I just got back from my weekend visit to University of East Anglia in Norwich, where my friend, Sarah, is studying this semester.
I learned, while visiting, to be ashamed of my negligence in the writing of my blog (although to be fair, I'd be willing to bet money that Sarah is the only one reading this). But the most valuable thing I learned was to be appreciative of Grayson Heights.
Because UEA's dorms are GHETTO! Like: kitchen is crammed full of dirty dishes and empty beer bottles with no oven and one burner on the 'stove' (can you call it a stove, really?) isn't functioning (let's not forget the ONE fridge for 14 people), the toilets take five minutes of flushing to actually do their job and they have no overhead lights in their rooms, ghetto.
Comparatively (chicken bones and spicy scented kitchen aside) Grayson Heights is a haven of wonders, where I have not one, but TWO overhead lights, control of heat in my room, a living room in my flat, 4 toilets and 2 showers for 5 people and almost an overabundance of cupboard space.
The other thing about UEA (and Norwich, for the matter) is, it's gorgeous.
My first day there, Sarah and I went walking around the lake that's behind her dorm. It was so picturesque, I felt like I was walking through a scene of The Secret Garden or some fantasy novel. Addicted to taking photos as I am, I stopped nearly every two seconds because I was overcome with awe of a fallen over tree or a small dock near the lake.
The second day, we went to Norwich City Centre and walked around, popping into the sweet shop, antique bookstores, roaming around the Roman Market and (best of all) spent obscene amounts of time in possibly the best store in the whole world:
If I were a junkie, and TV were a drug, the best description of my time in The Television and Movie store would be to call it an overdose.
It was AMAZING! Doctor Who paraphernalia was
everywhere: old series, current ones, cut outs of Amy, the Doctor, the TARDIS (I spent much time trying to figure out how I could ship it home), action figures, TARDIS pens, posters, and other TV shows as well....it was what I imagine heaven would be like if I were more religiously inclined.
Norwich also has a Cuban restaurant called Revolucion de Cuba, for which, the city got my Cuban stamp of approval.
It then proceeded to snow, and people quickly bundled up and spent the day outside playing, building snowmen, cross country skiing and hurling snowballs at each other (unsuccessfully) and at one guy's open window (successfully). If you know me, you can guess where I was through all this: yep! Sitting in Sarah's room, as far from the cold as I could be.
The group of snow frolicking students were cheering and one guy had a trumpet he was blowing, a call to arms for the rest of the inhabitants of the dorm to come join their fun. I had plenty of fun watching trumpet guy, and one guy inexplicably in a Santa footie pajama--he was one of 3 people I saw at UEA in footie pajamas, one as a dog and another as a bear (I'm guessing the animals they were supposed to be).
Much of our time was spent in Sarah's room, watching Sherlock, singing along with our good friends Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible, laughing and gasping at Cartman of South Park, introducing me to the ever so impressive Indiana Jones and despairing over how long we'd have to wait for Sherlock to come back.
Sarah apologised a lot about how "boring" it was.
She must think I'm some kind of grand adventurer or something, because I was not bored this past weekend. In fact, it was probably what I'd consider an excellent time.
Watching and talking about television is probably the best of times for me, although I do concede that for normal human beings, it might not be considered a blast.
Another reason I enjoy hanging out with Sarah, is that her interests are so very similar to mine that I sort of regain my passion for things like writing and TV and my future. I can share my worries about Grad school and discuss the different thoughts about script writing and the film industry; and Sarah's passion and delight in shows like Sherlock reminds me to appreciate them too. Being able to talk to someone that has the same interests as me makes me more excited for my future.
One of the weirder parts of the trip was a dream I had Saturday night.
I dreamt that I was in my grandmother's house, and out of her bathtub drain came a baby hippo and, shortly after it, a baby turtle.
I called my Dad and BZ in to come see. They were overjoyed at seeing the adorable baby hippo, and sat by the bathtub that was not full of water and began to play with it.
Although I actually find hippos adorable (and this one was no exception) I was immensely anxious in the dream, warning them
"Be careful! In Africa, more people are killed by Hippos than they are by Lions!"
They just laughed it off and continued to play with the baby hippo.
I then noticed the baby turtle, which had been resting on the edge of the tub, had plopped itself into the water as well.
I snatched it up out of the water quickly, certain the hippo would have crushed it in it's jaws, "They're very territorial," I said, by way of explanation to my Dad.
"They can open their jaws very wide and really hurt you," I said, "so be careful!"
"Really?" BZ asked, playfully placing her fingers in the Hippo's mouth, much to my unease.
I placed the turtle into the sink, pulling the drain shut so it could sit in water. I realised there was too much water in it, it looked like the turtle would drown, so I pulled the drain plug and the turtle magically lost his shell and disappeared down the drain.
"You killed it!" one of my family members averred. I felt tremendously guilty.
Most of the time, I can try to derive some meaning from even my most random dreams, but this one, was just completely bizarre and seemed to have to purpose. Although it did lead to some online research about turtle shells. LOL.
Overall though, I'd say it was a successful, fun trip. I'm excited to do more.
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