The first picture is of Whitney and me with the Irishman.

The second picture is the creepy frenchman basically falling on me...look at my clenched fist and gritted teeth. The other guy is the bartender Christian.







This one is of my disgusted face and the creepy frenchman...look at the sleezeball look in his eyes.

This picture is of the Russian, no that's not her father.

I'm considering changing my major to international communications. Just kidding. Whitney and I have found a new favorite place to go, it's called Giraffe and every time you get a smoothie or ask you get a plastic giraffe stirer. We've been collecting them and have no acquired 17 Giraffes and 5 helium balloons. Tonight may have been the best night I have spent in London. I feel I should explain my international communications comment, it began last week on Thursday night...

Liz, Kim, Whitney and I decided to go visit a Brazilian-Australian bartender, Christian, we had befriended and while we were there, about 30 mins before closing, a 50 year old Russian man who sells Vodka and was named Igor, brought over 4 coronas for us, then stayed to talk/attempt to seduce Whitney. Not long afterwards, Christian brought over the cook for the pub, a frenchman named Dean. The pub closed and we (the 4 of us girls) decided to go to another place called Archangel a few doors down, needless to say the United Nations followed us and Christian later followed. We were then introduced to an Irishman named Bernard or Ben for short. After about 20 mins the Russian got the hint that he was old enough to be our father and was not going to be sweet talking any of us, so too did the Irishman realize he was too old for us and none of us were interested. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was not so quick on the uptake and failed to accept that we were not feeling his creepiness, the pictures should suffice in explaining the disgust/creeper nature that was Dean. Christian, being the only one our age and not creepy at all was the one we all felt the most comfortable talking to, but after a little while we decided to head home. We joke that we were attacked by the UN minus those native to this land and the Germans. I should mention, as it was a source of much laughter today/tonight, we saw the creepy frenchman in the park today and proceeded to look the other way and play possum...it worked.

Tonight, Whitney and I made new connections with a Polish guy named David, an Englishman
(hooray!!) named Damen and a Zimbabwean named Michael. They were really getting a kick out of how silly Whitney and I were being. First of all, David talked us into buying a kind of friend beans covered in a spicy ginger, soy sauce but when they arrived with an empty bowl, we were confused on how to eat them. We both grabbed our fork and started chewing on one before thinking, are we supposed to eat the outer shell? No, in fact you were not, we asked Damen and Michael to assist us in learning how to properly eat these bean things and they got a good laugh out of our ignorance, as did we. A few minutes later, Whitney managed to get the sauce in her eye which brought on new waves of laughter. We were then talked into trying one the most delicious dessert called a banana waffle. It's a waffle with 2 slices of banana (they tasted like bananas foster) and vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate and caramel sauce. By this time we already had 4 plastic giraffes, but insisted we needed more when our dessert arrived. Then we each had every color but one, so we got the completion of the 4 colors, however, we didn't stop there. We then obscunded (Michael made up the word) 5 balloons and free teas but having been there for nearly 4 hours and the fact that they were starting to close up, we decided we really should get our check. I think they may have been avoiding giving us the check so they could see what silly thing we were going to do next. They agreed to sing to Whitney on Monday for her birthday and I have to say, I think burned off the dessert I ate laughing.

For my class, History of London, we take field trips every Wednesday and Thursay, wed being the walking day and thurs is the Museum of London day. We walked around Parliament and Westminster today and then I walked through St. James Park briefly because my friends Josh, Joshua and I wanted to see the horse guards, but they were in the changing of the guard ceremony. By the time we got there, there ceremony was over and we missed the horse guards completely. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and running some errands.

On a more exciting note, Whitney and I are going to Fuessen, Germany between sessions B and C. We found a flight for under $150 roundtrip and although we haven't booked it yet, Mom gave me the go-ahead to start planning and I found what seems like a pretty decent hostel in Fuessen that includes free linen, towels and breakfast. The most expensive thing is probably going to be transportation but I definitely think it will be worth it. Fuessen is called the King's Nook and is where some of the fantasy castles are found, it's at the end of the Romantic road in Bavaria and just looks AMAZING!!! Tomorrow is going to be a funfilled day I'm going to the Museum of London for class, the National Gallery and the Royal Mews (stables) with Whitney and then research/planning out this trip and going to Whitney's mom's house in Richmond to see if she can help us out at all with the planning. This weekend I'm going to Cambridge for the day along with several other trips throughout like: seeing the Lion King, Stonehenge day trip, party boat, Jack the Ripper walking tour, Midsummer Night's Dream in Regeant's Park and the London Eye. I guess I better get started working on my German...Guten Nacht!!

