On London...

     Today was probably not the most exciting days as far as days go. That is pretty typical I find on Sundays. Even London Sundays are pretty uneventful for the most part, but today was particularly laid back. This morning we all slept in as long as we could before having to go to church. It probably would have been quite entertaining to watch my two roommates and myself try and get out of bed. It was a struggle. We finally got out and about only to find out that our usual route to church was ruined by weekend construction! We took the tube for a little while and then had to make our way over to the bus station. The only problem was that EVERYONE was waiting for a bus, so when we finally get on the bus was completely packed. I got to be up and friendly with some lovely people from Spain...

On the bright side, new routes introduce fun new places

And some old favorites (King's Cross)

   
    Church was pretty similar to how it usually is. The people are all incredibly nice and I am always glad to be surrounded by people that share my beliefs. It's just a struggle when all the meetings are in Portuguese. Today while I sat in the audience I read from the Book of Harry on my Kindle. I struggle with being attentive at the best of times, but it's twice as difficult when you don't understand what people are saying. There was a fun moment when we visited with some of the guys in Elders Quorum. Many of them are actually native English speakers, but served their missions in Portugal or Brazil and want to attend the Portuguese ward to continue practicing their learned languages. It's always fun talking with them because we can have a conversation without having Dallin translate. We talked about football for a while (our soccer).
     The world cup is starting up this week and everyone is so excited! We got invited to go and watch the opening on Thursday, which would be amazing! The snag in that plan is that with the time difference, the game with be on at 11:00 pm here. There's been this whole controversy in London because people have been requesting that the tube stay open later so that people can go out and watch the games. Football watching is such a social thing here. While most people have their own TVs where they could watch the game anyways, everyone enjoys going out to the pubs where they can watch with a group of pals or other fans. The tubes usually close around midnight or so, so the main struggle is people getting back home. I'm excited to see if we can get in on any of that! It reminds me a lot of the Olympics and the atmosphere that brought to London.
     After church we were incredibly lazy. I wrote my essays, and had the realization that I am now done with the rest of my assignments for the courses! Now all that remains are a few class periods and our finals! The rest of the day I really just bummed around the room.
     In the evening, I must confess, I actually became quite frustrated. After having spent most of my day inside trying to write essays and resting, I went out for a walk. This weekend was not exactly the most spectacular that has ever been experienced, and though I really have enjoyed myself, I couldn't help but think that I had wasted some of my time. There's always this sort of pressure that I have felt while on this trip. It's almost like I have to always be doing something amazing, otherwise I am wasting the time that I have been given here. And so while I might want to just spend some time resting, there's a nagging feeling that I should be out and about! The two feelings clash so much that it's really been bothering me.  To make myself feel a bit better, I decided to walk around the neighborhood we live in. I started walking through backstreets and discovered places that I hadn't been to before. Every day we wake up and walk down the road to get to our tube station. There are stores than line the street that we see and sometimes visit during our travels. However, this was the first time I really went to see the backstreets.
     Most of the buildings that I passed on this little venture were homes. The sun was just about set and I could see inside some of the lighted windows. I saw people that were settling down for the day, reading books or about to watch something on the telly. (I sound really creepy, but I mostly noticed in passing. I wasn't gawking into people's homes). I started thinking about how they live their lives here everyday. For the longest time London has held a sense of wonder in my eyes, and I have loved it so much. But I think for a while I have been viewing it as London: The Tourist Attraction. On this second trip I haven't done some of the more touristy things. I haven't gone to the London Eye, toured Parliament, Climbed St. Paul's, or some of the other things tourists usually do. And the thing is, I have done them before. While there's a part of me screaming that I need to do these things, there's another part of me that wants to be just like the people I see in the windows.
    London is a beautiful city, and as I have been walking through neighborhoods or riding a bike through the park I get to see that. This trip hasn't been as fast paced as my previous one. We haven't visited as many sites. This time around I have an opportunity to really live in London, maybe more as an actual resident than a tourist. I love walking down the Thames or just sitting on a park bench. These things aren't incredibly "exciting", and they won't make for a good blog post I suppose. But I love to do them. I'm still trying to deal with this struggle. To accept that even in a place like London every day is not going to be completely mind blowing.  But they don't have to be. They can still be fantastic, but in the most simple of ways.
     I've only got a week and a half left on this trip, and I really hope to make the most of it. Whether that means going on a mad dash to see different locations or just enjoying some time to myself, we will see. But I will try and do whatever really feels the best for me.

Neighborhood Walk