Less than a week...Ahhhhhh!!!

I cannot believe that I will be leaving here on Friday. Six weeks has really flown by. I am not going to lie, I miss America and what it holds. I am ready to see family and friends. We have talked about all the things we miss and here are a few: Ha..

Regular movie theaters
American TV
Air conditioning
Chick Fil A
Manners
The US Dollar
Regular keys
Our cars
Laying out
Beaches with sand
American products, ie groceries, cleaning stuff, etc
Our families
Our friends
Our own beds!
People who actually wear deodorant

I'm sure I will think of more later...but I tell you, I am not looking forward to the humid heat in GA! Yuck!

Okay, so...now, I will update you on the past week.

Sunday:
After much (and I mean a lot) of convincing, Liz persuaded me to go to the dang Burberry outlet with her. Mrs. Selma had been after her to go there. Problem was, it is pretty far from where we live so it would definitely would be a half-day kind of deal. Anyway, I really didn't want to go, but I gave in. Tori decided to go, as well.
We got onto the tube and rode the Jubilee (I think) line all the way to the end, which took about 40 minutes. From there, we tried to get on an overground train, but the freakin' line was shut down for repairs for the weekend. Plan B: We figured out what bus to get on to take us to Hackney Central. We weren't prepared for what followed. Ha. We rode that dang bus for over an hour. Ridic. Thennn--- about half-way through, we noticed that we were beginning to become the minority, if you know what I mean. By the time we got there, we were the only white people on the bus. We rode through some skeetttchhhyyy areas, let me tell you. I was literally tripping out the entire time because we were not expecting such an adventure. We finally figured out how to get to the warehouse. Liz racked up. I didn't buy anything (Mom and Dad should be proud) but helped Liz try on things inside of the store because they didn't have dressing rooms. Straaanngge. After about an hour there, we figured out that there was a bus that would take us straight to Baker Street. Geniuses, I say. We were all tired and hungry and ill by the time we got back. We ate at Zizi's Pizza because that was one place on our list of places to go before we leave London. After that, we went back to the flat. Mind you, after all of our traveling and such, it was already like 4 or 5pm!
Macon got back from Spain sometime that evening. We were all in our rooms on the computers or reading and we heard Macon yell from the kitchen. You see, we have had this dang mouse in the flat. We called our landlord about it a few times...I had never seen it, but Macon saw it once right when we got back from Paris. Anyway, she yelled that she saw it, and I ran to the rescue. Haha. The night before, Liz had seen it and screamed bloody murder. We had kept the doors closed and were hoping that the dang thing would get caught in the mouse trap and be done with. Oh, I should mention here that the genius maintenance man put a tortellini on the mousetrap. Now, please tell me, what mouse is going to go for a big hunk of pasta? I realize there is cheese in the middle, but the mouse doesn't know that! I put peanut butter on top of it hoping that would do the trick, but it really just ended up being a joke. That thing wasn't about to catch the mouse.
Anyway, moving on...I ran down to the kitchen and Liz, Macon, and Tori stood at the door watching it all go down. I saw the idiot thing on the counter and its little face was poking out from behind the cutting board that was leaning up against the wall. I tip-toed over and WHAM!!!-- pushed the cutting board up against the wall and trapped the little booger behind it. I was getting ready to squash him to death, but of course, the three Muskateers were screaming behind me not to kill him! Hahah..puhh--lease. So, instead, I asked what they propose I do with him. Nature lovers had no answer, so I grabbed a paper towel and picked the little nasty thing up by its foot. Lovely, I know. I was going to just throw him out in our courtyard but we decided he probably would find a way back in that way. Sooooo...after all of that, I chunked him in a pot, put the cutting board on top of it, and tramped upstairs to let him go in the street. By the way, I had on PJs at this point and probably looked like a freak to the passerby. I scanned the street and waited for a few people to walk by before I literally dumped him right in front of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. haha... he looked a little stunned for a minute but then scrambled off. What a way to end the day. I probably should get a trophy for that. Just saying.

Monday:
I went to work on Monday and we had appointments, as usual. Even though much of it is similar day in and day out, I love getting to see the excitement on the families faces as they see the screen. Oh, and, a lady came in with her husband, sister, nephew, mother, and grandmother. They all sat down in our relatively small room and watched as Dr. Gibb made a 3D video for them of the baby. This lady had had a miscarriage previously and this was her first viable pregnancy! All of the family was there for the big SEX reveal! ha...They all had bets going on what it would be. It was quite comical, but great to see how supported she was. Anyway, after work on Monday, I can't really remember what we did, soooo..I assume it wasn't that exciting.

