Uh-murr-kuh.

I've been back in the States for a while and I finally have the time to blog again. The past week and a half has been filled with some stress and a few tears, but mostly fun and loveliness.

I got home to NC on the 16th. The flight was long and less-than-comfortable, but it was a billion times more bomby than sleeping on top of an air conditioning vent in the windowsill in an airport. But I had done that in Rome the day before, so . . .

Anyway, every time I went to sleep and woke back up on the plane, I got more and more excited because it meant I was closer to home. When I stepped foot in the Detroit airport I nearly cried because I WAS IN AMERICA. I hadn't been in this country since eight weeks before, and I missed it! Customs was easy as pie, and I had enough time to change (I saved out an outfit the entire trip so that I could have clean clothes to go home in) and call my parents. The flight from Detroit to Charlotte was an hour and a half or so -- just enough time to read another play in my Oscar Wilde book. And then, there it was. North Carolina. The most beautiful place I'd seen in the two months since I'd left.

It was great to be at home with my family. One of my favorite times was when I was talking with mama about something Bryan said on his facebook status. He reported that kissing actually helps allergies, as one of the chemicals released is a natural histamine blocker. Daddy was sitting there and said, "I want some of that!" so mama put on her "just watch me, I'm about to do something clever" face and kind of frolicked over to Daddy and smooched him on the lips. Daddy looked up at Mama with wide eyes, kind of confused at what was going on. Turns out he was being silly and commenting on a commercial that was showing for smokeless cigarettes, which, by the way, sounds like the dumbest invention ever. Besides real cigarettes. He didn't seem to mind that she had misunderstood him, though. My parents are cute.

Friday came and Kelsey and I left to come back to BYU. I was sick (I had allergies at home, but for whatever reason I still had a cold when I left) and it was pretty miserable, but I got some hot chocolate in Phoenix that helped my throat. And then, there it was. Utah. The most . . . brown and dry place I'd seen in the two months since I'd left.

On Saturday I went with Jaz and Brandon (who are now engaged! Yippee!) to St. George for Cameron and Rachel's wedding luncheon where I caught my fourth bouquet in a year and a half. I'm beginning to suspect the stories aren't true.

Anyway, Kelk and I stayed with Bradalie until Monday and then I "moved in" to my new place. Really that just means that I took my carry-on suitcase and bookbag that I've lived out of for the past two and a half months and put those in the apartment and slept on the couches for the past few nights because my bedding and all of my other possessions are still being stored. . . . I'm looking forward to getting my stuff back when Naomi gets back in town.

Yesterday we moved Kelsey into her place in Helaman Halls. It kind of blows my mind that she's a college student now because I don't even feel old enough to be a college student. But here she is, and here I am. I'm so excited to spend time with her this year.

So even though I'm kind of dying every day from how dry it is here (it's worse than I remember!), it is good to be back and getting ready for school. I am excited to have a real schedule again.

And my new home? Well, I'll take pictures once we've gotten everything settled in and decorated, but it's awesome. Kind of a little bit HUGE. And beautiful. With tons of kitchen space. And (as of this morning) hot water. . . . Let's just say that my first two showers in my apartment were a tad chilly. Said showers were also sans shower curtain, but my time in Europe prepared me for that pretty well.

Debra is moving in today and Maddie is coming tonight, and we still have yet to meet mystery girl, but I know it will be great! I love my class schedule, work schedule, my coworkers who dunked me in Utah lake yesterday, my home, and at least two of my roommates, so I am really looking forward to this year -- my last year of college.

(!!!)

P.S. My birthday is coming up. I want a hammock, fishing rod and tackle. And a canoe for sitting space in my living room as inspired by our office riparian outing yesterday.

I feel funny.

I don't have much to say about the past couple of days except that Rome is hot and lovely. We've done a lot of sightseeing and walking . . . and more walking. And dehydrating. But it's great! I'm having gelato way more often than I should, I'm loving the exercise, and spending time with Jaz has been so good for me. She is simply awesome and she's making some really great decisions that I look up to her for. 

But the bottom line is this: These adventures on this trip have been great, but I feel weird lately. I can't put a name on the feeling; it isn't dread, but it's not excitement or anticipation either. I just feel like change is coming, and since I don't know what kind of change it is going to be, my heart is confused as to whether it should feel happy or nervous. 

