Stranded...but HAPPY!

So today I decided to be spontaneous. Three of my Aussie friends, Clare,Alice, and Kate went to London on Friday, but I had class so I couldn't. Our other friend Carl who lives 25mins from London was going to meet up with the girls on Saturday and show them around, and on Thursday night before they left he said I should join them on Saturday. Well if you know me at all, you know I am not the type to just decide to go somewhere, plans are needed. But I went to bed on Friday and all I could think about was how I wanted to go to London. I then convinced Prerna, Will, and Kelly to come along, so I wouldn't have to travel alone! We got up at 6am ( UNHOLY TIME) and grabbed the train and was there by 10:30! Carl and his brother Russel, who mind you was a spitting image of my uncle Kenny at the age of 26, met us at the tube station. The six of us decided to go to Camden and meet the three other Aussie girls, needless to say the girls shopped until they dropped! (I didn't dad...you can start breathing again) After that I had a run in with a rouge pigeon..I hate birds! This bird had the guts to dive bomb my head, alas making me look like I was a crazy lady running from a damn bird! After that ordeal The three boys, Prerna, Kelly and I went to Footlocker and New Era...stores for boys. But it was really fun to see the boys be sooo into shopping..Will actually said "I need to do retail therapy!!!" We then all met up for dinner and this mexican food place. After dinner the girls went back to camden to get their bags from the hostel so they could go home, the three boys and the others decided we wanted to go on the eye! The London Eye is this HUGE hundred foot fairest wheel. You can see allll of London, mind you we went on in the dark...while it was raining. Still well worth it! After that we went to a pub called the slug and lettuce..weird name but awesome drinks. It was really nice to just sit around with a nice drink and good company and just be in the moment, I mean when will I ever be back at 10pm in a London bar drinking with these friends...probs never! We then got a call from Clare saying how the trains were not working and there was no way of getting home tonight....awesome! It ends up that we are stranded in London. Thankfully Carl offered up his house. So all eight of us slept in his living room on the floor...not the best accommodations I have ever had but it was fun! I had no clothes since I assumed it was just a day trip so I had to borrow a pair of Basketball shorts and a huge tshirt...I am sure I looked very attractive. And in the morning I was awoken by Casey (their dog) licking me..YUM! I have never been the one to spontaneously do anything...but if I am being honest...that was one of the funnest days/nights of my life! It was fun not to have a plan..and just roam! It was a great day with awesome people...have I told you guys...I really don't want to leave England?

I didn't know I enlisted...

So this morning at 4am I was on a battle field. I was awoken from a comatose state (due to the fact that I took a benadyl) by loud BANGS outside my window...I was disoriented and confused so I did what I thought I should do, tucked and rolled. I tucked into the fetile position and rolled off my bed onto the floor where I then proceeded to army crawl to my window. Don't ask me how I knew how to army crawl(probably to much Army Wives) but I made it to the window where I skillfully used a bottle of wine to pull the curtain back, outside I could see smoke. At that moment I knew this would separate us men from the boys. I jumped to my feet, which I was proud to say I could do since I had done yoga only 6 hours ago and was sore, looked out the window only to learn that there were fireworks...though I wasn't in the safe zone yet, a rogue piece actually did strike my window. After that wake up call, I could tell it was going to be a good day.
After classes today we girls decided to treat ourselves to movie. Sadly it was New Moon, I hate my life. How is it a crazy pale girl gets a vampire AND a wear-wolf? Yes I AM aware it is a movie..but it doesn't make it any less depressing lol. Any way Prerna and I were making snide comments the whole damn movie, either cause we are both bitter about our love lives or the movie was bad, you can be the judge. SPOILER ALERT ONLY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK! At the end Edward asks Bella to Marry him...it is a lovely scene, quite...romantic...and once the words have left his mouth..you hear me "OH CHRIST!" I didn't realize it until the words had left my mouth that it was out loud...oh well. Though I must give credit where credit is due, New Moon has done it;s job...I cried, I laughed...and I officially became a cougar..Damn you Taylor Laughton!

DUBLIN!!!