Tuesday:
Dr. Gibb had another lady that needed to be induced. Again, we were back and forth from the hospital all day. We also had many appointments that day. I got to see two more CVS procedures. They are so awesome. I am lucky to get to see these things up close! I got back from work around 4 because Dr. Gibb was planning to call me when the lady went into labor. Of course, he called me around 11 to tell me that once she was ready, it came out in a matter of minutes and he didn't have time to call me. GRRRR...Oh well, I am hoping I will get to see one this week. If not, off with his head! Just kidding, but seriously.

Wednesday:
I had a terrible, never-ending headache and thought Liz had passed on her cold. Fortunately, I think it passed me for the most part, but I had one day of feeling quite terrible with the symptoms. Maybe my immune system is stronger than I think!

Thursay:
We had class all day..blah blah. In the afternoon, though, we went to the Imperial War Museum. At first, I dreaded this like the plague. I am not a big history buff, as I've previously mentioned, but this place was truly incredible. We went through an exhibit called The Children's War which detailed how children were affected in England during WWII. It even had a house (literally) set up inside of the exhibit which showed exactly what a home would feel like at that time. It was so neat. I literally felt like I was in a different decade. We also walked through the WWII exhibit and the way the had it set up was so engaging. Lastly, went into the Holocaust exhibit. It was quite extensive. I have been to the one in DC, but this was much more detailed. It also helps that I am 7 years older now and am much more able to appreciate it. Anyway, I am very, very interested in the Holocaust and took my time as I walked through and read, watched commentary, looked at pictures, etc. I was only about halfway through when the alarm sounded at the museum. Apparently, someone had tripped the fire alarm by leaving through a fire exit door but we all had to make our way down three flights of stairs to the outside before they would let anyone back in. After all of that fiasco, we decided to just go on home. Liz and I watched Notting Hill that night..I had never seen it before, but it was cute!

Friday:
Friday morning, we had to watch a movie for class. It was terrible. I forgot what it was even called. It was made in the 60's, but was long and hard to get in to. Instead, I read my book. I think we all have read probably about six books each since we've been here because we have no TV and its nice to have something to occupy our time when we are traveling, in class, bored, etc. No complaining, though. I love to read! That night, they finally gave in. I had been hollering about going to smoke hookah ever since I got to London. I have only done it a few times before, but there are lots of hookah places around, so I figured it would be a fun experience! Liz, Tori, Macon, Savannah, and I all went over to an area around Marble Arch. If I had to give it a name though, I would call it MiddleEastern Town. haha. There are tons and tons of Indian, Lebanese, and Mediterranean places there and people to match. We went to this place called "Salt" and sat outside while we had appetizers and I smoked watermelon hookah! Yummmm. Liz went ahead and ate dinner there because it was "normal" food and she had no desire to eat Middle Eastern food. We had great conversation and it was definitely a good time. After that, we walked down a bit to find somewhere authentic to eat. We found a Mediterranean place and had lamb, falafel, rice, etc, etc. It was good! The waiters were skeetttccchhhyyy, though, and after a little fiasco with Savannah and one of the waiters, we were QUITE keen on getting the heck out of there.

Saturday:
Liz and Tori left early on Saturday morning for Scotland. I didn't go because I am trying to save money for dresses for Recruitment and figured I would have some time to do some shopping while they were gone. Boy, was I right! I went to Primark and found six dresses, one shirt, and a pair of shoes! It is an experience in itself because it is HUGE and extremely crowded. You can only take 8 items in at a time so I was certain to pick those wisely because after waiting in line for thirty minutes, you have to rejoin the queue if you want to try on more than 8 things. It is quite a pain in the rear. Anyway, almost everything fit (amazingly) and I waited in the queue for about thirty more minutes to pay. I bought more dresses than I need because I need second and third opinions as to what I should keep. I will take the rest back before I leave London this week.
Anyway, last night, Macon and I went to see The Proposal. It was soooo cute! I loved it! I was worried that it might be a bit cheesy, but I didn't think it was at all! By the way, at the theatres here, you have assigned seats. Isn't that strange???? Even in a huge movie theatre! I couldn't believe it! It was just like going to see a play, but not! Ha!

Sunday:
So, currently, nothing to report. I stayed up until 4:30am last night after talking to Mama and Shellie and Josh and so I slept reaaally late. I didn't wake up until like 1pm! Ahh! I am still in my PJs and am trying to muster up some energy to do something. Haha..pathetic, I know.

