The fastest two weeks of our lives: Cambridge

This is the sign for the building we lived in. It was really modern and felt like a luxury in comparison to Furzedown.


Ani outside King's College chapel.


Ali within King's College. PLEASE KEEP OFF THE GRASS.


Street view of King's College.


King's Parade, the street King's College is on.

Ali: Hi again! It's been a busy two weeks attending the Summer Literature Program at Cambridge. I can't believe it has come to an end! We met so many smart, quirky, awesome people from all over the world (we miss you guys!!) and got a taste of the World-class Cambridge education (yes, in between all the partying and gallivanting around the town I actually learned a few things). These are pictures we took the first couple days in Cambridge, the architecture is awe-inspiring,,no wonder so many great ideas and top-notch thinkers come from Cambridge...more to come!

Ani: Our time at Cambridge went by so quickly that we had no time to update this blog. Here's a list of the classes I took:
Week 1
Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Ulysses by James Joyce
Week 2
Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Don Quixote by Cervantes
All of the classes were interesting with good lecturers and I learned a lot. Some of the lecturers were real characters.

hyde park

After a day of hectic crowds on Oxford Street (shopping!), Ali and Ani retire to the park to read and draw.

Ani: I wore my squirrel dress, and one came up really close to me. It may have seemed like it was begging for food but I'm pretty sure it just liked my outfit.

wimbledon

(click thumbnail to enlarge)


Ani: Yesterday we took the bus from Tooting to Wimbledon. We got there and Ali wanted to leave and come back later, but I thought that while we were there we may as well go in. It's lucky we did, because these two rich-looking ladies gave us their tickets to Centre Court. First we watched a gentleman's doubles match. I can't remember all of their names, but it was Schwank vs. Lindstedt. I don't even know what country they were from. It was an interesting game. It took me a little while to figure out the game, but then I remembered what all the funny words (love, deuce, etc.) meant.

ew a moth just fell on me.

Anyway. After that it was announced that Kournikova and Hingis would be playing (woman's doubles) against Sukova and Temesvari. I didn't realise why the crowd was so excited at first. The names Hingis and Kournikova sounded familiar, but Ali had to tell me that they were pretty famous and that's why everyone was so excited. Fair enough! It was an excellent game. The women were far more entertaining than the men because they really had a sense of humour about the competition and interacted with the audience a bit.

I got up at the end of one game to get a closer picture, but I was told by a female gaurd that you're not allowed to move closer. Tennis crowds are so quiet and well-organized. I guess the game requires so much concentration. Still, some guys yelled out to the players a few times. Most of the spectators were so well dressed- really preppy and expensive looking! I felt a bit out of place in my shorts and t-shirt.

We didn't get any autographs. It's not like the players were just walking around anywhere.

All in all, the experience of Wimbledon made me appreciate tennis much more. It also made me wish I could get a really nice tan like Kournikova. We were so lucky to be at the right place at the right time and get those tickets for Centre Court! The tickets were worth 85 pounds each and we got them free! It was kind of surreal to be right there in the middle of everything, it's something most people only ever see on television. If I ever go again, though, I'll know to dress up.

Note to Roy: We got your official tennis balls and some other neat stuff! Man, you would have had so much fun so you better visit me next year and see for yourself!

p.s. Ali is asleep, maybe she'll add her entry tomorrow. Today I searched around Tooting for boxes (I don't know how many convenience stores I entered, asking for cardboard boxes). Tomorrow is the day the moving man & van come and all my junk gets put in storage. THEN IT IS OFF TO CAMBRIDGE! Ali stayed back and read her books. I was exhausted after packing all my stuff. I actually still have more to pack so I better go now.


