Before I begin, I would like to apologize to my readers for the excess of unforgivable typos that have plagued some of my previous posts. I have not been able to use my laptop, instead restricted to my tablet which has this annoying habit of trying to be helpful and figure out what I am going to say before I say it. Any way, hopefully this will have slightly less mistakes as I’m back on my trusty keyboard. 🙂

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I am back in London now, this time by myself and I’ve been using it as an excuse to be a little bit lazy (sleeping in, leisurely strolls, etc). And, of course, who would I be if I didn’t spend at least one (if not two) days in a bookstore?

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This probably won’t be a long post, as I am doing relatively little compared to the past couple of weeks. Basically I’ve been going through my ‘To Do’ List, emailing people and the like, setting up the last legs of my trip.

Speaking of, I have had a bit of a change of schedule. I will be going to Cyprus! A little bit out of the way (as evidence by the map to your right), but I couldn’t resist! Last year, during my internship in Italy, I visited my friend Fani who was going to school in Vienna and had an absolutely magical time. She said offhandedly that the next time I was in Europe I should visit her in her native Cyprus, where her family owns a beach house.

As soon as I found out I was going to Europe again, this time with a much more flexible schedule, I looked into flights and tentatively included it in my travel plans. But I found the plane tickets initially expensive and due to the problems with Greece, many people discouraged me. However, I still kept on a lookout for cheap plane tickets and low and behold I have found reasonably priced ones! So, probably against my dad’s better judgement, I’m going for a few days, if only to enjoy the beach and some sunshine (and, of course, another pin in my map). 😉

Monday, I revisited the National Gallery, which I think wins the award of My Favorite Museum in London, if only because I’ve studied so many paintings in their collection. Then I went out dancing at a place that, while they did have traditional swing music, they also played a lot of 1950s-type songs. Which, I mean, I enjoy, but I really wanted some swing outs.

Tuesday, I was united with another member of my long lost family. Another one of cousin Jane’s sons, this time her youngest, Murray, and his girlfriend, Dawn. They were wonderful and treated me out to Mexican in this extremely trendy restaurant made out of shipping crates. They were wonderful and I am so glad I got to meet them. I think we’ve made tentative future plans for New York, so who knows? Maybe I’ll see them again soon. 🙂

Wednesday, I went out dancing again, this time to the Jitterbugs run by Julie Oram, one of the original Lindy Hoppers in London and one of the performers in the 1992 film Swing Kids! I got to interview her for David’s project and she was such a dear. She really cares about preserving the Lindy Hop and the savoy-style. (I’ve been noticing a lot of Dean Collins teaching in the few venues I’ve visited, so I understood where she was coming from.)

Now, it’s Thursday and I’m sitting in Waterstone’s (think the UK version of Barnes & Noble), drinking a mimosa (a much better version of Barnes & Noble) and typing up this blog.

So far this blog has been basically a chronology of my trip, with many sentences going “First I” and “Then I”, etc. Not the most eloquent, but so far has been accomplishing its task.

I guess I want to let everyone know that this trip has not just been frivolous excursions punctuated by small assists to David’s project. Much of my time (especially during commutes between destination) thinking about where I’ve been, where I’m going, who I am, who I want to be. I’ve also been thinking a lot about my mom, and how much I miss her.

In terms of the future, I’ve taken some steps toward that. After I return to Florida and help Dad with some unfinished business, I plan on moving to New York City. My uncles Anthony and Chris are wonderful enough to let me stay with them until I can get on my feet. They have also offered me employment in their chocolate factory, which I gladly accepted (even though I’m pretty sure it started out as a joke). I’m excited for this step towards the future, and it makes me less frightened of the unknown beyond university. I plan on eventually returning to school for my masters (I’m looking into MBA programs) and certain avenues I can take towards my life goals.

I’ve been treating London as “New York Training”. Such an international bustling city without a car, basically going to be me during my time in New York City (now undetermined how long that will be). Especially the dance scene which is very diverse and fractured through many politics and differing view. It makes me miss the Tallahassee scene, which is small enough that it inspires more teamwork than division.

Now I’m just rambling, so I’ll end this post here. I’ve been thinking of creating a post where I discuss the book(s) I’m reading (so far I’ve read about seven or eight, I need to go back and count). Maybe.

Until next time! xoxo

N