So this weekend I went to Ireland!!! I didn't realize how excited I actually was until I couldn't fall asleep the nigh before. It meant a lot to me because I only recently found out that I was actually Irish my blood. As we are getting ready to land I saw a RAINBOW!! Like legit a rainbow in Ireland ad we are landing!!! Soooo we arrive in Ireland on Thursday night! It is me. Prerna, Marianne, Kelly, Kate, and Dana was meeting us at 11pm at the hostel. We stayed in a place called Paddys Palace...for a hostel it was a palace! The heat actually worked...what more could you want? We all grabbed a bite to eat and then I asked Dana what she would want for dinner since she be getting in late...she said whatever you can find. So after searching for gluten free food I decided on a bag of chip, an apple, and chocolate milk! She was thrilled! So once we all got settled we went to bed. We woke up at 8:30 to start our day. We met up with Steph and Matt ( my cousins) at this free walking tour. It went all around Dublin for three hours. It was great, our tour guide was from NY so it was pretty ironic. After that we all decided to go to the Guinness factory...that was fun for the most part, it is hard to travel with 6 people some like to go faster then others. Through the tour we got to pour our own pint...so now I can say I poured a perfect Guinness pint! I really am not a fan of beer but I told myself I had to try it...so now Dana has a picture of my before drinking the Guinness face to the "OH MY GOD THIS IS HORRIBLE!!" face. Throughout the tour we met this nice guy from Canada and he became our new friend and we literally hing out the rest of the day. When the tour was over we walked out into pouring rain!! I had my nice boots on and refused to ruin them, so what did I do....I put plastic bags over them...Canada tied them..and I walked through the streets of Dublin with plastic bags over me shoes! Sadly...they still got wet! Saturday we awoke and went shopping!!!! I got so much...that I probably didn;t need...but WANTED!! (sorry dad!) I got a sweatshirt...a Irish Harp neckalce and my ring!!! My lovely Claddagh ring! YAY ME! Then we went to Christ Church, which was beautiful!!! Though I am starting to think all churches here are like that!They had a creepy crypt with a cat and mouse that was mummified!! It was like itchy and scratchy!!! That night Dana and I and Kelly met Dana's friend from school at this bar called Flannery, which was located in Camden and is evidently where all the local kids hang out! It was sooo much fun dancing and meeting people. On our last day we met up with Steph and Matt for a literary Pub Crawl...the girls for the literary info, Matt more for the pub part hahah. In the afternoon we watched the rugby game at a local pub and then went for a traditional Irish dinner! I had fish and chips with mushy peas which were amazing!!! Matt, Steph,Dana and I hung out till about 1am drinking and dancing! Have I mentioned how cool they are!!???? Monday morning came and we had to leave...totally sad!!! But I will be back one day!

BILLY JOEL!!!

So I am no once again convinced that Billy Joel should be a God! He brings people together, I am in my room and I have my music on and Mariann is sleeping on my bed and Delaney comes in and is like do you have "For the longest Time" and I am like HELL YEA!! So I put it on...her and I start Jamming and Mariann wakes up and gets into it and then Clare and Joe join and we just jammed to the whole song together..sounded pretty damn good too! It's moments like that, that really make me love it here!
TODAY IS HALLOWEEN!!! Marianna, Prerna, Clare, Alice and Kelly are decorating our living room for the party tonight. It is really great to see how excited the Europeans are getting! We have a skeleton, cob webs, fake blood, a decapitated hand...IT;S AWESOME!!!
This whole [ast week has been learning week...which means I am going traveling!!! Mariann, Prerna, Kelly, David and I went to Oxford, Surray, Bath and Bristol.
The first place we went was Oxford...holy mother of God it was BEAUTIFUL!!! We stayed in a hostel called Funky Hostel..and it lived up to it's name. Prerna is convinced she got bitten by bed bugs. And I woke up to a man starring at me. But we had a fun night, we played pool with two New Zealnad boys who weren;t that bad lookin either! We went to the markets and had tea, to christ church where they filmed some Harry Potter and Mulvern College which is rated one of the most beautiful colleges in the Uk and only 600 kids study there.
The next day we went to Surrey and stayed in a lovely BandB. But that city was pretty much a wash out.
Then we went to Bath!!! Holy crap it is beautiful! The Romans were mainly the ones who built it up so there were many influences. We went to the Abby which was gergouse! Bishop Oliver King had a dream about restoring it with angels ascending and desecending ladders, It was pretty cool to see. (I lit a candle for Kenny ma!) Then we went to the roman baths. They gave us these audio things to put around our necks to listen to..Iswear with my camera, bag, and this damn audio thing all I needed was a fanny pack and a kid yelling "ma! ma! I;m bored!" But the whole roman bath thing was amazing! But then at night we went to the Spa. The water in bath comes from the ground like in Colorado so its all natural and good for you! We spent four hours there. They had a rooftop pool that overlooked the city...it is crazy to float and look at the stars and then look out on the horizon and see the moon and Bath Abby. The next day we went to stonhenge!!! It was really nice but kinda like the mona lisa...dissapointing...I mean it is a pile of rocks!! But the cool thing I kept thinking was my dad and aunt were there and when they went they could touch it. Not now though they have it roped off. But I really liked it! On the bus ride back I pulled a mom and woke everyone up for a rainbow...I thought it was very worth it!
And then today we stopped in Bristol and saw the SS Britain. Pretty damn cool to look at! And now I am home!

Dana was here!!!!

