"for whenever men are right they are not young."

At this very moment, I sit in one of my favorite spots in the entire world.

I'm on my parents' back patio on a sunny day with a high of 79. 

You could say that life is good.

However, to say that I'm not missing another favorite spot at this very moment would be a lie. 

That spot, is the view from right here:

I honestly don't even feel like I've left Harlaxton for good yet. When we were in Italy (I took a trip to Italy for 8 days before I came home) we all kept saying that it felt so bizarre that we wouldn't be returning to the Manor when the trip was over: we'd be going back to the States. I keep feeling like I'll be there in just a week to have a nice cup of tea with my Northern Irish professor, Caroline Magennis or to sit in the Italian Gardens and just look at the Manor all afternoon with my iPod in my ears. But sadly, neither of these are the case. 

I don't know when I'll be able to return to the Manor, but I hope it can be soon. Perhaps when my bank account stops coughing and wheezing. A piece of my heart is there and always will be, and I just can't neglect that little piece for the rest of life.

I remember one day before I left the Manor that I just sat at this spot, pictured above, and wrote like a maniac in my journal about all the things that I don't regret doing this past semester. And the only things I regretted were things I didn't do. I absolutely don't regret anything I actually did. It was all worth it. 

I don't know how I came to be such a fortunate girl. I mean, how many people in the world get to do this, live in a manor house for a semester? Not many. And I was lucky enough to be one of them. It still blows my mind. 

Not only did I get to live in this amazing place that I now consider a home-away-from-home, I got to travel across Europe, visiting amazing cities and nations. I went to not only the UK, but the Republic of Ireland, Spain, and Italy. 

Not that I enjoy quoting myself, but I guess I just want to let you know that I didn't make this up while sitting on my parents' patio. 

I was lucky enough to give a speech the night of our closing Valedictory Dinner (which doesn't meant that I'm special academically or anything, it's just the name for many closing banquets for colleges in the UK). In this speech, I tried my best to summarize our Harlaxton experience: (this is from the notes I wrote for the speech that I saved in Microsoft Word)

"...the most important thing I’ve learned is how much I don’t know about the world. Before this experience, I hadn’t been abroad. This experience has let me know that the world is much bigger than little Kentucky, but that I also need to see more of both. It’s been both humbling and amazing.

I don’t want to look back on these past 3 and a half months and think 'Oh, I wish I could go back to the way I was then.' I want to see it as a course-changer. I want to see it as the point in my life when things changed, and I became a better person because of it. Because that’s exactly what happened. I think that if we are not changed by the Harlaxton experience, then we haven’t truly sucked the marrow out of it. Harlaxton has gotten our feet wet for having amazing life experiences, and they’ve prepared us to see the rest of the world."

I still feel that way. I now have a craving for travel, but travel isn't limited to international or national travel. It could also mean right outside my backdoor. I don't think I need to see more of Kentucky, I know I need to see more of Kentucky. I need to take time to appreciate this state, its beauty, and its ups and downs. 

Also, like I said, I want Harlaxton to be a point in my life that I look back on and don't regret because of the type of person it made me. If I were a character in a novel, Harlaxton would be an experience in that novel that helped shaped my character development to make me a completely different one by the end of the novel compared to the beginning. Does that sound coherent? Probably not, but let's keep going. 

Many people I've talked to who have studied abroad usually have a song they feel like encompasses their time there. Me? I have a quote, one by e.e. cummings, from his poem "53." 

"may my mind stroll about hungry

and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young."

At Harlaxton, this was how I felt. This was the type of spirit that I felt I had in me from January until the moment I landed in the States. I don't want to lose this spirit just because I'm in the States and back home. It applies here too. I felt "hungry and fearless and thirsty and supple" for life and the world. And at the same time, I was wrong a lot, and I liked that. Because I learned.

