London, so far...

Hi all-
I know it's been a while, so I will try to update you without boring your brain out of your head. Today I decided to go to the Notting Hill Carnival. It's amazing how I didn't go to things like this by myself when I was home because I wanted people to go with, but when you're pretty much the only one you know in the whole country, it's easy to go to things alone. Because otherwise, I would never see anything. That aside, I decided to walk there (Notting Hill) from where I am staying in the Highgate Hill/Archway area, which is a fair distance. It took me about an hour and a half to walk there. I took the underground and bus back home. It was fun to hear all the music and see all the cool costumes and dancing. It's the first time I've been back to Notting Hill in six years and it still looks amazing, even though most of the stores were boarded up (for the Carnival). The stores that weren't boarded, up had music blasting and food being served on the street. There were also a ton of people in this tiny little area of a few blocks. It was also interesting to see all the cops around. One sad thing that I saw at the carnival was a woman who was getting CPR by the medical team and cops. From what I could tell, they couldn't get her heart to start again, but they shooed everyone away pretty quickly. It was also really sad to see her daughter or granddaughter standing there crying. I said a prayer for them and maybe I will find out more on the news. Something else interesting was that when I came out of King's Cross station, there was impromptu security screening set up that wasn't there a few days ago and it was only screening people coming from one direction, so maybe I will see more about that on the news too.

On the way to Notting Hill I walked through Regent's park, which I have never been to and is amazing. I think I will be spending a lot of time there. On this trip i have realized that I am both a city and country girl. I love the fast pace, excitement, and variety of things to do that a city offers, but I absolutely love colorful, beautiful, big, open spaces that I can run and jump and sleep in. There's almost a sense of being lost or losing yourself I love. I also love dressing up, but am never more happy than when I can let loose an get dirty. Another one of those things that makes my personality a paradox;)

I think I got a sunburn today! Which is saying a bit, because we are way more north than Oregon and it's always windy and rainy.

Yesterday I was walking by the church down the road and there was a wedding about to start and it was great to see all the women done up and wearing typical british, fancy hats. I felt like I had walked back in time a bit;)

Another funny thing is that at the bottom of the hill (because Highgate Hill is really on a hill) there is a McDonald's that I've eaten at a couple times for simplicity sake and it's on MacDonald road (funny enough).

The rest of my time has been spent running around trying to find a place to live and job. The home is on the back burner at the moment because I need to start getting an income. I don't have any solid leads yet, but I have been to 19 theatre houses and I have about 34 more to go to tomorrow. I also registered with one school district for supply teaching, and two different catering companies, but haven't heard from any of them. Although, it's a bank holiday, so everyone had today (monday) off. I'm trying to hold off on signing up with a supply agency because they take a portion of your pay, but I think that might be the best way to get any significant amount of money. There are two new shows opening up soon, so be praying that I might get a job at one of those theatre's, which I will be visiting tomorrow.

That' pretty much it for now. Miss you all!
-Aubrey