rachel, got ya` bracelets?

sorry, kinda bad at this so far...
updates, eh?

first and foremost: it turns out, the london bridge never fell down. it is, in fact, standing quite sturdily. and i crossed it on my way from the tower of london to a rally to raise awareness of hiv/aids issues worldwide. afterwards, we had a much-needed wyman (plus dave) frisbee hour (or two) and some drinks along the river, where we encountered peter "douchebag"(a name my mother gave to to our waiter after some intense rudeness on his part).

the weather in london was colder than expected, and it rained a couple of days, but we still had a great time- visited the british museum, the tate modern (i was personally a big fan), walked through many neighborhoods (including some quite interesting ones....) and parks, strolled the river, went out in soho with kyle and keelin, hit up pubs all over, and spent a day with dave who came in from birmingham.

the day before we left london, the Underground went on strike. at 6:59pm all of the underground staff got up and walked out, whether they were working ticket booths or conducting a train. the strike was held because of disagreements over wages between the rail/transportation union and the city and because the mayor (boris johnson) was planning to cut around 1,000 jobs. during the day before the strike there was lots of speculation whether it would be averted at the last minute. apparently negotiations took place and some compromises were made, but they were unable to come to an agreement about the impending job cuts...

so by 5:45 the rush to get home began... it was a tuesday night and a ton of people had to get home from work before 7pm, or risk being stuck on an abandoned train, or stranded without any train home at all. though we weren`t coming home from work, we got caught in the same rush at about ten after 6, as we attempted to make our way back to our neighborhood before it was too late. all five of us (kelly had stayed back at the hotel) took a deep breath in and piled into an already overflowing train (somehow). it was sweaty and uncomfortable and even painful, and i loved it. this is the kinda social expression and uprise that it is really interesting to experience even in the most 'outsider' sort of way. real political and social issues in a different society happening all around me (literally) - the reaction of the people, the impact on local, daily, life, etc. yeah, so, that was pretty cool to experience. (the next morning, however, it kinda sucked trying to find a way to the chunnel station all the way across the city without undergroud service, and with everybody else looking for a cab , and 3 times as many cars on the street....but we made it!)

and so, for now, 'chip chip cheerio!'