And boy, did I learn a lot. I've never learned so much in a single semester in all my life. It's absolutely incredible. I would love to give you a list of the things I learned, but that list would probably wrap around the globe three times. So all I can say is go. Go abroad and experience this for yourself. You won't regret it. All you will regret is not doing it. Far too many people I've talked to have regretted not studying abroad. Please don't be one of those. I'm lucky enough that I don't have to be. 

My gosh, I have so many people to thank. My friends, for one. For remembering I was alive while still at Harlaxton and conceding to my begs for Skype dates. And for encouraging me to go abroad in the first place. And for listening to my over-indulged stories now that I'm back. Thank you.

Extended family. I mean, you guys are always great. Thanks for stalking my Facebook and keeping up with my time abroad, as well as encouraging me to go.

My sisters. You guys actually missed me, and vice versa. But this time, we actually verbalized it. That's a big step for us. Go us. We're moving on up. Maybe now that we'll be in the same country for the coming year we might actually see each other more than a couple weeks at a time and just on weekends. Looking forward to it. 

The parental units. I wouldn't have even gone abroad if they hadn't done so many things. Like give birth to me on a cold December night. But more than that, they let me go. And they helped me to go. They withstood a lot of stress this semester with me being in a foreign country and they've been forgiving on so many levels. I owe them more than I can ever repay. 

And when I thank this next person, it's not out of obligation. It's out of need. 

Jesus was literally with me throughout the entire semester. Like always, I didn't give him the attention he deserved. However, he stuck around, like he always does. And even when I don't. He helped me through the difficult times and helped me to enjoy the great ones. I was fortunate enough that he would let me have this wonderful semester in which I get to see more of his world and learn more about the people that live in it. I'm convinced this isn't the last time he wants me abroad.

To everyone, I've had the time of my life. And I owe it all to you. 

Breathing is Good, Yes.

Breathing is good. Yes.

And I need to do more of it.

Naturally, I'm not depriving myself of oxygen, but what is indeed happening is we're all here getting far too busy.

I haven't written a blog in an entire month. Whoa. A month.

But anyways...

Since we last spoke, I've been to England's most beautiful national park, I've welcomed and said good-bye to my parents, had another weekend in London, been to Spain, and been to Pemberley. And all the while I've been taking tests, writing papers, trying to have a social life at the manor, and sleeping somewhere in-between all that. But not much.

I can't possibly give you a detailed account of how much I've done, so I'll just cover the high points and what I've learned. Because I've learned a lot this month. And I mean that in a good way.

First, I'll talk about the Lake District.

If you've never heard of it, it's England's most famous national park, receiving more visitors per year than Yellowstone. And it's absolutely gorgeous.

I climbed a mountain, which was beautiful. However, the one looming fact about the Lake District weekend was that it was freezing cold and raining the whole time. At the bottom of the mountain, it was raining. Half-way up, it was sleeting. At the top, it was snowing. What the heck, England? I would love to return to the Lake District, but during the summer. Highly recommend it during the summer. But besides the weather, it was great and so much fun. And maybe the best part was that we were tourists, but didn't feel like it. All the tourists there were British, so I honestly felt like we fit in. We cooked food in the hostel with British people and had the greatest time. They even had some of our food! Here's some lovely pictures of how beautiful it was.

The best hot chocolate I've ever had in my entire life. And probably ever will have.

I also did a little something called "ghyll scrambling." And it was the dumbest, most awesome thing I've ever done. My friend Jake said it's "the most fun you've ever have while being miserable." Very true. Basically I could've easily gotten pneumonia. We climbed waterfalls and navigated through a gorge in freezing cold water. It could so cold we didn't even realize we were cold, and we were basically numb. But I wouldn't trade it. It was so much fun and I'd do it again. But in the summer.

