Cornell and Beyond

Greetings from Dublin! Stupid hostel computer won’t let me write an entry, but just wanted to let you all know I’m alive and well!

A wonderful visit cut short

Steph and Diane made it! We had a great time in London, Bath and Bristol. Unfortunately, I did not make it the entire way. Thursday afternoon I developed a chill, which turned into a full on fever. Although I am currently recovering, I sent my friends onward to London for the last 2 days without me. I promise you a full barrage of pictures after the next two weeks. (My friend from Harvard is visiting me starting Monday, and the day after she leaves I’m off to Italy.) You can see why it is imperative that I get well quick! Anyways, I will try to find some internet cafe’s to keep you updated…Hopefully the posts will get more entertaining once I am all better. Well that’s the excuse I’ll use for now ; )

Moral of the story that can be extracted from all this: Even in England you still have to dress warmly, get plenty of rest, and eat your veggies…otherwise, this is what happens! How universal is mummy’s advice?

PS- Here’s one picture to tantalize you, before in London at the park. Tres belle.

NY Weather, if you delay my friends, I WILL come over there

I am quite excited because two of the greatest (and most attractive) Cornellians ever are arriving in London to visit me!  Unfortunately, this is the time that NY decides to start sleeting.  One week till April and the temperature in Ithaca drops and the snow rolls in.  Figures.

Diane and Steph, my two friends, were planning on driving down with another friend to NYC, but the blizzard like conditions stymied that plan.  Then, they went to the Ithaca bus station, only to be told tickets weren’t be sold because there might not be any seats.  (This all happened in the past few hours, mind you.)

Well, last I talked to them, they were IN THE BUS.  Which means that the normally 4 hour bus ride should get them to NYC in time for their flight the next morning.  (You might not get that joke.  If you’ve ever spent 9 hours on an alleged 4 hour bus ride you might see where I’m coming from.  When that happened to me, there wasn’t even any bad weather! It was more the additive consequences of one major traffic jam, one detour to pick up people left at the station, and a poor bus driver who hadn’t been given correct directions.  And that, by the way, is why if you’ll be doing the Ithaca-NYC trip often you should only take Coach USA…you might save a few bucks by taking the other vacation-only bus rides that some companies offer, but it’s not worth your sanity.  Phew, sorry for that somewhat bitter tangent.)

OK, wish me luck! Tomorrow I’m off to *hopefully* pick up my friends at Heathrow!

doors to a new musical world

Well, as promised, I thought I would attempt to explain to you the music scene in Bristol. 

First of all, it exists.  You may consider this a given, but being here I realize that it’s not necessarily a given.  For example, in Ithaca the music scene existence is highly questionable.  The Concert Commission does a great job of bringing some top names to the school, and Slope Day freshmen year with Snoop and The Game was absolutely amazing.  But besides that, there isn’t much of a vibrant music scene, in my opinion. 

I guess before I go any further I should note that particularly my musical knowledge is limited.  Besides knowing the first verse to Love it or Hate It by heart and having “Love Song” play count 63 times on my computer, my sphere of knowledge is a bit limited.  (And yes, I really do know the lyrics of that first verse by heart.  Chalk it up to hours of prep for my first Slope Day.)  I enjoy music, but it’s difficult for me to find new music besides by listening to it on the radio. 

Well, not in Bristol.  Perhaps due to the strong club/bar presence, the music variety ranges from indie, dance, jazz, electronic, Latin and everything in between.  And everyone has their taste.  Now, this might be normal for a big city, but it’s a big difference for me coming from little ole Ithaca.  In your typical Ithaca frat party, I’d say the range is pretty much from 50 to Fergie.  Disagree? Again, I’m not saying this is always the case.    

And then there’s the dancing style.  Oh, the dancing style.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  I was worried it was me being an ignorant American, but when I discussed it with my flat mate she told me she too was surprised to see this transpiring the dance floor.  How can I describe it? I think a good description would have to include uninhibited, limbs akimbo, and fun.  People are having fun, and you can tell.  As my flat mate put it aptly, “You’re dancing to have fun, not look attractive.”  And indeed to my untrained American eye the first time I saw it, people looked pretty awkward.  However, once you get used to it and understand where it’s coming from, not only is it fun to watch, it’s fun to dance as well.  

I think I might spare you guys of any pictures of my insane new dancing skills, however ; ) 

And on that note, I think I’ll say good night.  However, I have several things for you to look forward to in the coming weeks in my blog.  Being a tourist in London, having friends visiting from the States, going to Dublin, possibly going to Italy, etc etc.  Wow, am I lucky.  

a story for the grandchildren

This past Sunday, the weather over England changed dramatically, clouds drawing back revealing sunny blue skies all day. It could not have been a better day for the man running the Bristolian weather machine to take pity on the city, because that night there was a lunar eclipse.

I am lucky enough to be situated next to a sprawling park on a hill, which I put pictures up of several entries ago. So at 11 PM sharp my flat mates made it up to the top of the park armed with hot chocolate, blankets, and a childlike excitement. (Corny enough for ya?)

Because when the earth got between the sun and the moon there was still some light reaching the big cheese (or so google tells me), it wasn’t just the equivalent of watching a lunar cycle in the space of an hour. Instead, the moon turned this really magnificent shade of pink/red/purple. After watching the color recede for about an hour, we returned to our flat to enjoy some more hot chocolate before bedtime.

To make sure you understand how lucky it was to see the lunar eclipse, let me say that by the next morning the clouds had returned, unfortunately bringing rain and wind that continues to this second. It sounds like a minor hurricane is going on outside right now.

So when I say lucky I mean it.

I think that’s all I got on that topic, but, as a teaser for my next entry: the Bristol music scene and expanding my musical horizons.

weather worse than Ithaca? impossible? think again!

Seriously.  (Although I will say that today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and in all truth it’s an absolutely stunning day, if a bit windy.)

But the sun doesn’t always shine over Bristol.  In fact, I’ve never walked in the rain more often in my life.  Just yesterday it went from sunny and cheery to practically hailing and back again in the space of 15 minutes.  I’ve only seen wackier weather in Colorado, where I witnessed my first hail storm in the middle of the summer in Boulder. 

But I digress: what I was trying to say was that it rains quite a bit here.  Plus, it gets insanely windy, so much so that it’s a never ending battle just to keep your umbrella from flipping inside out.  (Granted, paying only 75 pence -or approximately a buck fifty- for my umbrella probably didn’t help things.) It really doesn’t matter though, whether your umbrella is from Burberry or a discount shop, the Bristol winds will get it!  I’ve seen so many scraggly, sad looking umbrellas it’s unbelievable. 

Crack it up to global warming, but the point is, if you’re in Ithaca, there’s no need to whinge (English slang of the day for you) about the weather.  You may get blizzards, but you also get to play in the snow.  You may get rain, but let’s be realistic; walking across campus doesn’t take you that long.   Come over here, watch the Bristolians hopelessly trying to hold on to their battered umbrellas in the pounding wind and rain on their 45 minute walk to campus, and then tell me about Ithaca’s horrible weather.

PS- Personal note, I’ve always thought the complaints about the weather in Ithaca were exaggerated.  Yeah, it can get frigid there but there’s nothing more invigorating than walking over Thurston Bridge on a spring day.  After all, those shirts say “Ithaca is Gorges” for a reason, and I’d like to think that the reason isn’t irony.