Flight back to NYC

We stayed out late our last night and went to the Zoo bar. We met up with people from our hostel and hung out with them the whole time. The "football" game was going on so it was packed everywhere. Manchester lost so people weren't too happy. We went to another bar also because in the zoo bar it was just so loud and packed but we went back after the game and it was fun. Luckily our teacher woke us up for our flight because our alarm didn't go off haha..and im just glad we didn't miss another flight! The flight was kinda aweful because I was sick the whole time sneezing and sniffling and it was extremly rough. When the flight attendant walked by I asked her if it was normal for the plane to be that rough and as soon as I said that the plane dropped, it scared the crap out of me. I just did not have a good flight. When we got to Ryan's I really wanted to do absolutly nothing so after I got there I brought my laundry to the laundry place since I have no more clean underwear then I just relaxed and watched TV and got a slice of pizza down the street. When Ryan got back I kept falling asleep but then he was like lets go to the grocery! So we got food for the week and we got food for todays Beach trip we are supposed to do. We also got soft serve ice cream at this place a block from his house...sooo good!! I could not keep my eyes open once we got back so I went to sleep. I woke up early which I figured would happen and I just saw it might be raining today so I really hope that does not happen so we can relax on the beach!

Last day in London

Today we went to the British museum first thing. We went to this one section where they had a display of pills of how much a person takes in a lifetime and it was like 4400 pills. They had the pills layed out and the life story of 2 different people. There was a lot to see in the British museum but we didn't stay too long because we had a lot of stuff to do today. We came back to the dorms and I took a short nap and Korunn wrote her final paper. She decided she needed to pack so I went back to the Florence Nightingale museum to rebuy the stuff that I had stolen. After that I got Allen a Jack the Ripper shirt since hes all into that for a Birthday present. When I left Westminster Abbey station I went to Covent Gardens, which was crazy crowded. There were so many people in the streets for the "Football" games. I talked to some guy and he said everyone from westchester came in town for the game. Everyone was chanting, singing, and drinking in the streets. It reminded me of New Orleans! As I was walking I swear I saw Johnny Depp dressed as Jack from Pirates of the Carribean. Like whoever was dressed like him looked Identical to the real johnny depp. I was standing there starring and was like could it really be him. I think a lot of people thought the same thing. I wish I didn't forget my camera so I could have gotten a picture of it. I walked around Covent gardens and found a Birthday present for Kaeli then I got a ham and cheese croisant and ate that on the way back to the tube. I am now back at the dorms and about to get ready to go to the Zoo bar and go get half off food and drinks before 8. We are going to try not to stay out too late since we have to leave at about 7:30am to head to the airport, and I dont want to miss another flight!!

Parliamont

Last night I had a hard time falling back asleep so I packed most of my clothes then took the medicine that is supposed to make me sleepy. It kicked in and by about 1:30 or 2 I was out. I woke up about 8:30am and played on the computer then I fell back asleep and got up about 11 and took a shower then got ready. We met at 2:45 downstairs to go for a tour at Parliamont. Parliamont was really nice. They had a part made out of all gold for when the Queen comes to visit once a year she sits in the gold chair and under all the gold decorative wall. During the tour you couldn't sit anywhere because it was extremly high security and they were very anal about it. Our tour guide was like an 85 year old lady but she definitly knew a lot! The tour lasted about an hour or a little longer and then we went back to the dorms for about an hour. When we left the dorm Korunn and me went to a Brazillian bar called Guanabara to meet a girl we had met. She was really nice and she had lived in Brazil before so that is why she picked this place. The place was really neat because they had people dancing like real Brazillian style but the problem was everything was kinda expensive. The food and the drinks were a llittle more then I wanted to spend. We stayed for 2 drinks and learned a little Brazillian dancing then left. There was an old man that was non stop dancing Brazillian, he was sweating more then anyone ive seen. It was kinda gross but hey at least he was having fun!! There was also this really old lady that was dancing and she was soo funny because before she would dance she would rub her knees for like a minute. I guess she was warming up haha! After we left the Brazillian bar we went to Belushi's. We had been there before but we knew we liked it because it was good prices and fun music and people. We went there and met lots of different people. We met some people from France and one of them was kinda creepy so we left! We took the tube home and there was some Australians singing a Boys to Men song at the top of their lungs in the tube so then everyone joined along! I must say it was really funny!! We got back to the dorms around 12:30 and now I cant sleep and im writing this blog!!