Here's a video of what it's like. Sadly, we couldn't take pictures or videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKNEllKibM

And then, a couple little troublemakers decided to visit me at the manor:

 

Lord G and Lady Luanne arrived at the manor in great style, and quite liked their stay in the Bridal Suite. Oooh la la.  They stayed with me for a couple o' days and got to see where I study and live. They said they were just amazed by the manor; and I don't blame them. After this, we headed to London for the weekend. We stayed at a very nice hotel (not a hostel, thank goodness) and they were able to get a nice little taste of London. Weather and all (it sadly rained for most of the weekend). But they still enjoyed it, Momma did especially. They even got a hefty dose of the London Underground! Which I personally have become quite fond of. After this weekend, they headed off to their adventure in Rome and I headed back to the manor. I'll see them in just about a month, now! Here's some pictures from the weekend:

Lord G, posting up in the National Gallery

He's like George from Seinfeld, "We had a deal!" Or I can't decide if he's like the Lady from Mary Poppins. Either way, I never thought I'd see my father surrounded by pigeons and Eastern European women in central London. But I did.

They took me to the Churchill War Rooms. Aww dey so sweet. Loved it. My only regret was not staying longer. I even wrote a paper on it when I got back.

So just literally 3 days after I returned from London, I was headed to Spain. I finished a presentation on World War I for British Studies, and literally just an hour later I was on a train to London to catch a flight to Barcelona for 6pm that night. We visited Barcelona (pronounced "Barthelona" there) and Sevilla (pronounced "Seh-vee-yah," also called Seville). And it has been my favorite place yet.

Spain was so amazing and so beautiful. And I want to go back. I didn't want to leave. At all. 

The food was delicious, the weather was Mediterranean, there was a beautiful beach, they had siesta, great shopping, the people were gorgeous, and they spoke Spanish. Yesssssss. It was my first experience in a Spanish-speaking country, and I loved it. It definitely fueled me to go to one at my next opportunity. I wish I hadn't procrastinated writing this blog, so then I could've actually written an entire post about Spain. So for now I just won't be able to do it justice and it'll just have to have a description and a few pictures. But I just have to say one thing: don't pass up Spain. Especially southern Spain. 

Barcelona

Sevilla

This says no parking "On the entire street during Holy Week." Spain is Catholic, guys. Really Catholic.

The hardest part about Spain was coming back to England. Not because I don't love England, but because of the weather and the beauty really. It was so different, and it was nice to have a little vacation, which was what I saw it as. And that's kind of ironic, because almost every weekend here is a vacation, really. But this one was a vacation from the cold. And it came at the perfect time: right before finals and term papers are due.

So I returned from Spain Monday morning at 8 am, just in time for British Studies lecture. I had the lovely experience (NOT) of sleeping in an airport for the first time. Don't recommend it, but you gotta do what you gotta do. 

This week and next week and the next and the next are going to be absolutely bonkers, so I'm really cracking down on school work. I'm actually procrastinating it now to write this blog. So thank you for giving me an excuse. 

However, we decided on a whim on Wednesday to book a trip to Chatsworth House. Which is only about an hour and a half from Harlaxton! It's one of England's most famous country houses, is so rich in history, is revered by many, and is spectacular. And (cough cough) Pride&Prejudicewasfilmedthere. 

Not that it's a big deal or anything. But we sort of went to PEMBERLEY. If you haven't seen or read Pride & Prejudice, that's Darcy's house. And we loved it and freaked out. I can't lie, I was sad we couldn't have more time there and that the weather wasn't as good as I hoped, but I'm so glad I went. Here's a few pictures:

Breathtaking, really. It was so beautiful. I would recommend anyone to go to the Peak District, which is where it is.

It's starting to dawn on me that I only have 2 weeks of classes left, then a trip to Italy, then I'm home. That's so crazy. I keep thinking I have time for things to do, but I really don't. Everything is jam-packed and I honestly don't want to leave. I'll be so excited to come home, but I love this experience and this place so much. I'll never have this lifestyle again, and that scares me. The lifestyle of living in an English manor, taking amazing courses, and traveling around Europe on the weekends. That won't happen to me again. And it's so heart-wrenching. It's easy in the States to look at this blog and say "Oh, life must be amazing everyday over there."

