Last day in London!

It's funny how you always want what you can't have. When I found out the Volcano erupted and I might be stuck in London I wanted nothing more than to go home right at that instant, however, now that *hopefully* the flights are running as scheduled and I should be getting home tomorrow I'm really sad to leave London and feel like I could stay here forever. I spent my last day in London taking pictures of my everyday route, from my flat on Praed Street to the tube at Edgware Road Station, on the Circle Line to Gloucester Road Station, the walk from Gloucester Road to Cromwell Road to go to my classes at Capa, down the street past Sainsbury's (where I go grocery shopping) to Collingham. I went to my favorite market, Borough Market, for Lunch and then finished up my packing at my flat. At night, Tara, Jordan, Carrie and I went to see the Lion King which was amazing. I really can't believe that this is my last day, it's weird. Even if I come back to London it will never be the same. I'll never be in this flat again, I'll never have my own room here, my own kitchen, my own place to call "home". I'll never have a job here, or take classes. If I come back I'll just be another tourist, but right now London feels like my home. It's a really strange feeling and I'm really sad to leave but ofcourse I'm really excited to go home and see everyone again, it's just strange to think about the life I'm leaving behind here. I really couldn't have asked for a better semester, I've loved everything about London and about my internship.

Last Day at Collingham

Thursday was my last day at my internship, and also the best day. I'm really sad to be leaving Collingham, I loved working with the teaching staff there and I loved the kids! I was nervous working there at first because they had made it seem like the kids were going to be really out of control and crazy, and believe me, they were sometimes. But what they didnt tell me was how sweet the kids were and how much you really grow to care about them and how close you'll get to them. Unfortunately, because of confidentiality I couldn't take pictures of my kids but they were all the sweetest kids I've ever met. They presented me with a card during the last session we all had together and went around in a circle saying things they would miss about me. They said really cute things. Some of it was just "I'll really miss you", one kid said "Wait, if you're leaving you wont be able to be in my advert when we film it and you've been wearing the glasses I like everyday just incase we do it", another said "I like that you like Eminem as much as me, and you're the only one at Collingham who likes him and I like when you rap with me". They kept trying to find out my last name so they could friend me on facebook and we decided I would skype with the class once I get home. One of the kids as he was saying goodbye asked "When are you coming back?" and I told him I wasn't and he was like "Well what about in a few years?" and I said maybe but he wouldnt be there then and he was really upset. After saying goodbye to the kids Clem, one of the teaching assistants invited me to go to the park with the teachers later for a goodbye party for me (they always invite me to go out for drinks with them but its always on a day when I'm leaving for a trip). When I went upstairs Caroline (the teacher in my classroom) presented me with a card that all the teachers had wrote really nice personal messages in it and a gift of different British candies and a note pad and pens. When I was saying goodbye to Miranda (one of the teachers who couldnt make it to my goodbye party because she had dinner plans) she told me that I put all the other interns they had to shame and said a lot of nice things to me about it. Jo (another teacher who couldnt go to the party) gave me a hug and thanked me for all my hard work. It was really nice to have such a big goodbye and it made me really sad to leave. Then Caroline, Fred, Clem, Anthony, Chris and I went to Tesco to buy wine and crisps and went to Kensington Gardens for a few hours and drank wine and sat in the park and talked. It was a lot of fun and made me feel like a colleague not just an intern and also just like I was hanging out with my friends. It was really nice and made me really sad to leave! When I left they all hugged me goodbye and I went to the CAPA departing dinner which was also really nice. I sat with all the girls in my flat and we had a nice dinner. It was a great end to a great semester. I'll be really sad to leave!

Week off from Internship

My students at Collingham had a 2 week break, the first week I worked with nursing staff and the 2nd week I've been able to take the week off and finish up my final papers and final sightseeing in London! Monday, I went to the Freud Museum with my Psych Class, which was disappointing because although it's in Freud's house which should be really cool there wasnt really anything there except for his house. Tuesday, Danielle and I went to Harrods and split an ice cream sundae. Wednesday, I finished my papers and went to a bar called The Chapel with some of the girls and went to a shwarma and felafel restuarant on Edgware Road. Thursday, Danielle Jordan and I went to Borough Market for lunch, then we went to the Tate Modern art museum, then at night Danielle and I went to see Wicked! which was incredible! Friday, I went to Harrods with Carrie and then to Covent Garden with Danielle and Jordan for fish and chips at Rock and Sole Plaice and a drink at a pub. Saturday, I went to Trafalgar Square where they were having a Holland festival and a free concert, then I walked around Piccadilly Circus and Leister Square for awhile. I went to the Italian restaurant that we went to on our first night here with Danielle, Jordan and Tara and then to O'neills pub. Sunday, I went to Covent Garden market which is like a craft show. It was a really nice week off but I'm excited to start work again for my last week!

