Ello All!
So fall break here was pretty chill… Most people went to travel around and see some pretty awesome places :) I took this opportunity to get to know London better. I did manage to make it to the poetry library. Yes a whole library dedicated to poetry. How awesome is that? Well I’m off to class at Tate Britain, but my next one should cover food here in Britain. Because that is one of the most important parts of another country, other than site seeing of course. Laters!! Hi All!
So at the beginning of this week I finally journeyed to my first open mic night here in London!! Exciting I know. Plus it was free entry. Where was this wonderful event? Brixton my dears, wonderful Brixton. The place where I hear “My sistah.” a lot. Brixton in the past has been known as not the best of London. However, it is a diverse neighborhood far away from the tourist central I live in. It reminds me a lot of Baltimore, Maryland. The Afro-Carribean culture can seen almost immediately as you get off the bus or tube in Brixton. Reggae, hip-hop, and even some salsa hums from the shops and market as you walk through. This time I went at night. Most people who travel to London will learn quickly that most things in London close super early. Weird, but true. I was happy to discover Brixton was alive at night as much as it is during the day. Of course the first thing to do in a neighborhood is pop into a shop and grab some food. My friend and I spotted a chicken and rib joint called Marley’s and I could not resist. Not being stereotypical, just been living off of noodles and Asian food. It was affordable and tasty :) I was a very full and happy woman. In Brixton, I noticed that when learning British slang you also have to learn Black British slang. African American slang does not work well with Black British slang at all. All you get from this is empty stares and a headache. Now I have an acting challenge. Now the whole reason for this trip was to make it to the open mic night a few blocks away. Travel tip: Don’t wear heels you aren’t comfortable walking in for blocks on uneven possibly cobblestone streets. My friend did not get this memo while my heels are what I like to call “City ready”. Now the actually place the open mic was held at is the Half Moon Pub in Herne Hill the neighbors to Brixton. It was a pretty nice set up with it’s own stage space where events are held at. Including the open mic. There were a lot of acoustic performers. Some amazing while the others were okay. The poets were unique for sure. Even though I was late I was able to sign up in the last spot. By the time my time came most of the people were off to get the last tube home. It was till amazing to do. I’ll probably go on my own next time. Performer tip: Arrive early to sign up for a good slot in an open mice line-up. I got to have some good conversation with the people around me and they were extremely nice. Cheers!! Ello All! So a few weeks ago I went to the Bloom Festival here in London which is basically a festival celebrating the African Diaspora. What is the African Diaspora? Is how Africans were dispersed throughout the world due to slavery. This festival was celebrating the African culture here in London. The first thing I went to was the short film showings and discussions which was pretty amazing. Then a friend and I went to the dance workshop to learn Afro-Caribbean dance. It was pretty fun. At first I was reluctant to join in because of the crazy amount of movement plus thick girl equals a very hot SOLS. But I made a new friend who convinced me to join in. Tehee moment for me I missed all of the warm-ups or bad moment for my legs? Our choreographer was amazing made the whole experience for me. He was telling us to put our attitude into it and not just halfway do it. I even busted out my french for our new friend from France. Overall it was a great day. The video is below. I didn’t include one of me because I refused to record it so don’t expect me in the video lol. I’ll post about my life here on the weekends next… Maybe?? Cheers! Ello All! So one of my favorite things about walking in London is when I walk around and then I look up and realize I see something that I thought was really far, but it is right there. I have abandoned taking the tube unless I have to grudgingly go somewhere far. What have I been up to? Classes, exploring, and meeting British people. Meeting British people is a lot harder than you think, but I just have taken chances by going to random events. This one event that I went to was an international cafe where I met people from all over the world because apparently that’s what happens at the events, but I just saw a poster that said all welcome and free so I went. I also got to have scones and crumpets with my tea which are pretty tasty. It’s so posh of me I know, but when in Rome… Wait I’m in London :) My travel tip for this entry will have to be take chances when traveling and put yourself out there. Actually you should do that everywhere. Even if you are shy. Many British won’t just walk up to you because of their reserved nature. At least I haven’t experienced it. Usually you can just be approachable and open yourself up to conversation. I have had some interesting ones. How’s class? Ummmm well… Just kidding I love them. They are extremely different from my American classes and apparently the classes we are taking with our program are different from British classes that most people who go to undergrad take. My creative class is amazing just because I get to do the thing I love. It is filled with older adults who work daily, but keep there minds going by taking this class. They range from late 20’s to late 50’s. They are a fun bunch of people. The video below is of me discussing classes, very serious. Laters! Warning: I will be talking about poetry for this blog :)
