Welcome to the Goldsmith’s
Before I start talking about Cambridge I have to address the absolute ridiculousness of my weekend.
About half the group went to London this weekend. We were staying with one of the group members, Zeno (who casey leigh knows well =)), from England and he is a little bit nuts so we weren’t really sure what to expect other than that we would be sleeping in a “marquis” on the lawn. So we headed off. Traveling in a group is the most obnoxious thing ever. It took us hours to get from Cambridge to London. I actually miss the T. We get to Zeno’s incredibly beautiful house in Richmond and as we walked into the backyard, candles were lighting our path to a giant green tent lined with oriental rugs and brass lanterns. The walls were lined with patterened linens and space heaters. I couldn’t freakin believe it. I only wish I could show the pictures. Zeno’s dad is Edward (Teddy) Goldsmith, founder and editor of the The Ecologist magazine and he is friends with everyone from Vandana Shiva to Mic Jagger who lives down the street! No I didn’t get to meet him…boo. He is extremely well-known and also happens to be the founder of our program. Zeno’s mom served us juices with vodka, bloody marys and lots of wine, got us pizza, and we spent the evening talking with Teddy G about all the books he wrote. Absolutely insane. I want to move in. On Saturday we toured around London. The National Gallery was awesome. It was like they tore out the pages of our art history book and hung them up there. We checked out Picadilly Circus and Camden Town in the evening. Excellent time, especially because we broke in to smaller groups.
Saturday night, aka the most amazing night of my life, 2 other girls and I dressed up in Zeno’s mom’s clothes and went with him to his godfather’s casino, one of the ritziest casino’s in London. This place was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Wood carvings, statues, gold and antiques covering everything. Our attendant, Pascual, gave us everything we could possibly want, food, champagne, chocolates. It was glorious. The three of us were like Dolce and Gabana from head to toe. Zeno got up to £500 and then lost it all, but I was at all interested in getting in volved in that. Again, I can’t wait to share the pictures. That is the way to experience London.
I also bought a giant bag shapped like a high-top sneaker for £18, but I won’t go into that now. I hit up Westminster Abbey on Sunday. Breathtaking for sure.
My host family is the best. They have 3 kids in their twenties and they live in a little row house with an awesome dog, Alfie, and the fattest kitty, Murphy. They feed me very well…pretty much nothing but carbs, and sugar but they are so cool and laid back. My host father is a truck driver with tatoos and an earing. He got so drunk last weekend. He dropped his serving of potatoes in his wine glass and then fished it out and ate it. When I came back downstairs after getting ready to go out he had fallen asleep at the table. He is hilarious. My host brothers operate fork lifts and are very nice and my host mom is so sweet. I like Cambridge a lot but I’ve almost been killed on my bike like a thousand times. I really don’t like the left side of the road thing. I’m not becoming acclimating to that well. We are in class a ton. Lots of “ass time” as they say, but classes are interesting and the lectures are good.
I gotta get home for dinner but I’m having an excellent time and I am learning so much. Don’t hesitate to send those letters!
So much love,
Andie Gersh
