David Comes to Visit and I Go More Places

Heads up: this is a MASSIVE and long-overdue post.

PART I

Last week my brother David came to visit. After having been evacuated from Niger because of terrorists, David suggested that he take a little trip to England, and so we arranged for him to come and visit me for a few days before heading back to the States. Needless to say, it was wonderful to see him and hear about his experience in the Peace Corps. But knowing me, I was glad to see that over 6 months in an impoverished West African country didn't change his sense of Silly! Silly is fun.

David was quite enamored with the little grocery store located at the ground floor of my house, so as a result, we made multiple "grocery" trips each day he was here. Too many decisions and awe at seeing so many goods all at once and so readily available left us with this:

(I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it wasn't that bad either.)

Not to mention: "Strawberry Dreams" - some sort of marshmallow concoction which were inhaled within 30 seconds, various gummy candies, a chocolate donut with sprinkles, Digestive biscuits and more... Kind of like a 10 year old kid with a weekly allowance and no Mom around.

"I got some gummy snacks...!"

Also, David REALLY likes feta cheese. Like, a lot.

Then David got thirsty.

After stories of Niger and spontaneous Shakira/Ke$ha dance-parties in my room, David showed me his traditional Nigerian garments - nice, nice! Especially walking across campus to the post office.

On his last night in Brighton, we went out to dinner at a Chinese/Oriental buffet which basically had everything you could ever conceivably want to eat. Including cutesy deserts and deserts with smily faces! Mmmm.

Bye, David!

PART II

Now to catch up for a bit on the traveling I've been doing.

Let's see... two weeks ago we (international students) went to Windsor Castle. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside the castle, which of course, is where all of the splendor was. I loved seeing all of the elaborate and over the top bedrooms and drawing rooms and parlors and dining rooms and whatnot, but I think my favorite room was the room which contained the various "trophies" the Royal Family "acquired" as a result of imperialism. Maybe this is because I like history. But it was actually a little eerie to see all of these objects, because in your head you inevitably connect them to imperial conquests and colonialism and all of the people who were subjected to British rule. There was a massive sculpture of a tiger's head, constructed out of pure gold with gems for eyes and crystal fangs, which came from India. There were also numerous gold crowns and various gold sculptures from Mali and other African nations. So much gold.

I love doors.

Look, the moat is now a pretty garden.

More of me...

Out and about.

Okay, so there is a very special place in my heart for all things that are cute and slightly pathetic. Walking around, we found a bunch of ducks and swans all vying for some bread crumbs (tut, tut.) There were a bunch of little black baby swans swimming around with all the adults as well. But there was this ONE little guy who just couldn't swim fast or well enough to grab a crumb! He was trying so hard but all the other ducks and swans kept rushing by him, and at one point an adult swan even bumped into him. So, unable to catch a crumb, he ended up just swimming around by himself while all of the other swans and ducks huddled together eating crumbs. The whole thing was so cute and so pathetic I could hardly even handle it! I turned into a blubbering mess ("Go, go! You can do it, little guy!") and took about 15 photos... which looking over later, were all basically the same photo.

After he got bumped into...

Moving on! Last weekend we went to Stratford Upon Avon, which was absolutely adorable. There are a number of new shops, but the town still feels like an old English town of yore. We saw some Shakespeare related sights (his grave, the house he was born in, Anne Hathaway's cottage...) and just walked around the town.

Bendy houses.

Anne Hathaway's cottage. Like a time machine!

Hello.

And then it was... Tea Time!