Time for an update!

Let's see....

We had a reading week last week where I did a day of research at the British Library. That was so fun! I felt so academic sitting in there with other academics and such. A true research library, they do not allow you to browse books. All the books are in storage and must be brought up to you once you request them through the card catalogue. Depending on where your book is (onsite, offsite, really far offsite) it can take anywhere from 1 hour to 48 hours to receive the book you have requested.

I also went to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens with my friend Amy. It was so nice outside! The weather had started out rainy that morning, and I was worried that we would have to cancel our plans. But the weather became blindingly sunny, and I actually had to take off my scarf and coat I was so hot. It was beautiful! Definitely a God send. I needed it. We had great conversation, coffee, and lunch. We ate lunch on a bench looking at the pond (I don't know the name of it or if it was even a pond. It was water, though :) While I was finishing up my salad that I bought at a cafe in the park, a woman with two kids and two dogs walked past us. One of the dogs noticed I had food. He almost tried to eat my salad but quickly noticed I had a cookie sitting on the bench next to me and went for that instead. THE WHOLE COOKIE!!! He just stuffed it in his mouth, chewed for two seconds and it was gone! It was so funny! The woman acted like she was embarrased and hesitantly offered to buy me another cookie, but I could tell she didn't really want to. For some reason I had the feeling it has happened before. Maybe that's how she feeds her dogs; walks them around parks without leashes and half-heartedly apologizes when they eat people's food. :) It was funny though, and it kept me from eating something fattening.

The rest of the week I worked on my paper and talked with our estate agent non-stop about our shower not working. First the shower: it has not worked properly since we moved in. They have had people come out and inspect it. Even our estate agent agreed it wasn't working the way it should. Still nothing was done about for some reason. Last week I made a resolution to get it taken care of once and for all. I called our estate agent almost every 2 hours making sure he was calling people ( like a plumber). Finally on Thursday at 5pm a plumber comes out. He identifies the problem, explains it to me, says he will call our estate agent who will then need to contact the owners of our flat to decide a course of action. Is it taken of, yet? Of course not :) I will keep everyone updated. I called the estate agent today. He wasn't in. I tried to leave a voicemail, "Hi, Joe Bob*. This is Rach-" "Thank you for calling. Goodbye!" WHAT?!?! The machine cut me off. So I e-mailed him. This was at 12:45pm. Their office closes at 5pm. Did I hear back from him? Haha What a silly question. Just a note: Almost everything here takes 4 times as long to get done then it does in the states. This situation is not my only experience with lack of timely service. I will not bore you with EVERY story, but trust me. Things take forever here. I love it here, but yeah...seriously.

The Paper:
So proud of myself. I actually did a bunch of research before I wrote my paper. I never do that. I haven't had many papers to write due to being an art major but anywho. If you know me well, which most of you do, I wait til the last minute to do anything. It's something about the time crunch that enables me to just punch stuff out...most of the time. By Friday I felt I had done all my research, I made an outline and was ready to write my paper Saturday morning. I was up until 4 am Sunday morning agonizing over a 2,000 to 3,000 word paper. It's really not that long if you think about it. I just wanted it "done" before I went to bed so I could proof-read the crap out of it the next day. That's why I stayed up that late. Plus I could sleep in because it was Sunday. Well my body decided to wake up at 7:45 am and be sick, making it impossible for me to work on my paper, and thus making me freak out. I had to get that paper done!!! I called my grandparents, crying hysterically just wanting to go home right then and there. I am not a quitter, and I was ready to quit. I was like, "Is it really worth getting this upset over?" My grandparents calmed me down, and told me they were buying my plane ticket home for Christmas! I am officially going to be home for Christmas!!! I am so excited!

So back to the paper: I finshed it at 1am. It was the worst thing I have ever written in my life, and I do not care what other people say. When you no it is crap, you know. Anywho. I couldn't go to school. My stomach was still upset. Kendall turned my paper in for me, and took notes for me at the lecture.

Yesterday I went to the gallery walk for school. I was okay. We went to 7 or 8 different galleries. It was fun, and the weather was beautiful. However, my appetite was not back to normal. Nor was my stomach really. It still isn't. I couldn't go to school today, but I am feeling emotionally better :) If that makes since. I was really ready to go home on Monday. I seriously thought I was going home. I called up travel agents, student flights, sta travel, etc. But again, my grandparents calmed me down, helped me focus, and I am now doing better. I have been in God's word and praying, and He is helping me tremendously. I will make it to Christmas. I will finish this degree and it will be amazing!

*A note on my stomach and stuff: I am going to the doctor on Friday. We'll see what happens.

This post sounds like I am not doing so great, but I am. Being in a foreign country away from your friends and family gets tough, and sometimes little breakdowns help you...in a way. I am doing really well. There is nothing to worry about, just in case you were :) If you are praying person, though, I could use your prayers. If there is anything you need, too, just let me know.

I will write more again soon, so I do not have posts this long ever again. Thanks for reading :)