Homesick

So the other day I had to write a paper for one of my classes, I know what you are thinking “Aren’t you abroad?”, yeah, but sadly enough we still have to write papers. Anyways, so as I seldom do while writing papers, I started procrastinating. Started Facebook stalking friends from back home, looking at US news, thinking about the summer, and I realized that I was homesick. It was a weird feeling, I hardly (already used seldom) ever get homesick in DC, not to say I don’t, cause I do, but not very often. Anyways, I really do miss my family and the United States. I miss hanging out with my friends in GW, running into people in the streets and chatting up about life, or politics. Miss my frat meetings, actually I take that back. I do miss the American culture. I’m out of touch with what is happening in popular culture, no idea which movies are playing, nothing. It’s a weird feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love London, it’s one of the best cities in the world, but it isn’t home. I have an expiration date here in London, every friendship I make has an end date (not the friendship, cause nowadays we can stay in communication through facebook and other ways, but I don’t know when I’ll actually see them again). I feel like I have matured here in London and I’m ready to take what I’ve learned and my new perspective on life and apply it to my life in DC. I really can’t wait to be back, but at the same time I don’t want to leave. I guess that’s life.

The Pound Effect

So get this. I’m talking to my American friend, and as great American tourists, we start complaining about the Pound and how expensive London is. It really is. (Some European cities are more expensive, but still, London is not cheap at all). So anyways, we start talking of ways to save money. We constantly look at the exchange rates, and when they are more favorable for us we rush to the ATM to get money, or we buy in bulk, eat less (yeah, right, like I can do that), only go out in the weekends (trust me, in the beginning it was more like every day), not tipping the bathroom people (if you follow my blog you’ll get it), searching for student discounts, among other things, but then she dropped the bomb on me. She goes, “You know what I do, and I have to tell you, I am sooo smart for doing this, it saves me a lot of money”, I’m like shit, I need to save more money, “Tell me!”. “Well, I just steal toilet paper from public bathrooms, I take an unopened roll and stick in my purse, it’s brilliant. Same with ketchup from fast foods, salt, napkins, etc. Best decision of my life”.

And that’s the effect of the pound on American students.

Italy and Switzerland

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, I’ve been so busy with Spring Break, midterms, papers, etc, that I haven’t had the time to sit down and write a proper entry. Anyways, Spring Break was a lot of fun. In ten days I got to visit six different cities, within two different countries. I started in Rome and then made my way up north through the Italian countryside, all the way to Florence. While in Florence, I made my way to Pisa for a day trip. After Florence, I kept heading north, all the way to the city of Milan. While in Milan, I made a day trip to the town of Como, which sits in the southern part of Lake Como. As the trip was coming to an end, I decided to keep heading north towards Switzerland, and making a pit stop in Geneva. It was a great trip, although a bit exhausted.

As I made my way from London to Rome, flying with one of the best airlines I have ever traveled with, Swiss International, I had a layover in Zurich (Switzerland). As I looked out my window, as we came into Zurich, I noticed that everything was full of snow, it was exactly what one would think Switzerland looks like, little hills with towns on them, and all full of snow, it was beautiful. Anyways, as we left Zurich, on our way to Rome, we flew over the Alps. This was one of the best things of the flight, me being a geographer and all. Looking out the window all we could see was a large and vast cloud cover, no land at all, and out of nowhere, amazing peaks, full of snow, started to break the cloud cover, giving way to the most spectacular mountaintops ever. It was a really cool experience. Anyways, off to Rome.

Rome, definitely not what I expected. It is not the fairy tale city, that magical city that is sold to you through movies and pictures. I was a little disappointed. The city was kind of spread out, there wasn’t a set city center. It was dirty, and full of tourists. The whole city felt like a big tourist trap. Don’t get me wrong, the sights were amazing. Loved the Coliseum, loved to walk around the Vatican, see the Sistine Chapel, etc. They were amazing, and they make the city, but without them, Rome is kind of boring and lacking. In the other hand, it was interesting to walk around Rome and think about the Roman Empire, and how important that city used to be. Something I noticed was that priests walking around in packs looked more like an exclusive fraternity than anything else; brought me back to my years in Private Catholic School back in Puerto Rico.