So this weekend Daney came to visit me!!! She got here on Thursday. Prerna walked into town with me to pick her up from the train. We didn't really do much that day, just went food shopping. Friday I had class so she stayed and hung out with people. After class though thats when the fun started!!!! Most of my friends decided to go to the dive bar (which is the student bar on campus) it was karaoke night! Drinks are pretty cheap there so we all ahd a good evening. Some of my friends sang beat it by michael jackson. Then we decided we wanted to go to the bar in town. About 6 went first and it was myself, Mariann,Prerna, Cecilia and Dana waiting for a cab that never came. So I called the company and literally said to them "what kind of bushiness are you running?" and hung up. But luckily we found a bus...that was actually free, go figure! As we headed to Lloyds my friend Claire poked her head out of McDonald's and called us in! Evidently no one was at the bar and they all wanted hamburgers, so we joined them. It was rather fun, there was this drunk guy in the corner sitting eating his burger with his eyes closed..he looked very much in love with his food.
On Saturday my friend Michael was celebrating his birthday so we stayed in and had a house party. There was about 20 plus people. It was hot and crowded. But still a fun time!

So what has happened since I last wrote?? Dana is coming to visit tomorrow!!! and I went to Manchester last weekend!!! It might have been the funnest times ever!! (I know funnest isn't a word) It was soooo nice to actually get to know Stephanie and Chris, and Matthew!!! I have never been bale to like hang out with them due to the distance, so this meant a lot to me. And the fact that they barley new me and still welcomed me for the weekend! I got there on Saturday, I took the train. (yes Dad..by MYSELF!!) My friend Prerna did walk me to the train though in Worcester. Any way it was about two hours and I got stuck next to this rowdy soccer fan who was DRUNK on the damn train. I tried talking to him about the game but he actually ignored me, turned his back on me..Jerk! Stephanie and Claire picked me up and we went to the center of Manchester, and Claire took us out for lunch to this awesome pizza place. I ordered a Americano pizza, except I couldn't understand the waiters accent, so he asked if I wanted pepper on it all I could do was look at him and go "What?" I am def the American. Any way we walked around a little and saw some sites. Then Steph and I went back to her house and got ready to meet Matthew and some of there friends at the pubs. I had soooo much fun, they really showed me a good time! The pubs were wicked cool, and we went to this club which played some oldies music. Sunday came and we were all a little too tiered to go out so we watched some tv...which is my heaven!!! I really needed this weekend..it was nice to be in a home environment and be around people who kinda know me so I can just be me! (Thanks Steph!!!!!!!) Ok I have to go to bed now...picking Dana up in the morning, so Iam sure at the end of this weekend I
ll have another post!

Dana would be proud.....

So....I am officially in L O V E with going out to bars and dance clubs! My favoirite people and I went out on Gay night in Worcester...it was awesome! We went a club called Reflex, which actually wasn't that crowded. Alice, Prerna (from Austrailia) and I first went ot the University bar for a pre game drink. While we were there it started to down pour!!! So we had to run back to our dorm to catch a taxi with the others, it ended up being Micheal, Espen, Denny, Alex, Clare, Kate and David. When we got to the club Prerna and I went right ot the bar (I was taught well!) I couldn't hear crap cause of the music so in the end I just yelled to the bar teneder "give me whatever is a pund..and then add a Southern Comfort shot!" needless to say I was feeling great! We danced all night...and actually for the last hour we owned the club...we had the dance floor to ourselves. After that we went to a place called "Mr. Shakees" who Micheal met and he set us up in the back with food and drink...most of it was free, a really nice man actually. Some decided to go home and sleep, but Alex, Denny, Espen, Micheal and I stayed up untill 8am! We sat in the kitchen just bullshitting and talking. I actually had a great conversation with Espen, he is from Norway just Micheal. Any way he randomly just started talking to me about how nice I am, and that I am a great women. It was nice to hear because sometimes you can forget that you are actually a really great person, so it was nice to see others notice. The boys then decided to make me an honary boy hahah. But I had to teach them how to shot gun a beer...so I showed them. I actually finsihed the whole thing in like 10 seconds! (Thanks Mich and Nate!!!!) Then I had a talk with Micheal, to fill you guys in...Micheal is my best friend here, we talk about everything and anything. And he watches out for me, (kinda like Dana;s Tim) After that at about 8am I went to bed, only ro be woken up by Micheal knocking on my door an hour later "Jen! you need to see Denny!!!" so I was like hell well I am not getting out of bed bring him here two seconds later I am gretted by Denny's smiling face with a a Mr. Shakee's flyer saying " I shake for Mr Shakees" and while he said that his body shaked...HILARIOUSE!!! I died a little then feell back to asleep. To be honest, that was one of the funniest nights here so far, good people, good drinks, and good memories!