Potato Patato!

We decided to make potatoes in everyway possible! We bought a huge bag (thinking it would be more economical and cheaper)! We had so many that we didn't know what to do with them, so we cooked them, fried them, chopped them, diced them, french fried them, potato chipped them, etc.! We had fun though!

La Fiesta y Canterbury!

We had a fiesta on Friday night! Kelsey's mom made her hot sauce, so we were inspired to cook Mexican food since we hadn't had it in since January! So, Courtney and I made guacamole, the other girls made burritos and beans and rice and then for dessert, a couple other girls made homemade sopapillas that were BRILLIANT! We had so much fun decorating the kitchen and playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey! Sat. morning I got up at 5:30AM and we went to Canterbury as a whole group! It's about a 3 hour bus ride. We went to St. Augustine's Abbey and took fun pictures! Then we went shopping at H&M and then went to the Canterbury Cathedral! It was huge! We had a guided tour from this old, adorable man. He was all hunched over and kept saying things like, "This happened around...well I think it was 1174 maybe1173, I can't remember exactly, I'm older than I was last week!" and "I hope you all like what I'm telling you." This is where Thomas Becket was murdered(in the church)! Hundreds of people came there after his death on a pilgrimage, like in Canterbury Tales. We actually saw the inn where the pilgrims stayed while in Canterbury. It was a very fun day! We spent the 3 hours on the way home telling embarrasing stories and funny dreams we'd had. I think I won in both catergories! haha Well, next weekend we head to Paris!!!!

It's All Greek to Me

We flew into Athens at 8:30PM and took the metro to our hostel. We got up early the next morning and went to Acropolis. We hiked up the hill and saw the Parthenon! AMAZING! The view was spectacular! You could see all of the city and all of the surrounding places in Acropolis! The city was much bigger than I expected. Right next to the Parthenon was the Erectheon. Down the hill was Ancient Agora. It was just so amazing to be standing in such an ancient place! We shopped in alleyways and ate at a famous place called Crepes of the World! I got a Greek crepe and it was so good! It had ham and onions and tomatoes and some kind of Greek cheese. We went to the National Gardens of Athens and then as we were getting on the metro, we saw a protest going on in front of the Parliament but it was all in Greek so we didn't know what was going on.Then we took the metro to the sea. We thought it would take us to a beach, but when we got off the train, it was a port. There were HUGE ships docking. It was gorgeous though. We made it right in time for sunset. The next day, we went to Kerameikos which had part of the ancient wall of Athens and the old cemetery. Then, we went to the Temple of Zeus and Roman baths. Then we walked up the road to the original Olympic Stadium which was huge. We decided to walk up Mars Hill. This is where Paul preached in Acts. It was so neat to be standing where he stood and seeing what he saw. It was a gorgeous view from up there too. You could see the sea and Acropolis. Then we decided to try to find a better place to see the sea. So, we took the tram and climbed down rocks to touch the Mediterranean water! That was cool. The water was greenish blue and we could see the bottom. That night, we ate at a Greek restaurant and I got a lamb and a beef pita. They were delicious. We went to the Archeological Museum and the 2004 Olympic Stadium on our last day. We stopped by Syntagma square to see the carnival that was going on and then headed back to Oxford!

Snowy Day and London Town!

As I opened my eyes yesterday morning I saw snow coming down outside our window! It had snowed during the night and so I got up an hour earlier than usual and played in the snow before class! We had snowball fights and built snowmen! Then, after class, we took a group trip to London. Our coach driver gave us a tour of "The City"! It was so neat! We went over the Thames River on the London Bridge and saw The London Tower, and Shakespeare's Globe! Then, we got to see a Shakespearean play, "Antony and Cleopatra." Patrick Stewart was Marc Antony (he's on Star Trek and X-Men). It was neat to actually be in London and watch a Shakespearean play! We drove home and got home about 1. We slept in today and then I worked on my research paper and worked out some of the details for our trip to Athens, Greece next Wed!!! We are so excited!

WICKED LONDON!

Well...we hopped the train to London on Friday morning. Once we got there, we split into groups and went to different parts of town for a project for our class. We went to Brixton Market and ate at a Colombian restaurant. Then we went to our hostel and checked in. Our entire class met up at Parliament and had private tours of the entire thing! It was quite interesting. We got to see where Tony Blair and David Cameron debate during the Prime Minister's Questions. We also saw the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. That night we got to see WICKED and it was wicked awesome! It was by far the best musical I've ever been to. When we were leaving, we had to walk behind the building and we ran into the main stars as they were leaving. We got our pictures with them and got their autographs. We were so tired that once we got back to the hostel, we went straight to sleep. We got up this morning and walked to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. We did not realize how popular of an event it was. There were hundreds of people waiting and traffic was even stopped! We then made our way to Trafalgar Square. We saw the Texas Embassy and then got pictures of us "riding" the lion statues on the square. The National Gallery is right on the square so we stopped in for FREE and got to see Van Gogh, Monet, and Picasso's work. It was HUGE! On our way to the bus station, we stopped by Hard Rock Cafe and then walked by Hyde Park. We saved money by eating at a PRET! It is a restaurant that is very cheap and has pastries and sandwiches and they are only a couple pounds and they are great! We ate there twice while we were there! We then got on the bus and took a 2 hour ride back to Oxford! Now we are "waxed" as dad would say! (We are exhausted from all the walking!) We are going back next weekend for another class trip. I'd have to say that these are the best field trips I've ever taken with school! ha