I was glad to leave Rome. It was an ok city, with a great history, but lacking as a modern city. Anyways, I took the train from Rome to Florence, which took four hours since I took the local commuter train (it was cheaper). As we passed through the Italian country side I was able to see Italy in a different perspective. It was beautiful, full of mountains and valleys, and small towns. It was great. Tuscany is definitely a beautiful place. By the way, Florence is in Tuscany. Florence is a small Tuscan city by a river. It’s a beautiful city, full of museums, sculptures, it definitely is an artist’s place. The streets are mostly taken over by pedestrians and tourists; it was very rare to see a car drive by the center of the city since the streets were so full of people, cars just avoid the area. Anyways, in Florence we (I forgot to mention I was traveling with a friend from GW) met up with one of our friends from GW who was studying there, and she showed us everything there was in the city. It was nice to have a tour guide instead of just walking around trying to find places. We got to see the David, which is an amazing sculpture, if you find yourself in Florence, do not settle for the fake ones around the city, go into the museum and the see the real one, so much better and worth it. We got to see Il Duomo (the cathedral and walk to the top, which offered a great view of the city). Our friend also invited us to sit in one of her classes, a class about art, mainly sculptures. We went to a museum with the class and the professor explained with details what each little thing of the sculpture meant. I now appreciate sculptures a lot more.

A point I have to make is that I hate Italian food. This is since I was a little kid. So what did I eat? A lot of pizza, a lot of Gelato (too much of this I have to say), McDonalds (which wasn’t as good as London McDonalds)… yeah that was about it. I mean, London is an expensive city, but it definitely is not the most expensive city in Europe, that is a myth. Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Rome have proven to be more expensive, even with the exchange rate of the Euro and the Pound. So the cheapest things to eat were McDonalds and Gelato (hey, we needed to save money). Something I do have to say is that Pizza in Italy is the best one in the world, great taste, although a bit thin (and they don’t cut it into slices for you, it really is like a pie).

While in Florence, we decided to take a short train ride (one hour) and visit Pisa and its leaning tower. Pisa was a cute little town, nothing much to it apart from the tower (which was a great sight to see). We were able to walk to the top of the tower, which was kind of cool going up leaning stairs. The view from the top was really amazing, mountains to every side, and in the far distance the Mediterranean sea.

After our great time in Florence, we headed to Milan. My friend was kind of worried about Milan. Every American we have met in Italy had told us that Milan was boring and there was no tourist stuff to do, which is something I was excited about. I wanted to see a city for what it was, not for the tourist attractions. I wanted to see how an Italian city really worked and functioned, how people lived and went about their lives. This was the best city for this. Milan is the closest city you are going to get in Italy to New York City or London. It was big, tallish, and full of people (all of whom dress like they just left the Milan Fashion Week runway; everyone was dressed in designer clothes and there were little boutiques in every corner. After a day in Milan, we were in love with the city. It was true that there was not tourist attraction apart from Il Duomo (yes another one) and the Last Supper painting (which we did not get to see).

Our first night in Milan we headed to an area which was supposed to be a good night spot to go out in. When we got there it was empty, apparently people don’t go out on Thursdays in Milan. We decided to stick around and go into a bar. It was quiet, but with a full buffet. The food looked amazing, but we had already eaten so we didn’t have anything that night. We did make friends with the bartender/owner of the bar, and one of the waitress who was Spanish. I thought knowing Spanish was going to help me in Italy, and it did, but not as much as I thought it would. I would talk in Spanish really fast and with an Italian accent in order to make it look like I was speaking Italian with a bad accent, didn’t work all the time though. Anyways, the next night we decided to go back. As we walked through that street we noticed that every bar had a big buffet full of food and appetizers. When we came back we asked what it was all about and they said it was part of the happy hour (which ended at 3am). How it worked was that for 8 Euros you would get a mixed drink and the right to eat all you wanted from the buffet. We decided to eat dinner at the bar the next two nights. They should start doing that in the States, it would bring a lot of people into the bars. Anyways, both nights we came back, the bartender/owner and the waitress were really nice to us, to the point where they gave us a couple of free shots, free French fries (or chips as we call them in London), free water bottles. The service was amazing! They were really nice to us and treated us like friends. We obviously kept coming each night (I’m pretty sure the bartender/owner was into my friend Kim, but that doesn’t matter, the fact was that we got free stuff).