Even so, throughout that change, I know that my family is always there for me, and man oh man I am so ready to see them! I'm ready to play guitar and sing with KeeLo, Kelk, and Parles. I'm ready to share a bed with seestor again and stay up all night doing crossword puzzles, helping her pack for BYU, and listening to Michael Bublé. I'm not actually ready to see how much taller Parley has gotten since the last time I saw him, but I am still looking forward to that goofy smile of his. And I can't wait to tease him about girls. I'm ready for Saturn to jump all over me. I won't even get mad if she pees on me. I'm not ready for the allergies to the cats (I just found out that Kelsey's cat, Cinnamon, had 3 kittens a few weeks ago).  I'm ready to eat some of Mama's homemade sourdough bread for the first time in a year and a half. I'm ready to speak horse latin with Mama for hours on end until we're laughing so hard that we cry. I'm ready to see Daddy smile again and hear him sing silly songs. In short, I am more than ready to hug the crazy out of them and remember how glad I am that they're mine for eternity.

Life dream:

To ride through Rome on the back of a scooter.

With a handsome Italian man driving it.

Half-Italian works too.

GELATO.

I'm in Rome!

It's an awesome city, and I'll write about it later, but first I have to tell you of the adventures and misadventures of my last couple of days in Madrid.

Sunday morning we slept in a little bit and got off to a slow start. It has been so nice to be able to do that! We packed up our things and had the hostel owner hold on to them while we went out for a couple of hours. We moseyed over to El Rastro, the market that takes over the whole neighborhood on Sundays. I didn't like it as much as Portobello Road or Camden Town, but it was fun to look at a few things and, again, hear the language everywhere. After that we headed through La Plaza Mayor and La Puerta del Sol to get to our hostel. We picked up our things and began the hour-plus journey (via metro) to church. Since we wanted to go to the market and church and the market was only open from 9 to 3 (and we didn't want to wake up and do church or the market at 9), our best option for fitting both in was to go to the ward that met at 3:05. This turned out to be a great decision, because even though it was so much farther away than the others, the ward building was so adorable. And yellow!

I loved attending church in Spanish. It had the same friendly atmosphere and cheek-kissing as the Portuguese branch I attended in London, except I understand Spanish twenty thousand times better than I understand Portuguese. Plus I understand kissing in any language. 

After Sacrament meeting we spoke with a couple of the ward members, one of whom was a Chilean, from Santiago. I told him about my friend serving in the Rancagua mission and he talked about what a beautiful place it was. He was such a kind old man and invited us to come and see him at his house next time we're in Chile. Good thing I know him so well.

We left church and met back up with Rhiannon at the Prado. The line was really long so we decided not to go in and to find some supper instead. Rhiannon and I went to this restaurant that kept playing Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias songs. We both got soup (I had gazpacho -- so delicious!) and horchata. If I had known it would be the last thing I would eat until the next evening, I might have eaten a little more, but it cooled me down and hit the spot. Then we met up with Jazlyn and Annie in McDonalds, where we sat in the air conditioning and talked for a couple of hours. It was so much fun talking to them and telling embarrassing stories about ourselves even though they now know my deepest darkest secrets about Tratelyn. 

Around 8 PM we left to walk through El Parque Retiro on our way to the airport. I wish I had spent more time in there, because as Rhiannon said, "That park kicks England's parks' butts." I didn't even see very much of it, but it was such a beautiful area and it was perfect for our evening stroll. We saw the statue of Satan, the fallen angel (El Ángel Caído), which we thought was funny for a Sunday. I shook my fist at him for making me sad sometimes. Then we walked over to the Crystal Palace, which was such a beautiful area! I wouldn't be offended if someone wanted to propose marriage to me there. 

We exited the park and went to the metro station to get back to the airport, our home for the night. We got there around 11 or 11:30, picked up our luggage (by the way, leaving half of my stuff there was the best decision I've ever made) and finally found a spot to spend the night. I wasn't very hungry, but I was dying of thirst so I bought a bottle of water. Then we blockaded ourselves in with luggage trolleys and slept behind a citibank counter. I didn't sleep very soundly, but I was surprisingly comfortable considering I pretty much slept on concrete. I wore my sweatpants under my skirt and propped my head up on my bookbag. Awesome. After going to sleep around 1 or 1:30 I woke up every 45 minutes or so and had to re-situate myself because I had at least one numb limb, but I did sleep. I hadn't thought I would be able to at all. The last time I woke up was around 4:30 when two ladies were talking to Jazlyn and telling her (in Italian) to wake Annie and me up so we wouldn't miss our flight. When I woke up one of the ladies started telling me, "It's 4:30" and making monster eyes at me to encourage me to open my eyes. It was sweet of them, but we weren't even going to be able to check in until 5:15. So whatever. 

