...The story of a girl in London, England


5.24.2010

Day 27: Tap, Still, or Sparkling?

Today in class we discussed Brechtian Theory. Yes. Well. ... 'Nuff said.

We went to Tesco to pick up some groceries, (which were much needed after our weekend trapsing about the British Isles). And inside my basket, among other things... there was...

Dragon Fruit (check),
Cheese and Onion Crisps (check),
Corner's Yogurt (check),
Stir Fry Fixins (check),
Milk Chocolate Digestives (check),
Curiously Cinnamon Cereal (check),
Part-Skimmed Milk (check),
Sunflower Seed Bread (check),
Raspberry Jam (check),
Salami (check),
Mango OJ (check),
Pasta (check),
Mixed Nuts (check)
Bueno Bars (check)...

Yeah. Ok. I got sort of a lot of food. I know. But I was shopping while hungry, and you know that whenever that happens, you're bound to end up with a lot of food. But maybe that means that this Sunday I won't be eating beans! I love the bus when I have groceries. It makes the walk so much shorter. Thank heaven for the multiplicity of double deckar buses around here... even if it IS impossible to get a picture of anything without a great big red vehicle getting in the way. I suppose it's just a trade off... I don't have to walk all the way home with a bunch of groceries, and as payment, the darn things get to be in all my pictures.

Jill, Annie, and I walked over to Hyde Park with one of the blankets from the couches in the commons. The plan was to read London Assurance, (one of the plays for this week). Yes well, the day was simply GORGEOUS. The perfect temperature, the sun shining, just a touch of humidity, and a few gigantic white clouds in the sky... (All of you in Utah who are reading this and looking at the snow... I'm very sorry, I don't mean to rub it in... really.) So of course I got about thirty pages in and fell asleep. It was immensely difficult not to, what with the birds chirping, and the lush, green, ten inch tall grass beneath me... Hyde Park is beautiful. I misjudged it the first time, because of that crabby ginger lady and her dog. But the place is like a great big green safe zone inside the city. Everyone can just... relax. There were people climbing trees, reading, talking, playing music, tossing frisbees, kicking footballs, napping, biking, tanning in the sun... What a day!

There was one little girl, who was no more than 2, (like little cindy loo who!)... She was walking in the park with her mum and dad, who were dressed in fancy white tennis outfits, and she marched up to this guy playing the guitar like she owned the place, and starting dancing around... shaking her arms, bobbing up and down, movin' what her mama gave her... It was THE CUTEST thing I have ever seen. And boy was she a saucy little maid. (Oh and don't worry... I have a video)... I was laughing so hard. It was adorable.

Also, just for the record, I'm not crazy. Rob and Chach thought I was crazy because I said that I saw green birds in some of the trees by Prince Albert's memorial the other day. Well, turns out, there is a colony of Canaries in Hyde Park! Ha! I knew I saw them.

We went back to My Old Dutch for dinner for our 5 pound Moday pancakes... and I gave in and had peaches and cream again. I just can't resist a giant crepe with peaches and cream!

You know, restaurants hate us Americans because of our tap water. In Europe you just DON'T drink tap water at a restaurant. (Maybe that's cuz it's gross). But at any rate they think we're totally ridiculous. They ask, you mean still water? Bottled water? ... And you say no, just tap water. (Because THAT doesn't cost you anything). They roll their eyes and go to fetch your uncultured, unfashionable stuff from the tap... shaking their heads at our inability to just order a good wine or sparkling water. (Which, consequently, is absolutely horrid. I mean, I'm not saying that plain water is brilliant either. But sparkling water is just disgusting. If you ever have the chance to drink it, DON'T.)

We sort of had to run to the show tonight... the tube was absolutely jam packed. And muggy beyond belief. I was squashed against a wall by two, large, middle aged men. That was... ahem... fun.

And then we had to run up two escalators, and down several blocks, to reach the theatre... ironically enough, we were running with about half the group and BOTH of our professors. Apparently EVERYONE underestimated the ammount of time it would take to get to the National Theatre on time.

But, all was well, and we made it before the doors closed. We were hot and sweaty, but we made it.

And the show was absolutely phenominal! It was a West End show called War Horse, and... well... as Mr. Brower would say, "I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!"

The puppetry was amazing. I hesitate in even using that word, because it has the wrong connotation. But, holy cow. There were so many little details that just made the animals REAL as anything you'd meet in a stable. They had everything, right down to the ear twitch and the tail flick and the pawing hoof in the ground. It was amazing. Not only the technical aspects of actually creating something that could move like a horse, but the ability of the actors to recreate those subtleties of another species using their own bodies, was incredible.

I couldn't believe the way they captured the brutality, and despair of war. My heart just ached for those people, and I kept thinking, Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?...

Though I came away a little depressed, the show was stunning. And I'm so glad I ran all the way to there to see it.

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