I VOW to do better this week. Since I have less than a week left, I promise to update everyday.

I can't wait to see everyone!!!!!! Yay!

Kisses and hugs,
Abbie

Long Overdue

Okay, I'm skipping the pleasantries. I know I've done a terrible job these past few weeks. No excuse, really. Oh well...Here goes:

Wednesday:

On Wednesday, we had appointments all morning at Dr. Gibb's office. At around 9, we went to the hospital to induce labor for a Russian woman. Her water broke two nights before, so she had to be induced. She was a very calm, sweet lady. She seemed to have the upperhand with her husband, but anyway. We went back to check on her at 1pm and she was well into labor with the contractions and such. She was wrenching with terrible pain and couldn't get comfortable. We met with her and I observed her, the midwife, etc. She was planning to have the birth without drugs, but I just didn't see how she was going to do it. Later, at about 4, we went back and she still had not made enough progress. She was literally exhausted and still having terrible contractions. She finally decided to have an epidural. Good for her. I decided right then and there that when I have children later in life, they better be ready to pile the drugs on. Ha. No pain for me! It looked horrible!

Anyway, we went back to the office in between each visit to the hospital (it was a lot of walking!) and had appointments on and off all day. At about 7, we went to the hospital again. That baby was in no mood to visit us. Dr. Gibb checked her and she still had a ways to go. I ended up going home at 8:30pm and I heard the next day that she delivered at 1:30am! Poooor lady! At least she had drugs! I was a little miffed that I didn't get to see the delivery, though. Oh well, maybe next time.

Thursday:

For the most part, today was boring. We had class from 9:30am until around 5pm. We did have an awesome speaker at the end, though. His name was Graham Brady and he is a member of the Conservative Party of Parliament. He told us the general ins and outs and compared and contrasted our two countries. He then answered all of our questions. It was quite interesting. I enjoyed hearing about their socialized medicine and what he thought the best idea was for our future healthcare. He did have this one annoying hair, though. It was just hanging around his forehead and was totally misplaced. He kept pushing his hair back and always missed that piece. Ugh. Haha..

That night, we decided to go out. Tori, Liz, and I met Spencer in the tube station and we all headed to a place called Sports Cafe. We heard it was a fun, hot spot. Apparently, not on Thursday nights when it is raining. It was pretty empty when we got there. They had some cocktail specials going on so we sipped a few(?)--haha-- and left. We weren't ready to go home so we thought we would just walk around the area and find another bar/pub. We stumbled upon a CLUB called Tiger. Tiger. Tori had gone there a week ago with her man friend, but didn't really have much to say about it. Soooo, we ventured in. It was a 5 pound cover, which isn't too bad, so we tried it out. I have to say that we weren't really mentally/physically prepared for a club. We weren't dressed to the nines and weren't quite sure what we were getting ourselves into. Let me just say, it was quite hilarious really. I can't exactly describe with words what all we saw, but the crowd was interesting to say the least. We walked around a bit, people watched, had a few drinks, danced for like 2.5 seconds, were manhandled a tad more than we wanted to be, and then left. Finding a bus that would take us to Baker Street wasn't an easy feat, so we stopped off at McDonald's. Woopsie:) It was de-lish. We waited outside of Mickey D's until the next bus came that we needed. We got home safely and made sure that Spencer did the same.

Friday:

In the morning, we had to watch some dumb movie that Dr. Hardin had picked out. We were all exhausted from getting in late the night before so we struggled to stay awake for the movie. I'm pretty sure Liz clapped at the end because she was so thrilled that it was over...not because it was good. We slept alllll afternoon. It really was blissful. We woke up and almost croaked when we saw that it was 5:30pm. haha..I guess our bodies needed it! I'm not one to fight my own self! haha...So...here comes the fun part.

You see, our landlord STILL had not gotten our washing machine fixed. Therefore, I was running out of clothes -- fast. I am pretty sure that I wore what I slept in to class on Friday. Real classy, right? I couldn't help it! AND I was afraid Liz was about to start digging in my underwear drawer. We were desperate. We finally got word back from our internship/trip director and she said that the landlord was going to pay us back if we had to go to a launderette (laundromat). Great. Just what I want to do. Lug two weeks worth of clothes to a coin-laundry. Not to mention, the closest launderette was a tube stop away --- meaning that we stuffed all of our clothes into suitcases and had to ride the tube and walk for a total of about 25 minutes. We also stopped and got 20 pounds out of the cash machine (figuring that was a gross overestimate of what we needed). Boy, were we wrong. I ended up having 4 loads of laundry for a cool 4 pounds each to just wash. Then, it was 50pence for 7.5 minutes in the dryer. It ended up costing roughly 20 pounds (aka $36) for us to do laundry. RIDICULOUS! Needless to say, we were not in the best of moods when we left so we just went home and passed out.

