the midwest culture crisis.: Digest #7: An attempt to summarize the past couple of days, or: You can be the cow, and I'll do this for the film.

Good lord, it has been a busy couple of days. The kind of busy where you've crammed so many activities into a brief amount of time that it feels as though more time has passed that has actually passed.... if that makes any sense at all. Friday night, Sarah and I made our way to Finchley Reform Synagogue after I ran ridiculously late to meet her. We arrived after two bus changes and a walk through a dark-ish neighborhood at temple, and surprisingly on time. However, I'm not sure that the two of us stopped laughing during the service (well, I know I didn't). There was an elderly, elderly gentleman sitting next to Sarah who would join in the prayers and the songs pretty much whenever he felt like it. On top of that he was very loud and very out of key. So, just imagine sitting in a service saying the prayers and whatnot and suddenly a man, like a foghorn, comes out of nowhere. The members of the congregation were happy to introduce themselves, and some even more happy took us to meet one of the rabbis. At which point they tried inviting us to Shabbat dinner which we respectfully declined but made a raincheck. Anyway, early the next day our entire group travelled to Stratford-upon-Avon for the weekend. It was touristy, but we were tourists for the day so we did touristy things. All in all, it was an interesting trip, but I could have done without hearing about the history behind the term "Chairman of the Board" for the umpteenth time. Oh well. We visited Mary Arden's farm/house (Shakespeare's mother), Anne Hathaway's childhood home (Shakespeare's wife who was six years his senior), and where Shakespeare was actually born. I will be putting up pictures of this trip shortly.

After we went about the historical areas, we were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted until the play started. Now about the play: I personally liked Richard III. I thought it was well done and interesting, even if it was initially confusing. Also, I thought it was pretty funny/pretty disconcerting that in an attempt to get better seats before the show I (along with another student) ran into a couple of the actors: One of whom looked pretty irritated, so I'll just pretend that he was getting into character. Regardless, some people did not enjoy it and to be perfectly honest I didn't like it initially either. The actor playing Richard, whose name I don't know, reminded me a bit of an embryo. Not how he acted, but how he held himself during the production. Anyway, I don't know anything about theatre, so pay me little or no heed.

The day after the play we woke early at our bed & breakfast to leave for Warwick Castle. I should probably relay that the day that we arrived at the B&B the owner apparently went about looking for "the vegan". Though, apparently to let me know that I'd have food to eat that morning. I mostly ate a lot of fruit salad, but it was very good fruit salad. I don't have much to say about Warwick Castle besides the fact that it was imposing as most castles seem to be. Guy's Tower (the one with the flag on top) seemingly took forever to climb up, especially when we had to climb up a very tall, very narrow, very worn out spiral staircase. One part of the castle is fitted with wax figures from Madame Tussaud's, including a twenty-three-year-old Winston Churchill who actually looked as though he was about sixty. Anyway, I can't imagine living in a castle, so Kathryn's prediction that I will marry Prince William is doomed to fail. That, and he likes to hunt. Now that I've managed to get completely off topic I find that I cannot for the life of me remember what I was going to write. So, I'll put up some pictures and head off. I should state though that I miss people in the states a lot. I don't miss Indiana at all, but I do miss my family and my friends (almost with a weird, wistful nostalgia and I miss some people who I have no reason to miss). So, my idea is that you all come and move to England. Anyway, here we go and I'll try to explain what they are.