Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich

And my friend Eleanore is here, staying with me for a week, which is awesome!! I think we’re going to go for a big walk around London today, which will be nice, since it’s sunny.

Til next time!

xx

This weekend has been amazing!

First, Friday was a bit tumultuous. It was my first full day at my internship for Minority Rights Group. I was up til about 1am editing a paper that was due Tuesday morning, and didn’t get to sleep til after 3am. Then got up at a horrid hour, dropped off my paper at LSE, realized I’d forgotten my Oyster card, bought a return ticket at Holborn, and got to work, already exhausted. It was a very very long day. I left at 6pm, got on the tube, and then heard the announcement: “Holborn is closed due to high volume.” WTF??? I now had to take a convoluted route home, and I was starving, and cold, and my new boots made my feet feel like death, and I was exhausted, and it was NOT good. Then I finally reached my building, just wanting to get on the elevator and crash on my bed. But BOTH elevators were out of service!! So I had to drag myself up to the fourth floor (the fifth in Canada/USA). Not good.

But then that evening my friends and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It is amazing! I’d recommend it to everyone. It won the people’s choice at the Toronto Film Festival, and I saw the one that came in second, and that was amazing, so I figured this one would be. And I was right!

Then I got up early Saturday to meet my friend Estee, and we got in line to get 10 quid tickets for the play PIAF. We got second row!! And then it was off to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square to see the Annie Liebowitz exhibit.

It.

Was.

AWESOME.

I am in love with her. It was such an intimate exhibit; I enjoyed her personal photos, especially those of her partner Susan Sontag (who was also an incredible woman!) more than her celebrity ones, although those are, of course, mesmerizing as well.

As we left the exhibit, the protest against Israeli action in Gaza was setting up in Trafalgar Square. Here are some photos of that. It’s such a sad situation. A community health clinic that KAIROS (I worked for them in the summer) funds was hit by an Israeli missile last weekend. No one was killed, but now a place that helped Gaza’s poorest communities can no longer function. I heard about the ceasefire this morning, so hopefully that will bring some semblance of peace to the area. Hopefully innocent civilians, on both sides, will stop being killed.

On a lighter note, after lunch, we saw PIAF, and it was such an amazing show! The lead had an incredible voice! Plus, when we’d been waiting in line, this woman asked me if she could give me 10 pounds to buy her a ticket because you’re only allowed to buy 2 tickets per person and she needed three. So then she bought me some English fudge as a thank you and gave it to me at the theatre. It was SO sweet!!

I got home, washed about four days worth of dishes, and then went out for my friend’s birthday, which was so much fun! Six of us are going to Paris in 2 weeks, so we also booked our apartment, which looks incredible! I can’t wait!!

Today, I decided to go for a walk at dusk along the river (the North side), and snapped some photos like the tourist I still kinda am.

And now I am doing laundry and writing about the perpetration of atrocities. But, life is being pretty good to me! And my friend Eleanore is coming to stay with me on Tuesday for a week, so I can’t wait for that! 🙂

Honestly, the LSE library has become the bane of my existence. Reasons include:

1. Postgrads are only allowed to take out 20 books at a time. This is problematic when you have three essays plus a dissertation on the go.

2. The “innovative” staircase is a pain in the ass. The steps are so wide apart that I feel like a one-legged pirate using the stairs. (ok, so I stole that comment from a Facebook group about the LSE library, but that only shows how bad it is!!)

3. The fines are exorbitant! I had a lot of books out (no more than 20, obviously), and didn’t realize that one of the books I took out was a one-day loan. So I returned it this morning (so less than 12 hours late), and what was my fine? SEVEN POUNDS FIFTY!! That’s like $13.50 with our current exchange rate!!

I hate the library. Ick.

So, a belated Merry Christmas, belated Happy Channukah, and Happy New Year!!!

I’m coming home in 2 days, and I am SO excited!! I can’t wait to see all my family and friends, and the familiar sights in Toronto. But there will be some people and some things I will miss in London. I’ll have to make the most of my Canadian adventure, as I won’t be back again for 8 months.

A few weeks ago, I went to Aberdeen to see some family-of-family. Y’see, my Dad’s sister Patty married my uncle Allan, who is from Aberdeen, and most of his family is still there. They often visit us in Canada, and I’ve visited them twice (before this trip) in Aberdeen. So, it’s one big family of family!

This is me with the newest addition – baby Lauren

And with my Aunt Pat, her sister-in-law, and mother-in-law

Drinking with my Uncle Allan

Standing in front of Kildrummy Castle

Drinking again, before flying back to London (there were many more photos of me with a wine glass in hand, but those just get redundant after awhile, eh?)

– make notes on the social constructivism of human rights

– prep an essay on whether the sociological attempt to explain and understand perpetration of atrocities requires exoneration (I’m saying NO)

– read two articles in French on Sarkozy’s promises and summarize them for a presentation

– prep a presentation on Mozambique’s reconciliation process, which consisted of traditional spiritual healing techniques rather than tribunals.

And this is all needs to be finished by Tuesday or Wednesday!! This is not even counting the other essays and notes I have to do. Ick.

But, I did take a study break earlier this afternoon to wander around my Covent Garden neighbourhood. I popped in to a few stores to browse, bought cheese at Neil’s Yard Dairy (scrumptious! and the boy who served my wasn’t too shabby either), and got a latte from the infamous Monmouth Coffee Company. De-lish!

And at least I can look forward to next weekend, when I’m off to Brussels and Aachen (Germany) to the Christmas markets of those two cities. I’m going with my friend Stacey, with a tour company, so we’re going by coach bus to Brussels and staying there, then doing a day trip to Aachen. Can’t wait! And then I’m back in London for 3 days to work my ass off, and then I fly home to Canada to see all of YOU!!

Are y’all excited? 🙂

They were in a car driving through Piccadilly Circus.

I guess I can cross that off my list of things to do in London! 🙂

I do.

But I need to get out of this city!!!

So I’m off to Brighton tomorrow.

By the sea.

Maybe I’ll see a bird that ISN’T a pigeon.

That would be lovely.