My experience has been amazing, yes. But everyday is lived here. We struggle with the same things we do during the semester back in the US. I was up all Wednesday night finishing a paper for World War II class, which I'm hoping to crank out an A for. We deal with things back home, we study for tests, we miss our trains, we Skype friends. 

And that's why I recommend studying abroad for a long period of time. I remember my friend Sarah Nikolai (if you're reading his, kudos to you) told me that I would experience so much more by living in a foreign country rather than just staying there for 3 weeks or so on a little trip. And she was so right. We really do get an experience of this place. I know I'm supposed to be living in a dream (and there are definitely moments that I do feel that); we sometimes have to pinch ourselves and be reminded of where we are. This won't be real life in just a month's time, and I think that's just mind-blowing.

Cheers,

Shelley

Magic Exists

Magic exists, and I experienced it this weekend.

The words that I've used to describe the past experiences I've had were things like "phenomenal," "beautiful," "amazing," "breath-taking," "great," "wonderful," "educational," "little-warm-tingly-feeling-on-the-inside," and other things like that.

But yesterday was truly magical. It's the only word to describe it.

I just- *sigh*.

I'll just start out by detailing how much I needed yesterday.

Wednesday night and Thursday were just the so stressful. I've barely slept all week. I had two different projects to turn in for one class and then a paper on the BBC to write for my Second World War class on top of that. So by the time I got to Thursday I was dead. So I decided to take another walk.

I absolutely love my walks. As a matter of fact, I'm going to take another one after I finish this blog post. Because it's sunny here, and when it's a sunny day in England you take advantage of that.

My walk Thursday was great to clear my head and just to let go of some stress. The grounds here are absolutely breath-taking.

Here's a little picture I took while on it:

I know, right?

But anyway, I tried to get to bed at a decent hour so I could get up at 5:15 to get on my train to London by 6:15. So yesterday was quite a long day, but worth it. Oooh, that's a phrase I could also use to describe yesterday: "worth it." I like it.

Anyway, we finally made it to London and had a nice tour of the Tower of London.

If you don't know what that is, it's a really cool place in London that you should visit.

It was used as a prison and a place of execution during medieval times. Now, it's a tourist site and it holds the crown jewels.

My goodness, seeing the crown jewels was so cool. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures, so I don't have anything to show you. You'll just have to see it for yourself.

We also got to experience different parts of England's history that we've covered in class, so that was really cool. And plus, it's a castle, so...

However, after the Tower of London, we made our way to the outskirts of London to see the Warner Brothers Studio where Harry Potter was filmed.

AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

It was slightly stressful getting there. We had to take the tube to the correct train station in central London. Then, we had to take that train to another train station in London. And this train was delayed by about 15 minutes. Which kind of freaked me out since we were on a tight schedule. But we indeed made it, and a shuttle bus took us from Watford Junction station to this place:

As you can see by my facial expression, I wasn't that excited. 

I've waited for this day for a while, and I didn't want to leave England without seeing it.

You walk in, and the first thing you see are the hand prints of Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint on slabs of concrete. And then it expands into this huge room with pictures of all the cast everywhere, with the blue Ford Anglia hanging from the ceiling. AHHHH.

We got our tickets, and were so excited.
The first part of your tour is a movie in which they basically give you an introduction to what you're about to see. And the trio is standing in front of the Great Hall doors, giving this all the while. AND THEN THE SCREEN LIFTS UP AND IT SHOWS THE ACTUAL GREAT HALL DOORS. I almost had a conniption.

The Great Hall was just so awesome to walk through. I mean, so much happened there.

Then, you enter this room that is HUGE. It had so much of the sets in it. I saw costumes from the movie, profiles of the directors, make-up, wigs, the Hogwarts front gates, the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, the Gryffindor Common, the Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore's Office, the special effects area, the moving staircases, the Ministry of Magic set, Umbridge's Ministry Office, parts of Malfoy Manor, Hagrid's Hut, The Burrow, the Horcruxes, the sword of Gryffindor, the Tri-Wizard Cup, the Goblet of Fire, Hagrid/Sirius' motorcycle, and SO much more. I could've stayed for hours in there.