When 5:15 came, we checked in, got through security, and sat at our gate until we boarded. I walked around to try and find some food, but the only thing that was open was the duty-free shop with perfumes and expensive candies and such. Any other day I might have wanted candy for breakfast, but I was so out of it and I needed real food. But there wasn't any, so I got on the flight without having breakfast.

Side story: On the way to Spain, Rhiannon said she felt like she had been drugged up. She had some vertigo and weird feelings in her brain. I felt the same way on the way to Rome, I guess from being extra dehydrated and exhausted, so I slept pretty much the whole way. I don't even remember taking off, and the only thing I remember about landing was how everyone cheered and the drunken Spaniard with the raspy voice who sat in front of Rhiannon started going off about something. I really needed to find food. 

But instead, we picked up our luggage, lost Jaz and Annie for a while, and finally found them and got to the train that would take us close enough to our hostel. At this point I actually felt hungry, and I was not in good shape on the train. Kind of thought I was going to die. We got off the train, took a while to find our hostel, and as soon as we paid and got everything taken care of, I collapsed on the bed. I was shaking like crazy, but I knew I wouldn't be able to spend any more time in the sun, even to get food or water, without collapsing in the middle of the road. So I took a shower instead. Best shower of my life. I hadn't showered since Saturday night, you know, and after all that time in the Spanish and Italian sun (and airports), I was stinky, gross, and feeling pretty bad about life. That shower turned everything around! I then took a 4 or 5 hour nap and when I woke up it was DEFINITELY dinner time. Good thing there are pizzerias on every corner, or I would have been sad. The Margherita Pizze was AWESOME. Then we found a gelateria and had our first taste of gelato in Italy. Fabulous. 

We went back to our hostel and chatted with friends and family for a little while until the internet crashed on us again (it gets kind of spotty, but it's free!) and then we watched a movie on my computer. The best part of the night was when, right outside our hostel gate, a man started playing the accordion and singing in Italian. Since then it's happened again, and we've seen the same thing outside several restaurants. 

I LOVE ROMA.

I slept pretty well last night, but woke up on the ornery side of the bed. I was sad that the internet still wasn't working (it crashed in the middle of my conversation with Mama and I miss her!) and my brain was thinking about unhappy things. But then Jaz and I finally went out (Annie and Rhiannon left a little earlier to go to the Vatican) and we saw some really cool things today! We walked to the Colosseum, where we saw some gladiators and stuff. One of them was attractive, but the others were old. Then we walked around the side of Palatino and up toward the Monumento a Vittoria Emanuele II. On the way we walked through the Piazza della Boca della Veritá, where I drank water out of one of the drinking fountains that Bishop Hunt told us about. There were some little girls there who thought it was the coolest thing ever. I thought so too! You put your finger at the end of the spigot so that it comes up out of a hole in the top of it, like a regular water fountain. It's pretty easy to get your whole face wet, though, but it's a nice way to cool down and the water tastes great! I'll put up a picture later. 

Once we got to the monument, we walked up and saw a couple of great views of the city. What a happenin' place! Then we walked to the street where we were told there were a lot of clothing stores, etc. Because we're girls and we like clothes and shoes. But, sadly, we don't like them enough to pay 50 euro or more, because that's one of the lowest prices we saw. Instead of buying clothes, we got lunch near the Pantheon and then went over to the Fontana di Trevi. Such a nice place! I threw a 1 euro cent coin in there, so hopefully my wish comes true.

The thing I like most about Rome so far is this:
We have a sightseeing map, with all the big places to go see, but we're finding out that the things on that map don't even show everything. There are tons of really neat places (the Piazza della Boca della Veritá, for example) that weren't on the map, but we just stumbled upon it. It's a very culturally-rich place. Love it.

Now we're back in our hostel and waiting for it to cool down a bit before heading out again. It was very hot today and I definitely have a watch tan starting to develop. As for the flip flop tan? Bring it on.

