Essays, Thanksgiving, and Rome

Nov 23-Mon
Monday I went to class only to find out that my sick teacher wont be returning to our class, so we only had a 30 min class with the other teacher before we had to leave. Then I had all of this time before my next class, so this girl Sarah (in like all of my classes) and I went to the refectory and talked. We were later joined by Luke (also in all my classes) and Richard. We talked until our next class, Prose, which was my last Prose class for the term (next 2 weeks off). Then I came back home and worked on my prose mock assessment due Wednesday but I want to be done by Tuesday to avoid having to go in Wed to turn it in. Then Dani, Kelsey and I had a hurried dinner and went to FCH for our BCA meeting and lecture on the British political system. It was terribly thrilling, and then we came back to Dani’s floor to hang out. I then ended up going back to my room to finish my paper, (which I did! Yay!) while Dani and Kelsey had some drinks and got ready to go out. I didn’t want to go out and I needed to finish work so I stayed in my room. After finishing my paper I was tired so I went to sleep.
End Day 73

Nov 24-Tues
Tuesday I had class and it was boring, except my creative writing class, which is never boring and it was our last lecture. The funniest part of my school day was when this random guy came into my creative writing class and sat down. My teacher asked “who are you?” and he said “I’m Jack” and it turns out he was supposed to be in our class all along but never came except the last day. Weird. Then Nick and I walked home and I did some work. At dinner time Kelsey called me and asked if I wanted some egg friend rice that she and Jade were making. So I went down to eat with them and had rice and potato wedges for dinner, Yum! After dinner we hung out and talked in the kitchen then got really bored. So Kelsey and I decided to go back to our rooms and get some stuff done. I came back and worked on some homework before I started trying to make my schedule for next semester and Jan term. Then it stressed me out too much so I quit that and went on the internet for fun instead. Then I went to bed kinda early since there was nothing else to do.
End Day 74

Nov 25-Wed
Wednesday I woke up about 12 but only because I set an alarm to get up and do some homework. So I wrote some of my creative writing assignment then killed some time before we were going to go Thanksgiving shopping. Later on Dani and Kelsey and I walked to “big Tesco” to buy all of our Thanksgiving food. We bought stuffing, a turkey, stuff for green bean casserole, and stuff for apple pie. I also bought cinnamon rolls to remind me of home, since my mom makes them every holiday. Then we lugged everything back home and had some dinner. After dinner we then attempted to cook some food in advance so we weren’t so rushed tomorrow and Kelsey and Dani had class all day. Kelsey made some apple pie from scratch and I made a pretty good green bean casserole. Then I realized that I’d have to make the turkey all by myself and it would all depend on me. Great.! So I suckered Hannah and Jesse into helping me the next day. I am so proud of our cooking attempts and our dinner we started to make. Hope all goes well tomorrow for our British/American thanksgiving!
End Day 75
Nov 26-Thurs
Happy Thanksgiving!!! I woke up with an alarm to 12 again so I could finish my creative writing assignment and pack for Rome on Friday since we’d be busy all day and not do it. Then around 4 pm Hannah called and asked me to go to Tesco with her to buy wine for the meal and such. By the time we got back, Jesse had already taken all of the guts out for Hannah and I and we just had to cook it. We got bored waiting around for food to be done so me and Dani and Hannah made “hand turkeys” and we hung them on the wall. Then it was almost time for the turkey to be done so we made the stuffing, gravy, corn, etc…Then the boys decided to keep the Thanksgiving tradition of boys playing/watching sports while the ladies cook in the kitchen. Then it was time to eat and everyone praised us for our food and cooking skills. After dessert, apple pie, we all decided to go get ready for Blush. So everyone left but Kelsey and I hung out a bit longer and talked. Eventually we went to get ready too then went dancing and such at Blush. Then Dani and I left a little early to pack for Rome tomorrow. Oh and our Thanksgiving guests were: Jade, Greg, Jack, Ryan, Katy, Hannah, Jesse, and us three.
End Day 76

Nov 27-Fri
Friday I woke up around 10 to get ready to go to Rome and finish packing. Then we left at 12 to catch our 12:3 bus to Heathrow. The ride wasn’t so bad and it was less stressful to only take one bus. It took us to the bus station at the airport so we just followed the signs to the actual airport and got there fine. Then we checked in and grabbed some sandwiches, paninis, and drinks before going through security. Our flight had a connection in Zurich (Switzerland) so we had to change planes. Oh and we got free Swiss chocolate on Swiss Airlines! So good! We didn’t realize we had to go through security again though and we didn’t have much time. Of course when we need to hurry they feel the need to check my bag further. And they were NOT the friendliest people. They didn’t care that our flight was soon, and they had no people skills. The butthead lady, Helga as I call her, also emptied my entire bag and took out everything to go through again. Yes, because I am hiding liquid in my clothes! I was so annoyed that I had to repack and she took my frizz cream that got through Heathrow security and she was sooo rude! We didn’t miss our plane, thankfully, but I was very annoyed after that. Then our flight landed in Rome and we got a shuttle to our hotel and met up with Tia and Ross. Then we went to sleep since it was 11pm and we have an early start tomorrow.
End Day 77

Nov 28-Sat
Saturday we conquered Rome in a day. Literally. We got up and out by 9:30 and headed to the Vatican to avoid the long lines. It wasn’t too crowded and we got to go in pretty quick for €8. That covered the museum, Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Square. We spent a good 2 hours seeing everything and then decided to get something to eat since we hadn’t eaten. We had pizza at this little restaurant by the Vatican square where the pope speaks and tried to go to St. Peter’s Basillica but the line was massive. So we decided to head to the Metro to get to the Colosseum. We almost got these Roma passes that would give us free Colosseum and one other museum and unlimited metro but it was €23 each and we didn’t think it was worth it. The Colosseum was amazing and we got in for €7.50 (except Dani who got the mean lay who wouldn’t give the student discount). For €7.50 it was awesome though and I loved it! Then we tried to go to the Forum but it closed 10 min before we got there. So we headed for the ruins instead and found a cool museum/monument. After that we headed towards the Pantheon and got to see it lit up but couldn’t go in because there was a service going on. Then we got gelato and I got chocolate and snickers. It was amazingly good! Mmmm! We ate our gelato on the way to the Trevi Fountain and stopped to go in a shop or two also. The fountain was way bigger than I expected and we all got pictures throwing coins in it! Yay! By then we were hungry so we found a little mom and pop restaurant and I got super delicious ravioli. After dinner we came back to the hotel to relax and recover. Then we ended up going to sleep.
End Day 78

Nov 29-Sun
Sunday we woke up early to go souvenir shopping before we had to be back at the airport. We headed down to the front desk of the hotel and asked the guy to call us a taxi for 11am so we could be on time for our flight. We walked to the souvenir shop by the Vatican and did some speed shopping and I got a yummy donut from a little café. Oh and the line for the Vatican was ginormous! So glad we went Saturday. It was at least 2 blocks, maybe more. Then we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and get the taxi to the airport. We got there with good time and we had no mishaps! Yay! Our flight reconnected in Frankfurt (Germany) and thankfully we didn’t have to go through security again like in stupid Zurich. Then we flew back to Heathrow and got some dinner at Wetherspoons in the airport before we caught out bus back to Cheltenham. The bus ride was boiling hot since we sat at the back, so it felt good to get off after 2 ½ hours. But it was a cold and wet walk back to the dorms and it made me miss warm sunny Rome. I got back to my room, unpacked, worked on some homework, started updating my blog, then got tired so I crashed.
End Day 79