Happy Superbowl / Selfie Sunday

"outfit" of the day: head wrap, glasses, tank top, stone-cold
gaze with which to pierce the souls of mine enemies

what I lack photogenically, I make up for by staring into your soul

The semester's off to a slightly chaotic start, hence the lack of updates. I'm actually recycling this post from one on my tumblr....which was recycled from instagram. Yikes. I'm a sham.

I only have three updates/stories from January, but they're all pretty great.

1. Mario transferred to Rutgers this semester. It stinks having to transition to a new school partway through college, but the upside is that we can visit each other more. He slept over last weekend, actually. Saturday was a bit stressful because our day revolved around trying to rush Constellations, the Broadway play currently starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson. We failed not once, but TWICE. A lot of it had to do with mistakes on my part, but Mario was extremely patient. (I'm a lucky gal, truly.) And in the end, everything worked out! We were standing outside of the theatre after our second rush attempt--this time for the evening show--when suddenly the house manager slipped through the stage door and gestured for me and Mario to come over. He then asked us to fill in for two student ushers who had dropped out at the last minute. In an even SWEETER twist of fate, right before the show started, the manager told us that we didn't have to sit on the ushers' stools because two of their "emergency seats" in the center orchestra never got filled! This was for a sold-out evening show, too. At this rate, Mario and I have a cool story from each of the two Broadway shows we've ever seen together. (The other story: We rushed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 2013 for Mario's birthday, and partway through the show, we realized we were sitting in the same row as Tom Hanks.)

2. I'm currently two weeks into rehearsal for Fordham's production of RENT, which opens the last weekend of February. I'm playing Joanne. It's really not a big deal, I'm really not that excited, I've only been belting the RENT soundtrack in the shower since, what, the age of 14?

3. Despite being a semester behind the other interns, I've been accepted as a Video Engineer Intern at WFUV, a public radio station that happens to broadcast directly from Fordham's campus. In other words, I get to help film and edit videos of live performances by bands and artists who come to WFUV for interviews. Really legitimate artists, too. My roommates especially know how stressed I was about having two days off a week, but no internship to fill them with, so this was a nice surprise. It's perfect because I really want to learn more about photography, videography, and the editing process for both.

Annnnnd that's all I've got for now. New blog post coming up soon! (I hope) 

it's my birthday and I'll blog if I want to

 

Long time, no blog post. It's hilarious how little I've written here this past semester. My only excuse is that I was busy having a stressful, inspiring, tiring, FULL experience at London Dramatic Academy. Our program ended on December 5, but since then I've been adventuring through London and Paris, taking photos like the one above. 

Tonight's my last night in London. It's also my 21st birthday. Needless to say I have loads of thoughts, too many to distill into a clear summary of what I've been through this semester. (For those curious, there's not too much to report in terms of what I did for my birthday. I walked to Notting Hill and bought too many Christmas gifts, had excellent Japanese takeout along with a bottle of my favorite cider, made pumpkin custard, and chatted with my temporary flat mates. So basically livin the life.)

Over winter break, I'll post more thorough photo essays from my time abroad, but for now I'll say this: I'm bursting with gratitude. Really. Splitting at the sides with it. Not only did I get to explore foreign cities on a completely different continent, but I also loved my program. It's not often in your academic life when virtually ALL of your classes interest you—and stretch you, too. Getting to travel around western Europe during my free time was just icing, honestly.

So thank you God. Thank you mama and papa for literally giving me the world. Thank you Mario for loving me across oceans. Thank you friends who let me sleep on your couches. Thank you Julia for living, traveling, and laughing with me. Thank you London for cider, for theatre, for mild winters, and for double-decker buses that let me spy on people in their flats during nighttime rides home. Thank you to my LDA family for helping make this the most rewarding semester of college so far, and thank you Kathryn Pogson for being Professor McGonagall. My heart's steady. I feel tall. I'm ready to come home!

day trips out of London: a Saturday in Brighton (and a lesson in overspending)

And now, in my usual fashion, I present a series of photos taken almost one week ago now...

Last Saturday, I took a train to Brighton with some Fordham friends. It's kind of the Ocean City, NJ of England. The day got off to a rocky start--and I'm not just talking about the beach! hahahaha *ba-dum-TSHH*

Seriously, though, I was upset to discover that the £18 train tickets my friend told me about were only available through online booking, three days in advance. And unbeknownst to me, everyone else purchased their train tickets early.