"I am a lady in Spain. I sing a haunting refrain."

Sí, es verdad. Estoy en España y me gusta muchísimo estar aquí.

We began our journey yesterday morning after having spent the night in Manchester. I didn't see the city at all, but the only thing worth seeing would have been Noel Gallagher, and I don't think he's been around there for a while. Sad.

Anyway, it was a long night, full of unpacking and repacking to try and make everything fit into only two bags. I've been carrying three ever since I started buying a lot of things, so I had to throw away lots of my older, more worn-out clothes. It was a tight fit, but man oh man have I gotten good at packing! I have everything in my bookbag and a small carryon suitcase. Rockin'.

So anyway, after a late night working out the details of our hostel and figuring out what we wanted to see on our little vacation, we got up fairly early to eat breakfast and finish getting ready to leave. We caught a coach to the Liverpool Airport and left from there. We thought we came pretty close to missing our flight, though, which was scary. Security took a little longer than we thought it would (the line seemed to be moving pretty quickly until we got in it. Naturally.) and they said they were going to close the gate with 30 minutes left before departure, no exceptions. But we ran to our gate and made it there just barely in time. Phew.

The flight was just under 2 and 1/2 hours and I had enough time to take a surprisingly comfortable nap and read The Importance of Being Earnest for the first time. As much as I love the movie (and the hunky men in it), reading the play was even more hilarious. I absolutely loved it, especially since it was such a quick read.

We landed in Madrid, found a place to store our luggage for a couple of days so we wouldn't have to haul all of it around, and made our way over to the metro to find our hostel. It's hot, but it's nice to not have to wear a hoodie in August!

Our hostel is in a really great location (within easy walking distance of all the cool stuff) and the owner is so kind! When he asked us where we were from and he found out that Jazlyn and Rhiannon were from Utah, he automatically started talking about the Mormons and how he visited the Washington D.C. temple visitors center one time. He went on and on about the temple and said it was "like you're at Disney or something!" I told him my parents were married there, and he just smiled and said again and again how beautiful it was. What a nice man!

We got settled into our room (with the great view of our part of the city) and eventually went out for dinner. We found this place called Vitaminas, which had all sorts of good foods and delicious real-fruit smoothies. Our waiter was really fun. We had just exchanged money a couple of hours before, so Jaz didn't have any small bills. She paid him with a large bill and said, "Don't kill me for giving you so much money!" and he replied, "SILENCE! . . . I kill you." We had some great conversation about Jeff Dunham and then he urged us to come back again when he was working. We probably won't just because of limited time, but he was a cutie. It was fun.

After supper we wandered around La Puerta del Sol, going into some of the different shops and stuff. Didn't buy anything, but saw some really cute things. Call me materialistic, but I like things.

We got back to the hostel and kind of just chilled for the rest of the night. We were up talking for quite some time, which was a blast. I do love these girls!

This morning we got a slow start because it just felt so good to sleep in. Jaz and I went out for breakfast and then came back and took an early siesta. (Siesta-ing in Spain!!!! I never thought I'd see the day!) Around 1:30 or so she and Annie and I went out to mosey our way over to the Reina Sofía, the art museum here in Madrid. We stopped at a few places along the way (I'm on a serious hunt for a cheap -- but not cheaply-made -- España soccer jersey that I wanted even before they became campeones del mundo) and eventually made it over there. We were there during a free time, so of course it was more awesome than paying money to get in. I really only wanted to see one thing: Picasso's Guernica. After having taken so many Spanish classes, I figured it'd be good to go pay my homage and see what this Guernica is all about.

I can't really explain how I felt. I've said before how I'm not extremely artsy and I don't really know my taste except that I don't usually like abstract stuff, but this was nice. Part of it was because it was so huge.  I knew it was a mural, but I don't think I ever thought about how big it would actually be. Since I wasn't just looking at a small print in a text book, I just feel like I understood it better. The figures didn't just look like abstract lines and shapes, but I felt the more human side of it portrayed. The wide-eyed toro was my favorite part; to me it really conveyed the universality of fear and dread of war. That bull doesn't have to just be a bull that represents Spain and its civil war, but any creature -- any human, even -- that may be different from the ones depicted as the victims are also frightened and horrified at the violent scene. When wars ensue, all who witness are victims of the tragedies. Even though Picasso's style has never been easy for me to really like, I do love that painting and I love that I got to see it in person.

