So... this is Oxford

Since it has been 2 days since my last post, I am going to try as quickly as possible to catch you all up to date...

Friday started off with a nice jog in the park, made it back and got ready for another fun filled lecture.The guy was really laid back, his shirt was untucked and no tie- very unlike the prim and proper History profs here! Too bad this lecture was the most awful one yet, he lost me after about a minute. I did make wonderful use of my time though, I was able to plan out what my students will do the 1st 2 weeks of school.

After another 'interesting' lunch, we decided to head out to punt. Mahjabeen, Mary Alice and her husband Kevin and I made our way out to the rental areas, where we quickly decided to hire someone to punt us. Although I am a strong swimmer, the Thames is quite nasty, and I had no desire to set pinkie toe in it! So all of a sudden here comes this strange man, he is Jamaican, with a British accent. He takes off his shirt to reveal quite the bulging belly. As we push off he is quite relieved that we are not English, because they are all 'stuck up'. We asked if he did this often, he said yes, but this was his 2nd time punting in England; he does it' all the time in Jamaica.' One of us asked if we could take a picture of him while punting, which he rapidly turned down. He changed the subject and informed us that he is 40 and a grandfather and has 5 kids with different women... did we really need to know that. Which led to him telling us that the reason he does not want his picture taken is due to the fact that he owes child support-- Overshare! Every so often as we were going along he would say quite irreverently, 'So this is Oxford.' or 'That's a college over there.' well thank you captain obvious!!!!He was nice enough until he started asking us if we were married, then the subject was changed to life in Jamaica and his family's maids...'money talks you know... so this is Oxford.' We spent about an hour on the river and poor Mary Alice was continually dripped on by the pole. She and Kevin did not get the lovely view that we did with his pants falling down revealing a dated set of boxers. ' That's a college over there.' Oh yeah, we asked when the last time he was in Jamaica, 3 years ago.... but he punts all the time there! Maybe that's why we almost tipped over many many times. But it was an experience to be remembered!
After our return to dry land we headed to have some tea which was located right next to Alice's shop. It was ok, but I realized I really don't like scones...
After a rather interesting dinner of veggie curry - yuck, we finally made it out to the pubs. We went with some guys, one of which went to DVC, the community college I also attended- small world. We ended up at The Eagle and Child, which is where Tolkein and CS Lewis used to hang out, it was neat to be there...
Around midnight we headed out to go view the Harry Potter mayhem. There was the world's best (fake) Hagrid, owls, fireeaters and so much more out and about. After standing around we decided to to come back for our pre- ordered books later... the queues were crazy long!
So that was Friday...

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Saturday started bright and early at 6... I don't know why I woke up, but I looked out my window and there to my surprise was a hot air balloon! I scrambled out of bed and grabbed my camera. I wondered if the tour guide was giving deep insights to the tourists, 'So that's Oxford down there...'

Today we planned to go to Blenheim Palace- where Winston Churchill was born. It was a quick bus ride there and all a sudden we had a huge palace in front of us. We made our way through the gates and on the crushed rock leading to the entrance, scattered about were signs that read, Do not walk. Can we run? how about cartwheel? I know- wheelbarrel race our way to the front.

We got to the front and made our way into the palace. Now I felt like I was in a stereotypical British tour: a stuffy old woman with hair like a bird's nest was giving a boring tour. We walked through the room Churchill was actually born in... it was an accident there, apparently, he was born early and came unexpectedly while his parents were visiting there. They did have an awesome jumpsuit of his, maroon velour! Sir Winston would have fit right in if he had moved to Boca Raton!

The grounds were lots of fun as we pretended to be statue's and rode the sphinx. (There were no signs saying we could not climb on statues!) There was a county fair going on. I was thinking like local state fair - how wrong I was! It was the CLEANEST, QUIETEST, most Orderly fair, I have ever seen! You could see presentations on dogs, eat wild boar, pet pigs, goats and more little jerry seinfelds, and see a colt wear a saddle for the 1st time( yes, a horse) let's just say we were a little culture shocked! I did have a tuna mayonnaise sandwich- the strange thing is, the Brits love there mayo and put it on EVERYTHING! but on this sandwich called Tuna mayonnaise, there was no mayo! That's what you call ironic!

After our lunch we were thrilled to find that a postcard was available with Winston Churchill's birth bed and his velour jumpsuit on it; it was the treasure of the day. We were exhausted by that point and made our way back to the grass where we all relaxed and dozed in the warm sun. Many times we pointed out, 'So this is Oxfordshire... That's a palace.'

After a bus ride back we trudged our way back up to our rooms. I am exhausted at this point, but raring to go, tomorrow our excursion leads us to Greenwich. Being the nerd that I am, I am really excited to see the museums and stand in two hemispheres at once! does it really get any better than that?!