What a weekend...

Where to start? The past 24 hours have been pretty amazing. Friday evening started out poorly when Mark gave us a long lecture about 'grand homes' and their respective gardens and surrounding grounds. After the lecture ran late, Mary threw together a phenomenal dinner. Things were looking up. We had penne pasta with freshly made pesto (fresh basil, pinenuts, olive oil, sundried tomatoes and parmesean cheese), a crispy baguette, and brownies served warm with icecream and chocolate and toffee sauce. Completely satisfied, we all settled in for a bit of downtime. I took an unexpected nap down in the library while talking with Mary and Kev, but soon, once we were all awake, we decided to go out for the evening.

Everyone, except Anna who is still battling with sickness, went out. We headed down to Lace Market at went to the Tantra Lounge. It was busy, but relaxed. The eight of us found a plush couch/cushiony area to sit and chatted for a bit. Aaron had to leave because of an early morning engagement, so our number was down to seven. From Tantra, we walked to Pitcher & Piano. This bar is actually a beautiful old church that has been converted into a very chic hot spot for young people on the weekends. Oh, and I should redefine young people. The age of going out people here is not 21-25, but something closer to 18-30ish. It is nice to see such an array of people when you go out. Anyway, even though the bar is in a church and it feels a bit wrong, it is a really fun place that all of us will end up back at. We stayed there for some time... we ran into some friends that Anna had made a couple weeks ago and met some new friends as well. Time flew by, at some later hour that I will not disclose, we left to head to one last place. Dogma was our last stop and it proved to be just what we needed. The first floor was a lounge area, the ground floor a bar, and the basement a disco. We stayed at the bar for all of two seconds and headed downstairs to dance. Mary, Em, Kev, Brandon and myself danced for who knows how long. Finally, for the sake of our ears and the girls feet (we were all in high heels), we decided to head home.

After walking to city centre and learning that a taxi will not hold seven people, especially when driving way up to Aspley (Where? Aspley? No we don't go that far), we finally found a van taxi, told the driver we only had six people and were on our way home. Once in the door, we walked up the stairs, looked through the pictures from the evening and headed for bed.

This morning... OK, this afternoon, I awoke to the phone ringing. As the phone usually only rings when Mark calls, a sense of dread rose from the pit of my stomach. I had horrible visions of more homework or some ridiculous request... fortunately, it was the program friend David Juggins. We had planned to go to the Forest game today which started at three, but we learned from David that we should leave no later than one. It was 12:30 when I woke up. One hour later, eight of us tumbled out the door with wet hair (from showering and getting ready quickly) and sandwiches in our hands. We made our way down to the city grounds.

After walking from the last tram stop towards the grounds, we became part of a rush of people and traffic moving towards the stadium. Vendors sold HAM burgers and chips, cheeseburgers, brats, and other sporting event foods, some sold scarves, flags and jerseys... the excitement was rising as young people (the ones NOT wearing jerseys) chanted insulting (to the opposing team) cheers as they paraded through the crowds. We finally qued (que means line, que takes all forms of the english language possible... que, qued, queing, etc.) for tickets. At only ten pounds, we were thrilled. We made our way around to the back side of the stadium and climed to our seats. There is not a bad seat in the house. The stadium was not packed, but still had atleast 15,000 fans. We reached out seats just in time to see the kickoff.

Bristol City vs. Nottingham Forest. The game was, for the lack of a better word, intense. We cheers and gasped in all the right places. Were appalled at some of the ref's calls and wondered at the words of the sing song cheers echoing across the stadium from the 'Trent End' and the visitor end. The Forest scored the only goal of the game early on, on a direct penalty kick. It was the perfect shot. The footwork and endurance of the players was something like I have never seen before. Football here is a lifestyle. (If you have to wonder if football is soccer or not, just remind yourself that the US is the only nation that calls the mindless - and boring - game of pigskin 'football' and the game I am talking about actually involves people using their feet to maneuver a ball). The fans, the teammates, the sponsors. The energy in the stadium is entirely focused on the game. Few people leave thier seats for beer or food or bathroom breaks. No food vendors wander the stairs selling popcorn, Coke, or hotdogs. There is no announcer commentating on the game constantly. There is no scoreboard and no instant replay and especially no jumbotron. It was simply football.

Nottingham Forest won and the fans cheered. We waited to leave and followed the crowds through the streets. Before we were too far away from the stadium, but far enough that the bobbies and police weren't around anymore, a fight broke out. The fight turned into a bit of a riot... and well... after several chairs flew through the air and a great deal of glass was shattered, police arrived from all over running, by van, and on horseback. To those of you that are concerned, I was atleast 200 meters away from the action and surrounded by other people who were avoiding the violence as well... most importantly, Kevin, Brandon, Aaron and Ryan were near by and were ready to save the ladies if it came to that. Boys are good for that when you're in strange places. Anyway, it broke up quickly enough and we were able to pass to makeour way back home.

After all of that excitement, I am at home, in my PJ's, on the computer. I had wonderful left overs for dinner and icecream for desert. Life is good. Tomorrow we head out to Chatsworth for a visit to the Lake District. Another fun filled day of education. Woo. As for now, I'm off to chat with a friend on Skype and then Dad. Oh, and Kev is working on cookies in the kitchen so we can have a snack for our movie night. Sleep tight and enjoy the rest of your weekends!