days 51-4: Phantom, Wesley House, and Camden Market!!

The ending of this week was JUST what I needed :) The effects and feelings of homesickness are DEFINITELY beginning to show and I'm slowly succumbing to them. However, this was our first REALLY free weekend in a long time and, unfortunate to say, our last one for a while (Until April). So I basically had ONE thing on my agenda this weekend and that was visiting the Wesley House.

In case you didn't know, OUR weekend begins on Thursday after our religion class at 2. But since we didn't have religion this week (WOOHOO)! Our weekend began even EARLIER!! yes. be jealous.

Also, this weekend, there were NO PROFESSORS IN THE CENTRE!! Durst had stayed in Oxford with his fam to do research for a project of his or something. And then, since the Crowes have to stay over travel week because there will be students in the Centre, they took they're trip to Paris this weekend!

Day 51: THURSDAY

February 24th
"Spring is upon us!!"

This was possibly the most gorgeous day of my whole trip. The sun was out and shining, hardly any clouds in the sky, and it was warm! Spring is here!! Unfortunately, I didn't go out much this day. Not at all in fact until the night. (Like I said, homesickness taking over).

But this night, for Brittani's birthday, we decided it was high time we went to see The Phantom of the Opera. Now, I love this play/story/music regardless of performances, as proven by the movie, so I was excited to see it no matter what. We headed over right before the show to see if we could get cheap tickets and sure enough, we got tickets for 25 pounds because they were the "restricted view" section. I almost didn't want to buy them because I wanted the best Phantom experience possible. But everyone else was okay with that so, whatever, I did it.

Our seats had a column in the way, hence the "restricted view" label, and so the night consisted of the obnoxious bobbing and weaving back and forth to try to see what we were missing on that three percent of the stage.
Luckily, the performance was AMAZING enough for me not to worry or care too much about that little detail. Seriously, probably the best thing of my life. I cried for almost the entire thing and just couldn't believe
I was in LONDON,
sitting in HER MAJESTY's ROYAL THEATRE,
watching PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
The greatest love story of all time.
The first musical I was exposed to.
The.Best.
The cast was phenomenal, every last one of them. Well, the problem with Meg Giry still remains (the fact that they NEVER get a good singer for Meg. Unfortunate). But Christine, Phantom, Raoul, Madame Giry, Carlotta, every last one of them, were outstanding. I was really taken aback when I found out that the girl who was playing Christine Daae that night was the UNDERSTUDY. And she was PERFECT. I can't even imagine what the lead Christine sounds like.
I always get nervous on that first aria for Christine, "Think of Me", when she has to show her vocal range so boldly like that. I literally find myself waiting with baited breathe every time. And this time was no exception. I was a little more worried this time around because from what I had seen of Christine so far, I wasn't super impressed and a little sceptical. But, she proved me wrong and blew me away. She was, like I said, perfect. It sounded almost too good to be real. But she was. As was the Phantom.
The tragically beautiful Phantom was played by a man that has an amazing repertoire. He has played Jean Val Jean and was voted The Best [Jean Val Jean] by the British Public from 2004-2009. And he really is that fantastic. He has a face like Edward Norton and a singing voice like gold. He's simply perfect. He made you fall in love with and despise him all at the same time. And I think that's what my favourite aspect was of the whole play. The fact that all the characters became very real and made you connect with them so much that, at least for me, you cry throughout the whole thing.

I also found myself missing my family more and more with every scene. But this time, I kept thinking of one specific person that I was missing. Yeah, I missed my mom and dad because they were the planters of the theatre-loving seed in me, but I found myself really missing my brother, Cameron. I can still remember it as though it was yesterday. That one night at an ALFI years ago when the movie first came out and we were watching it with all the cousins. We both love this musical and know EVERY SINGLE WORD. (Which I found still to be true even after not listening to the music for a while). So while watching it together, we just began singing. Him the male parts and me the female parts, of course. And I loved it. I'm so thankful for siblings because you can be as weird as you naturally are without having to explain yourself to them and they'll love you anyways.
So of course, this made me remember that moment and miss him so so much.
Throughout the entire 2nd act, besides the Masquerade scene, I was crying. A continuous stream of tears running down my cheeks. And I didn't care. I.LOVE.THIS.STORY. I couldn't believe how magical this evening turned out to be and how breathless it left me. Breathless and speechless.
So of course I had to call my mom that night. I used the Centre's phone and my calling card so it basically cost us nothing and we ended up talking for almost THREE HOURS. Which meant I didn't get to bed till around 3:30 AM. It was so worth it :)