It was no one's fault, really. No one knew that the train tickets would cost THAT much more at the station. But on top of getting only four hours of sleep, I felt stressed out almost all morning. I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd spent almost £30 (roughly $50) more than everyone else for a relatively short trip. The ride was only 50 minutes each way! Plus I didn't research Brighton enough to take full advantage of it once we got there. I meant to, I really did, but I ended up at a club in Camden until 1:30 AM the night before and got home closer to 2:15 AM. (In my defense, I hadn't expected to be out so late; we got lost en route.)

Moral of the story for those planning to study abroad: 1.) Sketch out a rough draft of what you want to do at your destination, 2.) Do not buy your tickets the day of, and 3.) Double-check with a train station employee to make sure you're buying the cheapest ticket possible. (I'm pretty sure I clicked the wrong ticket type and over paid.) All of this may seem like common sense--and I'm usually a huge planner when it comes to trips--but it's easy to slip up when you've just arrived in a new city.

You know what, though? I felt much better as the day went on. In uncontrollable situations, you have to remind yourself that worrying is a complete waste of energy. CLICHE BUT TRUE. Especially true when you're living long-term in another country for maybe the only time in your life. I kept telling myself that there was nothing I could do about it, and that $50 dollars isn't much in the grand scheme of things, so just focus on taking everything in, dammit! You're in England, Vaness, how often will you be in England?? Etc etc and so on and so forth.


 

First we sat on the beach, visited Brighton Pier, and then ate at a vegetarian restaurant called Food for Friends. It was super expensive, so I just split a deeeelicious dark chocolate torte with berry sauce (see above) with Sarah. She also let me finish the rest of her salad, which, I kid you not, made my morning. Sarah's a true friend. I suppose I'd call anyone a true friend so long as they fed me--the best way to Vanessa's heart is through her tum--but Sarah was also crucial in cheering me up that morning. So if you're reading this, S, hello and thanks again! muah!

After lunch we all went to grab a pint. (Well, a half pint for me, being the World's Champion Lightweight and all. I've got a title to uphold.) Then we walked over to the Royal Pavillion and browsed the Brighton Museum. At that point I decided to split off from the group in order to check out a few charity chops that I'd looked up on a friend's iPhone, as I still didn't have my UK sim card. But even though I lacked internet and text messaging, I did have a map of Brighton from the museum gift shop, so I felt fairly confident getting around on my own.

I ended up dropping a good chunk of money into an Oxfam shop right off Queen's Road. Oxfam is an international organization that raises money to fight poverty. You can see me cheesin' it up in their dressing room in the two photos above. (I bought the dress on the right!) Funnily enough, the picture right above those two isn't actually of Oxfam, but rather another little charity shop that I spotted on the way there.

Random anecdote: While walking down Queen's Road, I smiled and nodded at a homeless man on the pavement. "You're beautiful when you smile!" he said.  Not in a creepy or unsettling way--just rather sweet. And as I continued to walk past, he suddenly added, "Well, you're already beautiful enough without the smile." It was a tiny gesture, but something about his sincerity struck me. Just an unexpected blip of kindness.

Last of all, I wandered back to the beach to take more pictures since the morning's fog had finally cleared out. A peaceful end to a slightly stressful (but ultimately enjoyable!) trip.



PS. A big shoutout and thank you to Erin for letting me borrow her memory card all day! Without you, I wouldn't have these pictures to share. I'd only have...my memories. Gross.

first weekend in London

 

Last weekend I... 

Flew into London sitting in the VERY back row of my airplane, but I did have some nice chats with a twenty-something British dude who was flying back from visiting his fiancee in New York all summer.

Danced to Michael Jackson with hip young adults in a small pub near our flat. The demographic in there was maybe 28 to 35 years-old, so we didn't stay long...

Watched maybe 60 Fordham study abroad kids chug half pints as fast as they could at one in the afternoon. It was the kick-off to one of our orientation events: a pub crawl disguised as a scavenger hunt.

Ate excellent xia long bao dumplings in China Town. Looks like I'll be able to get my authentic Chinese fix in London after all.

Wandered around the touristy heart of London by myself for over two hours. There's something great—if isolating—about exploring a foreign city by yourself.

Tied for first with Aja in an intense game of limbo at the pub crawl after party (though I really should've been second place). People told me I looked like "a contortionist" and also "the exorcism of Emily Rose."

Accidentally attended an Anglican mass despite googling "Catholic churches in Kensington." When you have a lady priest and everyone keeps saying "And also with you" instead of "And with your spirit," you know somethin's up.


Tomorrow will be my one week anniversary of living in London and my fourth day of class. Honestly, my stomach feels a bit queasy now and then. A mix of homesickness and other anxieties, I guess. But that's whatcha get when you drop an introvert into completely foreign territory (geographically and socially). I'll find my bearings soon.

 - bb v out