Travel Update

I’ve been in the U.K. for two weeks and I barely feel like I’m starting to get used to it. I have a better idea of what my schedule will be like for the next month and a half. I wanted to visit other countries in Europe (like maybe Italy or France), but I’ve decided to see more of the U.K. The times I’ve been here before haven’t been enough to see all of London, much less other places. SOOOO I’m excited about exploring more of the U.K.
Initially, two months seemed like such a long time, but now I realize it’s not very long at all to do all I want to do. My goal academically is to complete 42,000 words towards my thesis. I have about 14,000 words so far. I’m alternating writing days with fun days. So far, it’s working. I’m also doing a lot of reading. I kind of want to read a book a day (in between everything else I’m doing), but that part is kind of impossible. I am managing to finish a book every few days.
Last Tuesday I went to see a performance of Macbeth at The Globe Theatre. I really liked what the director did with the space. I managed to sneak a few pictures of the stage (see London album) before a steward stopped me. Lots of people were taking pics so I thought it was okay. Oh well. The director put a black canopy where the groundlings stand (area right in front of the stage where people can stand and watch the performance… these tickets are cheaper and I think she cost like 2 pence during Shakespeare’s time) and the groundlings would poke their head through a hole in the canopy. But, there were holes with no heads and bloody bodies from hell and witches would poke through those and startle everyone. The best performance in my opinion was given by Lady Macbeth. She has a really powerful, clear voice. It was very easy to understand everything she said. She really made every scene she was in work. They also showed MacDuff’s children getting slayed. The kids must have been 5, 6 at most 7 years old and they died so well. One of the soldiers held up the dead little girl by the arms and she just hung there limply. Wow.
On Thursday I visited a house Charles Dickens lived in for a couple of years. I would so like to have a house like that! It was like four of five floors (one underground) with wood floors, and a back garden. I loved everything about it. Too bad I can’t have something like that built back home.
I have an internet friend from Israel that I have chatted with for years. I want to say almost 10years. Well I got to meet her in person on Thursday! I started chatting with her when she was 16 and now she’s 26 and all grown up! She’s getting her Masters here. I’m from Texas and she’s from Israel and we met for the first time in London. What are the odds!
I visited the British museum late in the afternoon and just as I was getting into the display on Mexico, they announce they are closing some galleries early. I’ve been there before, but I wanted to see the display with my new Chican@ eyes. I think I’ll go again in the next few weeks.
I finally found something I liked to eat today—beans on toast! It sounds super pobrecito, huh… but it’s delicious! :D
The U.K. is great but I still miss home. Can’t wait to see y’all again (oh my friend from Israel says the Texan y’all is elegant (I think that’s the word she used) because we invented a separate plural “you”.
Anyway… xoxo Myra