Audible Memories

Last night my roommate Erin and I visited the British Museum and caught the last day of the Voices of Bengal exhibit. Elaborately decorated scrolls were displayed across from ornate statues of Bengali gods and goddesses. We had a chance before the museum closed to peek in at the Egypt section on mummies, which always thrills the inner child in me for some reason. There was a section on medical diagnoses, where analysis of bones and tissue led to findings that ancient Egyptians seemed to suffer from rotting teeth due to sand getting into all of their food, various forms of anemia, etc. Maybe I could graduate medical school and become a mummy doctor.

The following morning I woke up at 4:00 in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. I laid in bed until about 7:30, at which point I said to myself, “Fuck it!” and decided to get up and go to breakfast downstairs. Somehow I never made it to breakfast but left the hotel and proceeded to walk all the way down Charing Cross Street to the acoustic strummings of Jack Johnson until I reached Trafalgar Square, and since that only took about 20 minutes, I continued walking until I reached the Hungerfood Footbridge on the Thames. I stayed around there for a while longer until I caught the morning sun finally peeking out behind the London Eye. The walk back was completely different, since the buildings were all bathed in the early morning light. I have to say this was one of the best hours I spent in London.

We took the bus to Oxford a few hours later. On the way, it began to rain, the light, misty, weepy rain that is characteristic of southern England. When we finally arrived at St. Catherine’s, I had begun to weep, too. The modern, yellowish brick buildings are worse looking than Stiles. However, like Stiles, St. Catz is a modern “architectural landmark.” After unloading and a long queue at the Porter’s Lodge, the check-in point and mail room for the college, we dazed and lost Americans lugged our bags through a courtyard to our staircases (equivalent to entryways) and rooms. I live on the 2^nd floor (which really is the 3^rd) with a roommate, Oly. Apparently the Americans are the only ones to have gotten doubles, which I think is less screwing us and more making sure we have a buddy to commiserate with. It’s a two-room double which is nice, and we have it set up with two beds in the back room and two desks in the front. We have our own bathroom, which is awesome, but it’s a tiny room about 5’ x 5’ with a standing shower and the most economical use of space possible. There are also just three columns of open shelves and a tiny closet for our clothes. Our linens and duvet is provided and are laundered weekly, which is the thing I’m most looking forward to so far.

All right, the bell has just tolled for dinner in hall. More on St. Catz living later in the week. :)