still tired, still in london.

since my last post, i started classes! and went food shopping! and toured the city! and almost passed out from exhaustion (not in the medical sense, but in the completely exaggerative sense). three-hour classes are going to kill me. i can tell because today was the first day i've actually had a full-length class, as my politics professors THANKFULLY didn't believe in having a full-length class the first day, but my english professor was less forgiving. i am so done for the day. but i'm trying to stay awake so that i can get to be at a normal time.

so what happened in the course of almost five days since the last time i wrote a post? well...

saturday night: bar outing with the NYU kids. people were dancing (it was awk). they served finger foods (let me tell you: sausages? not good. canapes with tomato, mozzarella & eggplant? alright. spring rolls & spicy sauce? the best). seriously eclectic music choices by the DJ as well. i mean, lady gaga is wonderful, of course, but at some point, they played nickelback's "rockstars" and i tuned out. sat with my roommate jessica & our mutual friend riley. spoke to ross at some point, spoke to my other friend alex at some point, saw maggie (who i met hours before our flight at JFK) and waved hello.

got mcdonald's afterward. quarter-pounders abroad are horrible.

sunday: lazy day with the exception of the LONDON COACH TOUR, featuring the most adorable little tour guide ever. i swear she was obsessed with all things princess diana. it got a bit boring towards the end, thanks to all of the traffic on the way home. will have to post pictures in another post, as this one is getitng a bit too long.

monday: i rolled out of bed at 8AM for my 10AM class on east european government & politics. excellent, right? on the plus side, i managed to not nod off during class, so hopefully, that's a good sign that i'll really enjoy it. there are eight girls in the class, though. that's intense. after class, i came home and... you guessed it, NAPPED. jessica came back while i was sleeping and fell asleep herself. we're sleepy people. but we had to wake up, because it was imperative that we go FOOD SHOPPING. at tesco.

PS: frozen food is not meant to look fancy by any means. the brits, it seems, do not understand that fact. frozen entrees looked like legitimate food, with their silver labels and nice fonts. i bought too much and actually didn't really buy anything at all, now that i think about it. i've barely attempted to make a real dinner. i bought bread for 79 pence, strawberry jam, bagels, cream cheese,r egular cheese, ham... and a bunch of other stuff that i can't really eat for dinner. hm.

tuesday: INAUGURATION DAY! i didn't have class until 2, so i woke up around 10AM, checked MSNBC (i love my liberal gotcha media, dont'cha know), showerd, threw on my beautiful blue moveon.org OBAMA shirt and headed to british politics, a class of soewhere around 26 people. we had an introductory lecture, but because class is normally from 2-5PM and the inaugural address was meant to be broadcast here at 5, he let us out early.

i met up with jessica & we walked all the way to leicester square (and even a little further) until we got to the texas embassy cantina. major fail. it was packed. and not just with americans, but with londoners too, which bothered me because I VOTED FOR THIS MAN, HE IS MY PRESIDENT, AND I COULDN'T WATCH HIM TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE TO OFFICIALLY BECOME ME PRESIDENT. whatever. we hustled to find the nearest pub that was showing it, found some americans at the imperial pub just up the road, and watched the address. i cried, not gonna lie. there were americans in the pub who cheered too, some englishmen who looked at me funny because i was on the verge of tears, and a group of asians in the back talking very loudly. i was sincerely bothered. but we have a new president! so that's exciting. we toasted with some beer (only a half-pint, though, because a pint of beer is a LOT). will also post pictures, but there aren't many. i also have pictures of me with prawn-cocktail-flavored pringles. ew.

today (wednesday): didn't have class until 2 again. today was writing london. the profesor is absurdly lovely and really interested in what she studies (she primarily focuses upon literature in the 18th and 19th centuries, plus literature that's set in london). i do always have a bond with engish teachers, though. it's to be expected. but it was the first full-length class i've had! so exhausting. we read several poems or extracts of poems by wordsworth and guilpin, plus an excerpt from michel de certeau's book, the practice of everyday life. i sat near some really funny girls, including one from UVA, who i think is a sorority with someone i know from high school but not very well (i only "know" this thanks to some epic facebook-stalking. creepy? you betcha). and now i'm sitting here, contemplating whether or not i'll be making a semi-legitimate dinner this evening.

i miss new york. i went on a skyping spree last night with elanna, tiffany & marlee, then i called my dad, who i haven't spoken to in more than a week. it's ridiculous. i wish everyone back home had skype so that i could interact & see their bright, shining faces. if you have skype, SKYPE ME PLEASE & THANK YOU. i'm brianasantiago. obvs.