brief holiday away

Monday I took a one day holiday via coach (bus) to see Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. It was a long day and I didn't get to see everything of course but it was worth it. There is so much history in those places! Stonehenge was impressive but it would have been more so if I could get closer than 25 yds! (just to add some clarity to my "impressive" claim-it basically is a pile of rocks out in the middle of nowhere. What impressed me was the determination people must have had to bring rocks with them and travel a long ways to make a pile. I remember carrying legos around building forts in different rooms in the house but that doesn't really compare)
Salisbury Cathedral recently celebrated its 750th birthday! They added a huge spire to it later without adding to the foundation-little to say problems developed:) Evidentally you can still climb the scaffolding to the top. I saw the Magna Carta as well, the best copy in existence but I can't read Latin anyways. I explored the city and managed to have time to stop at a bakery for a croissant. There were a variety of old structures and pubs in the city, dating back centuries.
In Bath, I spent most of my time at the Roman baths. I've been to some hotsprings in the States but they didn't compare:) Though it is kind of sick to be thinking how old the water is, it is cool at the same time to realise the long, long history of travelers coming to see them. I briefly ran around the city and barely made it back in time to catch my ride back into London! I definitely would like to return to Bath, though when it is warmer. The whole day it averaged 1 degree celsius! There is much more I could say but definitely check out "my photos" link.

a very merry Christmas

Christmas Eve afternoon I went down to hear the "Service of Lessons and Carols" at Westminster Abbey. I had two wait in the queue (line) for about 2 hrs before getting a seat but it was worth it to be two rows from the choir. It was a brilliant performance and I loved that they had the audience sing along for a few familiar songs. Other being concerned about time, I am not sure why they only did 6 lessons instead of the regular 9. After the service, I had dinner with two other families. It was a very English dinner with turkey and stuffing, minced pie, malt wine and Christmas pudding. I loved opening up our bag of wrapped treats, it was almost like having stockings!

Christmas morning I woke up at 6am and rode into central London. It was dark and cold but thankfully it only took about 40 minutes to get to Hyde Park and then I spent about an hour cycling around London. Yes I know this sounds like an odd thing to do for a Christmas morning but it is very rare to have no cars around and have no public transportation running. I got to see the city lights and zoom through major intersections ignoring lights and signs:) I went back to my flat and brought my gifts and cards over to another family's house. We opened our gifts together. I loved being with their kids, a boy and girl, 5 and 3 respectively. They provide the cheer needed on an otherwise gloomy Christmas to get into the spirit. I was given enough sweets to last me a long time, let's hope my teeth last!
that afternoon I rode over to another family's house and enjoyed hearing the kids tell me all about Christmas and what they received. I helped prepare some food for the amazing meal that night. It was a long fun night of eating, singing Christmas songs, playing games, hearing stories and riddles. It was so nice to be invited by so many people to join them in their celebrations, especially since I'm new and away from other friends and family. After biking home that night, I was tired but thankful for a very merry Christmas-plus having Boxing Day following just after was a new treat!
pics: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, Millennium Bridge, Piccadilly Circus

Christmas Time

Last week we had Christmas parties for the youth clubs I run with all sorts of games, prizes and small but much appreciated gifts for all. An older couple who helped introduced me to new games like pass the parcel and "crackers" with prizes inside. I've seen school plays, walked through the decorated streets, explored some open markets, heard carol singers at Trafalgar Square, attempted to go ice-skating with my friends but tickets were sold out, toured Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. We've not had snow recently and in fact the weather has been pretty clear and even sunny at points-a relief as I'm bicyling around. Sorry for the long break in my posts, I'll try to be more faithful in the new year. Merry Christmas!

pics: Ciao's ice cream wonders in Leicester Square, sadly the closest we got to actually ice skating, rides in Hyde Park, Neal's Yard artsy area,

Bleak midwinter?

