Cultural Collision!

When Paul and I heard that Tara Bartley, yes the Tara Bartley from Merrimack College and studying abroad in Morrocco, was traveling up to England, we made sure to reunite with her at least for a couple days before she continued her travels. After some minor miscomummications, Tara and her friends, Divya and Alaina arrived in Oxford. After a long day of travelling and a quick stop at Mission Burrito for some food, we headed back to my dorm to get ready for Saturdays excursions. Paul and I were dumbfounded as Tara and her friends described life in Morrocco. Simply put, its the polar opposite of Oxford. The next morning I would play the role of tour guide. Being an Oxford Student, I could get them into most places except the Bodleian, which is strickly for the use of Oxford offiliates. We walked around Christ Church court, Hertford College, and the Covered Market first. The idea of a market was well-known to the girls, however they seemed shocked at the fact that everything had glass in front of it and there weren't as many dead animals for sale. Anyways, after Tara satified her craving for crepes, we headed over to the shopping section of town to pick up some clothes before our unofficial pub crawl. Of course, even a pub crawl has history in Oxford. Some of the pubs and bars in Oxford have been around since the 1600's, if not earlier. With that kind of history, its only natural that the likes of Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, and my favorite, Bill Clinton have stepped foot in them. For the big finale, which Tara had long anticipated, I took the girls to my favorite food van, Posh Nosh Express. Known as the only Kebab van in Oxford that sells mozz sticks (I've done my research), and knowing Tara's as well as my own love for the delicious appetizer, it was the perfect way to end the night. After we hundled around the container of 20 pounds (roughly 30 dollars?) worth of mozz and devoured it within minutes, it was time to return to the room and finally get out of the cold that had hindered our travels throughout the night. The next day we got a quick lunch and then before I knew it, I was leaving Tara, Divya, and Alaina at the train station. After such a busy week it was nice to have a reason to get out and be a tourist again. I still can't believe how crazy it is that we were both in different countries and actually met up overseas. Blows my mind. However, the Morroccan caravan was not the only mack attack to hit the shores of England. Not even two weeks after Tara's visit, Ms. Becca Blackett and Lauren Hitchens were London bound all the way from Rome, Italy. (I might as well put this in the same blog post because I'm so behind schedule on this thing.) Although I would only see them for a night, it was one of the best nights I've had in England. They were staying in London with some friends for the week and being so close, we could not miss this opportunity to see them. After meeting up across from the Tower of London, we were escorted back to where they were staying all the while exchanging stories of our adventures. Listening to all the travelling and beautiful weather Becca and Lauren had already experienced made me very envious and anxious for my own travels to start after the term. Once at the apartment, introductions to all her friends and of course an introduction to Paul were quickly followed by a night on the town. The next morning was filled with hugs, good-byes, thank yous, and nice to have met yous, and finally another bus ride. Sadly, as seems to happen with every excursion Paul and I seem to go on, upon our return to Oxford we realized how much work we had to do and hit the books. This being said, no amount of reading or even a tutorial would have stopped me from seeing them. It's wierd to think that next time I will see them will be in 2011 and more than half way through the month of January. I'm going to have to steal the title of Tara's facebook album, but she does say is best, "oh the places you'll go."