Saturday:

We still had plenty on our list of things to do in London, so we thought we would try to tackle a few. First, we went to the Camden flea market. We had heard good things from a few people about it, so we were excited to go check it out. I'm not sure if those people were on drugs at the time, or if we happened to go on the wrong day (doubtful), but it wasn't all that it was hyped up to be. We were surrounded by emo/punk teenagers and hippie looking people. It reminded me of a weird version of China Town -- minus the Asians. Nevertheless, I was able to find a purse, ring, and a pair of sunglasses. They were all very cheap and cute! Liz bought a few things, as well. Tori was just ready to peace out as quickly as possible.

After Camden, we went to the Natural History Museum. It is gigantic. There are tons of exhibits and each of the exhibits are extensive. I really had been wanting to go there to see the Human Biology exhibit, of course. Tori wanted to see the Dinosaurs and Liz, well, Liz hates museums and made sure we knew it the whole time. She was a trooper, though. The biology exhibit was pretty neat but after you have seen the real Bodies Exhibit, nothing quite lives up to it. It was very informative and would be great for teaching purposes. The dinos were a different story. It was soooooo crowded and it was hard to even get a good look at the skeletons. Oh well.. We got home rather late in the afternoon so we cooked a yummy dinner and watched a movie together. Hoorah for a summer of girls nights!

I will pick back up with Sunday tomorrow! Or maybe later tonight! At least I got a few days in....

Peace and love,

Abbie

Braving Paris in Heels

Weekend in Paris!

Friday:

Tori, Liz, and I woke up Friday veeerryyy early after staying up quite late. We had about three hours of sleep. (Tori maybe less because she went out with a cute friend of her sisters --- gettt itttt).We made it in plenty of time to the train station for our journey. We grabbed some coffee/diet coke and a pastry. I fell asleep for half of the train trip, but Team Argentine (a group of high schoolers from Argentina - our nickname for them) was being too freakin' loud and quite annoying. We booked our Paris trip through a tour company so that we could bundle the train trip, a guided tour, and the hotel stay all together. It was a great deal!

When we got to Paris, we all boarded a coach and had a tour of the city. It highlighted most of the major touristy points and gave us a good, general overview of what we could see and do. We stopped as a group and split up to have lunch/look around. We had our first experience with speaking French to someone who knew no English. We ordered baguettes and were so unsure of ourselves that we didn't even get anything to drink. Bahah. Liz marched up to the menu board and pointed to what she wanted. Ha. I guess that works, too :)

We then got back on the coach and unfortunately, sat next to these two girls. One of them had on winter tights (idiot) and ballet flats. She slipped off her ballet flats and for a minute or two, Liz and I tried to figure out what had died on the bus. We literally had to cover our noses and breathe through our mouths to make it through the rest of the ride to the hotel. Lucky Tori had a cold so she couldn't figure out what the big deal was. I swear, I have never smelled feet that foul in my life. Eww.

Soooooo...we got to the hotel and discovered that they had put Tori in a room by herself...gay! The hotel was nice enough. No Ritz Carlton, but better than Motel 6. There was not much around it since it was in the business district, but was only a short Metro ride a way from the big attractions in Paris. We tried to take a 30 minute nap, but there was construction presumably in the rooms right above us. To no avail, I tried beating a wooden coat hanger on the ceiling but got no response. They kept right on beating above me. Anyway, we freshened up a bit (wasn't worth it because we still looked pretty rank) and met downstairs with the tour guide for a walking tour. We went to the Montmartre district and saw Moulin Rouge (rather unexciting from the outside), the last operating winery in Paris, and generally just strolled around the famous area. It was great! We ended the tour at Sacre Coure Church, which was absolutely beautiful. It is the most "homey" church that we have seen so far. Sacre Coure is situated on a very high point in Paris and has one of the most beautiful views of the city. Tons of tourists were hanging around and there were a few bands playing. There were even Brazilian guys with no shirts (and mighty fine bodies) doing dances and acrobatics for a large crowd.

