Adventuring through lands unknown to me before. 

ALL DONE (final research paper)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z9AY6wwFnPgyVSc3KG_sm4lDRrOwq6k10Ik7G_iWfJg

It All Comes Down To This (recap on community placement)

One of my biggest fears when starting this semester was that I had lost all of my safe spaces. I was here, in London, England; a place that I have wanted to visit for so much of my life, but also a place in which my safe spaces do not reside. I have been battling with depression and anxiety for a few years and it has been one hell of a ride. Not many people know this about me, but with time I have found it a little easier to talk about because though not everyone’s story is the same, there are many people that have a common thread, being depression and/or anxiety. I remember the day I found out that I had gotten accepted into the London semester I had counseling that day and I could not wait to tell Sarah (my counselor). When I went in the first thing I told her was this and how I could not wait for the time to arrive. We talked about my fear of not having her to talk to weekly, not having the Pan African choir, and being away from my dog - just some of the things that help me when I’m having a rough time. We also discussed how we both thought this semester would be good for me mentally and I have to say, she was so right. One of the main reason why this is true is so clear to me and it’s because of my discovery of the poetry cafe. It has become my safe haven and a place that I can go to to share my poetry, listen to some poetry, talk to some amazing people, or just chill upstairs at the cafe and write. Since being in London I have written a handful of poems and have gained the courage to share my writing before a group of people. The first time I attended Poetry @3 ran by the Poetry Society, I was so nervous that I actually thought I was going to throw up. Luckily, I had one of my friends with me that reassured me that it would all be fine and helped make sure I wouldn’t throw up (because that would have been messy and one hell of a first impression). That day I had multiple people come up to me to tell me they enjoyed my work. One girl came over to me during the break and asked for my social media so that she could show my work to other people. A couple days later she commented on my first Insta video of me reciting my poetry saying thank you and how much she enjoyed it. As I was leaving I had a woman give me her business card and tell me that she enjoyed my poem and especially enjoyed my performance of it. This was one hell of a compliment because she was published and was part of a group of poets that have been published. Another woman who was so sweet and whose poetry was so so good, came over to me and said,”Don’t you ever go up in front of a crowd again and say you are nervous. You were amazing and I felt like you have done this before. Keep doing it and don’t ever say you’re scared.” As I continued to go I continued to have to the opportunity to talk to more people about their work, about my poetry, about their poetry, and about my time here studying abroad. The Poetry Cafe brings me peace and clarity, it has become my London safe space and I am so grateful for that. 

Stepping into Cambridge

So, with all due respect I think Cambridge was one of my least favorite cities in England that we visited, but... it was one of the most amazing, happy, and laugh filled days I’ve had this semester. Cambridge was beautiful don’t get me wrong, I thought the architecture of the King’s College Chapel was so beautiful. There were two things that really left me in awe in the chapel and that was the stained glass and the small details that were on the pillars and on the door frames. The way the building was designed and structured definitely draw one’s attention upwards, almost as if to call you to look towards the heavens. The chapel was not the only beautiful part of this area though because WOWZA the grounds before entering the chapel were so beautiful too. The grass was so green and neat and I just wanted to sit and roll in it, but I also didn’t want to get scolded so I restrained myself.   

After walking around the museum, a group of us decided to go to the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens. There was a lot of space in this botanic garden and I don’t know if it was bigger than the one I walked in Amsterdam, but it did seem bigger than the one in Oxford, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it was better. It could be because most things were dying, but I also think they could have done a lot more with the space, but it was beautiful either way. Aside from that though, some of us have a theory that when we entered the garden something happened, something altered our minds because we honestly could not stop laughing. We sang songs (as we usually do) and just had a blast in this garden. Siobhan led us on an unofficial tour of the garden, telling us what a bunch of the plants were and what they are useful for (if you’re wondering, it was all made up; she is not a botanist, but it was hysterical). There was one really weird tree with eyes on it and I don’t really know how I felt about it. Part of me was awaiting it to come out from behind it holding a red balloon, but glad to say he didn’t! We were finally forced out of the garden because it was closing time and it was then time for FOOD. 

