Barcelona, here we come!

I'm sitting in the airport typing this on my phone, so apologies in advance for any typos.

Before my phone becomes overloaded with Barcelona pictures and memories, here's a recap of this week.

It's felt kinda long, to be honest. I told my mother I felt like a housewife (something she thought was hysterically funny for some reason...), but really. Aside from homework and long classes, my week has felt like an endless cycle of shopping, cooking, laundry and dishes.

On Sunday, before heading to church, Ally and I headed to Green Park (the park we walked through when we went to Buckingham palace). It was a really beautiful day...and the falling autumn leaves made the New Englander in me smile. We procrastinated on reading for class and instead took these pictures.

Just as we were settled with our homework, we heard a marching band coming from Buckingham Palace and looked up to see a fairly large mass of people making their way towards the Queen's House. I looked at Ally and both of us decided that homework could wait. Haha.

It turned out to be just an ordinary Changing of the Guard, not a celebration of Her Majesty's return to the Palace (yes, we may have gotten a bit too excited), but it was a nice distraction nonetheless.

We did end up hitting the books again...but then were approached by an older man who wanted to give us his contact information to visit him in India. A little bit creeped out, we packed up our books once again (sometimes you just can't win!)

Later that afternoon, I stocked up on produce from the local Farmers' Market. I spent less than 10 pounds in total (definitely going to miss this aspect of London!)

Then I made make-ahead egg and hash brown meals for my busy mornings ahead (above).

After seeing a rather depressing play at the National Theatre for my London Stage class, I stepped out into this beautiful view of the River Thames. I use that word all the time...but the city is truly beautiful. Day and night.

Other than my classes and an assortment of field trips (I'm going to blog later with class-specific posts), I haven't been up to much. I had a lunch date on Wednesday with Amy, a college graduate I met at our Student Central fresher's fair. It was really nice to talk with an English native and fellow Christian. I'm looking forward to becoming involved in Koinonia, a Student Central club that Amy helps lead. Here's my delicious  very adventurous lunch (below).

Mashed avocado on toast with chia seeds and a carrot/radish/lettuce garnish/side. It was actually pretty good!

Enter Barcelona!

Thursday night, after class, we headed for Stockwell to meet our coach bus. 

We had a little bit of trouble figuring out which exact stop it was picking us up at. 

Anna deciphering the vague road map

And the bus was late, which made us (but NOT Anna) very anxious.

Me, Marisa, Zoe posing nervousness

    Us when we realized  Anna was right about the route

We made it to the bus. And we made it to the airport, too, where Melanie was waiting for us. 

Melanie's orange-flavored cookies that she bought at Sainsbury's but didn't like...they.were.so.good. 

"Leah will eat them. She likes everything." 

And one last picture. While exploring Stockwell, we found this place...

"Lucy First" 

 Yep, that was for you  Mom! 

Cheers, an Afty, and A Bit of a Do

I'm already falling behind...we've been here for four days! Today, however, was my all time favorite day so far. We met the other students we will be studying with, spent the afternoon exploring, and then took the most romantic bus tour ever created. But before I share that, here are some pictures of my home sweet home (and the first couple days).

We live on top of a hill that's on top of another hill that is on top of another hill (perhaps the reason why the borough is called Highgate). This is us all piling in with our luggage:

Here's a look into my apartment:

At night the city looks like its a mile away. We can see the lights from our kitchen window... It's pretty wild to think I'm living barely forty-five minutes from the center of the city. I don't think it has quite hit me yet, how lucky I am to be here. We were reminded today how rare it is to be able to live only a zone over from Central London. And I'm here? As an eighteen-year-old college student? It's truly amazing to have the opportunity.

 The inside of our flat looks brand new (because it is: we are its first residents since renovation!), but the building is extremely old. I'm glad they kept these vintage-y windows because each morning when the sun comes in, I feel like I could be a Bennet or a Bingley. Then, I wake up, get ready, and walk to the tube, hoping to arrive approximately 45 minutes after stepping out of the house. (So far it hasn't quite worked out that way, but it will...I think). Here's some pictures of the Arcadia center:

On Sunday, the day we flew in, Arcadia staff treated us to dinner at WagaMama, a delicious Thai restaurant in Central London. This was probably to prevent us from taking a nap so we could adjust to the local time, which was definitely a smart idea because otherwise I probably would have fallen asleep. 

The next day (Monday), we went on a self-navigated tour of the city as part of an orientation activity. Here's some typical touristy pictures:

And here's us back in Highgate: our first official grocery trip!

Next month we probably won't be as ecstatic to be taking on this part of #adulting. Here's a fun fact.  Grocery bags cost 2 pence. Each. So this girl is thankful her mother packed her a reusable grocery bag (that is also insulated!) It made the culture shock of food-shopping a little more bearable :)

And with that, I've completely run out of time. Its almost two in the morning here, so I guess I'll save the "a bit of a do" portion of this blog for a later post. Here's a sneak peek:

Can we say, ADORABLE? (The bus, that is, not me). 

Anyway, more on that later!

Cheers,

LKM