Okay, I must tell you...our tour guide pretty much sucked. He read from note cards for our tour and even smoked during it. We have been spoiled by Russell and this guy just didn't even compare. I think he needs to keep his day-job. ALSO, there were these three guys from Australia who were on the same tour. They weren't cute, but one of them wouldn't be too terrible if he didn't have the most jacked up teeth I've ever come across. I am not kidding. They basically looked like all of them had gotten very confused and crossed each others paths and stuck there. I think some teeth were even doubled up in one place. It was heinous. He kept flirting with us and we all just cringed at that grill of his. Hahahaha..

Last, the tour guide showed as all a really great cafe/pub where we had dinner and cocktails. It was yummy! We sat with jacked-up teeth boy and his friends and an old man with a lisp. Quite interesting, I tell you.. After that, we went back to the hotel and rested up for Saturday.

Saturday:

We got up pretty early and had some delicious chocolate croissants. They were to die for. We left for Versailles and felt proud of ourselves because we THOUGHT we knew how to get there. Wrong. Everything was in French and we just couldn't figure out what train to get on. Luckily, we overheard a Middle Eastern lady ask someone if they knew how to get to Versailles. We heard them say that they were going there to and that they thought they knew the way. We decided it was best to just follow "the lady in the pink shirt" as well :) We got there a little over an hour later. Versailles is HUGE! I didn't realize how big it was. We waited in the queue for about 45 minutes and luckily, the weather cooperated because it wasn't too hot and didn't rain. We finally got tickets and walked through the King's Chamber, The Queen's Chamber, and the Hall of Mirrors. They were definitely a sight to see. Absolutely stunning. Every "nook and cranny" had intricate, immaculate detail. The ceilings were all painted (Josh laughed at me for not knowing what its called-- but I still don't know) with motifs of angels and such. I loved looking from floor to ceiling in every single room. All of the rooms were different colors and were just amazing. I can't say enough. The Hall of Mirrors was wonderful, as well. You know I liked the mirror part..Bahahaha. Again, my eyes were just stimulated from wall to wall with paintings, statues, lights, mirrors, etc. After we finished touring inside, we went to a cafe outside near the gardens and grabbed a sandwich and a diet coke (of course).

We left Versailles and headed straight to a boat tour of the Seine River. It was so relaxing and perfect. We had great views of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, the Louvre, Hotel de Ville, La Grande Bibliotheque, Institut de France, and much, much more. The bridges over the river were all beautiful and we were able to see lots of different architecture throughout the city. Of course, Liz fell asleep. She began to bob her head and finally rested her chin on her chest. haha. Lord, help her. She is a tired girl.

After our boat cruise, we went back to the hotel and had a quick nap before we got ready to go out. I felt like being a diva, so I teased my hair and put on leopard print and heels. Good thing Liz and Tor were there to calm me down, because I might have even gone for the red lipstick. Ha. So, we had seen a great French restaurant on our way home from the cruise, so we decided to go back there for dinner. We ordered some fabulous wine and had an excellent meal with a view of the sparkling Eiffel Tower. The waiter loved us, by the way. Also, there was a table of guys behind us and as I got up to go to the loo, they handed me a business card with their names, phone number, and USA on the back. hahahaha. Nice work.

We walked from the restaurant over to the Eiffel Tower. We stopped along the way at a food store and grabbed a bottle of French champagne. Yum. We sat down in the grass under the tower and drank out of the bottle while looking up at the stars. Pure bliss. It then began to rain. Bummer. We didn't let it ruin the moment. I had an umbrella with me. Genius, right? Almost...it was actually leopard print so I had to give it over to my friends. Leopard shirt and umbrella? Definitely a faux pas, as the French would say ;) Instead, I just soaked up the rain. A few guys heard our accents as we were talking and walked over. Two were from Colorado and one from London. They had met in a hostel and were out on the prowl. Minutes later, the guys we saw at dinner walked up with champagne in hand. Greaaattt.. they guys all sat around us and chatted it up. Liz, Tori, and I got bored with them all and were feeling pretty good by this point, so we decided to pack it up and head home. We rode the metro back and climbed into bed. A decidedly PERFECT night in Paris.

Sunday:

We woke up and had more deliiissh chocolate croissants. First, we walked down the Champs Elysee and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. It is so massive! Wonderful to see up close! We walked a bit more and sat down to people watch. So very interesting, I tell you. Probably one of my favorite pasttimes.

Next, we went to Notre Dame and stood in line for just a short while. It began to rain a bit, but we made it inside before we got too wet. The cathedral was so serene and dark, and they were actually having a church service while we walked around. It was kind of strange. We felt a bit like we were imposing, but it was lovely nonetheless. After we left there, we went in 1.4 million souvenir shops looking for Parisian tea towels for Mrs. Selma, but we never found any that she would care for.