Well, I don’t remember the name of the burger joint, but we ended up at this pretty dope little hole in the wall. The burgers were so good and probably some of the best fries I’ve had in London. (I wouldn’t say they were the best fries I’ve had because that would be a lie. The best fries were all the Dutch frites I had in Amsterdam.) So another theory we have is that we were punk’d while we were eating and that the workers there probably continuously watch the video of all of us spitting out our hearts from being so scared when the music began to blare out of nowhere. In the moment it scare the s*&%t out of us, but afterwards we could not stop laughing and reenacting all of our individual reactions, but hey it’s kinda cool to think that we may be famous in Cambridge for this video that this burger joint now has through cctv and punking us. 

I have to say a highlight was definitely our walk back to the train station. It was such a laugh just walking with my friends and singing Christmas songs at night, in a residential area and making remixes out of them. All in all, going to Cambridge was so good and I am so grateful  for days like that one. 

Trying to keep my feet on solid ground. Still can’t believe I am actually here. 

Equal Power to All Women

This is it. We have officially seen the final play of the semester. Wow. That's so weird to think about and to say. I feel like just the other day it was August 28 and we were going to see our first play of the semester, Hamlet. Before I start crying - because trust me I will, I've been so emotional lately, it's a problem - let me talk about the play The Suppliant Women. I really liked the theatre itself. I really liked how intimate the space was and I think it was the perfect theatre for the play we saw because I don't think it was a production that needed a big space. The play like the room was very minimalist as far as props go. The lead female character was incredible. Even though she was typically in the crowd of young women on stage she always stood out and caught my attention. Her body movements, her conviction, and presence on stage was just impeccable. I really loved the live artwork that was done on stage as well, and I thought the dancing and singing was beautiful. If you asked me though if I liked the play itself as a whole, I really don't know if I could say yes. It took me a while to catch on to what was happening in the play and what it was really about and even now I don't really know if I fully understood. Something else that's puzzling about this play is that many people consider to be a feminist play and label it such, me personally would not jump to that automatic label and did not take it as such. The play involved a sizable number of women, but even then those women were constantly bowing down to men and praying to a god that typically favored men. Yes, they were fighting to be individuals and talked about not wanting to marry, saying they can take care of each other, but I think it takes more than that for it to be considered a "feminist play". Don't get me wrong, I thought it was pretty funny when the women would sing about how much they hated men and found myself saying "same" at some of the comments, but even then I feel like it kind of perpetuates that male hating feminist label that many put onto women. It would have been interesting to see the entire three act play as it was initially meant to be, but unfortunately two were lost, so this is all we are left to interpret.

Peace in the Middle East

Ah Oslo, Norway. Oslo. This is the second to last play we watched for this semester. At first I was a little bummed that it was back at the theatre where we saw Hamlet because I returned home that night with bruises on my legs because of the bar in front of me, but luckily i got to sit in the front of the circle so there was a bit more leg room and I could lean forward on the bar while watching the play - and don't worry I did not fall asleep, I was wide away for the whole thing.

Once again here was another play that was not my favorite, but I could still appreciate aspects of it, so I think I'm going to choose to focus on that. One thing I really enjoyed was the acting. I thought the actors were phenomenal and did such an incredible job. Unlike, Saint George and the Dragon, I can't say that they were good for what they were given because I do think it was a well written script. In general I thought the acting matched the writing of the script. I also really enjoyed that the female lead was the one telling the narrative and carrying the audience along, filling them in with information that they may need to better understand what is being presented on stage. Another thing, I thought they did really well was the use of the telephone as a prop. It can always be risky to use telephones as prop because they can make scene boring to see only one person talking while they are on the phone and not actually see what is happening on the other end. The did a great job of avoiding this issue by having the other men that Terje was on the phone with appear on stage and almost look as they are speaking to one another. By doing so the audience can feel the energy that is coursing through the telephone lines and see first hand the reactions of those individuals.

No, Oslo was not my favorite play, but like with many of these plays I can't say that I did not enjoy them at all because there are certain aspects that I do enjoy and that I think are done well and deserve my respect in that sense.

