From the British perspective, however, we've made it to Friday. And thus I successfully complete my first week of classes at BADA.
It feels like it's been much longer than a week, but I have to say I'm very glad we're at the weekend. We're going to do a lot of sight seeing, and it all got started today.
First though, we had our earliest class of the week: High Comedy at 9am. It was fairly normal and chill, and we got out and done with classes at 11am! Because of the hour and the beautiful weather, a large group of us went to get lunch at Camden Market.
There is SO much food at Camden Market, of all types. It's a bit overwhelming, but it's also fun, and touristy, and feels like a homey, country type experience.
After stopping back at BADA for a bit, Olivia, Alexa, Emily, and I started on our day's adventure- walking to The British Museum.
Now I love museums. And when I say love, it's a bit of an understatement. Museums are my jam. They are amazing. It doesn't matter what kind of museum it is, even. They are the absolute best. To me, they are peaceful, inspiring, educational, enlightening, humbling, and encouraging all at the same time. I don't think I've ever been to a museum where there was nothing there of interest to me. It sparks curiousity, which is a beautiful thing.
But the British Museum... This is the King of museums. What an experience. Enjoy some pictures:
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| Check that out. |
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| It's a HUGE building |
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| A photo of Emily, in front of the museum |
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| And the inside... Part of the inside, that is |
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| Emily, Olivia, Me, and Alexa |
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| Guess what this is?!?!? |
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| A tourist favorite |
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| The Egyptians worshiped cats. |
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| One of many reasons I'm a cat person |
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| RAWR |
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| My man, Dionysus. |
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| Gorgeous remainders of Greek architecture |
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| Relics from the Parthenon |
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| Higher view of the center of the museum |
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| Whatcha lookin' at? |
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| Trojan War... Trojans? Fight on? War... |
Basically, we explored all we could on the lower level of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome. This included seeing the Rosetta Stone, which was a bigger deal for me to see than I thought it would be. I feel like it was quite significant for me to be there and so close to it... I mean, it's just a rock, but it's a very significant rock, ya know?
Alex joined us halfway through Greece, but he hates pictures so he's not in them. We were glad to have him though! He's a history minor at Brandeis so he's a nice person to have around at a museum.
Also, since we had just come from class, and our books were too heavy, Olivia and I carried around our Complete Works of William Shakespeare in our hands all around the museum. Touring with Shakespeare- quite fun, though hopefully next time we'll get to leave Mr. Shakespeare at home.
Anyways, after conquering as much of the lower levels as possible, we went upstairs for more Greece, more Rome, a little bit more Italian history artifacts, and then we got to more Egypt. Although this time, we got to see the exhibits on Egyptian death and burial. That's right- Mummies.
This is actually the closest I've ever come to seeing a cadaver- mummies. Most of them were wrapped fully, with research panels telling us about their CAT scans, and getting to peer inside their sarcophaguses. However, there were a few unwrapped mummies that made me a bit light-headed to see. They are extremely well-preserved, which is truly incredible, but... no explanation needed, I think. One thing that actually got me upset though was that for my internship this summer, there was a point of time where I was asked to do research on ancient Egyptian death and burial rituals and beliefs. Much of that information I couldn't access online, because the British Museum owned all of it. I remembered that, as I stood in the British Museum, completely surrounded by all the information I had been looking desperately to find this summer. I wish I could've brought the team from Revelations there with me- Look guys! Here's our story! Oh well.
All our brains were a bit overwhelmed by this point, but we still waltzed through a bit of European history artifacts. By this time though, our feet hurt, we were really tired, and we were quite hungry. We decided we'll come back to hit up more of the museum, since there were still tons of exhibits we couldn't get to, and got dinner at a nice Italian restaurant nearby.
Walking back, we walked pretty much all the way down Oxford street, going past Oxford Circus and passing the West End. This is the part of London that reminds me most of New York so far. The streets were packed crowded, the shops extravagant, and the traffic unpleasant. But, I still love London more. In New York, you can't look up from this hectic city scene and see a gorgeous stretch of blue sky right before sundown, and the old buildings and architecture still perched, perfectly preserved, on top of all the modern stores. All the while, cars are zooming past you the way you're not used to them going, and you hear, more distinctly from all the accents and languages surrounding you, British and Cockney dialects. It's a beautiful city, London.
Our feet were aching when we got back to the Landward. Some of my BADA friends were planning to go out tonight, and did, but I decided to take the night in. Turns out, I'm still up when they've arrived back, but it was a good decision for me. I can go out with them later in the semester, but it's been a long week, and the first week. I needed some down time, and I'm glad I got it. It's all about figuring out how to arrange your time and prioritize it, right?
Speaking of which, I'm going to set tomorrow morning aside for some homework and reading, so I'd better get to sleep.
Fight on, friends.
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