I did warn you, don't say that I didn't. The events of the past few days have been varied and fun, mostly getting to know people and trying to find the essentials of everyday life. (For anyone who is interested, we do indeed now have sponges. Thank goodness. After about 24 hours and no way to clean the dishes well, I was ready to morgage my soul for a sponge.)
At this point in time, I have now taken the tube twice (once to figure out a cell phone, and once on a vegetarian-dinner-adventure with Marielle), been to the LDA centre, met most of the teachers (some of who seem truly eccentric and wonderful), and explored a couple of the local pubs (one of which has a large black cat).
One particularly noteworthy adventure occurred yesterday, as part of the journey to find vegetarian food. Marielle and I took the tube to the Tottenham Court Road stop, and got out to find that there were no street signs whatsoever. Finally we figured out a direction, and set off. Much to our delight, we found the restaurant with no further trouble. It was delicious, and cheap! When we finished eating we decided to continue exploring the area. Soon, we found ourselves in Soho.
As we walked down the street, an unsteady man poked his finger my direction. "Wanna go out on a date?" he slurred. I gave him a look that was part confusion, part disgust, and total refusal. As we walked a way, a skinny man smoking a cigarette gave me an amused look and said softly, "You should have said yes."
After that somewhat unusual incident, we carried on, and soon Marielle was pointing excitedly at something. I saw a bicycle on the side of the road, some cars driving by, and big buildings up ahead. Nothing particularly mindblowing, but she was certainly delighted. I adjusted my focus closer, and saw what she was looking at: "Garlic and Shots," a restaurant we had read about in our guidebook earlier that day. The resaurant itself sounded interesting (they but garlic in everything, including the cheesecake), but we were most intrigued by the basement... also known as the Vampire Bar. Right. We ventured downstairs, and found a bar that looks like this (I know it's a bad picture, but if you tilt either the computer or your head at a funny angle, it's easier to see):
Once inside, the logical next step was to see what was served there. Don't worry, we weren't irresponsible at all. But we did each have a "Bloodshot," which was incredibly spicy. It was what I imagine a very condensed Bloody Mary to be like, though I have never actually had a Bloody Mary.
In other news, Caroline and I found a store today that carries dishwashing detergent, tupperware, plastic stick-on hooks, and other useful things. We were absolutely ecstatic, and had a lot of fun finding stuff for the flat. I found a scrubby brush that was covered in coloured polka dots. Naturally, I bought it.
In case you're wondering, it does indeed match my luggage tag. See?
Luna has also been having some pretty good adventures. Here they are!
This is me with my new friend Caroline. We're standing on Brownlow Mews (isn't that a funny name for a street?). This is where Litza and Caroline will have class for the next few months. I hope I get to go along and watch sometimes, because it sounds very interesting!
This is me at a vegetarian restaurant called Red Veg. I went with my friends Litza and Marielle.
Generally I'm an insectivore, but I figured that it wouldn't hurt me to try something new. Who knew I would like falafal so much! I'm a pretty big fan of hummus too, actually. Right next to me is a can of Organic Cola. It tasted kind of different from regular old Coke, but I like it a lot. It makes a good occasional treat! I wouldn't want to drink to much of it, though. I need my teeth to be in tip-top condition for crunching meal worms, my favourite. I can't wait for my next adventure out and about!
**Note: I just realised that there is a very real possibility that I have not explained who Luna is, and that some of you are (reasonably) confused. My mom is the librarian at an elementary school, and Luna is their library pet (along with Jack Prelutsky and Christina Rossetti, the tortoises, who do not travel). "Flat Luna" is taking pictures and writing to the kids about different things she has done.
No comments:
Post a Comment