I have survived a whole three weeks here in London! I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and I had to open my eyes and turn on the light to make sure I was here! Literally, in the dark I just felt that I was at home in Zimbabwe. And then that made me think - yes, at midnight - of how many homes I have now, if you qualify "home" by calling it a place in which you know what the bed is like! Obviously that isn't the only definition of home, but it does contribute to it.
I am so excited to go back to school, at Yale, because Chelsea has been organizing our furniture and I really feel like we'll be able to make a little house there! The new colleges just feel more like apartments than dorms, and it's going to be such fun setting up house again. I have grand plans for my little room.
So today we had "class" at the Victoria and Albert Museum. We had been told that we needed to meet at the Cromwell entrance at 10:30, but at about 8:15, we all got the message that our professor wanted to meet us at 10:15. Fortunately I had woken up with lots of time to spare, and so I was still able to walk, as I had planned to do. It's about a half hour walk through Hyde Park, which is wonderful. However, as I made my way down the streets of London, I noticed a grey blob amassing in the sky above me. There was no rain as yet, but the clouds were bearing down on me hard and fast! Needless to say, I picked up the pace!
I took the most direct route through the park, and, amazingly, I made it with plenty of time to spare. The other girls were already there, so I sat with them outside, tentatively because the sky had by no means cleared! London has the potential to go very grey when it's overcast, and grey today it went! I know that most people detest that sort of weather, but to tell the truth, I actually enjoy it (when I don't have my laptop in my backpack!) Brick and tar and sandstone buildings emit a warm glow, as if they are holding hostage the sun's heat to force the rain to leave. I particularly love the old red brick buildings, with pointed roofs and ornate, wrought-iron window frames. The V&A Museum sits like an old man on Exhibition Road, opposite the massive Natural History Museum. If I could zoom out and see all the buildings from above, I'm sure they really would look like a group of people sitting round a table, or standing in a line. I wonder where they'd be going?
In the museum, we had the privilege of looking at some of the originals of the photos we've studied in class! It was amazing to see them, and hold them (their mounts)! How lucky am I? Class lasted a little over two hours, and then we were free to do whatever we wanted. I forced myself to leave the museum and not get distracted by the numerous exhibits because I still had my paper to write! I ventured down the street and picked the most comfortable looking coffee shop. It was called Brown and Rosie, and it served the best Mocha I have ever had. If you recall, a long time ago in one of my first posts, I talked about the judge-able qualities of a Mocha: this one was perfect. It obviously contained real, bitter chocolate - not juts chocolate syrup or sprinkles, and my only complaint was that it was not hot enough to keep me from drinking it quickly. I always feel awkward once I've finished my coffee, because there is the perpetual lurking suspicion that someone will come and tell me I have to leave! Not that I really think anyone would have the nerve to do that, but you never know.
I wrote most of my paper there! And whilst I was sitting, I overheard a very sweet conversation between a grandpa and his granddaughter:
"A coffee connoisseur, " he said to her, nodding his grey head, and arching his bushy eyebrows, "is someone who knows"- he winked - "about coffee."
There is so much that we can learn from our grandparents!
When I couldn't focus anymore, I left, content. I couldn't resist the museum. I really do think that buildings, as they are so much like people, have the power to call another person and make them talk to them. When I say "talk", I really do mean talk: I made a beeline for the fashion exhibit, because I desperately wanted to see REAL old dresses, and when I saw them (especially this one fuchsia one) I told them how beautiful they were. And then as I was trying to escape the clutches of the museum, I stumbled across (or actually, I waked past the entrance to, and couldn't resist going in) an exhibit on wrought iron! I adore wrought iron everything, (which means Yale gates elicit much delight in me every time I walk past them!) So I spent a while admiring that exhibit.
Finally, I left. I made my way back to Hyde Park, and found myself a bench by the Serpentine Lake, as I think it's called. I really should know because I've been there often enough! I have found that I am much more aware of places when I've only been there a few times. I know that I have walked along a specific path, and I am so conscious of walking on it again, even two weeks later. It's as if I have a heightened sense of the meaning of place, simply because it is so new.
I sat on a bench and wrote about the ducks and swans, and watched the little children play with the ducks. Then I attempted to illustrate my drawing with my watercolour pencils! I also received a pleasant surprise when my brain decided to remind me that I had coffee in my flask in my bag! Coffee, drawing, and writing, and swans: wonderful. It's also so interesting to experience stories and pictures you've heard and seen in a book, like seeing a cygnet and being able to put a physical reality to the imagined reality (in my mind) of the story of the Ugly Duckling. And seeing how soft a swan's feathers really are! 
When my watercolours had dried, I packed up and came home, without any navigation because my phone had died! I am proud to say that I made it back quickly and without getting lost once! I made myself some tuna and mayonnaise and spring onion and red onion and carrot and lettuce for supper, and then I had a cup of tea and my ice cream, and then I listened to some marvelous Bon Jovi - LOUD because no one was here - and then I made my vlog for yesterday (I am so behind) and now I must sleep! I am seeing a girl from Yale tomorrow, in the afternoon, which is exciting! And then I need to write my photography essay!
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