The trek has returned safely to the United States. Our final images will be posted within the next week!

Today we spent the morning presenting all of the hard work that we did the night before. We set up computers to show the best of everyone’s top ten. Then we had to vote on the three that we liked most in each category. After that we tried to set up to do our visual essay presentations but we got in trouble from the hotel. They said we were taking up too much space in the lounge and we had to split up. So split up into groups of five to present our visual essays to Prof. Newman and Prof. Andrea. Luckily I was in the first group so I could have the rest of the afternoon to myself. I decided that I needed to get out of the hotel since I had been locked up in it for three days straight. So, Mike and I decided to take a walk and look for last minute souvenirs. We ended up down by Covent Gardens which was a really cool shopping area. We took the tube back to the hotel since we were sick of walking, and partially lost.
We all went out to dinner that night for our farewell dinner as a group. This time we actually got to pick out meals off of the menu but we had to pay for our own drinks. Dinner was a lot of fun. I really feel like our trip came together well at the end. There really weren’t any clicks that didn’t end up separating and branching out a little bit by the last week. Living with everyone for three weeks and traveling all around really makes me feel like we are all family now. I’m sad to leave Europe but I think I am more sad to leave all of my new friends. I know that we will all meet up again in Providence eventually but everyone has to go there separate ways for the summer. Let’s hope that tomorrow’s flight goes smoothly and everyone makes it back to the states safely.

Well, today is our last full day in London. I’ve spent the most of the last two days sitting in the Atrium trying to get my work completed in time for today our last class before we fly out tomorrow morning. I have royally enjoyed my time on this trek and to conclude on the cultural aspects of Paris is that it will always be calling my name until I give in and move. Everything was beautiful and refreshed. I had some struggles in with the language but in the future I will have that mastered so I can communicate with the locals. Though at the same time, Parisians and Londoners are a little alike. Americans need to brush up on their world history whether they want to or not and they need to actually take a trip out of the United States to truly appreciate who they are and from what country they come from. Superiority is an act to the Parisians and you have to remember that if you wish to communicate with them you need to speak their language to show that you have an interest in getting to know them and getting help from them. As for Londoners it is completely different. The only thing they care about is that you respect the Queen who is on the throne now and that you speak the language. The way you approach Londoners is going to them first for interaction or communication for they will not approach you first. Parisians do not show much racism like the Londoners do. Londoners are very bold about where as the only racism expressed by Parisians is the fact that Americans are loud and they do not speak the language. Paris is a romantic country and they love to be up close and personal with family and friends. Londoners are not up close and personal. They like their pubs and drinking as a way of socializing but they like their privacy at the same time. In the end, I am thankful that I am an American and that I represent my country well with the utmost of respect and honor just and Parisians and Londoners do theirs. I will be glad to get home and rest from this trek, tell stories of the wonders that I got to explore, and save up for the next trek that my heart desire is seeking to fulfill.

Today was a day of work for all of us. All of our assignments just piled up on us all. We were stuck in the hotel all day long and I didn’t go to bed until 3am with some of my work still unfinished. The only time I got out of the hotel was to grab something to eat for dinner. Kristin, Josie, and I went and had Thai food. This was my first experience with Thai food and I really liked it. The service was a little slow even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. We waited a while for our check (I kind of felt like we were back in France). By the time we got our check it started to rain. On the way back we stopped into a coffee shop for some caffeine to keep us going on our work. It was an Italian cafe and all of the girls working there were all new on the job. So we had to wait a while for the owner to help us since no one else knew how to do anything. After we finally got our drinks we tried to pay and sat there for another ten minutes waiting for our change. I finally went and found the guy and it turns out he just forgot all about us. By the time we were done with that it had stopped raining. The coffees were horrible as well. Other than that I spent the entire day starring at a computer screen and listening to everyone around me sniffle their noses or have coughing fits!