Seeing that we didn’t have a lot of stuff to do in Milan, and we had already gone shopping, we decided to take a trip to Como, which is a small town which sits on Lake Como, close to the border between Italy and Switzerland. Como was a beautiful town. It seemed to be a rich town, everyone had nice cars, nice houses, designer shops everywhere, and an amazing lake with mountains all around. It was a great sight. So glad I made the choice to go there, I would definitely go back and sail around the lake in the summer.

As we finished our time in Milan, we started heading to Switzerland. The train ride from Milan to Geneva was again, four hours, we were used to it by now. The scenery outside the train was amazing. We passed through lakes, valleys and the Alps (again). I couldn’t stop taking pictures nor looking outside the window. We passed again through little towns, which made me thing about how different life is for someone living in one of those towns to someone like me, from Puerto Rico, studying in DC, but living in London right now. Anyways, as we made our way across the Italian/Swiss border we stopped and the border patrol entered the train to check passports. It was interesting to see that they did not check my passport, nor my friends, but they checked the guy sitting next to us who was obviously Pakistani, and then they checked another woman who looked Middle Eastern. After checking them two, they left our car towards another. Just an interesting fact I wanted to mention.

So, Geneva, the end of our trip. We were only here for one day and one night. It was a cute little city around Lake Geneva, really close to the border with France, so close people spoke French above anything else. We obviously got some real cheese fondue there, and walked around the city just seeing the sights, one of them being one of the headquarters of the United Nations. There is not much to say about Geneva, we weren’t there for that long and were not able to really experience it since it was a Sunday and the city was kind of dead. It was really pretty though, and would definitely go back.

In conclusion, it was a great trip, went to a lot of places and saw many things. Got to experience the Italian culture in different ways. Italy is a beautiful country, you should all visit.

Tomorrow I’m heading out to Prague, which is in the Czech Republic. I’ll let you guys know how it went afterwards.

A geographer’s point of view

So tomorrow I am embarking on a ten day trip to Rome, Florence, Milan and Geneva. Flying from London to Rome, then taking trains and buses all the way to Geneva, Switzerland, while stopping in Florence and Milan. Since I was a little kid I’ve been wanting to go to Italy, and now it’s actually happening. As a geography major I spend a lot of time on Google Earth, just staring at maps, zooming in and out, doing street view of places I’ve never been like Tokyo, or middle of nowhere Alaska. Yeah, kind of geeky, but fun. I think geography is really cool, like for example, when I go to Geneva in this upcoming trip, the hotel I’m going to be staying in is actually in Southern France. Geneva is in the Swiss/French border, so every time I go from my hotel into the city I will basically be traveling between one country and another. Now, if you are from Vermont, upstate New York, or any place close to an international border you may think this is stupid, but I come from Puerto Rico, a small island with no international borders (apart from territorial waters), so I’ve never actually driven, or walked, from one country to another. I think it’s pretty cool. I mean, borders are arbitrary, they were created by humans, apart from checkpoints established by humans, borders have no physical quality (apart from the rivers, mountain ranges, and other geographical bodies denoted as international borders, but even here, these were appointed by humans). I find it fascinating that by crossing the street in Southern France I will have crossed an international boundary, which I’m sure was fought over once, or at lease discussed. Told you I was a geek.

Anyways, the other day I was looking at Google Earth, and while tracking everywhere I’ve been in the world, which is not much, I noticed, not that I hadn’t before, how small Puerto Rico is, and how easy it is to overlook it when looking at a world map. After my few months in Europe, and my two and a half years in DC, it was a weird feeling to look at Puerto Rico and realize that I come from such a small area in the world. I realized how lucky I am to be able to travel around the US and Europe. Started thinking about my Puerto Rican culture, about my identity, as Puerto Rican, and as an American citizen. I feel both Puerto Rican and American. While here in Europe, a lot of people assume I am American because of my american accent, I’ve mostly lost my latino accent, and when they do assume that I am American (US), I don’t deny this, and it is not until they ask me where in America (US) I am from that I say Puerto Rico, I don’t say Puerto Rican, but I still feel Puerto Rican inside.

