I have beautiful eyes.

It's Sunday, and as I was walking home from church today, I realized that so much of the happiness I am experiencing right now is very much dependent upon my eyes. Walking through Hyde Park is always an amazing experience simply because of the beauty that I breathe in. Today, since I decided to walk back alone, I took particular notice of my surroundings: the beautiful swans in the lake and the sun shining down on them and the water, the trees lining the pathways, all of the little British dogs running everywhere (they made me REALLY miss my cat), a little asian girl probably 2 years old all bundled up with her loving parents and their camera, a young teenage boy holding a young teenage girl by the lake, swept away in the bliss of naive love, an independent woman smiling with her dog, a group of smoking adults who, to my excitement, had accents like Jim Sturgess's on Across the Universe, a loving father teaching his son to ride a bike with training wheels while his wife and daughter waited together ahead for them to catch up, and a slow, shaking, solitary elderly man, walking alone with a cane. Seeing all of these people really brings so many thoughts to my mind--its such a rush of thought and emotion and I loved the time I had to simply think and be at peace and reflect. Hyde Park is so gorgeous and when I'm there I feel elegant and regal and beautiful. It makes me want to run, it makes me want to stand with good posture for once in my life, it makes me want to smile, and when I walk through Hyde Park I walk with the confidence of knowing who I am and how much more I am coming to be by being here. My eyes are the foundation for this realization... they allow me to see the nature in Hyde Park which, since I have been here, has simply inspired me. I have beautiful eyes.

Saturday my eyes showed my the life and experience of a Sikh woman. Our whole group traveled to Southall, an Indian Community, for our culture and community class and there we went to a Sikh Gurduara (temple) to have a hands on experience with the Sikh culture. We arrived at the temple and had to take off our shoes, cover our head with our scarves, and wash our hands once inside. We had a man that one of our teachers knows give us a discourse about the Sikh religion, which was very interesting--unfortunately, his Indian accent was thick enough where I could only comprehend about 3/4 of what he was saying, and the volume of his voice was low enough where I could only hear about 1/2 of what he was saying. You do the math. From what I think I did hear though, the Sikh people are simply very tolerant--they believe that everyone is equal, no matter what religion, class, sex, race, etc. If I heard correctly, they actually have a couple beliefs that parallel LDS doctrine which I found very interesting. Also, I was very surprised to hear that the Sikhs really truly exalt the women and believe that they are the superior gender--for from women, our guide said, we have everything. We had the opportunity to witness the Sikh worship service and we even bowed in front of their "Holy Scriptures" to engage ourselves in their customs (I have a bruised knee so I halfed it and just bend over and touched the ground.) Everywhere we walked we had to hold our hands clasped together close to our chest, and I learned that a typical Sikh greeting is to bow to someone while saying "Sat Sri Akal (ji)" and lowering your eyes. After the service we heard some more about Sikhism, and then left to go to the cafeteria. On our way out, we received some sort of Indian snack from a man sitting with a large pot. I bowed low before him, with my right palm folded on top of my left hand, held out my hand, and received this tan, warm lump in my hands to eat. After I received confirmation from others that this snack was actually very tasty, I ate it. It tasted kind of like brown sugar and flour and its texture reminded me a lot of Pflaumen Zuppa (a German treat that my mom makes). The texture really reflected exactly what it was-- wheat, water, butter, and sugar. All in all, it wasn't bad. After our mystery treat, we went to the cafeteria, which serves up Indian food for thousands of people all year for free. We were served three different types of curry dishes, naan bread, sweet rice, and fried vegetables. I tried a little bit of each and they weren't bad, but I mostly ate the bread and the rice. After the Sikh temple, we visited a Hindu temple and an additional Sikh temple. It was a very eye-opening experience and I think I will be a lot less judgmental of people in turbans when I see them walking on the streets now. I'm glad we went.

