Week 4

This week was really class-based. Although, IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK!! Whoooooooo!

Of note: we did go to the Saatchi Art Gallery on Tuesday. I really didn't like it. It made me kind of depressed. With maybe one or two exceptions, every piece was extremely explicit, demeaning of traditional values, and/or poorly (in taste and quality) constructed. If that is the modern face of art, I want nothing to do with it. We figure, though, that it is the personal gallery of Saatchi (his taste I guess), and it might be like "high fashion". That is apparently the "it" in fashion, but you would never see any regular or sane person dressing like that.

We got more art projects done... I have a fondness for the project, but it felt unfinished. I talked with Peter about it, and I feel a lot better though. He agreed it needed something, but that it was a good piece, and would receive a good grade, and once I got it back, I could keep working on it and experiment, and find out what it needed.

We also got to go to Kew gardens on Wednesday. It was one of my favorite places ever! It was such a lovely walk; they had greenhouses everywhere full of tons of exotic plants. Apparently their collection of plants is so large that they have 1 out of 8 of every plant... Ever. I don't know how they calculate this, but it was beautiful. I was especially inspired by the Japanese Pagoda/temple (the architecture was gorgeous! I probably spent a good 15-20 minutes just taking photos) and then the Redwood grove. Omiheck! It was so nice! I knew that Utah didn't smell like Washington, (obviously... No offense, but how could it? It lacks both trees AND water) and neither did England, but it was closer... But that grove was "it". I didn't realize I was missing it until I was there! It was perfect. I could have stayed there all day. I told the others to just leave me there and let me breath, but they made me go after a bit.

Thursday... Was the best day ever!!! My birthday! I woke up, and one of my friends, Jessica, had gone out and bought me a chocolate filled pastry from Paul Rhodes Bakery. We did have class, but in between I got to open my package from Mom-- Thanks so much!!! Everything was frogs! I got a pair of pajama pants ("Leap into Learning!"/"Reading is toad-ally awesome!"), frog earrings, a frog laundry bag, a looooovely soft frog blanket, a frog card, a frog bookmark, and some calling cards (okay, not frogs). Then we (Sarah, Jessica, Emily, Lynne, Amy, and I) all went to Khan's for lunch. That is, hands down, the best Indian food I HAVE EVER HAD!!! I had the shahi korma, and it was to die for! We had our religion class afterward (history of the church in England). It was really interesting; we just started with the background to the opening -- i.e. the Victorian era. A cool thing we learned was how family-oriented the age was. Victoria was a young monarch, with a young family, and they were very public about it. The monarchy became the model of the ideal family. Of course in the church, the family is the most important unit. Without the family, there is no point.
After class, we (Jessica, Emily, Lynne, Amy, and Nicole)  all went out for cake. I got the most delicious cake ever!! It was called a "princess cake" and was covered in marzipan (my favorite) with strawberry and regular cream layers... Oh, sooo good! Afterwards, Jessica and I ran over to Portebello Road, and I got a gift for Greg (no, you can't know) and a pocket watch for me! It later broke, but I was able to return it and get a new one. Anyway, we tried to go see a play, but it didn't work out, but some of us went for a walk in Hyde park. When I got back, one of the girls told me the Eve (Peter's daughter) had a note for me. I went up, and it turned out to be the beginning of a scavenger hunt! It was, hands down, one of the best times of my life! There were 15 clues and included everything from chocolate, to fruit, to a scarf, and art supplies. Thanks so much to Sarah and Jessica!!!!!

Later this week, I just went back to Portabello with Sarah. It was a lot of fun, and I got the BEST pastry ever... And a gift for Aubrey AND for Dad. I'm so excited to give it to them!! I wish I could give them tomorrow!

Today was church, and we finally had kids in nursery! One kid, Junior, was just not having a good day, so he was a bit fussy, but overall all right. The two other girls, Tasmine and Victoria, were very well behaved. Tasmine fell asleep on my lap-- it was the cutest thing ever! Anyway, I need to actually pay attention right now... They are detailing our schedule. Talk to you later!