Ali: Today is actually Saturday, but we didn't do much, just helped Ani move everything to the storage place. Got lots of exercise carrying down her boxes 7 flights of stairs since the lifts were broken. Thursday was definitely the highlight of the week. Wimbledon was outstanding. I was content to walk around the venue and catch a game on one of the smaller courts, but as Ani already related, two ladies in sundresses handed us their 85 pound (that's about 110 US dollars? me thinks)center court tickets. Although we missed Serena's match and Ani's boyfriend Nadal wasn't playing that day, we got to see Hingis and Kournikova smash their opponents in straight sets. Roy, watching it live is at least 100x better than watching it on the telly...you'll have to make it out to Wimbledon one day for sure.

Tomorrow we are off to Cambridge! Can't wait to meet other people. It's been just me and Ani the whole week, I'm actually surprised we are not completely sick of each other yet.

view all pics at our photobucket album: Alianiadventure

Day 2 in London

Ani: On day two we went to the Tate Modern. I really wanted to show Ali this piece I liked by Marislav Balka, but it had already left. We just ambled around the galleries and took pictures of interesting things. Some of the stuff was inspiring, but a lot of it just made you go, "What..."
Then we went to Oxford Circus and Ali got shoes. But I am really picky and didn't get anything. After that we went to have dinner in Hyde Park and we could hear Paul McCartney's concert going on. This was definitely a highlight of the day, to hear him singing live, even though we couldn't actually see the concert.
The raspberries were really nice but the vendor who sold them to us was weird.
At the end of the day, we were pretty tired. We did a lot of walking.

Ali:Day two I felt like a real tourist. At the Tate Modern I gained a better appreciation for abstract art,,it's mostly the process, not the product you have to admire. Though of course the works that actually looked like something were my favorites epecially the paintng I dubbed "lascivious ham" (see above). Oxford Circus has all the shops and being girls, we spent quite a bit too much time perusing the selections without actually buying anything. The best part of the day was just sitting on the grass: outside Tate, eating lunch and then in Hyde Park, listening to Paul McCartney while dozing off.

the adventure begins...

Saturday June 26th

Ali: Arrived in at Tooting after a couple minor hiccups. First I got my arrival day wrong, poor ani lost her head thinking she was the one who got the date wrong waiting for me outside the dorms for two hours on Friday morning. Second the taxi driver got lost in Tooting, the poor old man. And poor old me, thinking I'd never get to Furzedown. FINALLY, I arrived at Furzedown Halls and ani popped out the gate. I was struck at how pasty my ex-pat sister had become. I immediately made a mental we must get some sun. but she still my sister, though pasty, and I was literally squealing and jumping like a someone who hadn't seen my sister in 6 months!!!

to make a long story short, I didn't sleep a wink the whole day, walked a crazy distance (in Guam standards), had terrible jet lag the whole night and was completely incredulous that I am actually padding around the great city of London with my sis. Further, I am happy to report Ani is still very much alive and thriving despite the lack of sun and living without Mom for the last 12 months.

Ani: Well, I feel as if Ali sufficiently explained the first part of that day. After we lugged her baggage up to the 8th floor of the tower of Furzedown Halls, I gave her the grand tour. She was not impressed. Honestly, I've been living in these student conditions for long enough that none of its modest accoutrements bother me much anymore. Ali made me fully aware of my feral surroundings. I feel like you have to let your standards down sometimes because if you don't, then you'll constantly be disgruntled.

We went to Camberwell because I had to invigilate the illustration part of the college art show. But first, we had a picnic of felafel at the nearby park. The felafel man gave us free apples.

On our way back we stopped in Brixton, as I wanted to show Ali Electric Avenue (the one the song is based on) and there we chanced upon a lovely used bookstore. Then we had to get Ali her digital camera at Argos, and stopped in for a photo op at a creepy old cemetery in Streatham.

All in all, it was a low-key day, but not without its nice little moments. I am glad to have Ali here and excited to show her all London has to offer. She has learned quickly the motions of bus catching and taking the tube, and proves to be a very useful navigator. I swear the girl has magnetic poles in her brain because she intuitively knows North from South etc.



Jetlag sucks.