Mind the Gap

You guys, I really love London. :-)

These past couple of weeks have been really nice. I've gotten into more of a normal routine, but there are still exciting events thrown in here and there. Bible study is great!! It is held at the church's student house and led by the pastor, and it's such a comfortable atmosphere. Each session begins with a hymn and a prayer. We have been discussing women in the church..the first week was really great, but this past week left me a bit frustrated. The ELCE does not allow women to be pastors, so I was kind of expecting the conversation to take the turn that it did...it's ok, though, because it is causing me to explore the topic more deeply in my own time. Questions are good, questions are good.

My Art and Society class took me to the Banqueting House in White Hall during week 2. The paintings on the ceiling were beautiful, and we got to lie on the floor and gaze up at them while the professor explained each detail. During week 3, lecture was held at All Saints church and All Souls church, and both of them were also very beautiful.

And now, on to theater. I saw two incredible productions this week. On Saturday the 18th, I met up with Taylor, my friend from IWU, for lunch at a market in Covent Garden before buying tickets to see Les Mis! Taylor is a theater major studying at LAMDA for a semester, so it was really fun to see this show with her and hear her comments. Les Mis was amazing. Absolutely amazing. The voices, the acting, the show itself...ahhh. I still have the songs stuck in my head. Then, on Wednesday, I went to see the stage version of Rain Man starring...Josh Hartnett! I was really impressed with Adam Godley, the actor who played Raymond, the autistic brother. His performance was so convincing and touching. I actually wasn't all that impressed with Josh Hartnett at the beginning, but he got better as the show went on. :-) Like I'm some kind of critic...haha.

Anyone ever tried beans on toast? A girl in my London Theatre class told me about it...apparently it's popular here. Just butter toast and pour baked beans on top of it. I thought it sounded weird and disgusting, but it's actually really tasty!

And for all you Harry Potter fans, I totally went to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross. Harry and Professor McGonagall say hi.

New photos! http://picasaweb.google.com/MariaKristineRoth/MindTheGap#

Love to you all.

Maria