From London

From London

From London

From London

Science Museum

Last night I went with Korunn to look at computers then we went and ate at a Poland style restraunt, called Nandos, which was sooo good!! We had grilled chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatos, dirty rice, and garlic bread. After we ate there we went to a ice cream shop that was AMAZING!! I got a slice of strawberry cheesecake and Korunn got ice cream. After that we came home and I read my book then went to sleep late as usual.
When we got up this morning I got ready and we went to the Science museum. The science museum was really big and I liked that it was free to get in! We went to all the floors dealing with medical stuff and saw some realling interesting things. We saw this one part where they had model people made out of like clay and they described what happened in the old days. They had this one where this guys head was being split open with a rock by several people and it said they use to believe they got sick because there were demons inside their bodies. Kinda crazy...if that was the case now a days everyone would have demons inside them. At the science museum I wasn't feeling well and I was totally freezing, like I even had goosebumps on my face it felt like. In the last exhibit I didn't stay to long because I was just feeling terrible so Korunn and me headed back to the dorms. It started raining on us a little but we made it back before it got too bad. When we got back we ordered a pizza but I accidentally put the wrong address haha so they went to the wrong place and so we ended up ordering from another pizza place haha!! We got lunch special pizza from a place called Twin Star pizza and they put the sauce, then the toppings, then the cheese. The lunch special was a large pizza, garlic bread, and 2 soft drinks for 8 pounds. So it wasn't too bad!! It was yummy!! After we ate I talked on skype for a while then fell asleep for like 3 hours, which probably wasnt smart because now I wont be able to sleep tonight.

From London

From London

From London

The globe theatre and Oxford!

Yesterday we went to the Globe theatre and saw Much Ado About Nothing. We saw Jeffrey from the fresh prince of bel air in it, which was really cool!! The play was hard for me to understand because it was all shakespeare time. When we left there we got food and went to Boots so I could get some medicine since I havent been feeling too well. When we got back Korunn and I had a photo shoot in the backyard garden haha..I also wrote my final paper and turned that in when we got back. Then I played on the computer some and then read my book and I still couldnt sleep! Ive never had so much trouble sleeping before, it totally sucks!!
Today we went to Oxford and it kind of sucked because it cost like $40 just to get there and then we also paid for the tour bus. The main place we went there for to go see ended up being closed because Michelle Obama was there. We did get to see Michelle Obama as she was leaving and she was dressed in a white suit. I wasnt feeling good all day because I was having the worst cramps ever and I could barely stand it. We went to a pub where everyone ate, I didn't eat because I was in too much pain. After that we walked around and went into a store called Primark. Once we left there we got back on the tour bus and rode that for a while and saw all of Oxford. The tour bus is kind of scary to be on because it looks like you are going to run into people and other cars and buses. They get soo close to the people ahead that it makes you gasp. We even saw a bus hit another bus! I was surprised how big the college was. We also saw where Penicillin was invented and where Bill Clinton went to school. I really wanted to see where the Harry Potter movies were filmed, like the big area where they eat, and also the Alice and Wonderland rabbit hole, but it was all closed because of the first lady. By the time we left it was about 5:30 and so we headed back to the dorms and now I am here laying down hoping to feel better soon!

