Last Blog for a Week!

It has been three whole days since I last blogged and so much has happened during that time! I think my last blog ended with Wednesday so I'll pick back up starting with Thursday's events. On Thursday we had class from 9:15-2:00 and afterwords some other girls and I just went to the post office to exchange some money and then headed over to the park near by to walk around and take pictures of the beautiful scenery. After that we walked back to campus, grabbed dinner, and then split up into groups to work on our homework for Friday's class. After that a bunch of other girls and I thought it would be fun to play some English football (soccer) just to set the mood because the sport is such a big deal here and also because our students love to play! We don't want to be creamed when we play with them at recess, that would just be embarrassing! (lol) We all had a great time playing even though we weren't that great. It was good just to get some exercise while hanging out and getting to know each other better. We even had a couple fox that tried to join in! Well more just attempt to run away with our stuff that we laid on the field. I have never seen a fox up close before so that was pretty neat!

On friday we had class again about the same amount of time as Thursday. After class I went on a run with two other girls and may I add that running here is a lot different than running at home! There are a lot more hills compared to the flatlands of Indiana. There was at least a straight mile we were running completely uphill, which was a very steep! Let's just say I was pooped after that but I'm planning on continuing running while I'm here and hopefully by the end I'll be able to run the trails like they are no big deal. After our run we walked around a little to cool down and found some cool little shops and restaurants along the way. I headed back to my room after that where I just relaxed before dinner. I also purchases a ticket with some other girls to Munich, Germany for a couple weekends from now! We are planning to Dachau concentration camp while we are there, which I think will be a great experience! After dinner we got all dressed up and went as an entire group to a local pub and then all headed into the city to a dance club called "Pop World". I can't even begin to describe the club! It seemed so surreal to me, like something you would see in a movie. It was definitely the craziest thing I have ever gone to and even though it was fun I don't think I have any desire to go back anytime soon lol. It was interesting to see the difference between the day and night life of the city though. We drove past the same area of the club this afternoon and I would have barely recognized the street if I hadn't seen the club's bright colored sign.

Today a group of girls and I left campus around 11:00 and headed back into the city to go on a Beatles tour. The early part of the day was a little miserable because it was pouring down rain and since we were meeting our cab right beside the docks it was really windy as well. Although it continued to rain off and on throughout the day I really enjoyed the Beatles tour! It was three hours long and our cab driver basically just drove us around the whole city giving us some history of Liverpool and also stopping at famous locations significant to the Beatles while telling us the importance of each place. It was really cool and I learned a lot about the Beatles I did not know before and how they played an important role in Liverpool. After the tour we began hunting for food that was a decent price. On the weekends the school doesn't provide us with food so finding restaurants that are cheap is important. We found that this was difficult to find close to the docks so we ventured deeper into the city to see if we could find anything cheaper. We finally stopped at a place called Bella Italia which was still pricy but we where so tired and cold from walking we didn't really care anymore. Bella Italia, however, was fantastic! It was probably the best Italian food I have ever had and much worth the cost. Getting back to campus from the city was another adventure. By the time we had finished eating, the bus we needed to get back had stopped running for the day. We tried to find another bus that would take us anywhere near the campus but failed. We ended up taking a taxi back, which we weren't to happy about because they are expensive but we didn't really have another choice. When we finally got back to campus we all went back to our rooms just to relax and call it quits for the day.

Tomorrow we all plan on sleeping in because none of us have really gotten much sleep since we have been here. I will probably take it easy most of the day because we leave early in the morning for London and will be gone for a week and then hitting up Paris as well. I'll have to do some laundry at some point and pack up my stuff and then some other girls and I are planning on grabbing some dinner and attending an evening service at a local church we explored the first day we where here.

This will be my last blog for a week since I will be leaving on monday and not returning until the following sunday. I ask for your prayers for safe travels as all 23 of us will be traveling to London on Monday and then splitting up on wednesday to do independent traveling of our choosing. I will let you know how everything went when I return! :)

Cheerio!