Throughout the time here in London, I have made numerous trips to the 24-hour market down the street. It’s not that big, but it does have the basics of a larger grocery store that you would see back home. There definitely isn’t that much of a variety of certain types of food. For instance, I was looking for cookies one day and there were maybe five different kinds to choose from, where as if you turned around there was a whole boatload of magazines instead. You could tell that the fruits and vegetables definitely weren’t fresh either and there was not much to choose from, as well. I also noticed that it was always busy there. There was always a line to checkout and the line wrapped around the corner, though there was seven cashiers working. Once a cashier didn’t have a customer, they would press some sort of button that had a pre-recording of what register was open. It would said, “Register 2 please. Register 2 please” until the next customer walked there way to that register. It was really weird. I also noticed that they do sell alcohol on Sundays, but not for the whole day.
The markets in Paris were different. They all had extremely fresh fruits and vegetables that were sitting on stands waiting to be bought. Like London though, these markets were rather small. But there was one market that was actually two floors. The first floor had basic breads, drinks and things of that sort, but when you went downstairs it was like walking into a giant refrigerator. The produce as well as dairy products were kept there. The Paris markets did have more to offer than the one we go to here in London, but it was so hard to find what you were looking for. Everything was in French and I know for a fact that I had no idea what any of them said. I would go by the image on the box or whatnot to see if it was what I actually wanted. I did also notice that the cashiers in London and Paris aren’t really that friendly. There is no small talk. It’s like they go about just doing their job and getting you out of the market as quick as they can…a simple “Hello…How are you?” would be nice.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

It is a rainy and muggy and just a ugly day, but we ended up going to Notting Hill Market early in the morning. As soon as we got there the first thing that I noticed was the houses, all painted different colors. Not one house was the same color as each other and the flowers went with the color of each house. I wasn’t sure if they planned it like that or if the town made them do that, but I thought it brought a lot of character to Notting Hill.
As we walked down further that is where all the little shops were outside and inside and there were a few little flea markets that were inside as well. The shops were filled with a variety of things and each one had something different. If you went even further down there were a lot more indoor shops and the one thing I liked about this place was that you could bargain for a cheaper price.
Later that night we went to Leicester square to walk around and take pictures. We found out that this was the place to be at night because there was a ton of people. Either people were just walking around just looking at everyone else or going to the strip of bars and clubs. It was very interesting to see the night life and their night life was crazy.

Today we went to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures on the inside. There were lots of elaborate tombstones of Kings and Queens and royalty. There were plaques all over the floor indicating where graves were. Actually, I thought that was kind of creepy and weird. I felt bad thinking that I was literally walking on someone’s grave. This church seemed more reverent than the ones in France. They stop to do a quick prayer every hour, and according to one of the doormen, they have mass 28 times a week. It seemed that there were a lot more people sitting down to actually pray than in the other churches we’ve visited. I really wanted to see the graves of Shakespeare and Winston Churchill, but they are buried in the crypt at St. Paul’s Cathedral; that too was disappointing! The church was beautiful though, and it was interesting to see. It seemed like it was mostly royalty or famous people buried there, not regular citizens. At the front door, or rather the exit door was a large plaque on the ground surrounded by red flowers. Officially it was dedicated to a soldier who lost his life during WWI, and unofficially it was dedicated to all the British soldiers who gave their life for their country during WWI. The church overall was a symbol of patriotism and pride in their history.
When we left, some of us went to McDonald’s for lunch. I finally broke down, and gave in, but I’ve been good thus far. Surprisingly, they had this delicious looking chicken/pasta salad that I ordered. It was so good, but I don’t think we have that back home. I’m hoping I’m wrong and that it is a new selection that they’ll sell in the states too because it really was yummy and healthy! Just like back home the restaurant was packed, although it was lunch time.
At night, I worked again all afternoon on my photos and what not. I’m a little sad to think that we’ve come to the end of our journey, but I’m extremely excited to go home in a couple of days. We are not going to the London Eye anymore (a really big Ferris wheel by the Tower of London), but that’s ok. We’ve done so much in the past 3 weeks that I’m almost exhausted from all the events we’ve done! Overall, I love the beauty of Paris, but I like the pace of London, which makes sense because London is closer to the lifestyle of America. Home in 2 more days… 