Washtenaw

It's official. Colleen and I will be moving in July from our great little apartment on Eastwood to make room for a friend of Colleen's who will move in with us. We, therefore needed to upgrade to a 3 bedroom apartment. We found a nice one on a street named Washtenaw just a few blocks away that I think we'll be happy in. It is again nice and spacious, but will be much sunnier than Eastwood has been! It is a 3-flat rather than a courtyard building, so the owners actually live on the first and second floor and we will be on the third.

The current tenants are in the process of moving out, so the apartment is a bit disorganized, but you can still get the idea of what it's like.

Washtenaw

And, finally, my favorite part... the owners love to garden and the small backyard has been transformed into a mini oasis. She has rows of vegetables, flowers, a trelis, a picnic table, and a small patch of grass. Imagine the peace of coming down in the morning for breakfast with the birds singing overhead...

Here are some more pictures from Williamsburg. You can read more about it on our blog. Elinore was the receiver of many many compliments, and she looked adorable in her little bumble bee dress (thanks, mom). We loved going in all of the little shops - the carpenter, the blacksmith, the milliner (dressmaker),... It makes me long for the kind of culture where craftmanship is honored, respected, and expected. Where you labor over something from start to finish and take pride in the finished product.

Thought this tree was worthy of a photo. I should add it to my tree collection.

Adrian and Etel

So glad I got to go share the big day with my friends!

Viva Las Vegas!

The ceremony was presided over by a larger-than-life Elvis. This guy seriously had normal proportions but was about 7.5 feet tall!

Viva Las Vegas!

You didn't know this, but Jennifer, Laura, and I were in three different epics last weekend. Laura explored the medieval and renessiance, Jennifer went back to the colonial, and I went to the heart of today, to the consumerist USA, baby! Las Vegas was without a doubt, unbelievable. In a day I walked through Disney World, Central Park, NYC, Paris, and Venice, and back again. I think the pictures will speak for themselves...

Surprise!

I went to Bath on Saturday and the Tower of London on Sunday. Bath was BEAUTIFUL!! The countryside was breathtaking and so green. The town was very touristy and very crowded so I clung to my bag ready to attack in case of pickpockets. I felt like the actual Roman baths were a little anticlimactic, the most impressive one was the big one that all the postcards have pictures of. I got a little sunburned, we were outside more than I had anticipated and it was sunnier than the weather had suggested, but it was a glorious day. Our guide gave our group a little walking tour of the area and took us to where Johnny Depp has supposedly purchased a house and on our way up to it I swear I walked past the guy who played Merry in Lord of the Rings. My roommate also saw Tori Spelling yesterday in one of the ritzier shopping areas of London. The Tower of London was amazing and the crown jewels were just unbelievable. It took about 3 hours to go through most of the fortress and I think I got a little bit burned again haha. After we got back I went to Kensington Gardens, which was just teeming with people because it was so warm and sunny out, and I attempted to find the Elfin Oak which as you can see from my pictures, is still around. It's pretty amazing! This is my last week of classes for the 1st session, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by! I'm thinking of all of you and I miss everyone. I almost bought Elinore a little Paddington Bear at the Tower of London but it was the equivalent of $24 and it wasn't very big sooooooo I figured I could find one somewhere else for a LOT cheaper, or I could just take a picture haha. I hope you all are doing well!

Frau Caitlyn

I bought a wedding gift off an online registry for my Argentinean friend who is marrying a Swiss man this weekend. After the wedding in Vegas she will move to Switzerland with him, hence the registry is with a Swiss department store. When I picked my steel knife sharpeners and proceeded to check out, I had to choose a title.. Mr. Mrs. or both. Those were my only options. I declined. Then the dialogue box popped up telling me I had to choose a title or else.

Sadly, I clicked Mrs.
Mrs. Caitlyn Bodine. And I felt old. At least when my order came up at the end it said Frau Caitlyn instead of Mrs. Caitlyn.

But shouldn't it be Fraulein or something? Like Fraulein Maria and the Von Trapp family?

