Catching Up

There's a reason I was never successful at writing in a diary.  Because it's hard for me to do it often (that's what she said), and I get way behind.

Anyway, I owe you a lot of info.  I've been several new places and done lots of things over the last few weeks that I haven't shared with you.  You probably won't get all the details that you deserve, but I'll do my best to share as much as I can!  So, a la This American Life (because I'm a nerd), this blog is split into four acts.

ACT ONE:  York, and York again

A month ago, now, I went to York.  Then, 2 weeks ago, I went to York again.  I'll explain why in a minute.  York is such a gorgeous old city, built by the Romans many many centuries ago.   The central highlight is most definitely York Minster, a ridiculously fabulous church you can't miss. 

Oh, you mean the giant one you can see from pretty much anywhere in the city?

It's amazing inside and out.  We went down into the crypts (in a couple places you can actually see skeleton fragments in the walls) and saw the remnants of the foundations of a Roman fort, and then the Saxon one on top of that, then the Norman cathedral, and finally the "modern" Minster, built in medieval times.  The other highlight is climbing the tower to see the view of the city.  When we first went Friday the tower was closed due to high winds (thanks for making me feel safe, York), but we went back Saturday and it was reopened!  Yay...  So, another tiny spiral staircase.  Not only that, but if you buy now, we'll throw in a walk along at roof level between the two towers to make it the rest of the way up!  My knees trembled, my stomach queased, but we made it to the top and it was once again worth it for the views.  From the top you can see the lines of the stone fortification walls that still surround the city and the ruins of other ancient buildings.

A Bit Morbid

So this post's a little different.  I'm taking a module (as they call it here, course/class as we call it back home) about the history of Leeds.  It's actually called Leeds: Voices of the Past, which may be important later.  So anyway, this modulecourseclass tries to explain how this area was shaped, from Prehistoric times to the present, by the various peoples who called it home.  We've talked about Romans and Celts and Saxons and Normans, discussed how places get their names, and handled animal bones from 8,000 years ago.  Wednesday, we took a field trip.  To a cemetery.

Now, I know how that sounds.  A cemetery?  Walking around a graveyard in the rain and mud (because it's England, so of course it was raining) for 2 hours counts as a field trip?  Well it turns out yes.  I've always kind of like cemeteries (I'm weird) because they make me feel peaceful (weird) and contemplative (weird).  But my teacher for this class really encouraged us to pay attention to the headstones and to figure out the stories of the people buried there.

We went to a place called the Beckett Street Cemetery, which as far as British cemeteries go, is a fairly important one.  It's the first (probably) municipal burial place in all of England, which basically means you didn't have to be Anglican and rich to get buried there, and more than 180,000 people took advantage.  Even in the warm-and-fuzzy public burial though, there's a nice segregation between the Anglican dead and the dissenters (they went with a strict "with us or against us" type of policy), complete with separate chapels and staff.  No cross-religion-contamination here.  Kind of sad that even in death we can't forgive our differences.

Side note: the cemetery is also pretty much across the street from a giant hospital.  That must be a cheery reminder for patients.

Anyway, not the point. 

Hey MTV, Welcome to My Crib

Too bad I don't have any pools, cars, or solid-gold refrigerators to show off.

It's been a while since I gave you all an update, and though I did go on another short trip since then, I'm going to put that story on hold (you'll have to live in suspense for a bit) and instead tell you a bit about my life in Leeds.

It's hard to believe I've been here for a month.  I feel simultaneously like I've done so much already and that I've barely done anything.  Hopefully I still have a lot of adventures to come in the next four months.  In the meantime, how 'bout I show you round my new living space? 

My desk.  Note the desktop background--still awesome.

Ze wardrobe and little table thingy (which would be handier if it were anywhere near the bed, no?).