Today we were able to enjoy another church and architectural beauty. Westminster Abbey seemed to be one of the only churches that we visited and that was still being used for religious purposes. We asked someone working at the church if services were still held and we were told that twenty-eight a week were performed. That would make an average of four per day if they were performed seven days a week which is very impressive. We also discovered from our tourist map that were given that there was a small prayer read every hour and we were lucky enough to join in the prayer at noon. It only lasted a few minutes and most of the tourists paused to listen quietly or pray themselves. I found it to be astonishing that they were preserving religion in such a tourist attracting church.

While in France we did not find too many churches where services still took place, they had turned completely into an attraction and it was a bit disappointing. It was especially discouraging to find a sign that read no pictures during mass at once French church suggesting people did not know any better. One thing that was quite disappointing about Westminster Abbey was the fact that we could not take photographs, but at the same time it was a good sign that they were actually concerned with preserving the religious history of the church.

At the exit of the church I found many people lighting candles in memory of people and even people making the cross on their chest and praying silently. I found the whole scene peaceful, calming and reassuring all at once. Although I’m not very religious I found it comforting to light a candle in my memory of my cousin and think of her silently. It can give any person a sense of thankfulness for every day they are alive and a reason to say something meaningful whether spiritual or not. As we left the church I smiled knowing that church still has its place in the world.

Monday June 27, 2005

Today we woke up and was getting ready to go to Westminster Abbey. We took the tube there like everywhere else we go. The one thing that I noticed about the subway here compared to France was that it is a lot easier to use. In Paris it was so complicated, where as here in London it took us about 2 days to figure it out fully. I was very happy that it was easier because I didn’t think I could handle another subway like France.
We got to Westminster and waited online for quite a while, but while we waited I walked around to take some pictures. As I was walking around I noticed this strip on the of the street protesting against hurting children. I thought it was very interesting to see how people express their feelings in other countries. As I walked a little further I found this other older man who was sitting by himself with posters and signs around him explaining how much he hates George Bush. I sat down and talked to him for a while and I have to say very nice man but didn’t know much of what he was going against.
We then finally got into Westminster and it was beautiful inside, but we were not allowed to take pictures, and this was hard for me considering we are here for photography. So of course I try to take pictures anyway and one of the guards came running at me telling me to put my camera away or he was going to take it away. I didn’t mean to laugh but I felt like I was a little girl all over again. They are very strict, and when they say no they mean it. We then had to video tape some people’s reactions for our videography class. We decided to go in front of Big Ben and ask people walking by what the time was. We got some really funny responses and some would just tell the time from their watch or some would point to Big Ben. I thought this was interesting considering everyone we asked were from London and still walked by not even realizing that Big Ben was right there. We found this very amusing, but they were looking at us kind of funny. We then just went back to the hotel to finish up some work.

Today, Alexis and I decided to do some shopping. Since our subway passes had expired, we were forced to buy our own. I was really surprised to find that the metro passes cost 2 pounds each way. I feel that two pounds is too expensive for a subway that is dirty and overcrowded.

Leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon, we assumed that Oxford street would not be crowded because it was getting close to dinner time. However, we were way off. The street was so packed with people, that it was very difficlut to get where we wanted to go.

Once in the store I noticed many difference in English store versus American stores. Our first stop was a store called Topshop. I was boogled to find that this megastore is connected to two other stores of either of its sides. They other stores were not connected through a small door, but rather through a huge opening in the wall. At the time that we walked through, Alexis and I did not see any kind of security device to block people from walking into the other store. While purchasing the items on my debit card, noticed another difference from American store. Here in London, the people on the register really stare and study at your signature while you are signing your copy of the reciept. They then compare the signature to the one on your card,