GROUP TRIP TO OXFORD
the overnight experience was probably more significant than the actual city. it was fun to be with the group & get to know people better. i finished reading my book while on the bus. (of mice & men--what an ending!) the hostel was a lot nicer than i expected. it was really clean & i loved the shower that night (maybe just because it was nice relaxation after bombings were on my mind...), and the breakfast was nice the next morning. the look of oxford is kind of what i expected london to look like, actually. it was nice. the weird thing was that i wasn't hungary that whole day. maybe i had some kind of sickness, but if so, it passed and i was hungry the next day. it was nice because i didn't have to spend money that night. i did go with people that night to see the town & that was fun. we ate at a pub called que pasa & it was a fun outing. i ate & talked with meredith & jane--both girls that i had art classes with last year & i love them both.

throughout the trip we saw several incredible palaces and gardens and homes. there was one place with roaming peacocks. the gardener said that he only opened his feathers during mating season in the spring, but he opened them for us! it was fun to be close to them. these places had some flowers that i'd never seen before--and they were huge! they kept going & going. it was cool to walk around these areas with mark magleby, the art history teacher here. he knows so much & everything meant more when he talked about it.

MORE FUN WITH OSTRAFFS
like i said, joe has been extremely nice to me from the beginning. i knew jenny in high school & have only become better & better friends with her since then. her brothers are amazingly nice, grown-up & outgoing. the little kids are a riot, as well. they aren't afraid of anything. i was with them a lot on friday. joe asked me to 'please eat lunch with them.' and i was very flattered. we had really good breads & cheeses. i don't even like cheese; or so i thought. there were really good juices too. i had good times with ethan & hannah (6 & 5), and attempted to play hackey sack with the boys (caleb-15 & zach-18). throughout this entire trip, i've had really good conversations with joe--deep issues & i like it. he took a pin hole camera with him on the rip & he took a few of me. he developed them when we got back, and they make my face look kind of squished... all in all, i want to go to new zealand with them more & more.

ARTING IT UP
i'm in joe's 'special projects' class which consists of conceptual art assignments. i've almost finished one project, which will end in an installation exhibit with origami boxes made by all of us (we each had to make 10). the project is called 'secrets' and we have to put something secret in the boxes, seal it up & after all is said & done, we'll have a big bonfire with all the boxes... i was able to use fun paper that i brought from home. then on saturday, when we couldn't use the tube, i walked to 3 art stores around our place & placed little paper pads near them in hopes that people will test there pens on it. that was to fulfill an 'alternative drawing' project, where we have to control the drawing without actually/physically doing it ourselves.

GOOD TALKS, WALKS AND BONDS
i had a good talk with anna while walking around & down portobello road to post those paper pads. we almost bought some skirts for 50pence, but they didn't fit... they were lavender pleather. i think jane and i have had similarities this whole time but we hadn't really talked, & we finally got that chance today walking home from church. she's the oldest of 6, she's a soccer player, she's pre-graphic design. i don't know. i haven't ever known her well but i've always wanted to. ever-increasing bonds with the ostraffs, of course. and i had a good talk with emily--another one i knew from art classes. we found some common ground & she was willing to talk with me about a hard time she had this past year. i really like her & hope i can be of some help. i'm actually planning to go to paris with her during the 3-day travel weekend in august. it was good for us to talk, i think... that's her in the picture.