UNFORGIVABLE!

     This last week was jam packed with a whole lot of interesting experiences.  I'll give you the highlights because there's just way too much!  Tuesday night was the epitome of a train wreck here in the halls, who knew college could be so dramatic?!  So the synopsis goes like this: Heath Ledger died; Andreas got too drunk to get to the club so he got off the tube mid-journey and stumbled himself home; Barclee forgot her id and couldn't get in once we got to the club; at the club I went outside with some people and, because the bouncer was a pooper, I was not let back in, partly because I was saucy (and I swear it was partly because I was wearing the worst shoes ever that I trip in stone cold sober, let alone after having some drinks in me...but maybe that's just me trying to make excuses, hehe) so he wouldn't let me back in so Paul and I left; got some chinese food with Paul and got back to the halls only to realize my keys were in Becky's purse so I slept in Paul's bed, he on the floor; woke up in the middle of the night to people yelling at each other in the stairwell; few minutes later there are more people yelling because one of the Greek girls, Vivian, got her door superglued shut and had to hammer a hole through her door to open it; Jenni got left on a bus by herself super late at night and the result was pretty much everyone had a crappy night and an even crappier morning.  I woke up feeling as if someone had punched me in the nose and broke it because I was SO stuffed up, basically I was slightly sick until the middle of that night when my body attacked itself and decided it hated me.  Whew, RIDICULOUS!  SO, that night was a huge adventure, we all just laughed about how ridiculous it was. (okay, so it sounds dramatic, but what's studying abroad without a few crazy adventures, right?)

     Moving on, Thursday night one of the girls on the third floor, Jo, decided she wanted to have a Spice Girls party, so we all got dressed up like spice girls and went to the party.  I made my best attempt at becoming the white version of Scary Spice, Liz was Posh (and a very good one at that) and the boys dressed like various members of boy bands.  The picture is Liz, Paul, and Andreas in the back, and me and Chris in the front (if you saw the full body shot, you'd see I'm wearing knee socks).  needless to say... PHOTOSHOOT!  So we went upstairs and had a grand ol' time with the girls upstairs listening to nothing but Spice Girls music for hours.

     Friday night we went to the student union where they were having a little dance of sorts, felt like we were at a jr. high dance so we didn't stay long.  On our way back to the halls we saw some of the Brits: Matt, Tom, Zainib and Lloyd, who were all heading to KoKo to go dancing.  We, of course, decided to go along, well, it was a lot to get in and we didn't really have a good time (we being the Americans, the Brits had a great time somewhere else in the venue, which is huge) so we left.  We found our bus but it was leaving so we all ran (and I mean, we sprinted) after this bus to the next stop (which was kind of far) and finally made it there (me being ill, as I was, was successful in reaching said bus) and so we hopped on and headed home.  Funny thing about that is that at some point the bus "terminated," well we were nowhere near home, why? you might ask, because we took the bus to the end of the line in the entirely wrong direction!  Stupid Americans!  So we had to find another one going the right way and took about another hour to get home, it was hilarious.  By the end we were all starving and so we went to find food.  Well, at home this usually means Del Taco or some other cheap Mexican food, here we have all night Kebab places (seriously, delicious and way cheap), so all the boys got kebabs and I got the largest and most delicious hummus and pita bread of my life.  This little piece of heaven solidified how much I love it here, cheap hummus and pita bread on every corner? I'M IN!

     Next night we all wanted a really lazy day so we stayed home pretty much all day, got super bad cabin fever after watching Knocked Up on my lap top and went for a walk.  We came back and had an early night (which was great for me as I was STILL sick!)  Sunday we were determined to get out so we went to one of the little outdoor weekend markets, kind of like swap meets and oogled at the delicious pastries an such that they had to offer, I wanted to buy a scarf but it was £5 and I was feeling exceedingly cheap that day.  Afterwards we headed to Harrods (exceedingly cheap?  Harrods is JUST where I want to be!) and Liz and I picked out some hideous dresses for each other to try on, a sample of which you can find below.  Aren't we cute?!  We walked so much this day, which was really good for us all, I bought some delicious dark chocolate covered coffee beans and we headed out (or rather, got kicked out because they were closed).  I, like a good girl, went to bed early so I could get up to finally go to a doctor.
     Funny story about the doctors here, I can't see them!  So before I left the states everyone told me I absolutely did not need a visa to be here, which, in those words, is technically true.  However, no one told me that once I got here I could do pretty much nothing except exist in this country without it.  All residents are entitled to free health care, however, you must prove that you intend (key word, because if I had a visa it would show that my INTENTION was to be here) to be here for more than 6 months.  I don't have that so I get nothing.  I spent my morning searching for a doctor that would see me and realized I'd have to go to a walk in at the hospital which I thought would cost me upwards of £100 but turned out it only cost me £25 (don't go crazy, I wasn't about to see a doctor for that much, my cheap butt would sooner die).  So I see the doctor for what I'm sure (as usual) is going to be a severe sinus infection and she tells me it's a severe viral infection and she tried to hand me a box of ibuprofen for my precious £25, NO EFFING WAY!  So she leaves to go get me the medication and I turned to Liz (who was gracious enough to come with me) and said "watch this, I'm turning on the waterworks and the vocals and I'll get what I want," because I'm just that big of an ass.  So she came back and I said, "so what happens if this doesn't work?" (she said she was "pretty sure" I had a viral infection) and she said I'd have to come back for antibiotics and pay all over again, to which I so sweetly responded "so you're telling me that if this shit doesn't work I have to come back and pay again? I don't have a job, I couldn't afford to come the first time!" and she got SO pissed!  she pointed to the medication and said "THIS?!  This is not shit!  This is medication, this is not shit!  Did you see the sign outside?  I don't need to take your abuse, I can call security and make them escort you out!" and I said "well this is ridiculous, when I came to this country I thought I had free health care and now you want me to pay £25 pounds to walk away with ibuprofen? I DON'T THINK SO!" So I kept yelling and she, of course, finally gave me the antibiotics I wanted and told me, as I left that I "need to behave better next time."  It was fantastic.  I proceeded to go to Boots (the drug store) and buy ibuprofen for 99p (I figure she knows what she's talking about and I'll try the decongestant first and if that doesn't work, at least I don't have to pay again to get the antibiotics and if not, I have them for next time... I'm so resourceful!).  

     After 10 days of being sick I'm finally feeling better, I have a busy week ahead of me, I'm seeing a band called Stars tomorrow night at KoKo, which is the place I went Friday and it was a beautiful old theatre.  Friday night is the Riverboat Disco I've been telling you all I have planned so that should be interesting and there is talk of other various clubs and such.  Somewhere in there I will be reading several novels which is always a good way to keep my feet on the ground, I love my classes, I feel like I learn so much more the way the modules are set up here than at home, much more time for discussion.

Love you and miss you all!

Ashley