Is My Story Being Told? (research presentation)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1M1fD506VBc6A9UOM7gTvpGmUxHK3Bha6Xcd8xy1HNZE

Within the Crowd (community placement)

On October 25, I decided to go to the Poetry Cafe and see if there was anything going on that night. Turns out there was a poetry reading and open mic happening that night called “Within the Crowd”, so I figured why not check it out. I had some time to kill until the reading started so I sat with my laptop and notebook before me, found a playlist to listen to on Spotify, and began to write. I let my fingers take over and do as they may and ended up with a piece that even shocked me. (Who knows, you may or not may not get to hear it. hehe. No, but like literally who knows.) It was finally time for the reading so I made my way downstairs to only find about a handful of people there. A few minutes passed and only a couple more people showed up (not going to lie, it was kind of sad). Before the man began to read he asked if anyone would like to sign up for the open mic portion and I was looking forward to reading, but because no one else raised their hand, I decided not to. I have to say the man’s work wasn’t bad, it got a little weird for me when he read a poem about getting an erection on a bus, but his other work was not bad. I have to say though, my favorite piece was one read by a man that was not even the head reader, he was a guest. He read a poem about art in relation with spirituality and it was so beautiful. He worked to define art in a way that he was calling out the flaws in the definitions people were giving art. It was so beautiful and he was honestly my favorite. Now the shit show of the event (pardon my language), was when the second guest went up to read and he was drunk. What sucked is that it sounded like he had a lot of good stuff to say and from the few lines that I could understand I did enjoy them, but I mean it did make for one hell of an experience that not everyone could say they had. I mean like how many people can say they went to a poetry reading where only about 8 people showed up and out of those 8, two were guest readers and one of them was drunk. No one! Exactly! (But that’s just probably because it’s a super specific situation. lol) Either way, even though it was a weird experience it was pretty chill and I honestly just love being at The Poetry Cafe and I’m sue you’re tired of hearing that. (SOrry.) 

Yo Barry!

1. Though you were born and raised in Scotland, what made you run for Mayor in Cambridge and do most of your political work here in London?

2. What has made you interested in dabbling in so many different types of committees such as the Public Accounts committee and the PLP Departmental Committee for Culture, Media, and Sport?

3. Andrew Roth described Barry Gardiner as "One of the best educated and most internationally experienced MPs." How did you get so involved with other countries and what interested you in international relations?

Recipe to a Dope Research Paper (sites & sources)

List of locations:

British Museum

Museum of London/ Museum of London Docklands

National Museum of Scotland?

List of sources:

- The Art Museum as a Ritual by Carol Duncan

http://ezproxy.drew.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=9504072104&site=eds-live&scope=site

- Putting the ‘Nation’ in London’s National Gallery by Carol Duncan http://www.openbibart.fr/item/display/10068/937623

- Reinventing the Museum by T Low 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NFBIyE14qWoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA30&dq=what+is+a+museum+&ots=NnQoZw9qI2&sig=ZsPUANQWS45Oi3OWdVC6_qNfYnI#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20a%20museum&f=false

- Objects as Meaning; or Narrating the Past by Susan M. Pearce

https://books-google-com.ezproxy.drew.edu/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ElDlbc-kv3EC&oi=fnd&pg=PA19&dq=a+social+history+of+museums:+what+the+viewers+thoughts&ots=IxE100xt78&sig=FP5bdr9TnAAwzdPq7cqmL3Ts9rk#v=onepage&q=a%20social%20history%20of%20museums%3A%20what%20the%20viewers%20thoughts&f=false

- A Social History of Museums; What the Viewers Thought by Kenneth Hudson

Time With the Mogg Man

When we first arrived at Parliament to meet Jacob Reese-Mogg I was slightly skeptical. We hadn’t heard the best things about him and when I read up about him I wasn’t sure how I felt about some of his positions on things, but I was prepared to listen and pay attention to everything he had to say. By the time we left I had so much respect for him; not because I agree with his stance on everything, but because he was respectful and so well spoken. It was clear that he is an educated man that knew exactly what he was talking about and he was open to hear our questions and what we had to say, so there was no reason for me not respect him. I think this was made clear when he said, “What’s so good about the house of commons is that one can put the personal aside and be enlightened by what the other side has to say.” I think this is something that we all need to consider. A lot of the time we get stuck in our own opinions and ideas, that we don’t allow ourselves to listen to what the other side has to say. One of the ways in which one becomes more educated is to discuss with those that do not have the same opinions as theirs and he sees that. He said something else that really made me think about American politics and that was, “…politics makes you cautious about what you can actually achieve”, he then continued to say that you can’t change the world in four to five years. People. By now see through big promises that are made by politicians because they know it’s just a shallow platform to try and get people to follow them. In the states I feel that politicians still make such empty promises and make it seem as though in the four years that they are in office they will somehow change it all, but they can’t and I think it’s on us to see through those empty promises and try to make the best decision for our nation - which is not Donald Trump, but that’s for another Tumblr post. Something else he said that I really respected in regard to Scotland trying to leave the UK was, “I view my country as the United Kingdom. I see Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England as one nation.” Though he does not want Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, he does believe that the Scottish have the right to be independent if they choose to. He believes in the freedom of the people’s choice and doing what they think is best for them. There was so much more he said and it was honestly such a great experience to meet him.