Then, you go to what is known as the back lot. From this point on was my favorite part of the tour.
We had butterbeer (which was amazing), took a picture in the blue Ford Anglia, saw the Knight bus, Privet Drive, Godric's Hollow, the bridge they destroy, the Wizard's Chess pieces. So much. But maybe one of my favorite parts was seeing this:

 

This is the gravestone from the graveyard scene in the Goblet of Fire. This scene is one of my favorites in the books and movies because of Harry's bravery.Voldemort challenges Harry to come out and fight him, and this is what he decides in the books:

"And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: He was not going to die crouching like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet...he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible..."

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, chapter thirty-four "Priori Incantatem"

And in the movie he does what he does at 0:07 through 0:14 in the clip below.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIeIkRyGpkE

Ah. Yes. I love it. So powerful. 

Now you want to go read Harry Potter, don't you? I do too, so that makes two of us. 

After this section was a section that had a bunch of cool goblin masks and wax figures. There was the Hungarian Horntail, Dobby, Fawkes, and Buckbeak.

Then, you turn the corner, AND THERE'S DIAGON ALLEY. That was a moment for me. It honestly felt magical walking through there. There was Ollivander's, Quidditch Supplies, Madame Malkins', Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts, and more. 

After this was a really cool section, known as the concept art section. There were sketches and drawings of how Hogwarts would look, how certain scenes would look, and other things. It was really cool to see how these movies were thought up before they came to fruition. And may I also say that parts of the 4th soundtrack were playing as I walked through here. Which is my favorite.

Let's just say that anything from the 4th book and movie is pretty much my favorite. 

And then, you turn the corner, AND THERE'S HOGWARTS.

I'm telling you, they really know how to make a girl cry. There's all these cool sites and they don't tell you when they're coming so it all kind of hits you at once. 

So I walk into this huge room and see THIS.

Really, Warner Brothers? Really? Did you have to set up the tour like this? To make me sob and never want to leave?

You can see the scale of this thing by the guy taking the picture. It was huge. As big as a gymnasium, I would say.

And as I was walking through it, my favorite song EVER from the scores was playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozBOHxoD-cs

I'm surprised I made it out of there alive. I felt like God just gave this day to me as a present that I didn't deserve. Perhaps that's a bit weird to say. Especially since a lot of people think that Jesus doesn't like Harry Potter, which is fine to think, I suppose. However, I do encourage you to explore the Christian themes involved in Harry Potter if you so choose. And there are even Bible verses quoted in the books. But anyway, I'm being irrelevant.

After this, you go into this room where there's all these wand boxes with people's names from the movies, and you find different ones.

And then I saw this quote. 

She is my queen. She said that at the Part 2 premiere in Trafalgar Square.

Sadly, this was the last part of the tour. And I almost had to be dragged out of the place. We caught our connections back to central London. And then we had the wonderful honor of going to King's Cross for our train back to Grantham.

Ohhh yes. I saw it. And touched it.

And then, I actually had a lovely hour-long conversation with a guy from London named Chris on the train back to Grantham. British people are the most fun. They're just easy to talk to.

But anyways, I'm sorry if I've bored you with my awful fan-girling for the past, well, however long it took you to read this.

But I also hope it made you want to go back to watch and read Harry Potter. Because Harry Potter is awesome.

But what I'll be doing next weekend will be quite exciting: I'm going to the Lake District! It's going to so fun and adventurous. It's a beautiful National Park in Northern England. I'll even be waterfall climbing!

You'll definitely see pictures of how it goes.

Cheers,
Shelley

Wales, Rugby, and Other British Things

This past week and weekend was one of those times that I just felt all warm inside, and like a little cup of warm, British tea was constantly refilling in my heart.

And then there were times this week that I actually wanted to drink that tea so I could have some caffeine in me to make it through the night without falling asleep on my laptop.