Good Ol' Paris

I have just returned back from a relatively wonderful weekend in Paris. I say relatively because it rained for a good portion of the trip and there were a few individuals who made it a bit unpleasant when we did groups things like tours. This first picture is from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, on Wednesday I went and saw Othello and this is my friend Whitney and me before the show began. It was PHENOMENAL!! I'm not a huge fan of the story of Othello, reading it anyway but the performance was just superb, even though I was standing for 3 hours and 2o mins. Tuesday I went to see Mary Poppins and I confess I was a little bit disappointed, the special effects and set design was really good but the story was a bit different than what I was familiar with, not to mention the added scene in which the children's toys become angry, life-size scary clowns and what not. I did not clap for that scene. Friday morning at 11:15, 47 people, myself included, boarded a coach to head to the Waterloo station where we would take the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) to Paris.

At 11:20, prior to departing our meeting place, 2 girls realized they had forgotten their passports. Finally at 11:30 we were on our way and it took us an hour to get to the station. Traffic was horrendous, but we got to the train and boarded on time. The train ride was about 2 1/2 hours and was a little cramped but for the most part pleasant. Another bus took us from Gare de Norde to our hotel which was attached to the Gare de Lyon train station. My next picture is Paris 10 mins after arriving at our Hotel. In case you are not able to tell, it's pouring in the picture and it rained some part of every day.

I roomed with a girl I met on the train through a girl in the class I'm taking and a group of 5 of us traveled together. We ate dinner at a little pizza place near our hotel and then walked around the city. I ended up being the navigator as I was basically the only one who could effectively read a map. On our way back from Notre Dame, about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, we got banana and nutella crepes with the assistance of a nice old man who helped us order.

The next morning all 47 of us took a bus tour around the city, one of the instances where I was annoyed by some people in the group who began drinking the day before on the chunnel and are still going tonight, they haven't been sober since Friday. Our guide for the tour took us to Luxembourg Gardens, the Eiffel Tower, the tomb of Napoleon, etc. and ended at the Louvre. Because the Louvre is so big, my friends and I made a few short stops inside to see the crown jewels, the Mona Lisa (which you are no longer allowed to take pictures of at all) and the Venus de Milo. This picture is me being a goof at Luxembourg Gardens, our first stop where we almost left 2 people, at our second stop we almost left 2 more people, our guide forewarned us that if we were not punctual we would be left behind. Apparently they didn't get the message.

I left my friends at 1 because Friday morning I received an email from Mike saying surprise how about I come spend the day with you in Paris on Saturday so, still believing it to be a joke I went to my hotel to see if he was actually there and SURPRISE there he was, sitting in the lobby. He had arranged everything spontaneously at the last minute with the help of his mom and his aunt. Although I was a bit distressed by our inability to communicate with each other, it was a wonderful suprise and I'm so glad he came. We walked around for a while and got some lunch and then went up the Eiffel Tower with the group and took a riverboat tour. It was beautiful, but it got cold with the rain.

This morning, we went to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur before Mike had to leave for the airport. Unfortunately, we had a little trouble finding it and walked around for about 30 mins before finding it. We got ham and cheese crepes and banana and nutella crepes for breakfast and then took pictures. And as quickly as he had arrived, it was time for Mike to go. I walked him to the metro stop that would connect him to the RER and then to the airport and said goodbye with the hopes that maybe he'll be able to come visit in London. I seemed to improve my pronunciation of the few phrases I knew in French like no merci to the people trying to get me to give them money or buy things from them and bonjour.

I was glad to get back to the cleaner city, where they speak English. However, those same people that were intoxicated the entire trip bought several bottles of liquor on the train and when we left the train one girl was so drunk she had to have someone carry her bags and then proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs while passing lines of people in Waterloo station. I was mortified to be associated with this horrible example of Americans. To top it off, we had to stop on the 20 minute bus ride back to South Kensington so 2 of the drinkers could run to a bathroom because they were sick. Overall, I enjoyed the trip and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go again. I think I appreciated what the city had to offer much more this time around although I much prefer London-there's substantially less smoking.

This coming Saturday I'm going to Bath for the day and I may be arranging to have lunch with a friend from home who is also studying abroad. Somewhere in there, perhaps tomorrow which is a Bank Holiday, I have to write a paper due Wednesday. This week is supposed to be more like the weather I expected, rainy and cold. I miss everyone and I'm thinking about you all while I'm here in London and while I was in Paris!

Curly Girl

Elinore must have been sweating during her nap yesterday because she woke up with all kinds of curls. There is hope for her yet!

A Weed Grows in Uptown

In accordance with my two New Year's Resolutions of 1. Become a gardner. and 2. Get a life. I signed up to volunteer this morning at a place called the Ginkgo Organic Gardens. Getting there was a difficulty.. I thought of it too late to ask for a GPS device for my birthday, so you'd think that knowing myself, I would adequately prepare before setting off to find a place I've never been before. Not so. I looked at the map, saw the cross streets and set out. Did I write down an address? No. Did I write down a phone number? No.

