And so it comes to an end...

Goodbye London!!!


Hello Amsterdam and Greece!!


Hello home!!!! YAY!!!!


Really, I will miss London very much. I had some of the best times and some of the worst times here. I will never forget my experiences and hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to study abroad again!

Ah yes

HAPPY 31ST ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

It's just one of those days...

I
I can't
I can't seem
I can't seem to
I can't seem to focus
I can't seem to focus today.

Really. My mind is absolutely jumbled up today. If you looked into my brain you would see millions of Bethany's running around, bumping into each other. I feel like I need space, but there is none. I feel like I need to breathe, but there is no air. I feel like I need something, but I don't know what.


Hmmm....perhaps a nap!

EQUUS!

EQUUS....the most amazing play I think I've ever seen. Kelly was lucky enough to snag us some excellent tickets, and for 9.50 (GBP) with a restricted view (only requiring us to lean over to get a really great view of the stage), we saw an absolutely fabulous show! Daniel Radcliffe was so fantastic...I don't know that I was expecting a lot from him because of the reviews I'd heard, but he blew me away! Richard Griffiths (a.k.a. Uncle Vernon) was also very amazing. It was really great to see the dynamic between the two Harry Potter characters on stage in a new setting. Peter Shaffer, the author of the play, should be given a medal, an award, a nobel peace prize...something!!! The story was absolutely fantastic and just so disturbing.

For those of you who don't know, the play is about a psychiatrist who is trying to figure out why a 17 year old boy went on a rampage and blinded six horses. The boy's father is really mean to him and anti-religious, while his mother is very nurturing and reads him the bible every night. Through a series of events, the boy ends of associating horses with God. He has a very devoted and almost sexual relationship with horses. He becomes so obsessed with horses and one night snaps, blinding his so-called "master." The whole thing was so chilling and I'm probably not doing it any justice describing it right now. It was just the most amazing story line I've ever heard.

AND YES.....
Daniel Radcliffe did show all....very bravely I might add. I realize that this thought is illegal in the states, but fortunately for me, I'm in Europe where it still is legal......Daniel Radcliffe is VERY GOOD LOOKING!....all of him! But, aside from his naked performance, he made an excellent crossover from film to stage.

I would recommend that everyone see or read this play. It will blow your mind!

Here comes the sun

We're finally getting some of that good old sunshine over in London! Yesterday was absolutely beautiful and for once, I did not feel obliged to carry my umbrella with me! My roommate Kelly and I took full advantage of the day. Our goal was to get down by the River Thames to eat our lunch (which we packed ourselves...yum!) and go on to the Clink Prison Museum. On our way over there we happened to stumble upon an outdoor food market. And what a market!!! There were so many people and so much interesting food! The best part of the market were the free samples at some of the stalls. All of the prices were really cheap as well which added yet another bonus! After winding our way through the maze of people and delicious smells for quite some time, we finally made our way to the riverside with a few goodies (cheap, I might add!) to supplement our lunch.

After stuffing ourselves on homemade and market goodness, we headed over to the Clink Prison Museum. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with the history of the Clink, it was the first female prison in 1247 and the first male prison in 1306...so says the inscription on the wall! Kelly and I learned about all of the unfortunate people that fell prisoners to the Clink. We also learned about the many torture devices used on both men and women. For some strange reason, they seemed to give women the harsher treatment simply because they were, well, women. Isn't that odd...women being repressed by society? Such an odd concept (hint of extreme sarcasm in the voice).

After going through the Clink, Kelly and I parted ways, and I headed over to the Tate Modern. Despite the hoards of people taking up precious space, I absolutely loved the Tate Modern! I wandered around for a couple of hours, listening to my iPod! I made it through the Thom Yorke solo album and Radiohead's Hail to the Theif album (can you tell I'm on a Radiohead streak?). Listening to music was nice because it almost made me forget/ignore the annoying people surrounding me. I swear, there is proper museum etiquette that most people just choose to disregard! Despite that, I had a really great time and I even got to walk across the Millennium Bridge!

In other news: One of my supervisors at my internship gave me the task of writing a 10 page literature review about community involvement in community sentencing! YES!