I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've blogged (Kellie is harassing me about another post) but to be frank, I've been too tired and nothing that crazy has happened. I'm actually writing this on a flight to Rome and figured that I should write down some of the past week before I get bombarded with more! I think the last thing that I told you guys about was the globe and seeing
Oh What A Lovely War so let's see how well my memory serves me because that was over a week ago. Last Saturday our group took a day trip to Bath, an ancient Roman settlement of...wait for it... baths! I know that was shocking. The baths that we looked at (you aren't allowed to swim in them) are a natural hot spring that ancient Romans thought would make a good hot tub I guess, haha. But in all seriousness the baths were used for religious cleansing and healing. The people came from all over the country to seek relief from various illness and ailments. They have been in existence and used for over 2,000 years! (Did I make that number up?) Our tour guide was hilarious and said that she wasn't surprised that Romans came to Bath because if they showed up in the winter of Britain in nothing but their knickers that are skirts and sandals they would be very cold! There was one large bath that in its heyday would have been covered and very architecturally sophisticated. Around the top of the bath house were statues of Julius Caesar and Herodian (did I make up that too?) among other prominent Romans of the day. The city itself was a quaint little town that provided a touristy atmosphere and lots of shopping opportunities. And since you asked yes, I did finally get my British tea set and a cat scarf :) not a scarf made of cats...just for clarification. You'll have to wait until I get back to London for pictures, I didn't bring my laptop with me to Italy. I know that the anticipation will be mounting for the 3 days that I'm here but you can make it!
Sunday we went to a tiny little Baptist church in the heart of London called Bloomsbury Baptist, we more than doubled the congregation but it was a great experience to get to worship with them! We were greeted warmly and asked to remove our ten gallon hats. ;) After church Emily and I set out to enjoy a quiet lunch just the two of us, I love spending time with that girl! We ended up getting crepes and window shopping around the jubilee market in Covent garden. Of course by then we had to be getting back to the flat for homework. Sidenote: now that I'm a senior I feel like I've actually got the hang of college, perfect timing right? Like I know how to study, set time goals for reading and writing papers. Also my mother was right...if I had read everything that I was actually supposed to read for high school and college I would be 1,000x smarter. Oh well, I guess that'll make me a better graduate student! (HBU and Baylor if you're reading this...I'm just kidding I was always a perfect student!) ;)
Monday was, how do I phrase this nicely...gross. We had our British Life and Culture class first thing Monday morning but once our walking lecture was over about London Bridge, Shakespeare, and Dickens we headed off to an old operating theater. Sounds cool right? Yeah I guess so... The brain, kidney, and other specimines were enough to make my stomach churn not to mention the crazy medical equipment that looked more like torture devices than things used to help people. This may be tmi but you clicked on this link, there was a cervical dialiator that literally looked like a metal spider of death that is used to rip women inside out. We then had a demonstration of how surgeons would have amputated limbs. With no anesthesia, no pain meds, and no sterilization. A good surgeon would have had a limb off in under a minute and a half, a great one in under 30 seconds. Napoleon had a surgeon in his army that could take an arm off at the shoulder in 17 seconds flat. I have never and I mean never been so grateful for modern medicine. I salute you all who are in that profession and am grateful that it isn't me.
The rest of the week was spent going to class, finishing a book for class and starting another one, writing a few papers, not blogging, going to a theater show and getting ready for Rome! Speaking of, we're starting our descent now!!
Missing you all,
Lydia
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