Some people may think that I’m forgetting about my Puerto Rican culture, but I’m not, it’s always there, I still listen to spanish music, and I still crave tostones and chuleta, but in the other hand, I think in english, not spanish. Yesterday in my sociology class we were talking about multiculturalism and how London has one of the highest rates of inter racial couples in the world, and I realized, for the first time, that I had been in an inter racial relationship back in the states. I had never thought about it in that way. I dated an American in the US, blonde and white, and never thought of myself as not American, as only Puerto Rican, never realized that it in fact was an inter racial relationship. I don’t know what that means. Is it bad that I didn’t notice? Good? Unimportant? Race and culture are very important things, but are they important enough to create divisions, or to even make us think about it? I often forget that people see me different because I’m latino.

I think race and culture should be like religion, it should be a personal thing, a community thing, that isn’t imposed on other people. It should be taught and celebrated, but it shouldn’t be who you are, it should only be a part of who you are. We are all individuals, with different characteristics, and if we start thinking of race and culture, without forgetting their values, as personal traits like sense of humor, or outgoing, or shy, we might be able to put them aside when we interact and become less of a divided society. Why do we have to think of inter racial couples and calculate the rate? They are a couple, no matter what; they are two individuals sharing a bond. When we no longer need to calculate how many Latinos or blacks attend a college, or when we no longer need to calculate how many christians there are in a country, that’s when we’ll know that we are no longer divided.

Anyways, I think my views have been shaped in part because of my international views, geographical perspective, and my dual identity of both Puerto Rican and American. Feel lucky to be part of two distinct cultures that have shaped who I am today. Very excited for this trip, and will try to keep you updated while on the road.

Royal Sighting

Saw Prince Charles the other day in Leicester Square going into the movie theater. Pretty cool, talked with a lot of locals and some locals have never even seen the Queen, so it’s pretty cool that I got to see Prince Charles. Hopefully I’ll get to see someone else soon.

A window into Amsterdam

So this past weekend I went to Amsterdam. Yes, Amsterdam. Now, when I mentioned this to a couple of Americans here in London, their immediate reaction was, “OMG, you are going to have so much fun at the coffee shops”. Well, that’s when it got awkward, mainly because I’ve never done pot, so I responded, “I don’t think I’m even going to go to a coffee shop”. They were taken aback by this and asked, “Is there anything else to do in Amsterdam?”. Yup, it’s sad how we Americans sometimes think about places. Amsterdam is more than just pot (marijuana) and prostitutes (although there are a lot of these). Amsterdam is actually a very beautiful city, full of canals and cute little streets, tons of museums, like the Van Gogh Museum, the Rembrandt, Amsterdam History Museum, Anne Franke’s House, Sex Museum, and many more. Yes, it is a little too liberal, but its a fun place, with lots of things to do.

While in Amsterdam I met up with an old friend from GW. He is studying abroad in Paris and by coincidence we both were in Amsterdam at the same time and in the same Hostel (a christian one, with evening prayers and bible study sessions, my grandmother would be proud). Anyways, so I spend a lot of time with him and his friends around the city, going to museums, and seeing the sights. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed Amsterdam a lot. One of the days I was there I met a local who taught me about Dutch culture and the everyday life of the Dutch. I recommend this to everyone who travels, make sure to meet a local so you can actually learn about the country, rather than just seeing the sights and leaving without actually knowing what goes on in the country you were just in. Anyways, talking with him really gave me an insight into Dutch life and had a big impact on my trip.

One of the most shocking things in Amsterdam is the Red Light District and its many windows. While walking around this area you see all the windows lighted by neon lights. The windows serve as displays for all the girls (prostitutes), they are dressed in bikinis, and come in all sizes, ages, and ethnic origins. Some of them are smiling and dancing so as to motivate you into buying their service, while others literally look like they are about to start crying. The windows are really a sad view; all these girls dancing around trying to get you to buy their service while men stare and make indecent gestures. At the same time you can see some men going from window to window, as if they were shopping for the best one. It was really eye-opening, and very sad. A lot of these girls are illegal immigrants in the Netherlands, they come from all over the world, they are promised a good job, like at a restaurant or bar, and then are forced to be prostitutes. Legalizing prostitution just makes it easier for human trafficking to take place within the country.

In conclusion it was a really fun and learning experience. I would definitely go back and explore other parts of the Netherlands like The Hague and Utrecht. It was a beautiful country and if you ever find yourself in Europe I recommend you stop by and visit it.

