Hare Krishna

Ellie and I went to bed with such a solid plan for today. As it happens with most plans, we did nothing on the list. Would you stick to a plan of going to H&M when you wake up to this...



pulling this...



No. I daresay your plans for the day would change also. They were chanting a song that was focusing on the words "Hare Krishna." Immediately I pulled out my computer and googled it to find out more. Ellie was still getting ready so I read aloud while she was in the bathroom and we were both very interested. We went downstairs and found ourselves in the middle of something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iG7y4vwU8

There were 3 floats being pulled by people. We asked some why they were being pulled and who was on them and were told that the floats were being pulled by people as a way of working to rid yourself of sin and the those on the floats represented deities. All in all pretty interesting. They were mostly all hindu and so wonderful and kind.



(cute daddy dancing with his kids)



They closed down all of Piccadilly Street, a huge street in London, it was wild:




Ellie and I followed the festival down most of Piccadilly, and then realized we had gotten so caught up in the event that we had gone to 1pm without eating. We'd been spending about £8-10 every meal and wanted to get something quick and easy. Such a delicious meal:



The Burger King here is OUT OF CONTROL. So cool. Massive, the bean burger was actually as it promised. I thought of Lindsay the whole time - BK is our jam (so to speak).

After eating we went around looking at some stores. We each bought a blouse or 2 (Ellie got an AMAZING blouse from a store called Desigual www.desigual.com) and I got a pair of much needed shorts from Gap. One of the stores we went into had a living wall:



After walking around a bit we went back to where the festival was ending with the goal of grabbing some free vegetarian food and enjoying looking around. We ended up meeting a wonderful older woman named Diviya Manha who spoke with us a while and then got some henna tattoos done:



After the henna we VERY CAREFULLY walked home and let it dry. We realized we hadn't gone to a traditional English pub and Ellie was craving some fish and chips. We went to a cool pub around the corner that was some unique mix of traditional English food and Thai food. Though maybe they're onto something because I got some great vegetarian Thai and Ellie got a huge piece of fried cod and fries..I mean..chips.. that she covered in vinegar and tartar sauce. We also ordered a pitcher of Pimms for the full experience. I'm continually amazed at how bright it says as late as it does around here. At 10pm it seems like it's 630. Nuts! Now Ellie is watching a TV show with Russel Brand (her number one love I'm pretty sure) and I'm writing this, chatting with some friends back home.

Also, I really wasn't expecting all our family and friends to read this and am acutely aware every time I write that I should proof-read it and make sure it makes sense and everything is spelled properly. As much as I'd like to say I'll do that every time, if I'm being realistic I probably wont. I swear I know how to spell...and I swear all this money on studying writing abroad wasn't wasted on someone who has to sit and think for a minute when trying to spell restaurant (though I do really have to think for a minute).

Mom and Dad - think of this blog as my "relaxed writing" place. If you want I can e-mail you more official writing just to put you at ease (haha).

Oh yeah - tomorrow is the day that our parents are super nervous about. The day that we meet the couch surfers in Oxford. We spoke with them on the phone today, though, and I think it'll work out great. However I'll probably use up my entire phone plan in the 3 days we're there reassuring my parents that all is well. That's fine though! I'll do it.

Love you guys! As they say here: X Erin (and Ellie next to me in bed who won't take her eyes off Russel.)