So as you can see, it's been busy.
It seems sometimes that life never stops here. We're constantly on the run. Except for this weekend of the 22nd through 24th, which was nice and relaxed. But I'll get to that later.

 First, we'll do North Wales.

Wales is absolutely amazing, guys, and it's so sad that so many people don't make it there. It's been one of my favorite trips so far and I know it will remain one of my favorites.

I also feel that Wales is vastly under-appreciated as a country (NOTE: Yes, Wales is a different country than England. While England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all different, they are still part of the United Kingdom. Do NOT go to Wales and say "Oh, how great it is to be in England!" They'll be so offended. And then they'll probably make an aside that sounds like "Typical American..." So now you know, Wales is not England, or Scotland, or any other place in the UK. It is Wales). As my wonderful friend Katie Meek remarked, "It's like England, Scotland, and Ireland all mixed into one. In the best way." And that's true. But also at the same time, which I'm sure Katie will agree to, Wales has its own identity. And it's a beautiful one.

A lot of times, Wales is considered synonymous with England. And that's because Wales was conquered by England so long ago. However, apparently in the 1960s the Welsh identity was having something similar to a mid-life crisis. So they decided to revive the Welsh language in the country. So many people speak it there in little conversations. One time, and many times in restaurants or at football games, I heard a cashier and a customer making a transaction while speaking in Welsh. And they all switch so fluidly from Welsh to English and vice versa. It sounds and looks like this: Ddkjfoeiurenvkd. Iejkldfjljre? Skdfjdkf. With a little bit of phlegm thrown in.

We stayed by the seaside, which was absolutely gorgeous. The place we were was called Llandudno (I think it's pronounced "Lan-dud-no" with the "dud" being pronounced like "hood" is pronounced but beginning with a "d"), and it was beautiful. I seriously want to go back.

We also did so much hiking that weekend, which was definitely my favorite part. I want to hike in so many places when I get back to the States now. One of the two places we went was called Snowdonia National Park:

Oh! And I forgot to say! We also toured Caernarfon Castle in Wales! It was one of the original William the Conqueror castles, apparently. Seems legit.

 

The next morning, we woke at the early hour of 7. Which really isn't that early since we were asleep by at least 11 each night. One thing about Llandudno, Wales: everywhere closes at like, 8 pm. So the only thing left to do is go back to your hotel and hang out. Anyway, we were so glad we got sleep to prepare for this truly phenomenal hike we were to have the next morning. We hiked up this mountain that was right behind our hotel. Yeah, we had a mountain and a beach beside our hotel. Welcome to Wales. Pictures? Given.

But alas, my paradise in Wales had to end. And I had to have the arduous task of returning to this hideous manor house.

And actually, as beautiful and awesome as this place is, the stress level during the school week is pretty high. And during the school week I had mixed emotions of stress and ecstasy at different times. Stress happened when I was required to write a paper on the Holocaust, which I had to begin the night before. I'll tell you, reading about the Holocaust at 1 am by lamplight alone is not something I desire to do again. Just imagine. Freaked me out a bit. That was definitely one of those moments when I wanted to have a cup of tea for caffeine.

And then I had also had one of the best times I'd had at the manor thus far. It was a Shelley moment. That sounds really self-centered, but you'll see what I mean in a minute.

I accidentally missed the shuttle into town, so I had an hour to kill, and God obviously planned this. So I went for a walk around the grounds, which are absolutely beautiful. My parents will do this walk when they come. I'm forcing them.

Here's one of the pictures I snapped when I was on it:

 

Isn't that just magnificent? It looks like Pemberley's twin. And Pemberley is Darcy's house in Pride & Prejudice, so yeah. I also felt really magical because I was playing dramatic Downton Abbey music on my iPod when I saw this sight. So I felt pretty English at that moment. But anyways, that walk I had was just such a lovely hour and made me appreciate the fact that I am here.

I'm going to miss this place so much. 