The first picture is a picture of my new #Rugbae crush and the second picture is a picture of a girl that successfully went up to her new crush and talked to him. But no in all seriousness, being able to go see a rugby match was so awesome. I reminded me why I liked playing and watching the sport, something I feel like I had forgotten for a little bit. These guys also play really hard which I love. I’ve always been into watching contact sports and love how rough it is, so this was definitely my cup of tea (pun not intended... well maybe just a little intended). Some of the girls around me found it funny how into the game I got, but I just can’t help it. I’m extremely competitive and passionate and the two things together make up for one intense spectator. When the guys would form a scrum it reminded me how much I love that part of the game. There are a lot of people that don’t like being part of the scrum because it can be extremely dangerous if a scrum collapses, but I find it so much fun and it’s where I feel the most useful. O M G. These guys had such incredible lifts too. Those lifts are literally #GOALS! They just got them up in the air so effortlessly and there was never any fumbling with the ball. Now where the London Scottish was making me frustrated is that they would take too long to get the ball out and back into play after a ruck. They would just stand there and I’d be like okay boys let’s go and get this ball moving. I was so pumped though when they won. I actually thought I like tore my vocal chords or that I was going to leave with nodes. hahaha. 

Oh Beatrice!

On October 9th, Beatriz Romilly came to speak to our class and it that day definitely falls on my list of highlights for this semester. She's just so brilliant, down to Earth, kind, and oh so genuine. I couldn't believe that she was actually there and I was #fangirling so hard. Throughout the class she said so many brilliant things, but I'm not the fastest writer so I wasn't able to write down everything she said that stuck out to me, but there was one statement she made that hit me like a ton of bricks and that I made sure to get down on paper. I don't remember the question that was asked, but I part of her response was this: "... it's about doing it and seeing if it works." I think this really hit me because though she may have meant it at the moment only in the context of theatre and attempting a new way of saying something or performing something, this is also a larger than life statement. All my life I've second guessed everything I do and something I still struggle with today. I'm extremely afraid of failure so that's why taking risks is a little bit harder for me. Coming here to London and committing to this program was so scary, but it's also something I've dreamt of since middle school and have known that I've always wanted to do. This semester has been filled with so many of those moments where I am scared out of mind and just want to run into my parents and arms and have them hold me like I'm their little girl again, but they're not here and I can't do that. This is all a good thing. The past couple of months I have done things that I never thought I've had the guts to do. I've read my poetry in front of crowds of 40 or so people, I've traveled to four different countries (including England and soon five, once I go to the Netherlands), I've taken risks with my writing, and have written about things that I have been so afraid to write about. I know, to some this may seem so minimal and like nothing, but that's something else I've been learning throughout this trip... it's not about some and about others, my risks don't have to compare to those of others because my life is not like others, it is MY LIFE. If something is monumental to me, that's all that matters because it is my experience and my next step in growing up to be hopefully, a good, intelligent, risk taking individual. Beatriz was so right; sometimes you can't think, you have to just do, have to just "see if it works" and if it doesn't, woops oh well. Who even cares? Because we, I have so much time and the mistakes are just my blooper reel that I'll go back to and laugh at some day. So thank you Beatriz because I don't think you know the difference you've made and the self-reflection you initiated with this simple statement.

At this Poetry @ 3, I decided to share two poems. This is the first of the two that I shared, titled “Same Mistake”. This poem was not easy for me to write, as it called for me to talk about something I have refused to acknowledge for a while now. While writing it, I’ll admit I almost cried like three times, but kept it together as to not stain the page. What I went through was ugly and rough, but reciting this poem was beautiful and smooth. I wasn’t sure how this crowd was going to take to this poem, being that there were a few more older folk than usual, but they seemed to have enjoyed it (especially the line where I criticize Valentine’s Day). When one of the first people I shared this poem with was Siobhan and her favorite line was the one about Icarus (and it’s actually my favorite line too). I was glad I shared this poem and I wish the person that this poem is about could here me read this, but it was fine because that day I had some amazing people that matter so much to me there to watch and that was all I needed.

Stepping into Oxford.