Discovery of FREE events.

Thanks to the LC program, each of us are given a 90 pound stipend every thursday. I originally optimistically planned on saving a third of this money for traveling after the program... until I ran out of money very quickly! So yesterday was the lucky pay-day. And little me was sooo excited when someone announced they were going to see WICKED that night. I felt after saving so much money last week that I could give myself some treats this week, this is afterall a once in a lifetime chance to spend 4 months in london, so why should i spend it being so uptight and worried about money that isn't even coming out of my bank account?? I mean this money really has FUN written all over it (and art, and music, and food!) and so little needs to be said about how much money I now have of my stipend, I gladly let go of it for one of the best nights yet!

It started with buying the tickets, wondering around the city through hyde park and to the buckingham palace for some photos.. and then we all joined in for an italian dish, and i was impressed by andrew's sauce making skills! everyone pitched in some form of ingredients and we managed to have veggie cream sauce, chicken, pasta, salad (with dressing!) and some white wine. As if this weren't great enough, Dylan and I went in on fresh bread and i took a jar of nutella along. we ate a whole baguette, covered in nutella right before the show. and then the SHOW was magnificent. brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh, made me smile, and made me want to go see wicked every night of my life! soo i'm off to a good start this week!

Monday night dylan and i went to a blues jam session at a blues bar, and it was SO AMAZING (not to mention free). I will definitely be going back there for more blues, its good for the soul, and these guys are talented!

I'll do some quick re-capping. Tuesday I had my first art class and I was so delighted when I found out that we were all heading to the tube and having class at the british museum... not only that but all of our classes will be held at galleries and museums, a wonderful place to discuss art and artifacts is when you're feet away from the actual art objects themselves... getting the 360 view of marbles from the parthenon. we had a discussion about whether or not the marbles should be returned to greece, because a turkish ruler bought them a long time ago and sold them to the british museum... unlike the egyptian ruins which were basically stolen and put there. its worth thinking about, and trickier of an issue than it seems about where this art belongs (in a place like london in a free museum for ppl to see? or in the place where it is most historically significant?)

After class I walked around the gallery more, saw an exhibit on money, and mummies. and then i decided to walk home from hyde park (which is huge! and beautiful) and i stopped by the princess diana memorial fountain.. where supposedly crazy ppl go skinny dipping, but if you see it you'll be as confused as me because its basically a circular pool of rapids a foot or so deep.

Wednesday I had music class, which I really love, and later that night I went to an open mic night, my first open mic in london! it was really fun, two friends came along and i played my newest song and heard some really good acts. the power went off halfway through the show while someone was trying to read lyrics off of a page while playing, so someone held a candle up to help him... then we all had to leave for safety reasons because of the power outage! but it was a fun time. I'm off to meet with the music manager I'll be working with this semester. Tonight I'll be seeing more free music, this time of the afro-latin groove style. I'll report back later! Take care,

Jodi