heaven we get to see her again. She was great.
I have been fortunate enough to feel the very real power of prayer many times in my life. And what a blessing it is! To be able to have a direct line of communication with my Father in Heaven strikes me as one of the most incredible tender mercies available to me. Through prayer I have had the opportunity to develop a very real relationship with Him, and to gain an understanding of Heavenly Father's plan for me and His awareness of me. Whether it's helping me find something that I've lost, helping me with my homework, or giving me strength through a trial, Heavenly Father has always been there for me. I am so grateful for this privilege and blessing.
(3) FHE at King's College Chapel
As a reminder, this is what the chapel looks like:
I took this off the Internet... can you tell?
Ditto.
Also, this is where Evensong takes place, featuring the world renowned King's College Choir. So take a minute to digest what the acoustics must be like in this place. Yes, it's as good as you are imagining it to be. Now picture this.... hymns, in the chapel. Several beautiful hymns. It is a powerful thing to hear voices lifted in song, sharing their mutual testimonies of Christ and His Gospel. Next, picture this... a testimony meeting, in the chapel. And make sure you are picturing a testimony meeting with 45 of the best people you have ever met, who each have a unique contribution to make to the spirit of the meeting. To be clear, not everybody was able to stand and bear their testimony, but the power of the Spirit emanating from each individual in that Chapel was powerful, and it was beautiful.
So you may be asking yourselves how we were able to hold our Family Home Evening in a Church of England Chapel. Dr. Kerry (our program director), said it best. It all comes down to love. We were blessed to be able to share our testimonies in a beautiful place of worship because the Chaplain chose to go out of his way to extend an offering of love and fellowship. And for that I am very grateful.
(4) The natural course of action after this spiritual experience was to go back to Market Hostel to discuss conspiracy theories. We managed to draw a substantial crowd under the guise of root beer floats. But apparently England isn't on that bandwagon. They don't sell root beer (what?). Yeah, that's a weird thing. So we had Dr. Pepper, Coke, and Fanta floats. The Fanta was un. believable. It tasted like a dreamsicle. Or a creamsicle, depending on how you want to look at it.
Anyway the crowd petered out relatively quickly, which left a few of us to dig in to those conspiracy theories. The consensus (used in its loosest form), is that Tupac isn't dead, there were no airplanes on 9/11, just missiles, the government ran a mind-control program in the 1960's called mk-ultra, and there were no missiles during the cuban missile crisis. The hook: they used the missing cuban missiles during 9/11, and managed to brainwash the entire city of New York (in an effort to make them believe they saw airplanes) using mk-ultra. And Tupac is hanging out in Cuba. So.
That's all for tonight. Catch ya on the flip-side.