Happy Poetry day!! And if you missed it, that is really sad. However, it happens every year and if you live in the US or Canada there is a whole poetry month. So how did I spend my poetry day? First order of business was waking up early for class discussing the British and European government. Interesting things… After that a friend and I made our way to the Southbank Centre for the National Poetry Day Live :) Tip: The SouthBank Centre is a great place to go to events while in London. (Just saying) Plus it is right by the London Eye and street performers are always around to entertain. Back to Poetry Day :) It was really for all ages as this years theme was GAMES! They had a mix of things for children and adults alike. For all of my poets out there there are competitions that one can compete in. For those interested there is the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award and that is for ages 11-17. This one ends on poetry day, but opens once more in March. There is also the for those over the National Poetry Competition age of 17. This one closes at the end of Oct., so jump on it. (There’s a fee though) What did I see and what did I do? I heard many amazing poets. There was a wide range from prose writers, free verse, slam poets, an MC, and all from different careers and places. I felt at home with them. It still astounds me seeing so much diversity in London, but seeing how people respect their cultures and include their backgrounds. I got the sense of inclusion for young, old, and those undefined. Kids seemed to enjoy, the teens liked it, and the adults had good things to say. All in all it was an evening well spent. I even got inspired with three poems ;) The only downfall was my desire to jump on stage and spit… But I didn’t. One year I aspire to be an invited guest. *cough,cough* Still loved it though. Cheers!! Ello! So I’ve been in London for two weeks and some days. I love the sights and traveling around. For those who think that everything cost in London they are wrong. Technically, there are plenty of things to do for free. But like anything that is free you have to search for it and turn over every stone. I have found a festival for tomorrow over the African Dispora. Then next month there will be a celebration for national poetry month. These events should be fun. A musician I have found that is from London is having a concert next month and tickets are at a great price. I really hope funds will allow me to go. Currently, I am planning my trip for fall break. With all the visa drama I'ma stay within the UK just to be on the safe side. I was jobsmacked to find that there is a Megabus here! Which means the price for going to Scotland or Wales is really inexpensive. Hey I am all about budgeting people. On another note. Our programs group is a great bunch of people. I love having so many different conversations all of the time. Plus this means diversity in the things we all do together. My video of the Market/Museum is below. Cheers!! Hi All! My last entry was short and sweet. This one will hopefully be a bit more in depth. My travel buddy and I arrived just in time for the weekend trip with our program all paid for. So the entire group loaded onto a bus early Friday morning and was off to Bleinheim Palace. It was a beautiful place. The most astonishing thing was the fact that the duke paid to have a artificial landscape put in so that it would be perfectly beautiful forever. I have to say it was. I was only disappointed to learn the Palace was built with money made off of slaves. But I guess it was the way of the world back in those days… Shoot even today we have “slaves”. Our next stop was Stratford-Upon-Avon the birthplace/death place of Shakespeare. How cool/sad is that? Our tour guide was fantastic. She had bits of jokes and seemed really passionate about here home town. I love tour guides that don’t bore you to death. She was telling us how people no longer have thatch roofs anymore because birds, cat, and dogs would go into the ceiling an snuggle up for warmth. Well when it was about to rain of course the cats and dogs wouldn’t want to get wet so they would all jump down and that’s how the phrase raining cats and dogs came about. (drum noise) I thought that was cute of her. She even gave us a list of American sayings. While there it was only fitting that we saw the Scottish play, you know Macbeth (shhhh!) While in Stratford we stayed in a B&B with an awesome inn keeper. The Salamander is the one I recommend if you want a funny and entertaining Frenchman as your host. Also on our weekend we traveled through the countryside to Bourton-on the-Water. Now the best thing to do there is shop or visit the maze/puzzle for a small price. It was one of the highlights, the maze. You had to find clues and things. You could also visit the bird museum or car museum for a very different price. We finished up our weekend in Oxford. Home of the intellectual and some place where Harry Potter was filmed. Everyone set off for those sights and I went the other way to Oxford Universities campus. Quickly left when I saw science and math signs and went to the University park. Spied a tennis game and a cute pond in the on again off again rain. Then found the museum of Natural Science. I really liked it there. Warning: Don’t call it a bathroom or restroom! It is a toilet or more polite Ladies/Gentlemen’s room. There was another free museum in Oxford that I didn’t make it too, but I heart was decent. My artist friend said it was a lot of replicas unfortunately. So, that was my first weekend. Thanks for reading/watching! Next time I’ll discuss the Markets and museums here. Cheers! The first two days in London have been a bit of a cram session. My travel buddy and I definitely got turned the wrong way in the airport and missed our flight, but the airline reimbursed us and got us a flight for this past Tuesday. We were the last ones to make it here and the British people in central London are sticklers for timeliness. The first two days we explored the city and found our college that we are attending outside of the program. The first night we went to “Wicked” and found inexpensive/tasty food around the corner from our home for the next few months.
I must say I love the tube for it’s efficiency. Be aware that people will rip tourist off in another country. Luckily we were too tired to care our first day, but the second we were alert :) My search for a great poetry/underground scene has yet to start, but I have found another spoken word buddy in my program :) Laters! |
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