After our visit to Guernica, we wandered up to La Plaza Mayor and found a place to eat. I had paella, and loved it! It was even better when I squeezed lemon all over it. I didn't eat the seafood though, because I just didn't want to. Maybe I'll get better at that someday. If I can try haggis, I can try anything. I just didn't want to today.

After a little more wandering and moseying, we are now back out our hostel and ready to just hang out and watch a movie on my computer. I was going to see Toy Story 3 in Spanish . . .

Another day.

One more thing: I love hearing and understanding Spanish. I even love the Spanish accent, lisps and all. It's a whole lot prettier from real Spaniards than it is from the RMs who still have thick American accents and practically spit on you with their ths.

I also love using my Spanish and being understood. Love love love it.

OH YEAH!

Greg and Jayne found out the gender of their baby on Monday.

I'M GOING TO HAVE A NIECE! 

I can't wait to spoil that baby rotten.

The adventures of Khan Gogh.

I have not been a very good blogger lately, and I don't have a good excuse, so we'll skip that part and head straight into telling stories about life as of late.

Friday evening we didn't do much besides sitting around the hostel and relaxing. I think we may have watched a movie that night, but I don't remember for sure. Mostly I just remember having a lot of good times with these girls and all the awesomeness is just oozing together. 

Saturday morning I went out with Erica, Liz B, and Mariah. We started our exploring around 10 AM (a bit later than most of the others) and were making our way to St. Giles Cathedral, where Erica and I were going to participate in Edinburgh's first flash mob. It was a free event and supposed to be really fun; the description said we'd be assigned to either be kazoo players or body-drummers and that we'd get a free t-shirt for participating. I couldn't wait! 

But it turns out we went the wrong way because we misread the map and went to the completely opposite side of town from where we wanted to be. Sad! We didn't make it there in time, but at that point we weren't too worried about it. We spent some time walking up and down the Royal Mile, going into every cheesy tourist Scotland shop we could find, coveting the expensive kilts and bagpipes that we could see. Eventually we made it over to the National Library of Scotland, where we played a little bit of miniature golf (YES I golfed in Scotland thank you very much!) and created a book called "The Murder of Journey." I guess I stopped believing. 

Then we sat down in some comfy chairs and I read Peter Rabbit to the other girls. I practiced my "reading upside-down while I show everyone the pictures" skills that I was always so impressed with as an elementary school student. 

After visiting the library, we went to the Elephant House, where several famous authors have sat down to write their books. Among these authors is J.K. Rowling. She sat in the back room of that café and wrote the first couple Harry Potter books. Awesome, right? Well even more awesome is that I visited "the birthplace of Harry Potter" on July 31st. Harry's birthday. Suh-weet.

Riding an Elephant in the Elephant House

We ended up not going to Edinburgh Castle, which I was kind of bummed out about. No one in my group really wanted to go, and I found out later that I didn't have my British Heritage card with me so I wouldn't have been able to get in free anyway. Oh well. Someday when I'm back in Scotland . . . 

That night turned out to be fantastic, though. It was the Eve of Ashley's birthday so we wanted to go out somewhere kind of nice to eat. Kari and some of the other girls recommended this Italian place that they had eaten at Friday night (I don't even remember the name of it) because the owner was so very . . . Italian. We were told to look forward to a great time, and "great" doesn't even begin to express it. 

We got up to the restaurant, and Giuseppe greeted us with the biggest smile and started singing Happy Birthday to Ashley. He went in, prepared our table, and seated us, all the while singing and smiling and calling us pet names. The whole dining experience was a blast! He told us about his hometown in Italy and how it was paradise, and made lots of silly jokes and stuff. He told Ashley she was his little mermaid, and by the end he was taking pictures with all of us and had probably given Ashley 15 kisses on the cheek. 

Giuseppe is the very happy Italian man in the middle

It was such a blast. I was smiling for the rest of the night! I would love to marry into an Italian family. . . . 

After our wonderful meal, we headed back to the hostel in high spirits and finished the evening watching She's the Man and giving back massages. 

Sunday was also pretty great, even though I was feeling sick again. My ears were fine, but my nose had certainly backtracked. I was more congested on Sunday than I had been in a while, so I was moving very slowly and having trouble getting ready for church on time and stuff. 