Next trip: Rome, Florence, Milan and Geneva. Any suggestions on what to see and do in each city?

A view from the Balcony

One of the main reasons why I chose London to study abroad was because of the theatre scene. There are so many productions going on in London, it’s crazy! Every week a production ends and one begins; so many options, from big musicals, to small plays, it’s all in one city, and affordable (compared to Broadway). Anyways, since I’ve been here I’ve been to six theater productions, saw The Little Dog Laughed, Daisy Pulls It Off, The Whisky Taster, Billy Elliot, Priscilla and Enron, and this week I’m going to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Judi Dench), and War Horse, and I’ve only been in London for four weeks. Love it!

The reason why I’m writing this post is because I went to see Priscilla a couple of nights a go, GREAT SHOW (google it), and me, trying to save money, booked the cheapest tickets I could find, thinking that it would not matter. Well it does! Never buy the cheapest tickets, never do BALCONY (in London this is the farthest area). The experience is not the same, you can’t see the actors face expressions and little quirks, you simply don’t feel part of the audience. It feels like you are watching the show from outside, you don’t feel the connection you do when you sit closer. Even though I enjoyed the show, and loved it, I felt cheated, like I missed part of the experience.

So as a rule of thumb, don’t buy in Balcony, pay a little extra and feel part of the experience that is the Theater.

PS. Going to Amsterdam this weekend.

Awkward People

So get this, in EVERY bathroom I have been in the United Kingdom, there is an awkward person standing by the door. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that this country is full of creepers, but all the contrary, it’s their job to stand there, turn on the faucet for you, hand you a paper towel and if need be, hand you a cologne, gum, mouthwash or lollipop from their array of supplies. I don’t want to generalize, but I will, and it seems like most of these are minority immigrants, which is kind of sad that they come all the way to the United Kingdom and have to work in bathrooms.

It’s safe to say that most of these are really nice people just trying to make a living, but there a few who try to take advantage of you (not sexually). Next to their standing, or sitting area, where the supplies are, the cologne, mouthwash, gums and all that is a small plate with a few coins in it, which is obviously for tips. Well, you don’t really have to tip them, I suggest you be nice and considerate and do tip them, but you don’t. Anyways, most won’t take offense if you do not tip, but I’ve had a few run ins with some that demand a tip. For example, there was this one guy who as I take the paper towel stares at me like waiting for me to do something. I just say thank you and move towards the door, as I do this he says, “You forgot to tip”. I look back and just say, sorry don’t have any cash, and he calls me an asshole as I go out the door. Now, half an hour later I have to go to the bathroom again, and guess what, now I can’t cause the guy is going to say something so I’m left the whole night with the urge of having to go, but can’t cause I don’t want the guy to say anything else to me.

This has happened to me a few other times, as well as to my roommates. It’s just discouraging, if you don’t tip these people (the ones that are really demanding and try to take advantage of you, they are not all like this) then you are intimidated by them and you refuse to go to the bathroom again for the rest of the night, I’m sure that’s not good for my health. Anyways, I just thought it was an interesting thing to write about. So now you know, just tip, just in case you need to go to the bathroom again later on in the night.

Hope everything is going well back in the other side of the world.

It’s been a while

Wow, so it’s been a long time since my last post. A lot of stuff has happened. I’ll mention some and go into details about others. Let’s begin by Syracuse’s Love London Weekend. I went to see Billy Elliot, not that great of a musical like some people say. Maybe my expectations were to high, but it is definitely not the “best musical on the London stage”. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but nothing extraordinary. The best thing about it was the set and the little kid dancing, apart from that, the music was not memorable, I didn’t feel like going home and downloading the soundtrack, like I always, sadly enough, do.

Anyways, the next day I went biking around London, which was pretty cool. Weirdly enough I’ve learned that I like biking. Even considering buying a bike when I get back to the states and maybe checking out some trails. It’s kind of weird, but biking is kind of relaxing, it clears my mind and I can put my everything away and just think about the road and just bike ahead. I liked it a lot. I recommend biking around London and seeing the sites, it’s so much better; you get to see how they are connected, how the neighborhoods blend and how they change from one to another. LOVED IT! Definitely doing it in Amsterdam next week. No better way to see a city than biking.

