Monday evening

It is just past 7pm here in the UK. It begins getting dark around 4pm because we are so far north. But it is only about as cold as a Texas winter because of the Gulf Stream. Pretty cool?
Today we toured the City of London for our British Life & Culture class. For those who don't know, London has two official cities: the City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London is only one square mile and contains St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern, as well at the financial centers of the city. There are squatting protestors outside of St. Paul's in what my professor called "tent cities." Having been in Haiti however, and having seen real tent cities, these are really only tent "gaggles" (term supplied by Caleb Cruce lol). The City of Westminster is the political area, with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben's Clock Tower, Westminster Abbey, etc. With the two cities, plus the surrounding 33 bouroughs, London is over 700 square miles! In the afternoon, we got a brief history of London beginning with the Romans. I find all of the history so fascinating. I suppose it is a good minor for me :)
Sunday morning at Westminster Abbey was beautiful. The choir was angelic, even though I had no idea what they were singing most of the time! It was very clear to me that most of the attendees were tourists, however. During the congregational response time, it seemed as if no one spoke, and the singing was almost nonexistent. I was surprised when most of them stood and went forward to partake in the Eucharist. As beautiful as the church is, and as much history is present there (I saw Sir Issac Newton!), it was not nearly as intimate as some high-church services I have attended previously. While I appreciate Anglican services and find them a moving and intimate worship experience, the tourist-y aspect of Westminster Abbey rather tainted that for me. Next Sunday, our group will be attending All Souls. I'm not sure what type of church that is, though I believe it is Anglican as well.
Well, I definitely have more to say, but a small group of us are going out to find some sweets! I'll be sure to post again soon!
Cheers,
Faith