Headlines these days are not presenting much Christmas cheer. Unemployment is at 9% in London, Woolsworth and other stores are closing, concerts are being canceled and even caroling nas been banned in certain areas, I and many others will not be with our families...it seems that "Happy Holidays" might appropiately reflect English irony. Many would easily admit that we all played a part in bringing to life an economical "Grinch" who is bent on stealing Christmas YET there is good evidence that the Whos are still going to celebrate. (Hopefully you realise that I am referencing Dr. Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Of course the rough times have drawn out age old questions about the season, what we're actually celebrating and why, and then perhaps the answers we find will make our hearts painfully grow just like the Grinch's from being "two sizes too small". I for one will search out "whoville" this season-okay I've had my laughs!

ASHA

ASHA, meaning "HOPE" in Hindu/Gujarati, is an Asian themed charity shop that I work at, visit and read in a few days a week. When I'm out on my bicycle, it is nice to stop in to see familiar staff, volunteers, and customers and have some chai tea. The last few weeks I've enjoyed having more time to talk with the customers, hear about their families and work alongside volunteers, most of them high school students, and discuss their classes, interests, and answering questions about life in the States. We're getting new books soon! We sell new and used adult & children's clothing, jewelry, bric-a-brac, books, music, DVDs. Besides the occasional western clothing, I'm still learning the names of some clothing (Sarees, Punjabi suits, kurtas, paijamas) b/c several items have 3-4 different names! As a charity, ASHA supports projects in India and East Africa:
Sugandh--Education for children living in extreme poverty (India)
Dorcas--Women's Development Society (India)
Sahara--Women's shelter and job training (India)
E.H.A.--Hospoital association providing healthcare in many rural areas (India)
Christ's School--educational institution in rural Western Uganda (East Africa)

ASHA has been a unique and joyful place to serve the community and meet new people. I just wanted to give a bit of a summary so you know what I'm referring to from now on:)

Wicked!

It is easy to experience London's fine arts b/c of all the free museums and galleries. I've certainly had enough of those for a while. Enjoying London's performing arts demands more intentionality. About a month ago I heard the UK Premier of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom Phantasia" in the O2 Building-can't beat free tickets. As far as musicals, there are almost too many options. Wicked is one of the newer ones, 2003, based on a parallel novel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Its story intrigued me and I had heard such positive feedback about it, I was afraid it wouldn't meet my expectations. Well Tuesday night I saw it at the Apollo Theatre with some friends-it blew me away! The singing was amazing, the acting pulled you into the story, the stage and costume designs were so intricate... it was truly a sensesational performace. My favorite song was Elphaba's "Defying Gravity". Les Miserables is next on the list, probably in the spring. I've heard the Nine Lessons and Carols at Westminster Abbey Christmas Eve is fantastic but I'll need to come early for a seat. I'll keep you all posted on how these turn out!

trip to Oxford, and other experiences

I visited some friends up in Oxford last weekend! It was a brief trip but well worth it. They showed me around the city, we got some good fish and chips and watched a late showing of the newest Bond movie. There is a ton of history to see and before leaving Sunday I grabbed some lunch and the Eagle and Child pub, where the Inklings met (CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien among others).
I forgot to mention but the week prior I went with the guys from our older youth club to a Liverpool v. Tottenham football match. It was a great first experience! We sat in the Tottenham section, so it was a good thing they won 4-2. We had sweet seats near the goal, cheered with the crowd, learn some new chants and joined 1000s with the long Tube ride home. I'll be leading both youth clubs for a few months, which includes running the indoor soccer matches that get pretty intense-no injuries so far.
I went to an Indian restaurant/nightclub with some friends last Thursday. I was used to the food but dancing to Bollywood music was new, I recognized a few of the songs. The place is normally packed but not that night so I stood out more. While I mention Bollywood, you all can be assured I've asked for personal of suggestions of what films to watch. They're definitely longer than American films and present a unique Indian perspective on similar themes. Thankfully they have English subtitles!