That same night, after biking, we went to the Greyhound dog races at Wimbledon. Such an amazing experience! Great insight into the English culture and how people spend their time. It was interesting to see so many different kinds of people there. From working class, to middle class, to higher class people, all in one place betting on some poor dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I betted too; won some, lost some. It was definitely fun and interesting to experience that.

After that weekend, my class took me to a small theater above a pub in Shepherds Bush (west london) to see a small play called The Whisky Taster. One of the best plays I have seen in my life. Full of symbolism, very deep themes, great acting, great set, great direction, AMAZING. Look it up on Google. A lot of plays that are produced at this theater go on to become big productions at the West End (London’s Broadway) and I’m sure this one will too, all the critics are loving it and it is definitely West End material. Since I’m sure most of you are not going to be able to see it, since it ends next week, I’ll tell you my favorite part. One of the actors is able to associate colors, and tastes and smells to things that don’t have them. Like for example, he can tell you what color is Monday, and how a Monday tastes and smells like. Well, anyways, the girl he loves asks him the color of love. I thought it was going to be really corny, and that he was going to say red or pink, but he didn’t give an answer until the end when he says: “It’s white”, and then associates love with the feeling you get when you miss a step on the stairwell. I’m sure you think it’s stupid, but if you had been there, you would have loved it. Anyways, after that, the week was pretty normal, until I departed for Copenhagen (that’s in Denmark; which is in Northern Europe; just google it)

So, Copenhagen. Not what I expected, but definitely a beautiful city, and the Danes are really nice people, at least the ones I interacted with. I wouldn’t have gone to Copenhagen if it wasn’t because two of my best friends are studying there right now. Anyways, it was full of snow, really cold, and really expensive (more expensive than London), but it was definitely a beautiful city and I’m glad I went. Visited some of the sights, saw the Little Mermaid statue, saw the Queen’s Palace, a couple of Plazas’, the longest pedestrian street in Europe (and maybe the World), the Opera House, Christiania (google it, it’s interesting to say the least), saw a castle with a moat, lots of bikes (everyone bikes around Copenhagen, the sidewalks are full of bikes), and a lot of blonde people.

Anyways, the nightlife in Copenhagen wasn’t great. One of the locals told me that most people cross the bridge into Sweden to go to clubs instead of staying in Copenhagen, so I guess that’s where the party is at. Anyways, went to a few bars and clubs and weren’t that great. One of them was completely empty, and it was like 1am, maybe it was the club, or the city, I guess I’ll never know. Anyways, went to this bar and this girl starts talking to us and asks where I’m from, and you know, me being all cool, and thinking she’s going to love it when I say Puerto Rico, I throw a little accent and say “Puerto Rico” (while rolling my R’s) and she says: “What the f**k is that?” It was interesting cause everyone else I’ve told in Europe knows exactly where it is, what its political status is and all that, while she had never even heard of it. I wasn’t in the mood to educate her so I just said “It’s a small island in the Caribbean” and walked away.

In conclusion, had a lot of fun in Copenhagen, took many pictures, did some shopping, partied a little and saw my friends. Loved it and can’t wait to go to Amsterdam next weekend with the roommates (wish me luck!).

Upcoming Events: Going to see Priscilla (a musical), going to see Dame Judi Dench in A Midsummer Nights Dream, and going to see Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City actress) in a West End show, and I’m going to Amsterdam next weekend, so keep checking back and you’ll be updated on those. Thanks for your support.

Poor and living in Bloomsbury

Short post, but I’ve noticed a trend here in London. Not a lot of people live in central london, and if you do, then you’ve got money. I’m living in Bloomsbury, a nice area in central London, about a ten minute walk from Soho, Covent Garden, Leicester Sqr and Picadilly Circus, which are some of the busiest areas of the city. So anyways, every time we go out and meet locals, and they ask us where we live, we casually say Bloomsbury, by Russell Square, and each time people are in shock. One person last night said: “What?! You guys are lying, no one lives there, it’s too expensive”, and we assured them that we weren’t lying, and then they said: “Really?!? Wow!” (while they judged us, as if they thought we were rich and spoiled). Anyways, its happen a couple of times now and decided to write about it so that you guys have a better understanding of where we are living and how great this area is. Lesson of the story? Not going to tell anyone I live in Bloomsbury anymore, don’t want to get in trouble with people because they think I have money or something.

Peace out; going to the dog races tonight. Which dog should I bet on?