arielarena

I think I'm going to save my stories from Family Vacation™ for multiple photo-posts. That way you can SEE what the hell I'm on about instead of just reading it...

Yesterday I arrived in London and promptly made my way to Cambridge where I met up with Aurore. Aurore and I became friends through Fallen, whom I met at the Scuola Leonardo in Milan. I met her when she visited Fallen (they were friends from Australia and have known each other for ages) and we got along famously. Aurore briefly stayed on my floor before heading to London to get a job. She currently lives outside of Cambridge with a family friend and seems to be having a wonderful time.

On the train to Cambridge I met a wonderful girl whom I believe is named Lara. We found that we had Italy in common--she had lived there at one time and while we both enjoyed the country we could not stay there forever. As she put it, the disorganization would drive her insane. That and the misogyny. She's from Ireland but also lived in England so her accent was kind of a mix of these three countries (Italy, Ireland and England). We talked about almost everything during the train ride, sadly cut off when a man sat next to her and we both had a mutual understanding that it would be rude to speak over him. She had lived in Cambridge when studying and was heading back to visit a friend. It was sort of like a homecoming to her. I hope to she emails me. I put her address in my bag somewhere but I'm not quite sure where right now...Anyway, one thing I'm really enjoying about traveling is meeting so many different people and getting potential pen pals and connections.

Lovely person that she is, Aurore met me at Cambridge so I wouldn't have to guess how to get to her place and most likely get horribly lost. We were going to hit up a pub for dinner but Helen, her roomie, put on some food instead and we went out to pick up some more alcohol. Helen has done everything. This woman has led an extremely interesting and entertaining life and is still exploring different things to do. I love it! She told us stories from her days working in film and that time she dated some famous guy's body double, the hiijinks they got into on set (also gossip--totally called the bj thing, by the way), explained very generally astrology to me and the Hindu calendar. Seriously, she, Matt (her friend), Aurore and I chatted for hours. When Matt left we put "Galaxy Quest" in because Aurore had not seen it. Love that movie. Helen headed up to bed and Aurore and I kept chatting for a bit, opting to sleep in late the next day and see how the flow took us.

Today we headed out to Cambridge and generally explored. She showed me the canal, the punters, a man singing in a rubbish bin (I have some video and photos) and introduced me to the brilliant creation that is the cookie-cupcake. I had never actually seen one but had heard of them. Pretty much the best thing ever. We walked through a fair that Cambridge has every year mostly to help parents keep their kids occupied during the summer. Wanna know what we saw there??? THE TARDIS! And Daleks!! And an Ood. K9 was there, too! MANY photos were taken.

We went through this tent thing and saw a woman selling cupcakes. She mentioned having issues with designing her site so I told her I knew how to do web design and she asked for my email. I have her card so Aurore and I can send her photos we took of her cupcakes, as well. Very nice woman. Apparently the US has much more in terms of cake decoration and for much less money than England. She and I fangirled over the blog Cupcakes Take The Cake and I told her about one of my favorite blogs, Bakerella. I do believe I've made a new friend.

I headed to London in the early evening and Kevin, the cousin I'm staying with, is awesome and picked me up at a tube station. I have since met his girlfriend, Jo, who is very nice and sweet, and gone to dinner. Now I'm enjoying some wifi.

Tomorrow I will hopefully meet up with klothehobbit and nibbes! OMG EXCITEMENT! And then I get to hang with melisus in Toronto? SO COOL! I love our SBMB community.

I'm trying so hard to hold off on watching Doctor Who but it isn't working. Screw it. It may be 3 AM but I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow so I'm gonna sleep in anyway. *goes off to watch*

ETA: OH NO THEY DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLYSHITMOTHERFUCK! IT NEEDS TO BE NEXT WEEK NOW!!

( ETA2:SPOILERS )

It's odd to watch "Secret Diary of a Callgirl" and then see Billie as Rose in "Doctor Who". She looks WAY better in Callgirl.

( Possible Spoilers for Silence in the Library. What am I saying? Definite spoilers for Silence in the Library )

Went to NJ to see Amanda yesterday. We went to see Miss Gay NJ 2008 and the person we were rooting for ended up winning! YAY! He totally worked the dress during the evening gown section and was the most original when it came to talents. It was a LONG show but entertaining. The theatre was gorgeous. Sadly, I don't think they had the staff who work at the theatre regularly there because whomever was on lighting really didn't understand that there's a reason there are lights pointing at the stage. When people moved towards the audience on the stage, they stepped into shadows. They really needed spotlights on and better sound equipment. Maybe next year. But those are my pet peeves after doing high school theatre.

It was very nice to hang out with Amanda. We went to a very nice Italian place for dinner before the show and then her mom's friend drove us around Asbury Park and told us about how it used to be and what significant buildings were. He also took us into a really cute town that had these beautiful Victorian houses. I really should have brought my camera along. :-( Anyway, next time you should come to me. We'll do South Street and maybe even go into Amish country?

Starting Italian tomorrow. So my schedule as of now is class from 10:40 AM to 12:15 PM at UPenn Monday through Thursday, Italian 6:00 PM to 8:15 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays and work at the cricket club Tuesdays and Thursdays and one day a weekend from about 5 PM to 9/9:30 PM. Here's hoping it isn't too much.

( Spoilers OMG! )

The parents are away until Wednesday and I've got the house to m'self. It's nice but kinda creepy at night. Not too bad, though. I'm just chillin'. Day off tomorrow, which will be nice. Monday will be evil since I have to get up early to go get something for the brochure I need to design but have been putting off designing because I'm not feeling like doing stuff the requires any brain power these days. Of course, I'll get it done. Hopefully before the fifth, which is the tentative due date. Fun.