The Next Blog Post?

Alright friends, true confessions time.

I cannot blog. I know this will come as a surprise to most of you, but I'm pretty much the worst blogger ever. Well, except those people who never start one and therefore obviously don't care about their friends and families at all. So here is going to be a little bit stream-of-conciousness recount of the time since last I blogged:

Well, Dublin was wonderful and I thought all of the poeple there were super cool and mostly we wandered about the Temple Bar district, which was named not for the traditional pastime of the people who live there, but for the Temple family who owned the area and the "bars" they laid on the street to keep people from slipping. The area is now a Fremont meets Hillcrest meets Greenwich Villiage type area, take the reference city you most closely relate to. Lots of theaters and restaurants and, it being Ireland after all, pubs. There was lots of shopping (new shorts of Heidi) and a cool Yeats exhibit at the National Library. I made friends with a guy named Brooks at the Guinness factory, but never saw him again. We enjoyed a few meals of Irish stew with the Professor, a showing of Shakespeare's Scottish play (theater kids? Hey? Hey?) and Andrew Lloyd Weber's Evita, which was fun, but not may favorite of his plays. A few of us went to a pre-approved for cleanliness parlor and got some cool piercings and a few others got tattoos (don't worry, Pop, nothing permanant on me). It was pretty much all fun in Dublin, oh yeah and we had class in the hotel. Romeo and Juliet and Atonement were on the schedule. All fun. Not so fun was the return to the urban environment's more tragic aspects. I was blown away by the large homeless population, and they just sat on the sidewalks staring off into the distance, not saying anything, it broke my heart. I talked to a few, but they mostly didn't seem interested. Anyone know any figures? How big is the Dublin homeless population?

Leaving at 7 am was not fun. We crossed on the ferry to Wales where we wasted a glorious week at the Hafod Hotel. I arrived to find a letter from my brilliant (in the American and British senses) roommate, and continued to eat my way into oblivion. Three course dinners every night? Two course breakfasts? Yes please. I am told the other family members have commented to other travelers about the amount food was discussed in their blogs, but I assure you: it was all we did. And it was glorious. Some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life. I also went on a walk (hike?) with the Professor and some other intrepid students through the Welsh countyside, very lovely. And Welsh is not Gaelic. There were many sheep, I still have not caught or pet a lamb. The remainder of my time in Aberystwyth was taken up by reading, class (but who really cares about that anyway), and many many many games of Mafia. I fooled them all.

Last friday we took the bus to Cambridge where I am now. We enjoyed walking around, but being back to a hostel and its food is tough. Tonight they made pizza and it was good, and some of us went to a Korean restaurant called Little Seoul which I am assured by our resident Korean, Pauline Kim, was very authentic. We have rented bikes for the week (only£17!!) and are loving riding through the streets. Some people are going to see Iron Man 2 this evening, I do not care to see it and have decided to stay in for a chat with the lovely Molly Elizabeth Lorden at 12. Oh, and church was at King's College this Sunday, beautiful boys choir, and it was confirmation which was interesting. I am amazed by the humour (British spelling anyone?) of these priests. I approve. Also, I have been purchasing the British versions of the Harry Potter series in paperback at bookstores and am planning on mailing them home, expect packages Mom and Dad. I have two so far.

Well, I am looking forward to: punting, the Orchard, more bike riding, and Stratford next week. I love you all and miss you! Home in about a month.

(In other news, my Dad graduated from his doctoral program. Boy, am I proud!)