We stopped for lunch at a cute little cafe near Notre Dame. We had a plate of cheeses and sandwiches and of course, diet coke. Yum. We people watched for a bit and sat next to these obnoxious tourists. They bought those typical Parisian hats and drank tea and coffee. All the while, they were documenting it on video and were commenting on the fact that they were doing all of these "Parisian" things. Lame!

After that, we walked to Lord Rogers' first brilliant building, the Pompidou Centre. It is just like the "inside-out building", but better -- because it is all painted in primary colors so it stands out even more! We walked by the Hotel de Ville and really got to see a great area of Paris while walking around. Liz demanded that we go and find Rue LaGrange. Blah. So, we walked there -- wasn't too far from Notre Dame -- so she could take a few pictures and represent L-Greasy. By that point, it was time to head back to the hotel to grab our things and get on the coach. We rode the train back to London and slept the whole way. Needless to say, we were exhausted from the weekend, but, boy was it worth it. It was wonderful.

Monday:

Ahhhhhhhh!! Dr. Gibb has the swine flu!!!! I went into work at 10am and the clinic manager informed me that Dr. Gibb was sick with the flu. He called his GP and they discussed whether or not it was the swine flu. Since he did not have a high enough fever, they weren't completely convinced that it was swine flu, but it may very well have been. They are not doing swab tests over in the UK so it really is impossible to tell if you actually have it or not if you have the symptoms.

Anyway, I was able to leave by 12pm. I cleaned the bathroom (ew) when I got home and tried to get our room a little bit neater. Our dang washer/dryer is messed up and our clothes have been accumulating since last week. I usually wash clothes once-twice a week so its freaking me out. I am really running out of clothes. Uggghhhh. Annoying. We have been in touch with our landlord to fix the washer, our broken drawer, and the possible mouse (double ew), and he has been slow about doing anything at all.

Moving on....Liz came home around 2:30pm so she came home and went to sleep rather quickly. Ha. I, however, had some ADPi stuff to attend to, so I didn't fall asleep until later. She slept for four hours! Hahahah..she woke up and thought it was morning.

Tori, Liz, and I went to the grocery and then had dinner at home. I am beginning to eat like a real college kid to cut costs. We have had canned ravioli more than I ever thought I would...:) Oh well...It's worth it!

Tuesday:

Dr. Abbas was in for Dr. Gibb since he was sick. We had appointments all morning and I was able to leave around 4. When I got back to the flat, I piddled around a bit with Lizzie and Tori. We started to watch Marie Antionette but I began to fall asleep. Oopsie! That is what getting up too early will do to you! I don't think I'm made to get up early. I like to sleep late. All in all, Tuesday was pretty uneventful.

I will be back to fill you in on yesterday and today, but quite frankly, my hand is about to fall off and I think I may have permanent nerve damage from all of this typing. I can't believe we only have two weeks left. Ahhhhh..we have a bunch of plans for this weekend so we can fit it all in before we leave.

Lots of love,

Abbie

Photos

New Photos!

I updated these two albums, so there are some new ones at the end..

People

Places

Here are the new photos from Paris! Enjoy!

Bonjour, Paris!

I will update later today with all of my stories from Paris!

Love,

Abbie

Oui Oui

Okay, so...39 Steps was great! The show is based on a Hitchcock film and was turned into a comedy. There were only four actors in the show...it was absolutely hilarious. They all played about 15 roles each and were sweating and spitting by the end of the show! Ha...we were in the 2nd row in a quaint theatre and I literally had to shield my face from the fluids at one point!! No kidding! Dr. Hardin was right behind us and his sides were probably split by the time we left because he laughed harder than anyone in there. It was quite entertaining on top of the show itself! Haha.

This morning, we had class (blech) and then stopped at a little shop on High Kensington Street and bought some accessories :) before heading back to the flat to get ready for our big afternoon! We went to Harrod's around 2:30pm and shopped around a bit before we met the Gores for High Tea. I bought a few little things in the chocolate and coffee area..Excited about those purchases! I literally was in LABEL HEAVEN. I can't wait until I'm filthy rich. I will come back and buy out the store. Gucci, Versace, Jimmy Cho, Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's -- you name it, they had it...We are certainly going back so that we can lust over all of the shoes, bags, jewelry, clothes, etc. High Tea was excellent. We had an assortment of little sandwiches, scones with jam, strawberry kiwi tea, and pastries. YUM! It hit the spooootttttt. Annndd -- Lizzie didn't even get in trouble TOO many times for her lack of table manners. Baha. Tommy either!

