May 13 - Jet Lag to the Max

Sorry guys, no pictures today. I am having problems I wish I had thought of before hand. And while I am on that subject, Mom I have an assigment for you. My laptop plug has 3 prongs, my converter only 2 prongs. See the problem here? Would you do me the favor and look around for one asap with 3 prongs? I will look here as well. My laptop is totally dead and I am using the £2 worth of internet time they gave me.

I would appreciate that.

If not my south african friend has one he told me I can borrow.

And in light of the situation I am sad that I will have to hurry and type all my thoughts down. Please disregard the vague details and typos. I will do my best. :)

So, a few things about London. You only see really nice, luxury cars on the roads. The reason is London is so expensive, only the rich can afford them. I have only see one Chrysler town and country van, they do not have any sort of truck, and you see tons of yaris's (although the body is a little different) and malibus. They also don't have speed limit signs anywhere, and cars whiz by. They also do not yeild to pedestrians or stop at red lights. I will be lucky if I get out of London not being squashed like a pancake! I get so confused and I look the wrong way before I cross the street too. They even have signs that say "Look Left" or "Look Right", but I... I dunno... I'm retarded.

Dad, don't worry about the strangers. And I haven't seen that red-headed boy again. Calm down. :)

They have this crazy thing here called CCTV. I don't know what it stands for exactly, but it basically means there are camera's everywhere. The police are always watching you, and it's a little creepy.

Today I did some really fun things. First we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (I think that's what it's called, it says V&A everywhere...). It is basically a huge art museum. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE!! It is inside an old castle, so you can imagine how big it is. I hurried and saw as much as I could. It was amazing! It was so cool to actually see prints from the medieval times I have only seen in text books.

I also got to see some Knight's Armour and dresses actual Queens wore. They also had all these roman statues everywhere. I was in heaven.

Next we went to the Natural History Museum. It's honeslty not as exciting and looks like every other natural history museum in the US. The only difference were, the museum only had dinosaur bones from the europe area (no raptors or triceratops). I honestly had more fun watching all the school groups with kid's in their cute little unifroms walking around following their instructor. They are soooo cute!! I want to try and take a picture of a school group, but I don't want a lawsuit showing up.

We then went to the Science Museum. I wasn't to interested either. They mainly had models of old trains and cars. They did have the first correct model built of DNA there (I forget the scientist's name, but I am sure you know rebecca). I took pictures. :)

Next we went to..... HARRODS!!!

Oh my holy cow, I wish I had a million pounds to go spend there. They have all the designers, and the most gorgeous clothes. I bought me the cheapest thing I could find there (I will show you when I get home), but my friend Kim found a Peter Rabbit doll there for £19.95, and I am tempted to go back and get me one too if I can't find a cheaper one when we go to the Beatrix Potter museum in a few days.

The most expensive items I found:
Prada shoes = £650 (about $1500) - they were ugly too
Chanel Sequin Dress (in rainbow colors!!) = £1500 ($3000)

The bathrooms in Harrods are crazy!! My friends and I waited to go to the bathroom until we got there. We were curious. They are huge, and way nice. They have a lady standing there to direct you to the next available toilet. She then watches you wash your hands, hands you a towel, and then waits for a tip. Then they put a silver platter infront of you with a variety of designer perfumes, and sprays the one of your choice on you. You are then rewarded with a ice-cold cup of water. And all that just to go to the bathroom!

They also have a shrine for Princess Diana in the ladies department. No kidding. I took pictures and laughed hysterically about it all.

After that we walked back to the hostel. We were all pooped. Major jet lag.

Hillary and I decided we wanted some good, wholesome food, so we walked down to the Sansburys supermarket and bought stuff for hamburgers. And yes, believe it or not, I helped! (I sliced the tomatoes and onions and cooked the corn on the cob). I also found "American Style Cookies" and bought me some. :) Their cookies here are more like a hard biscuit.

They also have flap jacks everywhere. They aren't pancakes though, they are almost like a rice crispy treat made from oats. They do put syrup on them though, and i habe seen some with whipped cream.

They don't have garbage cans anywhere on the streets because people but bombs in them. If you need to throw something away you have to go inside somewhere and ask for their "litter basket". They also won't know what you are talking about if you ask for the bathroom. You have to ask for the "water closet".

When we sat down to eat our hamburgers the other british kids in the kitchen were laughing at us and our "typical american meal". According to them we should eat their food. They may be right, but I am sticking to as much american as I can get away with. Everyone here is cordial to us, but we all know they hate us. They also tease us ruthlessly and we are frequently looked at as if we are freaks. It's a fake sort of cordial, and I honestly don't blame them. We are spoiled. 2 days in and I already can see how spoiled we are.

I love our hostel. It's a freaking maze though! I always get lost! They have a community kitchen that everyone can use. Thankfully it is basically clean, and everyone has to do their own dishes. The enviroment here is so chill, i love it. The walls are adorned with pictures of The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Bob Marley, and other stuff along those lines. Think The Pie as a hostel, and there you have Astor Kensington (minus that much writing on the walls-although it is getting close).

Tomorrow we are going to the giant British Museum and I can't wait for that.

Please see if you can find anything for my laptop. I am really disappointed about it. I will keep my eyes open too, there are little tourist shops everywhere over here.

Well it is 10 pm here now and I am beat and still need to shower, so I am going to go take my meds and try to get some sleep. I am not excited for that public shower...

And P.S. my shoulders kill. I am going to need one major massage when I get home, just to warn y'all. Anyone who is willing?

Hugs and loves, goodnight!