This weekend was nice because I didn't travel. We've traveled every single weekend I've been here, so it was nice to have a weekend to watch movies, sleep, catch up on homework, and not spend money. However, I did indeed go to a rugby game. Which was really cool.

Apparently, Brits love rugby. And so do the Irish, Australians, and New Zealand. And apparently New Zealand is the best in the world at it, and the scariest. 

But rugby is a lot like American football and then completely different if that makes any sense. They throw the ball backwards, have no padding, slide on their bellies to score a "touchdown", and can keep the ball in play even if they're tackled. These guys' necks are seriously as big as my waist. They're huge. And one of their thighs if probably as big as my body width. They are rather intimidating. 

And I also noticed that British fans aren't as insane as American ones. When a goal is scored, the Brits are all like "Yeahhhhh! Yay! I'm happy!" But if someone scores in America it's like "DKLJFDLJRURELJFDK JDDJFDLKFJDLKJDK!!!!!!!! ICJEHUIERHJREJREU!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! GANGNAM STYLE!!!!! AHHHHHHH I'M HAVING A CONNIPTION" So they're just a tad more quiet than we are. 

 

And I felt obliged to take a video for you of the Leicester Tigers (the home team) scoring.

 

So that's what's been happening in the life of Shelley lately, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

This coming Friday, I travel to the land of Harry Potter. I will actually tour the Warner Bros. Studios where a bulk of Harry Potter was filmed. I know, it's a big deal. Stay calm, Shelley. Stay calm.

And also this week, I'll be hanging out with my meet-a-family and performing with my tin flute in a talent show here at the manor!

But until then, Cheers,
Shelley

An International Jesus and the Emerald Isle

I'm not one for reading my journal aloud to people, but this just puts the icing on the cake.

As Shelby Rogers, Emily Little, Samya Monem, Jake Franck, and I were sitting in the Dublin airport, waiting for our flight to leave to head back to England, I took the liberty that I had to write and reflect upon my weekend. Luckily what I wrote encompassed what I felt about the weekend prior to that as well.

"This weekend was such a learning experience in so many ways," was the very first thing I wrote in that airport, and it was so true for the past two weeks I've had.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, and that's precisely the reason that I've haven't written a blog post in about that time.

In these two weeks, I've attended a Christian retreat with some fantastic British university students, had a crazy week chock-full of homework and exams, and also been to Ireland. All in two weeks. Life moves really fast here. Really fast. This semester is really slipping by.

Okay, so first I'll talk about my weekend in Norfolk with the students from New Life Church in Lincoln (which is about 40 minutes away from Grantham).

British students are fabulous. All this time, I just thought that we loved them. And I never thought about the love being reciprocated. It is definitely reciprocated. And they were so welcoming.

Also, I found that I absolutely love British humor. It's witty and clever, and even a little snide. But it's great. When we played a game, I went up to the stage to volunteer as tribute and they all started chanting "USA! USA! USA! USA!" And they liked to chant that quite a lot. Also, apparently no Brits have ever heard of or danced to "The Wobble." We Americans thought we might as well take this opportunity to teach it to them, which we did. And they were in love. They kept saying that they were going to make it a trend in the UK and teach it to their friends. And then after that they sang The National Anthem. Which made me feel bad because I don't know God Save the Queen all that well.

One thing I definitely realized that weekend is that Jesus is so international. The Spirit is the same in England as it is in the States. Not that I expected it to be different, but just experiencing Him in a different country was such a unique experience for me. These students are just like us, but only living in a different country, with a different accent, and a different culture. They love Jesus like those in America to whom I look up to spiritually.

And God moved, enormously. Which is quite beautiful because we worshiped in a tiny little space.

Thanks to that weekend, I have so many new British friends who I am still talking to today. We also talked about going to visit them in Lincoln and/or them coming to the manor sometime in the semester. They're so fun to be around. Love demm. One British guy named Andrew had this hilarious South Carolina accent in which he talked like he worked on a farm and loved blueberries.

