Today I lost my camera,
Wasn't even two months old
And if you're ready, listen,
As this tragedy is told.
My friends and I were walking,
We had just reached Pancras Station,
When I stopped to take a picture
And realized it was misplacen.
I knew I had it recently,
I'd had it 10 mintues before.
So we turned around and traced our steps,
8 eyes scanning the floor.
We searched down Euston Rd.
And we searched at Tavistock Square.
We made it back to Ghandi
And it sadly wasn't there.
Our search had been in vain,
Despite my constant prayer,
And my mumbled mix of feelings
Ranged from humor to despair.
London is a crowded place,
People swarm the street.
I'm sure that when my camera fell
Someone snatched it from under their feet.
And really, who could blame them,
If the camera was just there.
But I hope they really needed it
And don't have cameras to spare.
Today I've learned this lesson:
Despite the precautions you take,
Bad things will always happen
So buck up and deal with your ache.
Besides loosing my camera, today we did some really great things. First, we went as a group to Parliament and had a tour of the houses of Lord and Commons. It was really neat. I wish I could have taken pictures inside... oh wait, I would have lost them anyway (the thing I am so grateful for is that I've been loading my pictures to my computer every night so I only lost about 5 pictures from today). The House of Lords is all decorated with red and the Commons all with green. Both houses are set up the same with rows of seats facing eachother. This leads to a more combatative environment where you're always facing and arguing directly to your opponent. The builing itself is just incredible!!!! It is so ornate, but interestingly, it gets less and less ornate as you progress from the Queen's rooms to the Lords to the Commons. It would be really neat to be involved in Parliament. I could never be a politician and I'm really not that into politics in general, but I can see how it has potential to be really exciting, especially if you know what's going on.
There is pretty high-tech security at the Houses of Parliament. We had to get a picture ID when we came in, go through metal detectors, and of course there were always Bobbies to keep an eye on things.
Next I went with three other girls on our very last assigned "walk". Hooray!! We stopped for lunch first. That is, I sat there for 45 mintues as they got a good lunch and I ate my squished PB&J sandwhich and apple. (I'm trying not to spend unnecessary money on food.) Also before starting our walk we found this trendy shoe store with HUGE sales. I bought two pairs of shoes for 6 pounds. The girls I was with spent more than that on lunch! (One pair of shoes is for Carly and I really hope I got the right size!)
Our walk took us to the home of Charles Dickins (one of his homes at least), a peace garden with a huge and beatiful statue of Ghandi, Pancras Station, King's Cross, and the Foundling Museum. Pancras Station is supposedly the prime example of gothic Victorian architecture. (This is where I realized my camea was missing.) We actually didn't go into King's Cross because of the camera dilemma, but we'll go back later to take a Harry Potter picture at platform 9 and 3/4. The Foundling Museum was really neat. It was started by a man named Thomas Coram who was shocked by how many children were literally abandoned by their parents in the streets of London. To earn money he started a museum at the Chilren's Foundling Hospital, with donations and performances by the artist Hogarth and the musician Handel, among others. I was so touched by the dedication of this man, who wasn't wealty or priviledged, to do what was needed in the world. If only more of us could have this kind of dedication to mankind.
Well, tonight I need to do a bit of homework, but the exciting news is that we're having a girl's party to celebraty Mitzi Holland's birthday. She turns 9 tomorrow so a few of us are watching a movie in her flat and maybe painting nails or doing other girly things. I'm excited! This will be a good cheer-up from my camera sadness.
Beautiful statue of Ghandi in Tavistok Square, a park dedicated to peace.
This is a GIGANTIC and very intense sculpure at Pancras train station, apparently there to remind passengers of how to greet their lovers. Maybe they should put one of these in the Salt Lake airport... (Actually I never want to see this sculpture again - this is where I realized I didn't have my camera. I knew it was between here and the Ghandi statue and I kept hoping Ghandi would bring peace to my troubled mind, but alas, he was empty handed.)
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