We stressed Mrs. Selma out after High Tea because we were in a rush to get to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong service. She literally ran 75% of the way so that we would make it in before the service began. Thankfully, the stars were lined up in favor of Mrs. Selma because we made it in time! Whew! The service was lovely. I just loved listening to the beautiful choir while studying the exqusite detail of every inch in the Abbey. It is just stunning.

After church, we stopped by a pub. Hahahaha. Ironic? Just a tad. That is what the Brits are all about! We had a few Pimms (rather quickly, I might add) and then went on to the show. The show is called We Will Rock You and it is basically a silly plot line with all of Queen's greatest hits. The acting, dancing, and singing were all phenomenal! Mrs. Selma, Mr. Tommy, Liz, and I were all rocking along in our seats. It is one of those shows where there never is a dull moment and you have a constant smile on your face. I almost wanted to stand up and cheer a few times! Ha...Elizabeth would have been mortified, just so you know. She is embarrassed by me pretty easily. I am surprised she hasn't quite gotten over it even though we have been friends for almost four years now. Oh well...she'll learn, won't she family? Y'all have finally learned to deal... :) Anyway, I would DEF recommend this show to everyone! It is absolutely a guy-friendly musical, too. I even think my brother, Adam, would enjoy it! Hehe...

OKAY, sooo... Tori, Liz, and I are leaving for Paris in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you can't tell, I am freaking excited. We have packed (for the most part) and will be leaving the flat at 7am! I am taking my ear plugs so I can sleep on the train. We have a full weekend ahead and are tickled to death that we are finally getting to go! Yay!

Will surely update when we get back. Don't miss me too much ;)

Kisses,

Abbie

Mum, Could we please build a rock-castle??

So, let's see... I officially suck at this. I keep forgetting to update and get too tired to think and be creative. Here I go:

Saturday, we went to Brighton via train bright and early in the morning. We got there by about 9:30am and were settled on our beach chairs by 10am. Problem: it was cloudy and freezing.. Greeeaatttt. Luckily, I had brought my UGA blanket and my crappy shower towel so we bundled up and took a nap until the sun came out. Okay, let me just tell you...this beach had no sand. None. Nada. Zip. It had rocks instead. There were pebbles from the sidewalks all the way down to the shoreline. Crazy, right? I have never heard of that before! We saw some poor kids with buckets and shovels, but I sure hope they weren't planning to make a rock-castle. Haaa... Anyway, I went down to test out the water. I got in about half-way and decided that I was going to get frost bite if I didn't get out ASAP. I ran back up the hill on the freakin rocks to our chairs. Ouch...I also fell off of my trusty beach chair and sustained some serious injuries. Haha.

The sun came out at about 1pm in full force. We lovvveed it! I fell asleep on one side so I am definitley more tan on that side. Sweet. Macon, poor thing, got seriously burned. The sun didn't seem so potent, but it totally tricked us! All in all...we had a wonderful day. We found strawberry cider and caramel digestibles, so when the sun was out, we were in heaven! Had a Happy 4th in London!

Sunday morning started out slow, but I think we needed that. We had been going strong and needed a little break. Lizzie and I took a walk and went and bought some DVD's at a store about 30 minutes from our house. I have never seen Harry Potter and so Liz bought all five of the older ones so that I could get caught up. Oh joy! We also got some other oldies, but goodies, for pretty cheap. We then went to Regent's Park and laid out our blanket and brought out the books. We read, napped, people watched, and soaked up the sun for a few hours...perfection!

Lizzie made me watch the first Harry Potter movie. It was cool to see the places in the film that we had actually seen in person, but I am just not a fan. Sorry HP lovers...y'all are losers. JK. But, seriously...

Work was great on Monday. Nothing too out of the norm, but it is just so cool to me to meet patients from South Africa, France, Spain, Lebanon, America (!), Australia, etc... Two ladies came in that are very close to their due dates. Dr. Gibb talked to both of them and they both gave permission for me to come for their births! Woop woop! I told Dr. Gibb that he must call me -- even if it is the middle of the night -- so that I can come and watch a natural birth. One of them even wants to deliver in a water pool. Its going to be amazing to see and I cannot wait! On a more somber note, we also gave terrible news of a miscarriage to a lady this day. It broke my heart. She handled it rather well, but now I see that he doesn't always have happy endings with every patient.