So there I was, at the cross streets, with no gardens in sight. I drove around for a while before trying to call home to see if someone could look up the address on the internet. Voicemail. Then I called Jen's house. Voicemail. Then I called Brandie. Voicemail. Then I called Dad's cell. Voicemail. Then I called Kevin's cell. Voicemail. Then I called Corri. Victory! Except she doesn't have the internet. So then Corri called Robert. Voicemail. Then Corri called her parents and called me back with the address!

It was a great little urban garden that takes up one lot. The garden produces 1000-1200 lbs of produce every year which they give to neighboring food banks so that people who are utilizing those food banks have access to fresh, organic produce. I spent the overcast, 50 degree morning in 3 shirts on my hands and knees weeding the beds with the cobra-headed pick thing. Now I know why gardners are so calm--they get to take out their agression on the earth with cobra-headed picks.

Amazing some of the urban artifacts I came across--bottles, tires, bags, wheels, beads, headphones, etc. You wonder what someone would make of our society if they dug up those things centuries from now. Clearly the highpoint of contemporary civilization. Uptown is quite the mecca of American culture.

LONDON

AH HA! I figured it out! Still no wireless though. My snail mail address is:

Atlantic House
1 St Albans Grove
London W8 5PN

Today I just walked around the city, To Portobello Road for the street market and around Holland Park and then down Palace Court where I witnessed a fender bender. My feet are killing me but it was just wonderful.

My roommate didn't arrive till this morning, her flight from Texas was delayed or something along those lines, but she's really nice and we're going to go out for dinner tonight with her frien and my friend Whitney. I'm officially in love with this city, I want to live here. I've been doing my best spending money wisely and since meals aren't covered on the weekends and we didn't get a meal till 5pm yesterday, Whiney and I went to a pub for a sandwich and a pint to celebrate making it to London in one piece. However, when we asked for a BBQ chicken sandwich and a pint the bartender looked at us and said with a questioning look "to share?" and we said yes to share haha, it was only £3.50 or something like that. This morning I went to a little bakery and got a ham and cheese croissant with some hot chocolate for £3.60 so I think I'm doing quite well.

I had quite an interesting night last night. After dinner, I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens/Hyde park with Whitney and we sat and watched the swans and ducks walk around and stuff and then went back to shower, unpack, and go to bed. I decided to stay up until around 10 to try and kill the jetlag as quickly as possible. So at 9:45ish I turned off my light and had just fallen asleep when I woke up to a piercing beeping sound and when I realized it wasn't my alarm, it was the fire alarm I grabbed my glasses, fleece and flip flops and headed down the spiral staircase to find out what was going on. Needless to say, we all ended up outside waiting for the fire brigade, who showed up a few minutes later. They proceeded to go inside, check the rooms, and then got back in their trucks and DROVE AWAY!!! The fire alarm was still going off and they just left! Finally, the security officer at Atlantic House, the main building showed up and turned off the alarm and I slept like a dream! But it was an interesting start to my trip.

We had a walking tour of the area yesterday and orientation this morning, and their sense of humor is just wonderful. The best part is that they tell their jokes and keep a straight face. The bobby, police officer, that spoke with us this morning was particularly funny and gave us some adive on how to stay safe and such. They told us to only use the black cabs and don't go into the upstairs part of the night buses because you might not come back down...the wierdos hand out up there at night. They also told us they don't carry guns and carrying mase or pepperspray is considered carrying a firearm and can result in jail time! My RA is from Scotland, so eventually I'm going to talk to her and see if she has any suggestions about where to go.

Whitney and I have also decided that one morning we're going to get up really early to see the Cavalry guards exercizing their horses at 7:30. My roommate is also staying the full 9 weeks but I can't remember where she said she's from or what school she goes to. In a little while, Whitney and I are getting some take-out Indian food and going to Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park for lunch and then getting out Oyster Cards-for the buses and tube. And tomorrow is our half-day sight-seeing tour to Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, etc. Whitney is staying for the full 9 weeks and then afterwards because her mom just got transferred here for 3 months for work, she's from PA and we've decided we're going to the park everyday to walk around and we're going to be traveling buddies! I really hope I get wireless soon so I don't have to keep trecking all the way to Atlantic House to check my email. I would like to post on the blog, but I can't for the life of me remember my account name and password, they're saved on my laptop and I always just go to the link in my favorite places, so hopefully I'll get the information for the secure network soon! London is FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!

