The Adventure Begins...

Well, it’s Tuesday and I’ve already sort of failed at my goal of blogging every day (however I have been writing every day which is step).  The wireless is really spotty here so it’s difficult to find places where you can actually access the internet.  Sometimes someone will find a small corner or nook in the common room and let out a gasp of shock and surprise which can be identified by everyone as we have all already experienced the failure and frustration of going online. 

Despite the problems with wifi (which isn’t too bad for me because I prefer to be unplugged anyway but it is quite frustrating when trying to do school work) this place is a dream!  Before I describe the beautiful buildings, old streets and quaint little shops, let me juxtapose these images with my travel to the UK itself…

My flight left Boston without a hitch (and they had The Hobbit on the plane, which was a major plus!  I had to physically stop myself from yelling with Bilbo when he says, “I’m going on an adventure!”) and I landed in Heathrow at 9ish in the morning.  However, I had already promised 4 other girls who were on the flight after me that I’d wait for them in the airport so I hung around until 11 then, when they arrived we bought out coach tickets to Cambridge.  However, as we had such a large group we had to hop on the 1:30pm bus to Cambridge which was a whopping 3.5hrs!!!  Yup, after a 6 hour flight and 4 hours of waiting in an airport I was rewarded with a 3.5 hour coach ride.  But it wasn’t so bad, I slept a bit and we rode through the British countryside which was quite lovely.  I was noticing that even the trees here are different.  Some have wiry, twirly branches and other are wispy and look as if they grew in the direction of the wind.  When we finally arrived to Cambridge I was literally jumping up and down with excitement. 

After a quick hop up to my room (which is HUGE, I’ll post pictures soon) we had dinner in the Hall which looks almost exactly like the Great Hall in Hogwarts and, at dinner you’re waited on by staff members who serve you soup or salad, the entrée, dessert and coffee or tea, it’s like living with a group of friendly house elves!  After dinner a UNH professor took us on a quick tour of the college and Cambridge.  One of my favorite things we saw was the library, which would make the Beast himself proud!  It’s two stories with bookshelves covering the entire walls.  There are also all these little rooms off the side of the main library which have even more books and is drenched in the smell of old pages just dying to be re-opened and remembered by the next bibliophile.  It also has these great big windows which cast shadows around the room and comfy chairs and desk scattered about for studying or just some light reading.  You just feel smarter and more studious walking in there!

Going to bed that first night- with the bells across the way chiming out the time and the voices and languages of tourists and locals alike echoing around my room- I was struck by how lucky I am to be able to call this historic and international place home for the brief time of six weeks.  Can’t wait to see what else awaits me!