oh baby

Most of our day was spent traveling back from Dublin. This was just an one night trip, though I'm wishing it would have been two. I was just getting to know the place. But we needed to get back to London. The trip home was fairly uneventful, except for when our bus driver yelled at two Italian ladies for not knowing English. "You must learn a little English!" he said. "How do you expect to go anywhere if you don't know any English?" It was harsh, but he was right. We all learned a little lesson that day. The flight was short: you go up, you come down, and all that really matters is that an Australian man drank four beers, talked super loud the entire time, and bolted for the bathroom as soon as the plane touched down.

We've all been dreading Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude ever since we read it in class. Myself included. It's so bizarre. The characters talk on and on and they reveal their inner thoughts through constant asides to the audience. It's also over four hours long. People go mad, have abortions, race boats, reveal bizarre family secrets, and get into plane crashes. It's really weird. So I was really skeptical about seeing the production at the National Theatre tonight. But I was totally wrong. It was pretty brilliant. One of those plays you have to see to get, I think. They cut an hour off of it, designed it beautifully, and made it essentially a comedy. We laughed a lot. It was just as bizarre as it ever was, but way more palatable and resonant to us today. I loved it. And so, surprisingly, did my students. None of us guessed this in a million years. Way to go, National Theatre. You nailed it.

Today was Tatijanna's 18th birthday. Our little baby is all grown up! So on the way home we celebrated by in the following ways:

 

A dance with Jason under the Waterloo Bridge

 

 

Ames did 18 flea hops down Northumberland Avenue

 

 

A big group kiss along Pall Mall

 

But the biggest news of all was the birth of Kate and William's baby. We knew something would be going on at Buckingham Palace, and we were right! It was a party. Lots of British flags and people riding on people's shoulders and the media camped everywhere. Nobody, and I really mean that, was English. It was all tourists. But it was fun to say that we were at Buckingham Palace for the royal birth announcement. We conjectured about which name the baby would never be called (Landon, Parker, Bridger, Kevin) and tried to take nighttime pictures, which never work. I did get this amazing shot with two very drunk Australians. Do you sense a theme?

 

 

There were a few loud thunderclaps and the rain started to drop, so we hurried up through Wellington Arch to catch the tube home, and once we got to our stop everyone demanded Burger King. So here's to you, Royal Baby Jaxon! Nine delicious chicken nuggets!