Day 52: FRIDAY
February 24th
"PANCAKE HIGH!!"
Slept in and basically didn't do ANYTHING all day. While others went to Camden and Borough Markets, I stayed in PJ's and bed all day. Until Emily and I decided we should probably visit the Wesley House Museum for Religion. It took us 30 minutes there and back and when we got there, it was closed. So we just took some pictures of the outside to prove we went and headed home. and hour and 3 minutes journey, all together.
Then for dinner, since the professors were gone, Alvaro and Thais, the centre directors, decided to throw us students a Pancake Party!! It was AWESOME!! The meal consisted of pancakes, obviously, and various toppings. Including:
Bananas
Peaches
Pineapple chunks
Toffee Syrup
Chocolate Syrup
Maple Syrup
Nutella
Peanut Butter (my own addition)
and Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream
Basically, sugar central. It was outstanding. JUST what I needed to make me feel better.. So worth it. Then, they popped a ton of popcorn for everyone and we watched "Despicable Me" and "A Knight's Tale" to round off the best night ever!! So much fun.

Day 53: SATURDAY
February 25th
"Just kidding! It's still winter."
I was totally planning on going to the London Zoo this day and a bunch of people had shown interest but after waking up, I found that they had all bailed on me. But I was still gonna go by myself. However, London will be London and so, it was raining. Not horribly hard... Yet. So I made my way to Camden Town Station and as soon as you step out of the Tube station, you're IN Camden Market.
Now, I was probably one of the only ones who hadn't been to Camden yet and so I was shocked to suddenly be in the midst of all the craziness. Even with it progressively getting more and more rainy. But I was determined to go to the Zoo.
However, as I was walking up the street to the zoo, I realized, "It's RAINING. The animals aren't going to be out. And I'm certainly not paying 15 pounds to see cages and greenery." So, I was just going to go home. I turned around and headed back to Camden Town station, when I had another realization. I was at Camden Market. And there was a Superdrug Store. And I needed MY brand of shampoo. SO I stopped in and yes, they had my shampoo AND I splurged and gave into my depressing whiteness and bought Gradual Tanning Lotion!!
i'msickofbeingwhite table of one?!
And then I shopped around Camden!! Which was really cool! I only bought a pair of plain black tights because I didn't find a grey scarf that I loved and looked warm enough. But I ALSO bought a kabab. Made out of strawberries and bananas. Drenched in white chocolate. Yes. It was amazing.
And that was pretty much my Saturday.

Day 54: SUNDAY
February 27th
"An easy, breezy Sunday."
I can't tell you how much I loathe and LOVE Sundays. They come upon me quickly and I never feel like I have enough time in the mornings. Then, me and four other girls make the long trek to Essex, about an hour and 15 minutes away, for church. However, even though I go about my morning routine begrudgingly, I love my ward and the three little hours I get with them each week. Each week is a fun, new adventure and surprise with them, but they are the most loving people ever.

This week, I had THREE kids!! A RECORD! I had Daniel, of course, and Oliver was back this week! He's been sick for the past like 2 weeks. And then, the third was this little girl that I had never met before. And she came in late. I can't remember her name because she mumbled it and had a thick accent because she spoke FRENCH!! And only French! So, I got an opportunity to practice my French and talked to her! It was the cutest thing ever! And I was so happy with myself because I understood everything she said (regardless of her name). Which makes me even more excited to go to Paris! I know I won't be excellent, but at least I'll probably be able to understand most stuff :)

I hope I get to talk to the fam tonight and I'm so sad because tonight it the Academy Awards and there's no way for me to watch them so my parents are TiVo-ing them for me so I can watch it upon my homecoming :)

Until Next Time...