London, cont.

So, after spending a couple more days in London, my attitude has changed somewhat toward the city. No, I still would not enjoy living here, but it has its nice parts. For instance, not much in the U.S. can rival the following view (from left to right, standing in front of Westminster Abbey): Big Ben, Westminster Abbey Baptistery, Westminster façade, Parliament Tower. Even with the cool architecture, it’s still hard for me to get past the noise. Everyone is busy in the hustle and bustle, and there’s no time to stop and enjoy the world outside (perhaps the rain has something to do with that?).

I realized that in the last post, I failed to talk about our group, which certainly merits at least a paragraph as a brief introduction. We are comprised of fourteen students, led by Dr. Jeanne Neumann, the Chair of the Classics Department at Davidson College, who prefers to be addressed as “My queen,” or “My goddess.”  There is a fairly even split between junior and sophomores, classics majors and non-classics majors (they have been forgiven of this). Of the fourteen students, we have only three girls (who are much braver than we give them credit for). We hail from all over the country, including two Texans, three Vermonters, and a Wisconsinite (is this the proper form???).

We have all come into the trip with a wide range of exposure to the Classics, but this have already proven to be an advantage. Just the other day, we read a couple of articles concerning the debate over the Parthenon Marbles. In short, Greece has demanded Britain return the pediment and frieze marbles that were taken by Lord Elgin in the middle of the 19^th century from the Parthenon and are currently displayed in the British Museum (this gave me goosebumps when I saw these…really, I was almost shaking). There are lots of issues wrapped up in the arguments to return or keep the marbles, issues like cultural/intellectual property, economics, preservation of the marbles, and many more. We had a discussion late last night about the articles and the debate in general (the debate by the way took place in the lobby of the fourth floor of the hostel, see picture to come soon). Everyone was able to contribute from a different angle. Those who were familiar with issues surrounding marble preservation could contribute there, while someone else more familiar with economics could provide information of the economic impact, etc. All around, it was one of the best discussions I have ever had. It was free intellectual discussion, not bound by the threat of an impending grade, but set loose upon the rolling waves of each argument. It affirmed for me how unique of a group we have, and gave me a vision of how exciting this time will be all together.

Another episode that I believe stands as a testament to the cohesion of our group also explain why my feet are threatening to go on strike even as I write this. At 1800 (that’s 6:00 PM for the ignorant Americans out there) a group of us went to dinner, and then walked all the way down to the Big Ben/Tower of London/Westminster area. From there we trekked to Buckingham palace, and then back to the hostel. We did not get back until 2300 (11:00 PM). At every point, we turned and looked to each other, someone suggested going back, and we all vociferously opted to continue on. For FIVE hours we just walked, talked, and saw just about every different part of London (I exaggerate, but it seemed like it). Between dodging taxis and chatting with the police about British Parliamentary procedure, it was the most enjoyable time of just walking and talking. In many ways, I feel as if we have all known each other much longer than a couple years at the most.

As promised I will post more pictures than I have so far, because you probably want to see some of the places I’m mentioning. Also, if you know me well, you know that I will ramble, even when typing apparently. So to save your poor souls from being subjugated to that, I will keep myself from rambling by giving y’all pretty pictures. They are coming. Don’t worry.