good evening friends

so i would like to start off by sharing a general item with you: i dont like english food (nothing here is fresh! everything is covered with gravy, mayo, butter, etc). which is unfortunate because i like food, a whole lot - i cant get enough. and if i dont get enough i get cranky, shaky, gross, etc. so yah, 6 days in and thats where i stand. but starting tomorrow i move into the dorms (!) so then i can fend for myself....yay pasta!

so today we were awakened by a phone call from graham (crazy old drunken smoking man with a few teeth) saying that the tail end of a hurricane is coming through so we wouldnt be going out on the boat today (only because the coast guard said so aparently...what do they know...). this opened up my day completely, so a group of us decided to go into the town of weymouth which is on the mainland. and luckily i was able to persuade brogan to accompany our group of american students (she rather quickly became a very popular 12 year old).

we walked around the downtownish area of weymouth which also leads to the beach. dispite the hurricane, the weather was beautiful except for the strong breeze. walking along the beach reminded me of a very posh santa cruz beach boardwalk in a weird way - which made me crave a burrito. woah dang.

instead we went to a cafe where i had a sandwich with prawn and other stuff (i thought i would try and branch out, but it wasnt good, so i pretty much ate the salad garnish on the side). however, i did have an eventful lunch where i learned about synaesthesia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia) which 2 of the girls have here. i also received an education on the gypsy group 'pikes,' aka brad pitts character in 'snatch.' needless to say, if youre in spain (or anywhere else in europe) and you see a baby being tossed through the air, run the other way. dont save the baby (yes, its a real, live baby), run. or else you will get mugged. what the heck? babies are expendable aparently. these people are sick.

emily, brogan, and i caught the bus back to portland and had a bit of nap time which was great then we had dinner (traditional fried chicken). i really like hanging out with this family at meals and all, theyre so entertaining. after dinner we all went to jo and lesleys favorite pub on the island, the cove inn. jo introduced me to having a beer (stella artois or however you spell it) topped off with lime (it was alright). other than that we all have been hanging out and watching a bit of tv. and outside there are the occasional flashed of lightening which is pretty cool.

on a sidenote: you know that feeling after you step off of a boat and you still feel like you're swaying? i've been feeling that for 4 or 5 days now, and i havent been on any boats. fun stuff

ok whatever, i had a great day, i hope you did too!

stay tuned: ashley arrives at uni tomorrow.