From London

From London

From London

Windsor Castle

I woke up today not feeling so great. My throat was killing me, my eyes itchy, and my head hurt. Another girl in the group was having the same issues. It was very cold and windy today also. I saw someone on the tube reading a paper and it said ash cloud headed this way in the next few days because of the volcano that erupted in Iceland, so my symptoms will probably only get worse. I found out also that flights were cancelled in Europe sunday so then that is probably the reason why we missed our Dublin flight. Everything happens for a reason, I like to say! Plus it was raining all weekend and I heard it was very cold and just not a good weekend to go, so maybe it is better we missed the flight. Anyways, once we arrived we ate lunch at a French restraunt and then headed to the castle. We went to Windsor castle and it was huge! They only let you really go in one part which kind of sucked since they charge you 15 pounds to get in, but it was def cool to see! I also hated that they wouldn't let us take pictures inside. Thats my favorite part when going anywhere, is to get lots of pictures. The most fun part to me was when Korunn and me were trying to get the guard to laugh, and fortunatly we succeeded!! We were acting like complete fools and had everyone around us laughing! They were probably like "Those crazy americans!" After we left the castle we walked all around the area and went in some shops, and got ice cream! We also got some over the counter medicine to help us sleep since neither of us went to bed till after 5am. I dont know why im having so much trouble this time with sleep. We ended up leaving about 5pm to head back to our dorms. When Korunn and I got back we went to this pizza place around the corner and got a pizza to go. Now I am filling out postcards and writing on here!!

From London

From London

London Pub Crawl

Yesterday we did the pub crawl which started at 7:30 at Belushi's. We got shirts with markers to write on other people's shirts and some free drinks at each place. We went to 5 places which included Belushis, Roadhouse, Oxygen, Verve, and Ministry of Sound. Each place was a lot of fun and full of diverse people. We met two guys from Australia that were Balerina dancers and they were trying to show us how to dance like them, but it didnt work too well. I met a girl named Louise who I hung out with a lot of the night and she was from Australia. I have met so many people from Australia since being here. Ministry of sound was really neat because it was really big and had several different rooms. They also had really cool lights! Louise and me got lost from the group for a while but luckily we found like 3 other people that had got lost too and they knew where to go for the next place, so we ended up finding our way. After we left Ministry of sound at about 2:30am we took the bus (which takes forever to get anywhere) and went to McDonalds because we were starving. We walked back and then went to sleep and we both slept till about 3pm. My sleeping patterns are so screwed up. When we woke up today we went to Oxford Street and Covent Garden to go eat. We ate at Roadhouse which was one of the bars from the night before. It was really neat because when we were there they had a world flair competition going on, where bartenders from around the world compete by throwing around bottles and glasses. There were some really good ones. There was one guy that totally sucked and kept dropping them so I felt kind of bad for him. After we watched that for a little bit and ate we came back to our dorms. I havent been feeling too good since being back because my throat has been hurting and my eyes scratchy and itchy. I just hope im not coming down with something. Im taking it easy tonight and trying to find some research articles and references for my final paper. Im also trying to work on an outline for it. Tomorrow we go to Windsor for the day so im going to hopefully get some sleep and get up for that!!

From London

From London

Missed Dublin Flight

Yesterday started out as a good day. We went to Covet gardens where I got several cheap priced souvenirs for people. I got a hoddie for 5 pounds and the venue over had it for 13 pounds!! After covet gardens we went to the Tower. That is where they did a lot of torutre and would behead people and pull there bodies apart. We saw where they did the torture and the different things they used and it didn't look like good news for the tortured people. After we went to the tower we came back to get ready for Dublin and ended up missing our flight. We had all kinds of mishaps and were like 10 min too late. There was noone from the airline anywhere they had all left and so we couldn't do anything but go back to our room unless we wanted to pay a fortune for tickets the next day. I keep having all kinds of mishaps, I just dont have very good luck. On the way back we took the train and the guy selling drinks sat down and we played some random games that he made up. It was like saw the name of a country that starts with a D, then say the name of an animal that starts with the last name of the country, then say the name of a fruit that starts with the last name of the animal..and we had identical answers..kinda cool!! When we got back we werent in very high spirits so we deccided to go walk around and find a pub. We found a college pub a couple blocks down from where we were staying and met lots of people. There was a girl that we were talking to and she was telling us about some place we should check out that since we were in nursing we would prob like it and its free! So we might try and cchecck that out. After that we met some people that invited us to go with them to a members only bar and we met a princess. Her dress was gorgeous. I think it was chanel. She was really nice and talked to us for a little bit. I def found underdressed. Everyone was in dresses and suits and I was in jeans and a tank top. It was fun though and cool to see a place like that. They said it cost like 3000 pounds a year to be a member. We ended up getting home and I got to talk to gena and Eli on skype!! After that I went to bed and woke up late. Tonight we are going the London Pub Crawl so im excited about that!!

