Today was a Sunday that I really needed, as it provided a wonderful opportunity to rest for a bit. We've been keeping especially busy these past few days, and have stayed up a little later than we should due to the many World Cup games that we need to watch. Let's not even go into the finals that are coming up as well. With all of these things building it, it was nice to take a rest and slow down just a bit. This morning Dallin, Ben, and I made our way to our ward for the last time. I know that a lot of people in our program were really sad that it was their last day, though I couldn't really agree with them as much. I've been a little bummed about being unable to really communicate with the members of my ward due to the language barrier. The people have been incredibly nice though. Even if I couldn't understand their words, I appreciated the kind smiles that they shared with me. Today the primary kids went onto the podium and sang a song for Fathers Day. I assumed as much anyways... It was incredibly cute and made the whole meeting for me!
After church Ben and I decided we were going to buckle down and get some of our work done. We started off by getting some lunch and while he continued to be productive...I discovered a very comfortable couch and read from my book. I have now started a book called The Screaming Staircase. I had the realization that these past few weeks I have been reading some pretty macabre books between The Bone Season, Graveminder, and The Screaming Staircase. All of these titles involve ghosts and the afterlife and some pretty dark themes. I've always been told that I'm quite a peculiar child because I am typically a pretty happy person, but I love rainy days and a dark story. Nothing gory or upsetting, but dark in nature is fine.
After lazing about for most of the afternoon we made our way over to the girl's flats over at Hyde Park Gate. We met together to have a devotional provided by Brett. Similar to the devotional provided by George a few weeks ago, Brett shared a lot about his work as a professor and what he has learned through that and how it has influenced his own faith. It was a great little meeting that we shared in the girl's common room. One of the many blessings that comes from attending a study abroad opportunity is that you really get to know these professors and build a relationship with them. Brett shared some great experiences from his career and from his mission that really inspired me. I want to become a college professor myself, and I love to hear the stories that my teachers have to share. Brett's family than served a delicious dessert of strawberries and cream! I always forget that cream isn't naturally sugary sweet, and while the first bite surprised me quite a bit, it was an absolutely delicious treat.
Following the devotional I got together with my my group so that we could practice our scene for George's final. The six of us went up to the flat on the sixth floor that some of the girls in our group live in. I had never been up there before, and it is now my favorite flat of all the different living spaces assigned to us by FIE. They are at the very top floor and while the climb is quite intimidating, the space was quite fun. Only four girls live up there, but they have a little living quarters all to themselves! The best part was that they had access to the roof! Before we started practicing I got quite distracted as I began to explore!
I ran out on the roof, followed by Allie, who is just coming through the window/entrance
What a fun view
Once my group managed to convince me to come back inside we snuck in a few run throughs of our scene. We have chosen a scene from Much Ado About Nothing. I don't want to post too much about it yet because we want it to be a surprise for our fellow students come Thursday. We're adapting the scene where Hero and Ursula are tricking Beatrice into believing that Benedick has feelings for her. I'm really excited with where the scene is going! I shall report on it come Tuesday night! Once we finished "rehearsals" and felt pretty good about the scene, everybody started the trek back to their own flats. Emily and I decided to go out onto the roof. It had a very "Step in Time" sort of vibe, as we realized that we were on the rooftops of London like our favorite chimney sweeps. In our dancing adventures we also discovered a secret doorway that led to a staircase that went into the building. We decided to be adventurers and made our way down the steps. They went down a few floors before stopping at an Emergency Exit. We decided not to chance setting off any alarms and made our way back up to the roof! It made me think back to my teenage days when I snuck up on to the roof of the Junior High with my friends. Bwahaha.
I went to devotional in my pajamas (yep, those are my pajamas) and so spent my adventures in my pajamas as well. When adventure calls you don't always have time to change.
Step in Time!
Mysterious doorways and staircases
When I finally came down from up high, Ben and I met up and made our way back to the flats. We decided to go out for just a bit more to get some drinks. Interesting side fact: the daylight hours here are insane. The sun comes up around 4:30 in the morning, and then doesn't really set until just before 10:00pm. I came down from the roof thinking it was around eight or so, only to realize it was nearly ten! I suppose that happens when you find yourself up north like that! We walked around and made our way back. We were quite torn because we wanted to watch more of the World Cup, but decided it was probably best to work on our final essays and study for Brett's exam tomorrow morning. It's so hard because as the program comes to an end, we all really want to go out and do so many things, but we also have to take the time to stop and focus on our studies! Too bad we actually have to study on these study abroad trips.
Wish me luck!
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