After the temples we were given time to look around and shop around in the little Indian shops on the streets. It was very cold and it honestly felt like we were in the ghetto of town..it was a little scary, not gonna lie. But, I got some pretty Indian bangles for a pound and my friends and I all got gorgeous henna tattoos at a beauty parlor for only two pounds! I should probably add that when I was walking up TWO steps, I tripped and fell. I had tripped so many times at this point (see story at TopStop down below for further tripping information) that my friends were partly laughing, yet partly in disbelief at my clumsiness. I really don't know what it is! I just have a hard time controlling my limbs I guess! After getting hennas, we walked around for a while and then, out of no where, we saw the beautiful gold arches of McDonalds and it was like we had finally reached civilization. So we rushed over and ran inside where I got a hot chocolate and then sat back down and socialized with everyone until it came time for dinner. What can I say? I'm a true American at heart. We ate at an indian restaurant and let me just say that it was SPICY!! I have no tolerance for spice whatsoever, so my mouth was on fire for the majority of the time. I had to pour on this yogurt stuff into almost every curry side dish to cool it down so that I would be able to eat just a little bit of it....yet at the end of the dinner my stomach was full of mostly rice and naan bread. Nonetheless, it was so much fun to go out to dinner together as a full group...we only eat together in the Centre, so it was fun to be at a restaurant with everyone...even if the food reminded me of what Ben Stiller ate in Along Came Polly.

(please note that yes, we are wearing bindis on our foreheads!)

My experience at Southall was truly one of a kind and very interesting. While I can't say that I will ever go back, or go to India for that matter, I will say that I'm very happy that I went. The whole time we were singing "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire and I kept on hearing my dad's voice in my head saying "become another person" from The Master of Disguise the entire time. Haha, I really wish my family could have been there with me to see it all.

That night, we came back and celebrated Jenny's 20th birthday. Happy Birthday again Jenny! Jenny was my first friend at BYU and she is one of the few that has stuck with me thus far. She's one of the sweetest girls I know and something about her just always makes me laugh. I love that she's here in London with me cause she has been such a great support system for me and I love her to death! I hope she had a great birthday!

Can you find me???

Friday was a free day and so Emma, Caitlin, Macy and I all went to Portabello Road in the morning! Unfortunately it was raining, so our time was limited since cold weather and rain don't make the ideal combo for a day out on a road filled with outdoor markets. It was very much like Camden Market, except for one thing---The Hummingbird Bakery. This delicious little bit of heaven is a cupcake shop very similar to Sprinkles in LA, except better. It was small and pink and so so so adorable. I got a red velvet cupcake and I was very pleased--so much that the night after I dreamt of cupcakes....no joke.

After Portabello Road, we took the tube (very nervously might I add...) and went on a very long search for this supposedly delicious restaurant called "Giraffe." Well, I had looked up the street beforehand and so right when we got off the tube at High Street Kensington, I asked tons of people where Kensington Court was to find Giraffe. Long story short, instead of walking maybe two blocks, we made a massive square around some residential housing and finally ended up at Giraffe. Bloody directions. I could say that it was horrible and exhausting, but really, it made going to Giraffe that much better. It was a really cool place with a very relaxed mood...it was kind of jungle-themed, which shouldn't be too shocking given its name. Giraffe's motto is "Live, Eat, Love" which really should be the motto of my life. Or at least, one of my mottos. I like eating a lot, and I've realized that a good part of my blog is simply me talking about food... but then again, I wouldn't have it any other way :) After having a delicious quesadilla at Giraffe, I went with my comrades back out into London with HAIL falling from the sky! We didn't have enough time to get to the museum we wanted to see, so to take shelter from the weather and to make most of our time, we went shopping! We went into Urban Outfitters where I acted frugally and didn't get anything, and then into TopShop which has a line by Kate Moss where I got an adorable pair of flats that I simply couldn't resist buying (and TopShop has student discounts... that must have been a sign that I was supposed to make a purchase there.) And of course, in TopShop, I was walking up the steps to the second floor and completely tripped on the stairs and fell forward on my hands while banging my left knee really hard. It was very funny in the moment, but unfortunately I was left with a very painful, swollen, and bruised left knee which confined me to my bed with an ice pack and a new Grey's Anatomy episode for the remainder of the night.

In about 5 hours I have to wake up at 7AM to register for classes for Spring term back in Provo so that I can get the classes that I want before they fill up! I had a really good talk with Calvin, one of the boys here, who is also an English major and he gave me some really great advice about teachers and classes to take, which was something I really needed and am very grateful for. As of right now, I have the rest of college completely planned out which is very comforting. I am so excited for my future.... however, that doesn't mean I want it to begin quite yet.... London and I still have A LOT of bonding to do. My eyes are getting pretty sleepy at this point, so I better head off to bed... tomorrow is a new day, with tons of new sights, images, and people for my captors of magnificence to pull in and treasure. Good night :)