Becca over seas, scary aye?

 
Yesterday, Wednesday that is, I woke up, took a shower and wait for my father to get back from lifting weights. As soon as he did we left, got some Starbucks and came to the FSU center. I checked my e-mail, wrote a butt load in my blogger, as you can see by yesterday's post and did a lot of writing more e-mails to people who had written me. Yay for computer access.

Believe it or not I finally had a conversation with a few of my father's students!!! After I was done on the computer I was sitting outside their classroom reading Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury waiting for them to finish. When they came out, one of the tall guys asked me what I was reading and we discussed Ray Bradbury books for a few minutes. It was great. By the way, please read Dandelion Wine. It is an amazing book. His writing is breathtaking and it makes you feel alive. Alive in the sense of connected, of centered, of I love live and I can do anything. Great book.

Any way, we left the FSU Center and we went to Wagamama's, a oriental food place a few streets down. We ate lunch with the students and I talked to some more of them *is proud*. I still don't know any of their names.

After we ate, Carol, Zack, Dad, one of the students and I walked back to the flat while my mom and Ben went and did grandparent duty and the Tate Art Museum. The student is a really good guy, funny and nice. He was telling Carol and I about how he was going to propose to his girlfriend when he got home from London. He looked so wonderfully happy.

We waited at the flat for around thirty minutes and I showed Carol the regi book. It was really nice to have someone to discuss it with. She loved Donna's art and we joked about bad handwritting, mine and Carol's in particular. It was fun.

When the charter bus arrived we rode to the Hindu Temple and proceded to do the tour again. This was my fourth trip there and I still didn't understand Hinduism, though I must say that I've tried. Our guide gave a much more in depth explanation this time and though I don't think I have it all figured out, I think that I understand on a much greater level. It was a beautiful and wonderful site, as it always has been.

We rode the bus home and then met the other half of my family at the flat. My grandparents wanted to eat McDonald's and for the first time in our trip I ate American food. It wasn't all that great to tell you the truth. Oh well, I got ice cream out of it.

My dad and Ben escorted my grandparents home while the other three of us went to the flat. I spent the remainder of the evening in my room, cleaning up and thinking. I went to bed around 10:00.

*Tada*

Thats the end of yesterday and I have to tell you all quickly before I leave that I won't be able to check e-mail for the next few days. I'm leaving this afternoon to go to Madrid, Spain. We have never been to Spain so this is particuarly exciting.

I love you all very much and I miss you. I want you to know that if I haven't mention your name or something like that, it isn't because there is a lack of me missing you, there is a lack of me missing you when I sit down and write these things. I cannot emphasize how much you all mean to me. Every single one of you. I may not have even talked to you before (I know how these addys get passed around), but trust me, I care for you and I wish you the best. You are all wonderful.

Good Bless.

posted by Becca at 3:44 AM

 
Ayeyiyi!!!!! I better get started, but first I want to say thank you. Thank you to the beautiful South and Central Cabinet, thank you to my fellow innies, thank you to my friends. You guys make me smile, one of those I'm-almost-crying-because-I'm-so-happy-smiles. *Chuckles to self* Shands actually did make me cry, and his was the silliest one of all. He just "sang" some joy songs for me. Thanks bro, I appreciate it.

Oh, one more quick thing. This always makes me laugh when I think about it. Shands and I are like brothers and he often tells everyone so. I love it, it fits so perfectly. Any way, Matt heard this and later one while he was hugging me he said, "You may be Shands' brother, but you will always be my sister." LOL. Now, he said this with a completely straigh face, in a very loving way but I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Read the sentence again, its just such a strange sentence. *Grins* I miss my Fuzzy Bear (aka Matt).

Ok, now, on Saturday we all woke up quite early and ate a small, simple breakfast. We loaded up in a bus and took it down the side of the cliff to where we met yet another bus that took us to the airport in Naples. The entire time I listened to my Jimmy Eat World cd and thought about crusing around in my car with Shands and Celeen the night of the wedding. We got stopped by a train on the way to Shands' house and as I sat there, with the music turned all the way up, I could see both of them dancing and singing their hearts out. It was one of the most beautiful sights in the world, one of those moments in which you feel completely connected to the people around you and to the world. That was definatly a really loud holy moment.

Any way, we got there, got on the plane, flew to England, went through the Stanstead, took a train to London, took a taxi from the train station to our hotel, unpacked, got food, and then we met up with Carol to go see Richard the Third at the Globe Theater.

Carol, the other professor that my dad is teaching with, is sooooooooooooooooooo amazingly cool. She is honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip. She is a sociology professor and she loves to talk about deviants and other crazy stuff. Great sense of humor too. It feels like she is one of my aunts, which is not so strange, because I see her for a longer period of time each year than all of my aunts put together. I love Carol.

Richard the Third was magnificient. It was an all female cast, something I had never seen before. The actresses amazed me and I was completely taken away by the story, which I had feared to be quite boring. Richard the Third is one of Shakespeare's many histories and I assumed that because it was history, it wouldn't be amusing. I was wrong. *Blushes* I was slightly surprised at myself during the last act when I realized I was attracted to William, the (wo)man who was attacking the evil Richard. It was strange because (s)he was dressed up in armour and the like and as many of you know, I often allude that I wish to be the knight in shinning armour, not the princess. Nonetheless, the actress dressed up as William made me blush.

After the play, we took the Tube home and went to bed.

On Sunday we layed about the house until one, when we met the students for the first time outside for the London bus tour. As always on the first day of the trip, we climb onto a charter bus and drive around London for three hours, listening to a guide talk. Not very fun.

