Old Friends and New Places

No two weeks are ever the same in London. Last week was wonderful and busy, mostly as a result of shadowing physicians. As I posted in my last blog entry, I shadowed three doctors on Monday. However, in regards to unwritten experiences, last Wednesday I started the day shadowing in Neonatology in St. Thomas' Hospital with Anna C. It was really interesting to have the opportunity to explore the NICU and learn about some of the patients. Some of the most memorable parts for me included seeing notes from their parents posted on the walls. One of the dads even rewrote the song "Staying Alive" from his premature son's perspective. I also liked seeing some of the parents practicing Kangaroo Care, which is something I did research on at University Hospitals my freshman and sophomore years at Case.

After shadowing, Anna and I grabbed a quick bite before heading over to the Practice of Medicine Class. Immediately after class, I grabbed a tube to Victoria Station, where I was excited to see one of my sorority sisters Shauna G. Shauna was staying in South Hampton for spring break, and decided to see a concert in London with one of her friends last Wednesday night. Since I was seeing Wicked near the Victoria Station and she was arriving in London from the Victoria Station, we figured it would be the perfect place to meet up. I loved hearing stories from back home and talking to her English friend. We also had a pretty good dinner at Garfunkel's, which is a chain restaurant, before taking typical phi mu pictures and parting ways. I'm excited because I know I will be seeing at least one more phi mu sister in a few weeks when she comes to visit in London. Its so nice seeing faces from back home, and I love planning for visitors.

Once dinner was over, I rushed to the Apollo Theatre where I saw Wicked for the third time. (I'd already seen it in New York and Cleveland). Since its my favorite show, I, of course, thought it was wonderful, but the British accents definitely threw me off a bit. It was also really nice because since Butler organized it, the tickets were only 14 pounds which is significantly cheaper than anything I could have got on my own.

The rest of the week was pretty typical in that I had lots of classes and went to Borough Market for lunch on Friday. Saturday however, was our last pre-paid Butler trip, and we spent the day at Shepherd Neame Brewery and Dover Castle. While I was able to appreciate the history behind the oldest brewery in England, I'm not a beer drinker so the tasting aspect of the experience was not incredibly exciting. Dover Castle was beautiful though, and I wish we had more time to explore the grounds. Saturday was also Jason's 20th birthday, so Jason, Sulin, and I went to China Town in London to celebrate. I had a lot of different foods, including a preserved duck egg that Sulin told me was a century old. The day was also really nice because when I got home, I had a beautiful and tasty box of chocolates waiting for me from Jacob. I know I'm a lucky girl :).

Finally, Sunday (yesterday), I woke up early to grab brunch with Michele, Annie, Rebecca, and a few of Rebecca's friends. We went to this wonderful place on Bermondsey Street where I had fresh squeezed orange juice and eggs hollandaise. It was a very quaint restaurant, and I loved the huge windows. After brunch, Michele and I headed to the St. Patrick's Day festival and Parade in Trafalgar Square. While the parade was not exactly what I was expecting (I was thinking more along the lines of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade), we had a lot fun seeing the Irish dancers and eating tiny freshly made doughnuts. There were hundreds of thousands of people there, and it was incredible to be a part of something so big.

Since I only have two weeks left of classes before break begins, I know I will be spending a lot of time reading and writing. Nevertheless, I know I will continue exploring London and loving being abroad.