Tour guide for Melinda & family!

Thursday 3/11
Today kinda sucked. 50 people in one flat… not enough space. Eh. My camera drowned and died last weekend when an entire water bottle emptied out in my purse. Today I spent a few hours looking for a new camera but the $ exchange is bad as always.
Good event for the day – a group of us saw the show Hairspray tonight. It was pretty good but not fantastic.

Friday 3/12
Today… ran some errands, not feeling good, studied for a test.

Saturday 3/13
Today I got to see Melinda and her family! It was a great day. Melinda (my half-sister), Devin, Clara and Jonas moved to Harrogate, England this year and it was their first time visiting London. I met them at the Science Museum and introduced Ali to them. I was trying to be a sort of tour guide and had places i wanted to show them, but every tube line I needed was (of course) down today, so we took buses all the way across London. We split from Ali and headed towards Big Ben, which is my favorite area of London. I had lots of fun pointing out famous spots – Westminster cathedral, Parliament, Big Ben! We took pictures and then crossed the River Thames and saw the London Eye. I loved being with Clara and Jonas! They are adorable and so much fun. 

We stopped for lunch at a bakery, which was pretty good but unfortunately Melinda was allergic to part of her lunch and became sick. :( We then took a scenic bus route through more amazing places – Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Oxford Street. Clara loved sitting on the top level of the red double-decker bus, as I pointed things out. We stopped at Marble Arch and walked back to their hotel (which is 1 tube stop away from where I live!) along the northern edge of Hyde Park, which is beautiful even though everything is still refusing to bloom. It was kind of sad saying goodbye so soon… I love being with family. I may be a bit homesick… while I simultaneously don’t want to leave London!

On the way home I went into my favorite souvenir shop (one of like 15 on Queensway) where the Indian lady recognized me haha. It’s sad when a souvenir store-owner knows you. :) But she has great discounts “just for you!” and she cracks me up. I somehow spent a good £35 on souvenirs (mostly for my family! I love you guys!). Went back to the Centre, went back out with a few girls to an H&M sale (I got a jacket and red dress!), then I spent the rest of the evening studying and taking a 2-hour Brit Lit midterm.

Sunday 3/14
Church, not feeling well again, had a good talk with the bishop’s wife in my Whitechapel ward (she’s amazing and hilarious with a big black sassy woman accent). Spent the rest of the day doing nothing then studying for and taking a religion midterm. With the exception of seeing Melinda & company yesterday, this has not been a great past few days. I can’t wait to start a new week tomorrow… in Paris! Tomorrow is our “spring break” and the whole program is spending 4 days in Paris! Yay :)