80 Pence Chocolate

Today was all over the place. We met for class, which had lost some of the excitement of the first day but it was still a good way to start the morning. Afterwards, my fellow chaplains and I dumped our backpacks at the hotel and set off for lunch.

Taking the Tube is great, you go down into a long tunnel with lots of stairs and people, hop on a train, move fast through more tunnels, climb more stairs full of more people and viola! You're in a totally different place. Each area of London has a different feel, and I can't help but think that it's like the pools in C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew when the two kids step into one pool (they are pools, right?) and step out into a different world than the one they came from and the ones associated with all the other pools. In my mind, London isn't connected, it's one name for a lot of different areas.

(I also love walking. Besides the inevitable blisters I LOVE that we have to walk everywhere, it feels good to stretch our legs and walk every time we finish eating, sitting in class, or getting up in the morning.)

Anyway, we chaplains met to set out our goals, so we got Pret de Manger and sat on a grassy square and talked. It was sunny again today :) Then we went to the British Museum for a few hours and then ran all over town trying to figure out how to get tickets for plays and find the half price booth and then there weren't tickets but we were starving and where is the best place to get fish and chips and how do we get there and then half our huge group wants to leave to go to the Globe theater instead but they might not be able to get tickets and where is the globe theater and how much does it cost and should they take the tube wait where did Joe go oh there he is ok let's just get on the tube and go back to the hotel. Controlled chaos. Lots of guys trying to lead and they got stressed because no one would be led. Curses.

So that was weird. BUT at 8:30 Laura, Hannah, and I went to The White Hart, a very classy but relaxed pub by the Liverpool Station, (full of red-leather booths, dark wood tables, dim, glowy glass light-fixtures with gold accents-- very classic) and, yes, I had my first beer. A very small half of a half-pint of bubbly bitter yellow stuff with a not-to-bad aftertaste, to be honest. Couldn't even tell you what it was called, but it started with a P? We had a great time though, it was the first time I've been able to sit down with a few good friends and just talk and enjoy each other's company :) Plus, I've been craving sweetness all day, as have Hannah and Laura, so we happily discovered that they sell Snickers and Mars bars at the hotel bar for 80p. Win!

Shout-out to Bren, who starts on her own adventure very soon. I love you Bren, you're going to do great :)