Things I don't want to forget:

It's taken about 10 days for the glow of England to wear off. The momentum I felt coming out of Cambridge is starting to slow down, and the good news is that I no longer feel the need to conquer to world. The bad news is that I'm afraid I'm going to go back to old habits. I'm afraid of going back to the me I was before England happened. So, in an attempt to publicly record the incredible experiences I had there, here's a list of things I never want to forget:

1. Walking past King's College after class as the sun is right behind it and thinking: "I'm in Cambridge."

2. The day I realized that I could write a 1500-word paper in one sitting.

3. Sitting in the rocking chair in the McLaverty's guest room and realizing that the more I read Shakespeare, the easier it gets.

4. Big Ben lit up at night.

5. Running along the quasi-forest trail off of Brooklands Avenue Cambridge with Alex, Rachael and whoever they convinced to come with us.

6. Running and walking through Regent's Park.

7. Falstaff at the Globe.

8. The taste of Galaxy chocolate.

9. The tears in my eyes while seeing Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey.

10. The value of journal writing I learned in the quiet night hours in Edinburgh.

11. The reverence of the cathedrals.

12. Being surrounded by some of the best student minds of America who wrote brilliant theses and dissertations during our 8-week stay.

13. Watching Stranger than Fiction and the first episode of the BBC Sherlock in the Pembroke Graduate Parlor.

14. John Benton bursting through Mike's and Ben's door in Regent's College saying "Fulvia is dead!"

15. Seeing Phantom of the Opera for the first time.

16. Learning about A Room of One's Own in its opening scene.

17. The day some tourists stopped us and asked us to take a picture with them to fulfill a scavenger hunt item: "take a picture with Cambridge students."

18. Seeing the Rosetta Stone.

19. My contrasting feelings about home during the first weeks of Cambridge and then the love I developed for it towards the end.

20. Learning how to make myself a transportable home base of comfort and security.

21. The realization that I should only compare myself to myself.

22. The night we slept in the Dublin airport and Jason pointing out that I shut down between 3 and 6 am.

23. "Read the Big Issue, buy the Big Issue..." I still don't know what the Big Issue was.

24. Walking through the Cambridge market after class.

25. Walking through all the parks in London!

26. Getting ice cream with the girls at Benets and sitting on King's Parade.

27. The Trailer of Life.

28. Doner Kebabs in Ireland.

29. Riverdance in Ireland!

30. Playing soccer at midnight in Newport, Wales and then again on the beach in Swansea, Wales.

This list could really go on and on, but those are the big ones for now.

IRELAND

Incredible beauty:

Riverdance!!:

Eye-opening (and fantastic) pub/bar experiences:

Lovely company:

Art museum:

Nam bread (with a doner kebab)

Dunlace Castle, Distillery, and Dublin:

It's Approaching...

August the 21st is coming right around the corner of the weekend. 3 full days in Ireland, 2 final papers, finally being a proper tourist in Cambridge, finally going to tea at Grantchester and the packing process are the plans for the week. I'd say it's a pretty good agenda.

Today's update: 1:30-6 found me in the Cambridge Union Society writing 3 essays and 3 short essays with a 30 minute break. As a result, I won't be writing by hand for a while. However, if you'd like to know anything about the biographies and life writing of the Bloomsbury group, the dramatic significance of the dead in Hamlet, and certain comic situations in As You Like It, I'm your girl.

I did manage to see a bit more of Cambridge over the last few weeks .

Haven't been inside yet, but this is the Scott Polar Research Institute, founded in 1920 as a memorial to Cap. Robert Falcon Scott and the other four members of his crew who lost their lives returning from the South Pole in 1912.

Then there's the Round Church, which is right in front of the Cambridge Union Society, where we have classes. The most exciting thing about this was the movie playing inside about all the intellectuals who have come in and out of Cambridge.

Next, let's jump into the air 94 feet to the top of King's College Chapel. Here, we can see the Great Court with the dining hall running up the left and the Gibbs Building running down the right,

A bit of Clare College,

The River Cam next to the King's College grounds (Bodley's Court on the left),

And then just a pretty view with many buildings I don't know:

St. John's College is one of the richest colleges here at Cambridge. It was founded in 1511 by the same woman who founded Christ's College: Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.

The Bridge of Sighs runs through St. John's College. I didn't get to walk over it because it's a private bridge. (sigh) I did get a picture though:

Looking forward to seeing more colleges next week!

12 days! And a peek at Wales.

12 days until I see the Rocky Mountains again. Crazy! I'm not sure I want to think about it.

So, instead, here are some pictures from my Wales weekend. I'd tell you all about it, but #1 - it's double finals week for me, and #2 - we all know that the pictures are the best part of any blog. However, I will say a few words about it: soccer, late night travel adventures, misty, green, beautiful, friendly, Welsh, beach, perfect weather, Cadbury hot chocolate, markets, hard-core scrapes, straight up the mountain, so sore, SHEEP, more soccer, more sheep, horses and costume parties.

On to the pictures:

"...through the heather on the hill..." Oh wait, wrong country.

One of the cutest sights on Swansea Beach.

We got to the top of Lorange Mountain and the mist started to disappear. Talk about perfect timing!

Big Pit, or Pwll Mawr if you read Welsh. This is an example of the many coal mines in the South of Wales. Coal is a big industry there.

Cardiff Castle.

Swansea Beach again.