Greenwich- the Prime Meridian of the World

Sunday, Danielle Tara and I went to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian (where you can stand in both the east and west hemisphere at the same time). It was a really pretty area and a beautiful day. We went for Mexican food afterwards at this place called Cafe Sol which is really famous around there.

Brighton

Danielle and I decided to go to Brighton on Saturday on a whim. I'd heard from one of my colleagues that there's a beach there and you could catch a train from Victoria station for 20 pounds. The sound of a beach after 3 months of rain in London sounded pretty good to me. So Danielle and I went to the train station at 11 Saturday morning and hopped on a train to Brighton (with no plans or any clue where to go from there). A 2 hour train/bus ride later, we arrived in Brighton, which is pretty much my new favorite place in the world. The weather was perfect, the sun was out and it was warm but not too hot. The beach was beautiful and it was a rock beach which was cool. We rented chairs on the beach and bought sandwhiches for lunch and sat in the sun reading for a few hours. Then we walked around on the board walk and to a carnival they have on the pier. We split fish and chips and a burger for dinner and then around 6 headed back on the train. It was a perfect relaxing day, definitely one of the highlights of my trip!

Passover

Chabad in London hosted 2 seders right near my school. Danielle and I went to the first seder which was at Imperial College. The second seder was at Ithaca College and Danielle Michelle and I went.The seders were really nice but not the same as home at all and it made me really miss my family seder. Keeping kosher for passover here has been hard because there is a very limited kosher for passover section but I've been keeping kosher for passover anyways. It's been nice to observe the holiday even though its not the same as being home.

Ireland

Cliff Walk in Howth

Us and our new friend Dave at the Pub

At St. Stephens Green

In Howth



Us at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ireland was our last trip and my favorite trip of all! The people in Ireland were so nice and friendly, and I know everyone says that but you can't even imagine how nice they are. For example, one night we went to a pub for dinner and we asked the guy sitting next to us to take our picture, and he then started talking us and by the end of our meal we had joined tables with him and his friends (they were all teachers in Dublin in their late 20s) and were hanging out with them!

Our trip couldn't have began any better. When we got to our hostel the guy at the front desk told us the hostel had been overbooked so they no longer had a room for us, fortunately the hostel was joined to a hotel and they were upgrading us to the hotel! Our hostel was supposed to be a quad dorm room with no bathroom (we'd have to use a communal one) but our hotel room was beautiful and came with a full irish breakfast every morning!

Our first day in Dublin we went on a self-guided walking tour of the city and saw all the touristy sites such as Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathederal and St. Stephen's Green. We went to the Guinness Storehouse where we attempted to drink our free pint of Guinness but it was really gross. We went shopping and I bought an authentic clauddaugh ring at a jeweler, and a Bailey's chocolate bar- the best thing in the world it was filled with baileys cream! We had lunch at pub and I got a Irish Stew Pie which was delicious and for dinner we went to the pub where we met our Irish teacher friends. Then we went to Temple Bar- a popular bar area in Dublin- and went pub hopping for a few hours and drank Whiskey Reds (cherry 7 up and whiskey) which were surprisingly good.

The next day we went on the Dart Train (similar to the commuter rail) and traveled up the coast of Ireland. We stopped in Howth which had a beautiful view of the ocean and walked along a cliff walk for a few hours. We went to lunch at a restaurant there and had delicious seafood. Then we continued on the Dart Train to Dun Laoghaire and sat along the edge of a board walk by the ocean. At night we went to a pub in Temple Bar where we heard live music, at first we went into the wrong place which was a weird 80s club but quickly left and found 2 men playing guitar and one singing songs such as Wonderwall, The Joker, Your Sex is on Fire and a few Irish classics. It was a really fun and relaxing night and then we went back to the hotel to wake up at 4 am to catch our early flight (and it was day light savings time!) Needless to say the next day was miserable because we were incredibly jetlagged and exhausted.