Under a Month and More than a Lifetime

   I've been abroad less than a month, and yet I feel as though I have absorbed more than a lifetime's worth of experiences. I'll try to recap:

   We had 11 days in London. In those 11 days, I saw 7 plays. I'm not sure I've ever seen that many plays, and definitely not in such short time. It still doesn't quite seem possible that I did that, that I lived like that. That must be someone else's life, not mine. It can be my dream, but can it really be my reality? The plays I saw were the following:
      Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap
      Dr. Faustus ((standing) at the Globe) (with Arthur Darvill, who is Rory from Dr. Who)
      Much Ado About Nothing (with David Tennant who is the 10th doctor from Dr. Who and with Catherine Tate who is his companion in series 4 of Dr. Who)
      Much Ado About Nothing ((sitting) at the Globe)
      Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
      Blood Brothers
      The Cherry Orchard
                                                              They were all fantastic! What experiences, each one!

   I went to the British Museum twice: the most famous things I saw were the rosetta stone and the elgin marbles. The British Library was also wonderful. It's a place were everyone gets their priorities right - reading and writing, what more could you ask for? I was inches from manuscripts of the Bible, of The Canterbury Tales, of Handel's Messiah, of the Magna Carta and so much more! I wonder if, in their day, the writers ever imagined that the people of the future would venerate their works as we do. Also, there happened to be a special exhibit about science fiction! Science fiction can be a clever way of asking questions like: what counts as a human? what counts as life? Do we have the right to treat something that's non-human inhumanely? What is free will and do we have it? If we could control others, would we? And on and on. Naturally, I loved it. Combining questions with literary genius... I thought it was fantastic.

I've been in wonderful churches and abbeys and minsters. I've been to Sung Eucharist at Westminster Abbey, Evensong at Great St. Bartholomew's, the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Notre Dame (in Paris, I took a day trip). Each one is fantastic! They all have a different feel, whether its awe, regality, the smell of dust and books, the need to fill it with singing, etc. They are truly fantastic, in size, in detail, in design.

After London (I know I left some things, actually probably a lot, out, but for expediencies sake I must proceed), we stopped in Helmsley. Helmsley is a cute country market town. Think English country side, and you've probably got a good picture of it. We arrived there Thursday night after visiting the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne (it's an island half the time when the tides rise and cover the causeway to it) (think of the Lindisfarne Gospels), and stayed in a Hostel. I had pictured hostels as concrete rooms where you're lucky to get a bed and where everyone forgets about the words "personal space." I was very pleasantly proved wrong. I shared a room with only 5 other girls, and the meals were amazing. That night I strolled around and journaled.

The next day, Friday, was our only full day in Helmsley. After breakfast, we took a walk across the country side to get to Rievaulx Abbey. Oh how beautiful it was! Stretching grass and strong trees, different shades of green running down the land. At one point, the path we were following us took us into the enclosure of sheep and horses. I'm not kidding, we were actually in amongst the animals! I could have touched them! We traipsed from the fields to the forests, and past a river, and arrived at the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey. Where the floor would have been, nature had spread out a blanket of grass, and was trying to continue its redecorating, spotting the ruins with flowers. The blue sky sparkled above us, with bright cloud kingdoms just waiting to be ascended. After pondering and enjoying and reveling in the Abbey, we went back to town. The rest of the day, most of us read/wrote/studied within the common areas of the hostel. I loved that! It was so enjoyable, the way we could all be hanging out together, all in our respective worlds, and yet never have to say a word.

Then we left for Durham, but on the way we stopped at the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne and saw some ruins there. I even put my hands in the ocean!! Now in Durham, I have my own single room. I love everybody on the trip - they are all nice and so unique and fun. I think I didn't realize how little personal time I was getting, so this little time in Durham will be nice. Also, from one of my windows, I can see the cathedral, and I can hear its bells dancing, enchanting me in my room. Tomorrow, classes start up again!