*Side note: Because of my congestion, Katie christened me "Congo." The orthography has undergone some changes and we now spell it Khan Gogh. As in "The Wrath of Khan meets Vincent Van Gogh." We like nicknames a lot lately; we have TakTak, Raffi, Bali, Rhino, and Shark Ripslash, among others.

Church was still great even though I felt sick. I just have to say that the people in Edinburgh were some of the nicest people ever. Except for the different accent and absence of the words "darlin" and "honey," I kind of felt like I was back in the South. Everyone in the stores, on the streets, and at our hostel were so very kind and accommodating. I hate that I didn't spend more time doing things in that city, but I'll definitely want to go back someday. 

Monday we left Edinburgh for a day trip to the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond and Stirling. Even though I was not a fan of being on a bus the whole day, I enjoyed the trip a lot. First of all, our coach driver was a lot like me. How so? Well, he found his own jokes funnier than anyone else did, which is kind of the story of my life. But the difference between him and me is that even if I think I'm hilarious, I don't laugh at myself the way he did. It was kind of unreal how often he laughed, but I loved it! He sometimes sounded like Ernie. 

The other awesome thing about Scotland: Irn Bru. As in "iron brew." It's a soft drink that kind of tastes like bubblegum. And I had an ice cream cone that was Irn Bru flavored, and man oh man it was tasty! I love trying out new flavors and that was one of my favorites. That and Banoffee. Mmm.

After wandering around Loch Lomond, we went up in the Scottish Highlands for a bit. I know I've raved a lot about the beauty of these places and stuff, but MAN it was beautiful up there. Scenery like unto that of North Carolina. LOVE IT. 

We went to Stirling Castle, which was just another castle in my opinion. Funny how that works after you've seen five thousand of them. But I did enjoy climbing up on the higher walls and looking out over the city. Prettiness. 

Once we got back into Edinburgh we didn't do much besides chilling around the hostel. Again, I wish I had gotten out to see more of the city, but I've also enjoyed just hanging out with these girls. I pretty much really love them a lot by now.

Tuesday morning we left Edinburgh to make our way to York. We stopped at Hadrian's wall and Durham Cathedral on the way. Then we had a Viking banquet feast thing at the Barley Hall here in York. We had venison. So so so yummy, though I kind of wish there had been a roast pig with an apple in its mouth. That would've been bomby. Yea, even the bombiest. 

Anyway, we had a little slide show and a few recitations/performances to kind of start the whole "saying goodbye to each other and the UK" process. I had not been having the best day (that stupid Satan guy tells me all sorts of lies and for some reason I listened to him a little bit) and thinking about how close this trip is to being over just made me even sadder. I've learned so many things on this trip, even apart from the academic aspect of it. I've learned so much about other people, about myself, about life in general, and I love it. I still kind of can't believe that I'm here, and the experience has been so much more than I ever imagined before coming. Life is grand.

Thanks to the goofiness and intuition of Jazlyn and Erica, I went to bed so much happier last night. This morning was good too. Jazlyn had gotten sick (a migraine from the onions in the venison) and had been vomiting all morning, so she wasn't feeling up to going out. It was rainy, so I stayed in with her until this afternoon when we explored around York. We went to Shambles, which is supposed to be the most picturesque street in Europe, and got milkshakes at Chocolate Heaven. Heaven it was. We walked through a little park/garden and walked back the same way we came, by the river. We didn't do a ton of stuff, but we spent some great time together and chatted it up about all sorts of things. I love that girl to pieces! But mostly just in one piece.

Funny(ish) story: Since Jaz wasn't feeling great and I was feeling lazy, neither of us got very dressed up today. Jeans and hoodies. I wore my Oxford sweatshirt, and Jazlyn wore her Lifeguard sweatshirt. As we were walking by the river to the town, two very honest boys were riding their bicycles (without handlebars) past us and decided to speak out against the dishonesty of our shirts. 

"Hey girls," the one boy said, "You never went to Oxford. And you're not a lifeguard," and then he essentially called us stupid, though it was a different word that I won't repeat. Jazlyn shouted back, "I AM a lifeguard!" Then I pouted to myself, "And I have been to Oxford."

Now I've finally showered and had supper, and I am excited to have a massage train while we watch a movie tonight. Tomorrow is Manchester, and then the program will be over and it's off to more adventures. Surreal. Yet so real.