On Tuesday, I got to see my second C-section! It was very straightforward but even so, it was so different from the one before! I love watching surgery --- future career maybe?? We also had a patient that is a member of the Royal family from hgdfhgjhg...I can't exactly tell you where because I couldn't understand her accent. I asked Dr. Gibb after but I couldn't understand his accent either. Ha. Oh well. She was dressed to the nines and had an hour long consultation with us. She had a BMI of 45 so unfortunately, he would not be able to deliver her at the Portland Hospital. They are very wary of high risk pregnancies and births since they do not have an ICU. Blah blah. Anyway, Dr. Gibb is beginning to give me a lot more responsibilities and I LOVE IT! I hate sitting around and watching. I love the hands-on experience that I am now getting. I am testing urine, entering numerical data from the scans into the computers, helping with the scans, sending off lab samples, sitting in on all of the appointments, etc, etc....

Liz's parents got into town yesterday and they took Liz and I out to dinner and Sister Act! It was incredible. I seriously think that it rivals the performance of Wicked that I saw in New York on all levels. The scenery changes were stunning, the choreography was excellent, and we just thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Thanks Selma and Tommy :)

Today, I got to work super-early. Okay, 8:30 isn't that early, but it felt like it. We had appointments all morning and then went on rounds at the hospital for a bit. We met another lady today that is to deliver soon and she also gave permission for me to come to the birth! Geettt ittt...haha.. I am hoping that none of them occur while I am Paris this weekend! That would be a bummer.

Sooooo...we are going to a show called 39 Steps tonight with our entire group. Fun, fun. I don't really know what this show is about but Dr. Hardin seems to think that it is going to be great. Ever the optimist, I am eager to see how it goes :)

We have class tomorrow and then will probably pack for our weekend trip to Paris. Yay!

I will try and update tomorrow afternoon. Don't keep your fingers crossed, though ;)

Love,

Abbie

Two favorite things in London = caramel digestibles and cider

Work on Wednesday went by pretty quickly. We had scans pretty much all day and I was able to get home by 4pm so that I could relax a little before getting ready for Romeo and Juliet. After Macon, Liz, & I got ready, we went to meet Tori and the rest of our large group at The Globe Theatre. This is an exact replica of what Shakespeare would have seen waaayy back when. It was awesome! It is an open air amphitheatre and had beautiful architectural detail and luckily, the weather was lovely! Romeo and Juliet was great! The actors were all excellent (except that it was hard to understand them at times -- that accent mixed with the Shakespearean language!). I must say that Juliet was not my favorite. Other than that, though, the show was top notch! Our trip advisor purchased our tickets and we were ever so lucky to be "groundlings" during the show, which means that we had to stand for three long hours (yes, you heard me right) while we watched the show. I was not a happy camper about that one. It reminded me of my terrible JROTC days (barf) when we had to stand at attention for the dumb parades (double barf). I think I may have enjoyed the show much more had we been able to sit, but I guess I needed the experience! Ha..

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Caroline, Christen, and Lizzy had had a few too many ciders and they kept Liz and me entertained when the play was slow. Christen and Caroline were swaying, and Lizzy said quite loudly, "Why don't you just kill yourself already?" Hahahahha. I sure hope Romeo didn't hear her ;)

On Thursday, we had two lectures for our class. We were supposed to watch a movie but it didn't work out. So, Liz and I went to the school to talk to our AIFS supervisor to see if they could help us book a trip to Paris. We found a good deal and waited to talk to our parents, etc, before we booked it. After that, we went shopping so that Liz could get a swimsuit (she found one at TK Maxx...green with gold detail..hahaha) and I could get some shorts and stuff. I found a pair of shorts, two shirts, and a cotton dress -- all for 24 pounds at H&M! Ballin'!!! We then went to pick up our tickets for Brighton and went back to the flat.

We ate in again and then cleaned up. Spencer came over and we all played card games and enjoyed some wine and cider. I am pretty sure we probably kept the neighbors up with the yelling we were doing -- okay, the yelling I was doing. I get so dang competitive..haha..but no worries, Lizzie keeps me in check.

Today, everyone is at Leeds Castle and Cantebury. I am having trouble with my stomach (again, boo!) and I needed to just take some pain meds and try to rest up a little. I am at home alone now and am ready for the girls to get back. I think we may go to the grocery tonight so that we can get some stuff to take to the beach tomorrow. I can't wait to get out in the sun! I'm so looking forward to it. A little cider, cheese, and caramel digestibles (haha -- okay, thats really Digestives which are a certain type of cookies here that we have fallen in LOVE with) will just round the day out just perfectly. Not to mention, of course, that we Americans will be celebrating July 4th!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Peace,

Abbie