Breaking Up with Shoes

I had a revelation this morning.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT SHOES.

I know that pop culture and Sex and the City say that every woman should be obsessed with shoes above all else, but I have tried to love shoes and they just haven't taken. Every season I find one pair of shoes that almost goes with anything, and I wear them every day. Toward the end of the season when we start thinking about rotating the wardrobe a bit, people start talking about what cute new shoes they'll get to wear, and I start getting a stomach ulcer.

This whole week I am taking an entirely self-indulgent vacation. I went to my Holland, MI Bed & Breakfast (Jen and Kevin's house) for a few days to relax, then came back to Chicago to wander around the city until Tuesday. I dropped in on an early morning yoga class today at a studio a few blocks from my apartment on a quest to promote inner peace and get some exercise. The young, good-looking yoga instructor coached us through a pose in which we were to "allow the buttocks to fully blossom." I smiled all the way down from my liver.

What pair of shoes has ever told me that? Shoes pinch and squeeze to shape your feet into what they are "supposed" to look like. Well, I quit shoes.

I'm going to call these years I am living my "personal development" years. I am going to give up trying to care about shoes and other things that don't speak to me, and instead I am going to take dance classes, travel, learn jazz, develop artistic expression, garden, and invest my dollars where my buttocks can blossom.

ET Phone Home

This post is a few weeks overdue, but I think its still worth sharing. A few weeks ago while showing my college roommate around town, we went to see the growing icon of Chicago, the Bean. The nature of the Bean makes people do strange things in order to get the most creative photo possible. I decided to have Brandie take my picture lying down underneath the Bean which she did happily, and we moved on. After about 15-20 minutes when we were down by the digital fountains, Brandie's phone started ringing.

Brandie: (gasp) I wonder who is calling me!

(pulls her phone out of her bag and looks at it)

Brandie: (looking at me with a suspicious expression) It's you.

Me: What? Me? (begin to pat myself down thinking I accidentally pushed a button on my phone... but wait!... where is my phone??...)

Brandie: (talking into phone) Hello?

Caller: I have your friend's phone. I'm near the Bean.

Brandie: Ok thanks, we're coming over!

Caitlyn: what??

We walked back to the Bean to find the guy who had my phone wondering how I'd lost it, and how the guy knew to call Brandie. When we found the good Samaritan, the first thing he said was, "I called your mom." The moral of the story is, always have a contact in your phone book called MOM or HOME, and if you find someone's phone, look for the contact called MOM or HOME. Moms know EVERYTHING.

But the question remained, when did I lose the phone in the first place? When we downloaded these pictures later it all became clear....

Two to Tango

My Argentinean friend has been inviting me to tango with her for months, and finally last week I got my act together to go. I was nervous, never having tangoed before, and more still when I arrived at the cafe and learned that once they cleared the floor for the lesson, those who were not participating could stay, enjoy their coffees, and watch. The last thing I wanted was anyone's attention on me.

The lesson began when the owner of the cafe stepped out from behind the coffee bar, took off his apron, donned his dance shoes, and stepped onto the dance floor. Jorge was patient and kind as he coached each of the 5 of us to glide gracefully across the floor--forward, backward, sideways, first the leg, then the body follows. It wasn't so bad!

At the conclusion of the hour lesson, other more experienced dancers began to arrive to practice their moves on the open floor. Someone asked me to dance, and after explaining that it was only my first day, I was led onto the floor. For those who don't know, the tango is danced VERY closely. As the dancers' movements are more improvisational than rhythmic, the follower literally leans on her partner in order to feel the lead.

My partner and I glided, twisted, paused, when suddenly he pushed me away in order to pull me quickly back in again. However, the push that was meant to separate us, sent me reeling forward, into him! I looked down to find that my belt loop had gotten caught on his belt buckle. I chuckled apologetically and reached down to untangle us, but to no avail! He also tried, but it was no use. With the two of us giggling uncontrollably, another couple came over to offer to help. It was actually 4 minutes of being joined at the waist, before the couple was able to untangle my belt loop from his belt buckle. 4 minutes doesn't seem like a long time unless your faces are 4 inches from each other and you are akwardly introducing yourselves, "so... I'm Caitlyn.. etc, etc,.. do you live around here?..etc, etc... my, your teeth are awfully white, what kind of toothpaste do you use?.. is that so?..."

To my second lesson tonight, I will wear no belt loops.

Ummm

This is the view from my window today...anyone else see a BIG HONKING problem here??? It's April 11 and it looks like Christmas, NOT COOL