From London

From London

From London

St Christopher's Hospice

Today we had to get up early again and we went to St Christopher's Hospice. I was so exhausted because I couldnt sleep again last night. I did get about 4 hours of sleep, so that is better then its been! Yesterday night Korunn and I wanted some ice cream so we went on a search but it was closed. We ended up meeting a animation and film director while we were searching for ice cream, and talked to him and his gf for a bit. When we got to St Christopher's hospice today I was just so exhausted, I could barely stay awake. We had several interesting speakers along with a tour. It was so hard for me to sit still because my shoulder has been hurting so bad the last 2 days. Hopefully my surgery in June will fix it because it drives me crazy. We also got to sit in on a patient session, where they did a relaxation session and all of us were falling asleep. We learned a lot about education and the differences in hospice here compared to the US. We were there all day and took a double decker bus back to our place. When we got off the bus I stopped at boots to find Ryan some body wash he wanted then headed back. As soon as I got back I played on my computer for like 30 min then fell asleep for about 4 or 5 hours. I woke up about 11:30, and of course now I cant sleep and its 2:30am right now. Its going to be hard to fall asleep. Tomorrow we are going to covent gardens, the tower, and then heading to Dublin for the weekend!! I cant wait for Dublin! Im going to maybe read my book Zeitoun, which is a true story about a persons experience durring Hurricane Katrina, for a little while and see if that helps me fall asleep!!

From London

From London

From London

If I get one more thing stolen.....

We arrived at our new home for the next 2 weeks at eckerd college on May 17th. While we were traveling there by the tube I had put my oyster card in my pocket and when I went to get out the tube it was gone, so I think I was pick pocketed..unless it fell out but I dont think that happened. It took us a while to get to Eckerd and once we got there we met with our teacher for a bit, then went to the market and got some food! After we ate we were both so exhausted and thought we could take naps, but that did not end up happening. I ended up unpacking and catching up on uploading pictures, checking emails, and calling people on skype. We wanted to just do nothing yesterday. When I was playing on the computer I heard what sounded like a parade. Korunn and my teacher come get me and say "Come, Look outside." It was people for miles long protesting No budget cuts for their free health care. It was great to see because that is what we are supposed to be here studying about. I took lots of pictures and then once it was over went back inside. I made a sandwich for dinner then watched part of a movie and got on the computer more. I was trying sooo hard to fall asleep but couldnt. When I finally fell asleep Korunn had woken me up to use my computer, then I couldn't fall asleep till after 5am and we had to get up at 7:30. Jet lag is killing me...

Today was a lot of fun. We saw so much! We first went to the Florence Nightingale museum, which was very interesting I must say. I bought some souvenirs for people then we walked around and took lots of pictures. We then went in St Thomas Hospital, which was really nice, and got some food. As we were standing in line for lunch there was a man in front of us who we started talking to and it turns out hes from Shrevport. He is also an RN in the ICU and just started to become a clinical specialist and gets to travel to show hospitals how to use certain products. He is a great resource and I got his card. He said when I go back to New Orleans let him know and he can see about getting me in for observations. I will def keep in touch with him because its all about who you know. After all that we went and walked over to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey where the prince and princess were recently married. They were so detailed and amazing looking. I also never realized how big Big Ben is...its crazy huge! We also went into a church, which I forgot the name of it, but it was right next to Westminster Abbey. We wanted to go in Abbey but it was expensive so we were going to wait till 5 when they had church service because we can get in for free so we went to a pub to waste a little bit of time and to pee! When we left the pub I realized I left all my Florence Nittingale souvenirs and when I went back it was all gone. It was crazy to me because we were the last ones to leave the pub, bc they were closing it for a private party, so I assumed the bartender took it and when I went back she was gone. I was sooo aggravated because I had found the perfect bday present for Gram and it was in the bag. Then when we went to Westminster Abbey for the service they tell us they are doing it in the church we already went in so we just decided to head back to the rooms. I was already in a bad mood about losing my stuff so I just wanted to get back and vent on blog and book our Dublin hostel. I got a hostel called Barnacles Temple Bar House Hostel, which got really good reviews and wasnt too bad in price. Now I am about to make some dinner then decide what to do from there....

From London

From London

From London

From London