OH MY I've been a terrible blogger for the past month!
Since I last wrote there are many many things to update on:
Philip Cortese came to London! He's a good friend from Millsaps and is teaching Latin to junior high brats in Jackson right now. He and his middle-aged colleague Patsy came to Bristol for a Latin teachers conference thing and then got to come spend a day in London. We spent most of the day at the British Museum where they educated me on the Greek and Roman antiquities, had dinner along the Thames, and then went for a couple of pints in Covent Garden (sans Patsy). It was really great to see a familiar face and catch up about life back in Mississippi.
And we have two new roommates now. Since Loly moved out in January and Jen Neale had to go home unexpectedly we had 2 spots open in the flat. Loly's two acquaintances from Chile- Josefina (Jose) and Trinidad (Trini) - are the cutest little things. They are my age, 22 and 23. Luckily for everyone Jess and I haven't been doing the "No way, Jose!" thing.
I'll admit it hasn't been the easiest transition. I think that it's not the best idea for 2 friends to move in together because there seems to be kind of a split in the house. At first they had a bad habit of speaking to each other in Spanish a lot in front of us; Loly, Benjamin, and Vale were always really considerate about speaking English so that everyone was included in the conversation, and Veronica absolutely refused to speak Spanish since the whole reason she moved here was to improve her English. But Jess kind of blew up at Trini about it one day (eep! haha) and since then it hasn't been a problem... Not that it was a problem, it just made it harder for us all to get to know one another.
Isn't it funny to think I'm one of the veteran residents of the flat now?
Alright so when I was first planning on moving here last summer I was in contact with a guy in Jackson named Chane about working for him here. He's a screen-print designer and sells his stuff from shops in Jackson and markets in New York. He's been very successful in NY and wanted to expand his sales to London - that's where I come into the picture. He had a couple of people selling for him on the weekends last autumn and apparently it went pretty well. I met up with his friend Dave, one of the guys working for him, a few weeks ago in East London and he walked me around the area where the markets are set up. I've been there before to do some shopping with the girls because it's a really creative area full of both new designers and people selling vintage and thrifty finds. We talked through the basics about having a stall in one of the markets. I've been emailing with Chane back and forth in the past couple of weeks and we're talking about getting started in April. Pretty cool, I'll keep you posted!
Another familiar face came to London in February, too. Chelsea is a friend from Millsaps and she's teaching English in Lille, France. She had a couple of weeks off from work so she decided to come to London for a few days before flying to the states for a visit. We had an absolute blast together. Unfortunately I had to work the first 2 days she was here, but luckily she's a lot like me in her travel style. We both like to have some time alone in a new place to get acclimated and do our own thing... But funnily enough, as she was leaving my place that first morning she ran into Jose and Trini in the tube station and they invited her to come with them to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge (see, they're sweet).
During the weekend that Chelsea was here a friend named Terri was having a fancy dress (aka "costume party") with the theme of USA. Chels was a cowgirl and I was an indian. Not the most original ideas, but those were the best costumes we could come up with in a short amount of time. It was a hilarious party. There were American flags all over the place and my favorite costumes were Dolly Parton and Minnie Mouse.
Hello Dolly!
The next day we made a little trip to Portobello Road and Notting Hill to seek out some vintage-y shopping. We stopped in a little pub for dinner and met a very colorful character. We were talking about festivals back home and I think I was describing Jazz Fest last year. This old-ish man had been sitting next to us reading and drinking, and when we were having this conversation he was at the bar and turned around and said "That sounds like quite a show! Where was that again?" He sat down again and started talking music with us. He bought us each a pint and we started to learn quite a bit about this man: he's a "topper" (drummer) and a music lover and he started recounting stories of hanging with Steve Earle, filling in on drums for The Clash, meeting Bob Dylan in London... when he left to use the bathroom Chelsea was like, "Do you believe this guy? Do you think all that is true?" Who knows, but we decided there's no harm in believing, it makes the story much more fun. He gave me lots of tips about where to catch some good live music in London which was really nice. It's such a huge city, it's hard to figure out where and when the smaller shows are. We crossed the street with him to hear a band that was playing an open mic night and then headed on home. Our friend's name was George Butler.
This was the same day as the Super Bowl - wooooo hooooooooooo! We live around the corner from one of the most popular sports pubs in London so obviously we went there to watch it. Kick off wasn't until 11pm! It was packed and I think there were about 5 Colts fans in the whole place. It was really funny to be watching it here in London. Even if people here don't keep up with American football during the regular season, almost everyone watches the Super Bowl... but it made me wonder if they all actually knew what was going on in the game, haha. As you all know it was a super stupendous game and Chels and I were very proud when the Saints won. It was a nice little taste of Americana which I hadn't felt in awhile.
Looking a little tired aren't we? The game was over around 3am.