London

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I know; I’m so behind.  I went to London for Thanksgiving to spend it with my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Nasir’s niece lives in London with her family, and my aunt and uncle were going to a wedding in Scotland right after Thanksgiving, so everyone decided to meet up in London.  It was really nice to be with family!  I was feeling a bit homesick too, so it was especially good to spend time with them. 

They rented an apartment in Eaton Square, which is a central area in London.  We did lots of fun tourist things like going on the London Eye, shopping / eating at Harrod’s, drinking beer, and going to museums.  I also walked around a bit on my own to see Buckingham Palace and St. James Park.  My uncle was super jealous that I got to see the guards wearing their “bear hats” because they weren’t wearing them the day before when he took photos.

I also met up with two friends who are living in London now, Guillaume and Laura.  It had been a while since I’d seen them, but it was fun to hang out again.  Laura wanted to see the Ian Hamilton Finlay exhibition at the British Tate, so we got coffee and walked around there for a while.  There was also a band playing in the museum, and it was interesting to look at the art while listening to live music.

But another museum I went to (with Betsy, Nasir and Nicola) that I liked even more than the Tate was The Somerset House.  I loved the Tim Walker photography exhibit!  I had never seen his work before, and it’s really provocative and creative.  There were also installations of the objects he used to create his photos, and it was very cool to see them side by side.  See some examples here: http://timwalkerphotography.com/recent_work.php

And as for Thanksgiving, it was lots of fun! We went to my second cousin’s house and had drinks and dinner.  They ended up cooking Indian food…not very traditional, but it was very delicious! And being with friends and family is what’s really important anyway.  And my mom promised we’d make pumpkin pie when I’m home.  I can’t believe I’ll be back so soon! I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone! 

Here's a link to photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26879303@N03/