Christmas decorations went up the first week of November and the city is buzzing with holiday fever-they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. I'll be having Thanksgiving with some other friends and am looking forward to some American football beforehand! I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing for Christmas yet.
*for recent photos check the link to flickr on the site, and for even more befriend me on facebook to see some albums:)

exploration!

Every week I take a day or simply an afternoon to explore my neighborhood or other parts of London. Depending on the location, I'll take my bicycle with my lock, reflective gear and helmet since I've been warned about how hazardous cycling in London can be. It has been much quicker to get around this way but when I'm in central London I just take the Tube. There is so much to see and most places have free admission but I would like to get outside the city and see the countryside sometime soon. The weather has recently been very rainy and makes my bike rides less enjoyable...no accidents yet.
photos: 1. a canal path I found which was a nice change in terrain and scenery 2. a small chapel turned into a courtyard which almost completely hidden by other buildings in central London, me in front of my flat on a typical morning.

Fireworks!

Diwali, the largest and most popular Indian festival, was celebrated with fireworks throughout the week. This fuzzy photo is from a celebration in Trafalgar Square (I had to jump for the shot, which is why it is poor quality) For the first time in 70 yrs, it snowed in the UK in October-the night just before Diwali. I was with some kids from the youth club who were pretty disappointed. The day of Diwali, Wednesday the 29th, I visited the Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. Over 30,000 people passed through the doors of that Hindu temple. It was an amazing experience to see the intricate construction and hear more about Hinduism from those around me.

There were smaller celebrations within the next several days. Halloween is understood in many different ways but for myself, several young kids and some parents it meant spending time together having fun dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, playing games, and grabbing candy from a broken piñata! Guy Fawkes Day, Nov. 5th gave the Brits a reason to light fireworks as well. For over a week I had a fireworks display every night in our back alley-cheaper than me having to buy any!

a cosmopolitan slice of London

I had originally hoped to find an Indian family to stay with but when the doors didn’t open (no pun intended), I was happy to find a comfortable flat close to the bus, tube and charity above a furnishing store with three guys last Thursday. The store is owned by a British man, who grew up locally and whose father opened the shop in 1938. He had some great stories to tell over tea about how the community has changed since then. Two of the guys I live with are from Romania, and the other is from Granada-all of them are well traveled. We had a barbeque with the flat two doors down, housing three girls and one guy from India, Sri Lanka, Czech Republic and Canada. Thankfully they all speak English, and well enough to have our conversations vary from politics and the economic crisis to Halloween.

Football

You can always start a conversation mentioning football (soccer) here, especially the Premier League. I am a Chelsea fan, and through that choice I have many enemies. Most of the kids at our youth clubs support Arsenal or Liverpool so they’ve been trying to sway my allegiance. I was not able to follow the Premier League in the States much so I have enjoyed having it be a way of life here. I’ve played once a week with some of the older guys indoors and thankfully they already expected my poor performance by being American. I would prefer to be outside on a pitch but I have not yet found equipment, good weather, or enough people to make it worthwhile. It has been difficult to find any type of adult league for a mediocre player like me, but I’ll keep looking! I am excited about going to a match on the 12^th with some friends. For now, I am content to go to the local pub and watch bigger matches over a good meal and a pint.

navratri

On Sunday night, the 5^th, I attended Navratri at the Harrow Leisure Center with two friends. Though this is primarily a spiritual ceremony, it seemed to provide a special social opportunity for reunion and interaction between Indian families and communities. I was one of the few non-Indians present but everyone was very welcoming and patient as I learned the dance steps for their garba and asked questions. The first thing that struck me upon entering the large room was all the colors. Though I had only been in London a few days, it seemed the usual colors for Brits were darker-black, brown, navy blue, etc. So when I saw all the bright colors and intricate designs of the sarees, kurtas, and other clothes, I felt like I walked into a rainbow! It was all very festive with friends coming together, families taking pictures and live music. While I was off to the side during the main prayer, an Indian explained to me what was being said and was being symbolized in the middle. We were there for a few hours so my feet were definitely sore the next day from dancing barefoot but it was worth the experience.