Hola!

So, it has only been a week since my last post but a lot has happened in that time!

Last weekend I flew to Paris to see some fellow SMC-er's! We stayed in this little hotel on the outskirts of the city, and were able to take the metro directly into the city center which was super convenient. The best part of the weekend was being able to see some familiar faces/friends that I have missed a lot. Sunny, Becca, and I met Ellen at the Louvre on Friday night--I feel it is necessary for me to share with you that Ellen told me that if you spent 4 seconds at each piece of artwork in the Louvre it would take you 3 months and couple of days to go through the entire museum...that's a lot of art. We met her in front of the Mona Lisa, yes the MONA LISA, and Ellen was late, of course, but she caught us all by surprise and we screamed and hugged and made a classic scene in the middle of a busy place! After spending some time wandering the Louvre we decided to wander the city and find some food. Eventually we made it to a restaurant, had dinner, and brought Ellen back to her hotel.

Saturday was an interesting day. We met Ellen at the Eiffel Tower, but you couldn't even see the top because it was cloudy and it was pouring, so we decided to not go up to the top. We spent the day trying to cram in all the places we wanted to go which included the shopping strip, the Arc of Triomphe, the statue/fountain of St. Michael, Notre Dame, and some places just in passing. The rain made it kind of miserable, and the city is so large, which made it difficult to find quick easy ways to get from one place to another. We had some crepes and pastries during the day. Unfortunately we didn't get organized enough to go anywhere with any true French cuisine. By the end of Saturday I was absolutely EXHAUSTED! But it was totally worth the trip and I had such a great time with the ladies!

Kaitlin, Ellen, Becca, Sunny, and I in front of Notre Dame...we would have taken our hoods off but it was pouring!

Aphrodite!

I forgot to mention that the elevator in our hotel was TINY....this is us inside!

SMC reunites at the Eiffel Tower!

Sunday was a travel day home...very long travel day I might add. Several delays and a lot of waiting, but I finally made it back in one piece! I was actually pretty proud of myself for being able to navigate my way to and from Paris, especially in Paris where it was slightly more difficult to ask for directions (although, I can't complain too much since  most people just looked at me and started speaking in English!).

The rest of the week was pretty typical, although I did not have school placement on Tuesday so I had an extra free day. I was kind of bummed actually because I look forward to going into school!

Wednesday night was pub quiz night at the Huntsman across the way. My roommates and I teamed up with three British students, which was good because we never would have been able to answer all the questions...although there were a fair share of them that were directed towards Americans! We actually did pretty well. There were a lot of teams we were competing against, but we didn't come in last! We fell somewhere nicely in the middle!

Friday was my study trip to Strafford upon Avon with my Shakespeare class. We were actually really privileged to be able to go into the archives of the library there that is associated with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I wasn't expecting it to be very interesting, but we got to look at prompt copies of the play The Taming of the Shrew with the directors notes and cuts in it, as well a photos, playbills, and reviews of the play. We looked at four years worth: 1970 (something...I can't remember the exact date), 1982, 2003, and 2008. It was really cool to see how the different directors spun the play to work in their favor. We also go to go for a tour of the city and see where Shakespeare was born, lived, and where his daughter lived. Then to end the evening we went to see King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was amazing! I have never read King Lear and had no idea what it was about, but I still really enjoyed with (well as much as you can enjoy a play where everyone dies at the end....how Shakespearean?!) There is something about seeing Shakespeare preformed that really changes the way that the story and the language comes across. I definitely want to see more of his plays done on the stage.

That is all I have to share for now!

Peace!