After that we came back and hung out at the flat, which I must tell you is wonderful. In the past we have stayed at the Janet Pool House and it was horrible. There were three rooms to the whole flat- a bathroom, a kitchen and a large main room. In the main room were three beds, a tv, a table with three chairs and a few dressers. My mother, father, brother and I stayed in that flat. I slept on the floor for three straight years. Horrible indeed. This year, however, we have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with a sort of dinning room in it and a living room. I have a room to myself until Rebecca comes next week. I am loving it.

The next day, Monday we woke up and did the shower and breakfast thing and then headed to the FSU center where my father teaches. We met dad and Carol there and then grabbed some food at Boots, a local store much like Walgreens except that it has food, and then got on the Tube and headed for Westminster Abbey. We ate in a park and then met up with the students at the tube stop.

Somewhere in there I took some medicine for the horrible cold that I had.

After that we did the wonderful Westminster Abbey tour. That is one of my favorites, it never ceases to make me smile. However, during the tour, I began to feel progressively worse and drowsy, probably because of the medicine I took.

On the way home on the tube I fell asleep.

When we got back to the flat I layed down and I didn't wake up for a good five hours. When I did wake up, I found that my grandparents had arrived in London and that my brothers and dad had gone to help the shop for food while my mom stayed home with me. She and I talked a lot about YOU, about what being a regi meant and what work went into it. We talked about college, whether or not I wanted to play soccer there or if I wanted to run for International at conference next year. I think I finally got the point across that I hadn't just signed up to do a little dance on stage everyonce in awhile. I think she understands that I am going to much busier this year than I have ever been in my whole life. I'm glad she knows.

The boys came home and dad and Zack went to bed. Ben went to go hang out with the students, all of them being his friends because he goes to school with them. My mom went to bed shortly later and I stayed up until 12:30 reading The Life of Pi. When I read the back cover I thought it was going to be a silly book, but it wasn't. It is really quite amazing and I will definatly read it again. I won't tell you to much but I will tell you that Pi is not only a Hindu, but also a Muslim and a Christian. Wow. Its amazing the way that he views religion. He says that he simply wants to love god and the different religions he practices are different ways of loving god. I enjoyed it.

It took me a long time to fall asleep. I did though.

I woke the Tuesday morning at 6:00 am and couldn't fall back asleep. After lying in bed for awhile, I finally got up, took a shower and got dressed. I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I have to get enough protien you know), a big glass of water, grabbed a pile of different magazines and advertisements, my handy dandy pig scissors and cut away. I've started to do a lot of colage (sp) stuff for the regi diary and I'm really starting to enjoy it. I never thought that I could get into the artsy craftsy stuff because my talent is in my music, but I am. Its fun and it takes up all of the free time I have here, which is a lot.

Eventually, everyone else got up and I watched some weird British tv stuff with my mum. It was strange and we spent a lot of time laughing.

When it was time, we left the flat and walked to the FSU center, stopping in a shop to buy Mum a cain for her leg. We met Carol and Dad there and then went to the tube, bought lunch, met with the students, met my grandparents and then got on a boat to take us up the Thames (tims) River.

It is interesting to once again see my grandparents. Its been over a year since we've seen them. My Grandmama is a very aggressive lady, though lovable in her own right. My Grandaddy is a brilliant man, though restricted greatly as he is deaf. I love them both and it is good to see them again.

We rode the ferry all the was to Greenwich (Grinich) to see the Cutty Sark, an old clipper ship, and then we walked to the Prime Meridian. Woohoo. Party animals.

I talked to Grandaddy a lot while we were waiting for the students to finish their tour. Of course, I had to enlist the help of a notepad. We talked about Italy and when he used to sail boats as well as Egypt and plane flights. It was probably the longest conversation I had ever had with him. I enjoyed it.

The students left after the Prime Meridian and the Williams Clan took a ferry back to London and then ate at a Cafe. They had good sandwiches.

My grandparents called a taxi to take them back to their hotel and we jumped on the tube back to home.

I went to bed rather early, around 9:45. There was even still light out. Everyone else eventually went to bed.

DONE

Now I'm all caught up on my journaling I think I'll do a dance *dances for awhile*. Yay for dancing.

On a more intimate level, I'm still feeling lonely, but I'm not letting it get me down. I can choose to be content or to be sad and I've decided that I'll stick with content.

Oh, did you notice an addition to my typing today? Yes, its true, in England they use apostrophes!!! BTW, they don't in Italy, so my writing was a little strange. Yay for these '''''''''''''''''' wonderful things.

Despite my good mood right now, I am still feeling a little bit lonely. Usually, by this time in the trip, I have know at least a few of the TCU student's names. I have yet to talk to any of them. I know, I know, its not up to them to talk to me, if I want to be included I should include myself, but how? Its kind of strange to walk up to someone you barely know and say hi, even more so when your father is their professor. Its like saying, "Hi, I'm Rebecca, I'm Dr. Williams daughter, be nice to me." I usually let the students say hi to me first. I might have to change my strategy.

I have yet to decide if I am an introvert or an extrovert. I'm best friends with about fifty people, yet I spend a large majority of my time by myself. I love being in charge, being on stage and in command of the room and yet I find joy walking around in the morning by myself, listening to the quiet. I don't think that I am either. I'm not social but I'm not unsocial. I am Becca. I don't fit molds, I make my own and break them.

*Smiles* I was very happy when I checked my e-mail today. Not only did I find loving support from a large number of beautiful people, but I also found an e-mail from Mayra. I was worried that she had forgotten me or even that she simply was no longer interested in me. I'm glad I was wrong.

Well, I have about thirty e-mails to write *not really* so I better be going. I love you all. Good bless.






posted by Becca at 4:49 AM