I'm Shakespearienced Out

Anne Hathaway's cottage
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After I last wrote, the most exciting thing that happened was going to Casablanca on Thursday night for Liz's birthday. I had a REALLY good time dancing this time around at Casablanca--mainly because I had someone to dance with (Ryan), and because the music was better and the company I was keeping was FAR better.

On Friday, I had class 11-1, and then I went to Celias for awhile for lunch, etc. That night, Ryan, Urvi, Rich, and I watched Army of Darkness (Evil Dead 3) together. Such a cult classic. After that, Ryan stayed behind and we just talked for awhile and hung out and then ended up watching Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. This was my third time watching it while here. I LOVE that movie! :) However, staying up until 3:30am was not a good idea because the next morning, the international students were going to Stratford-upon-Avon.

It was in the middle of the countryside with a thatched roof and a charming garden

Shakespeare's Birthplace
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That Saturday, I got up at 6:30am and rode the bus to campus. Since Chris and I were so early to meet the coach, we ended up walking around campus for a bit. Once we were on the bus, I pretty much just passed out for the entire ride. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to Stratford. And, of course, my Ipod died 15 minutes into the bus ride. Once we got there, however, things got much better. The bus drove us to Anne Hathaway's cottage on the outskirts of Stratford. It was SO beautiful. It was in the middle of the countryside with a thatched roof and a charming garden. To me, this was one of the best parts of the trip. The tour inside of the cottage was great too. We found out that the floor was original, and it was known for certain that Shakespeare himself had walked on that floor. WOW! So cool. All the furniture was original Hathaway furniture dating to all periods of time. It was really fantastic.

The church where the Shakespeare family is buried
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After the tour of the cottage, Liz, Chris, and I walked around the garden and the art exhibit for awhile, then got back on the bus. We arrived back in Stratford-upon-Avon for our walking tour. The walking tour was really really informative, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Amongst other things, we saw Shakespeare's birthplace, his grandaughter's husband's house, and the church where the entire Shakespeare family (including William himself) were buried. After the tour finished (an hour later than it was supposed to), Chris and I went to get food at a local fish and chips shop down the road. The fish and chips were DISGUSTING. I was disappointed, to say the least. After eating, we decided to walk back to Shakespeare's birthplace and actually go in. We stopped in a souvenir shop and ran into Jen, Ramsie, and Lauren, and we found out that they were going to go get "nattered" before getting back on the bus. Chris and I ended up not doing Shakespeare's birthplace because it would have cost us 12 dollars, so we met up with Jen, Ramsie, and Lauren at a local coffee and cake place. We talked for awhile about our plans for the break, and then Chris and I left to find Chris some postcards, which I'm not sure we ever did find. The elusive postcard.

Shakespeare's grave
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We spent the rest of the day walking around and taking pictures in the park near the river. We got so lucky with the gorgeous weather. It was chilly in the shade, but perfect in the sun, and we had sun all day long. I have to say that I enjoyed Stratford-upon-Avon much more than I did the trip to London. The bus ride back to Brighton was thoroughly uneventful, and so was the rest of my night.

The next day was the superbowl!! Bears vs. Colts. All the international students were planning on going to the party being thrown by Victory Bar down by the seafront. Before we left, however, the Americans (Carl and I, mainly) taught the British kids how to play the drinking game Kings. It ended up being the best part of the night. We played two rounds of Kings, and it got really heated, but it was really really fun. After that, Carl, Ryan, Chris, Rich and I headed to the Victory Bar for the superbowl. It was pretty fun...until the Bears started losing and I started feeling sick. I ended up staying up until 6:30am for no reason seeing as the game ended at 3am.

the quintessential tourist photo in England
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Monday I didn't go to class because I was sick and had gotten no sleep the night before. I didn't really do anything on Monday worth noting. Tuesday, I went to campus but didn't go to all my classes because I was feeling feverish. Essentially, I was coming down with the flu that I currently have. Wednesday I had no classes, so I stayed in my room all day trying to recover from being sick. I just watched 24 episodes and tried to work on some class work. Yesterday, I had class 11-1, and later in the evening, I went to Celias for dinner. Ray has started joking around that I have to pay him for all these meals--however, what he doesn't know is that I'm making him pay for my AWESOME company. :-P. After hanging out at Celias, I came back and Juliet and I went to our fave Chinese place down the road and got some food. We had a nice talk and ate deliciously bad food, and it started to make me feel a little bit better about things, in general. When we got back, Juliet, Dean, and I hung in my room for a bit, and then I went to take a shower and ended up falling asleep early.

me and the boys (left to right: Chris, me, Ryan) at Liz's birthday outing at Casablanca
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Today I had class again from 11-1, and afterwards, I went to straight to Celias because I was coming with her to pick up Davina from my cousin Karen's house. I haven't seen Karen since I was eight years old or younger, and I had written a letter for her, and I knew she might not read it unless I gave it to her in person. There has been a family feud going on for almost three years between her and her parents, so I haven't been able to see my cousin Karen the last two times I came over here.

Stratford-upon-Avon was so gorgeous!
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When we arrived at Karens, Karen seemed THRILLED to see me. She was crying and hugging me and wanting to talk to me. Granted, she did put me in a bit of an awkward position when she wanted to take me inside to talk to me about everything but wanted to leave her mom outside. However, I gave her the letter, and she texted me just five minutes ago telling me she'd love to meet up, etc. It really does make me happy. I have wanted to reconnect with her for awhile. I remember her the clearest of all people on my English side from when I was little. When I came over at age 8, I remember her giving me and Madi both a troll doll to have. She collected trolls herself, and from then on, Madi and I were obsessed with trolls. This is a very clear memory of mine. It is really going to be nice to reconnect with her.

blurry picture of Carl and I playing Kings in my kitchen
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After talking with Karen for a bit, we took Davina back to Celias and Rays flat and had dinner. After I finished, I came back to Holland House to update my blog and now I'm about to go talk to Juliet and get a snack at Grubbs down the road.

Safe travels, everyone!

Oh, and I finally bought my tickets and hostel to Portugal in March! :)