It's impossible to chronicle in pictures how awesome that weekend was. So here's just a few pictures I took of some people just being goof balls.

Sam and Josh are fun. Indeed.

GERALD!!!

Stair ball was the most ridiculous and fun game. It was one of those things that's so simple, but they play it every year just because.

And apparently G. Weezy (Gerald) had his name given to him by an American. Of course.


Okay, next, we have the picture time. Because I went to Ireland.

Wow. Ireland was so great. If you ever get the chance to go, go. But if you go, see the countryside. The absolute best part about Ireland, apart from the people.

Before departing for Ireland, I had a rather stressful week. I can't lie. I had an application due, a research plan due, and a big exam on Wednesday. All on top of preparing to head out to Ireland.

Our exam ended at 3:30 on Wednesday and we were headed to the airport by 3:45 to make it to our flight out by 6. So it wasn't a relaxing day, Wednesday wasn't.

But that's okay! Because we got to Dublin Wednesday night and had dinner at an "authentic" Irish pub called The Celt. It was really cool; they had live music! They played the song "Galway Girl", which was basically the only pub song I knew before coming to Ireland. See below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lcnvd8BNFE

And we loved our hostel. Called the Globetrotter. The staff were so accommodating and it was very welcoming.

The next day was Dublin day! We took a tour of the city and saw the Guinness Storehouse, where Guinness (the famous beer) is made. It was very cool indeed.

The best way I can describe Dublin is robust. It's a big city, with a lot of industry and history, and a lot of Irish pride. One thing I said while there was that it definitely is a man's city. It's chock full of men grunting, business-like things, and beer. Perhaps my perspective of Dublin was slightly marred because it rained all day there. Oh well. The best of Ireland was yet to come.

We went on our Paddywagon Tour the next day. Which I highly recommend doing. Paddywagon is a very well-run company and knows how to make their customers happy. And they're punctual.

On the way to Galway (a city in western Ireland, one of our destinations for the trip), we stopped at perhaps the cutest village I've ever seen. And I'm not lying. It really is. I'm not just being an American here and over exaggerating. It was called Cong and we didn't stay long, but it was great for the amount of time we stayed.

After this, we drove through the countryside of Connemara in west Ireland. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

This is Kylemore Abbey. It was built by a couple many years ago and then was abandoned and is now a tourist site. It's so beautiful, completely surrounded by mountains, trees, and a lake.

After this, we got to Galway. Galway had such a fun atmosphere. It is a bay city, so it's got a lot of water aspects, and had so much liveliness and culture. I'd love to go back. The locals there were great. I talked to this one little Irish couple in a pub and they were so much fun. We compared and contrasted America and Ireland. It was so cool to hear what they thought of us. And it was either good or true.

We left Galway the next morning and made for my favorite part in all of Ireland: the Cliffs of Moher.

Now, I must tell you a few things about the Cliffs first. They are holy ground for multiple reasons. One: they're beautiful. Two: part of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were filmed there. If you go to 1:10 in the following clip, you'll see them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0mVNFCcMXQ

The Cliffs of Moher must be on the 1,001 places to visit before you die. They have to be. It's necessary. They're so majestic and gigantic and wonderful.

I stopped trying to capture the moment in pictures and just took a video to show you guys what it looks like to dangle your feet off these things.

They were so amazing. I want to go back there as well if I ever can.

After this, we got back to Dublin and headed home the next day!

I'm so sorry this was such a long entry. I just had so much to tell! And if you're still reading this at this point, I'd also like to congratulate and thank you for coming this far and not having anything else to do at the moment but sit and read this. Glad all my work is not in vain!

If you are reading my blog, please let me know! It's nice to know if you are. And I love you.

Next week on As the World Turns: The Shelley Diaries, we'll venture to Wales! I'm so excited for it. We're going to North Wales which looks so beautiful. And this Wednesday I'm having dinner with my meet-a-family!

Love you all.
Cheers,
Shell