No really, here were some of my favorite things about the show:
1. Some of the things the characters said totally reminded me of my black friends back home.
2. One of the nuns reminded me of myself. She was very very white.
3. Sister Mary Lazarus threw in a remix of Rapper's Delight into one of the gospel songs.
4. The bad guy was really attractive.
5. The good guy was a huge dork and that made him attractive. Think along the lines of Steve Urkel being Stefan Ur-kell, though not quite to that degree.
6. One of the bad guy's henchmen was Mexican and sang in English with the chorus, but only spoke in Spanish
7. The Mexican henchman was reading the funnies and laughed at "Esnupi" (Snoopy)
8. I lied; the Mexican henchman did speak in English for one line, and he said, "Joo can't talk that way to a nuuunnn!" and sounded just like Nacho right before he tries to beat up a couple of bums on the street.
9. The music (Raise Your Voice and Sunday Morning Fever are probably my favorites)
10. I was sitting next to two Asian kids who did not get half of the things that were supposed to be funny. Mostly I'm just glad to know that I definitely got my money's worth (and more) for that show.
Did I mention that I was on the fourth row? Boombaby.
So that was Thursday. Such a good day.
Friday I went to Camden Market with Leilani in the afternoon. Turns out it's way cooler than Portobello Road, at least in my opinion. Sure, it's in a sketchier part of town, but it's a whole lot easier to barter with them and get them to lower their prices.
Let's just say that Leilani is pro at this and I figured out her secret and put it to good use.
See, first you have to show a lot of interest. I mean a lot. Examine the piece of clothing, jewelry, etc. like you can't live without it. Then, when the person selling it comes up to you and asks if you'd like to buy it, you ask the price (which will almost always be more than what you think it's worth) and be skeptical right away. Be willing to walk away from the item, and you're golden. Ask for a lower price (about half-price is a good place to start) and then if they're stubborn, say you'll think about coming back later after you've looked around some more. Then they'll either give you the sale or tell you about halfway between their original price and the one you're asking for. Still be willing to walk away, though.
See, Leilani found this dress/shirt thing that was adorable. It looked really good on her and she really wanted it. But the first guy was asking for 20 pounds for it. She tried to get him down to 10, and eventually he told her 15 or something. We walked away.
She found the same item at another shop. Same story, except we got this guy down to 12. We walked away.
She found the same item at yet another shop, and this guy wanted even more for it. This is where I came in handy. I said, "Oh huh-uh honey. No way you're gonna pay that much for it. It's more like 10 or 12 pounds." This guy looked at us like we were crazy. "12 pounds?" he said, "That's gotta go for at least 18." He was tough. He knew how much he wanted. But then Leilani said, "Okay, I guess we can go back to the other guy; he said he'd give it to me for 12 pounds."
2 words: Cha-ching! He gave it to her for 12 pounds.
I was pretty good at it too (with Leilani's help) and got a beautiful dress for 15 pounds that he was originally asking 25 for. I still wanted to go lower, but he really was not budging. So, knowing that there was no way I would regret the buy, I went ahead with the 15 pound sale.
And let me tell ya, I don't regret it at all! I've been so excited for Sunday to get here so that I could wear it. When I go through customs after getting back to the States, I'll have to declare everything that I'm bringing back with me that I didn't have when I left. Let's just say if I wear this dress I'll have to declare my good looks too.
[I'll get a picture up here some day.]
Friday night was our last night just having a few of us around (everyone got back from Paris yesterday) so we figured it would be fun to do something all together so we came back and watched Runaway Bride and chilled around the flat, which was so much fun.
Saturday I woke up really late since I had talked to mama late at night, but I still had so much that I wanted/needed to do! So I hurried up and got ready and hopped over to Westminster Abbey to do that tour. I am never the biggest fan of touring churches, but it was certainly beautiful and big and full of history and dead people. Seriously, I saw the tombs of Geoffrey Chaucer, Handel, Henry James, Tennyson, Eliot, Lewis Carroll, Dickens, and even Rudyard Kipling. It was also the place where something like 38 sovereigns have been crowned since 1066 and where Princess Diana's and Queen Elizabeth's funeral services were held. Cool right?
After visiting all those dead famous people I had to do something a little more lighthearted so I visited my friend Ben again. Big Ben, that is. The sky was unreal and perfect and stuff so I took a bunch of pictures of him.
And with him.
(That's my new Beatles shirt I was talking about the other day.)
I walked along Westminster Bridge over the Thames and then crossed the road and went over by the London Eye. I saw that the walkway leading toward the London Eye was called "The Queen's Walk"
and I figured that there was no place more fitting for me to walk, so that's where my next adventure began.
After walking past the London Eye, I saw none other than my friend Mister Vader! Greg insists that it was just Chad, but trust me. I am on the Dark Side now, and I promise you that it was Darth. We had a little friendly light-saber battle along the Thames and then he checked his reflection in my sunglasses. Oh, Darth. What a sense of humor you have! I'm just glad he didn't try and pull that "I am your father" joke on me again. What silliness.
After visiting with Darth for a while I went on to meet Charlie Chaplin, Donald Duck, a brazen bronzen statue lady, the Abominable Snowman, and a lizard riding a bicycle. I also found these three African guys doing these awesome dances and stunts, but I only got a video of them. I'll try and post it on youtube and link it to here sometime.
I kept exploring, walking along the river and eventually made it to the Temple tube station, where I hopped over to the Tower Hill station to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I didn't want to pay 17 pounds to go inside the castle, so I'm pretending that I did. Here's a picture:
I chased a pigeon on the Tower Millennium Pier and then went home. I chilled at the flat for a little while and then went to Primrose Hill with BreeAnn. I didn't get any good pictures which is unfortunate because it was a really pretty view, but it was nice to just sit and watch it get dark and all the city lights turning on. The best was when they started glowing on the clouds above the city. I know that's considered light pollution, but it's still kind of cool.
P.S. Someday I'm going to see the Northern Lights. Add that to my bucket list.
Anyway, today was my last Sunday in London. We're leaving town on Tuesday to go to other places in England, as well as Scotland. I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by, and though I am excited to see these other places, I am going to miss having London as my home. It's been real.
I'm also going to miss the Brazilians and everyone in the branch. They have been so welcoming and loving and I've learned so much from them, including a little bit of Portuguese. (Though I can't speak it worth a hill of beans, I've learned the basic phonology and I can listen and understand a whole lot more than I could the first week.)
The young women Aimee and I were working with are going to EFY this week, and I just loved seeing their faces so happy and excited to go. And even though I'm just this crazy white girl who can kind of speak Spanish and looks like a deer in the headlights every time someone starts talking to her in Portuguese, they were so kind to me and thanked me for being their friend and for spending time with them in Young Women. They are beautiful girls with beautiful souls and I'm so grateful for having had the opportunity of knowing them.
Now it's time for our FHE/Fireside and then it is back up to the flats to start packing . . . ugh.
I am so glad that I am not the only one who says "I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob." :) Makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the dress. I love to read all about what you're up to!