Southern Sun

Hey all!!!

First, I would like to say that Lily, I empathize with you. 34 hours of travel from my house in MV to Charlton house here in Cape Town is not what I would dub a pleasant experience, especially when it includes three layovers. I lost one bag on route, but ever the Boy Scout, I'd divided up my things so I have plenty of clothes and such to tide me over until my other bag arrives (it's still in Johannesburg).

Cape Town is such a surreal experience. That's what this city is...an experience. So much life exists here. The city center is constantly moving. From any point in the city you can see Table Mountain watching over her people. It's absolutely stunning. I'll be hiking it sometime within the next week for sure.

The house I'm staying in is awesome...three stories, a pool table, and a gorgeous view of the mountain. Twenty one other kids live here, most from the states, a few from Norway. My roomie is from Berkeley, and is the total CAL girl (backpacker at heart). We get along great. Oh, and Drew, did I mention that she was at the inauguration?

Anywho, I'm safe in Cape Town, though it hasn't yet sunk in that I'll be here for 5 months.

Much love as always!!

NEW ZEALAND BITCHES!!!!

Briefly: I MADE IT TO NEW ZEALAND!!! (feel free to stop reading now if you are not interested in the boring details)
It took me over 36 hours to get here with my four flights; thankfully all my luggage arrived with me, and both of us remained intact. The hostel I'm staying at is just what I'd hoped it would be, quiet and out of the city (in a suburb). Yesterday, after 12 hours of sleep, I took a lovely hike/run up a volcano, which is right next door to the hostel. The view from the top was beautiful, you could see the whole city of Auckland, which in itself (the center) is not large, but there are tons of sprawling suburbs with very low houses. The one similar city I've been to is San Diego.
Currently, it is summer here, which is also lovely. Whilst the air isn't very hot (a nice 70-75 degrees) the sun is super intense, due to the giant hole in the ozone layer. I'm still getting used to walking without anything on my feet! I've spent the past month with heavy ski boots for 8 hours a day, and snowshoes whenver I went out for a hike! I feel light as a feather, but I have yet to resort to skipping down the streets (trying to retain some dignity).
Today, I hung out with my hostel roomie who is from Germany. We went to the aquarium and walked a ton around the city. All in all a good day.
Tomorrow, I think I'm headed to the beach for the day. Probably wrapped in one sort of shroud or another, but it'll be the beach none the less. Not sure yet what I'll do the other days I'm here prior to the rest of my program, but I'll figure it out in time.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Miss Maggie: it will get better in time (I know it sounds lame), but it's extremely hard to adjust to a new place, just get as immersed as possible so that homesickness doesn't overwhelm.
Much love to all
-Lily

a VERY short note - made longer

Everyone. Do whatever you have to to see The 39 Steps. It is hilarious. Its also playing in NYC, so its not like you have to come here to see it. Though you could. That'd be fun too.

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So I've seen a lot of shows here now. Read reviews for all of them, both before and after seeing them (some were in previews still). Still can't get my head around this acting from the outside in thing - Caiti might be able to shed some light on that...

But one thing I've noticed is that its a serious thing here. Its serious business. Its not even like NYC and Broadway. I mean, its infinitely better, for one thing - more options, better options, better atmosphere..
They (being the critics) also have no problem absolutely ripping a show apart - in very astute and not-mean ways, but just being exactly critical. Its actually a little unsettling, to be honest. The headline for the Telegraph's review of Complicit:

Complicit at the Old Vic, review: a play about torture? It certainly was

Sorry for the type font change - that's how it was on their site. But I mean... WHOA. I don't know that I've seen a review that starts throwing punches like that right from the start. It wasn't a very good show, by any means, but still.

That might, in the long run, be a bad thing - too much criticism leads to jaded audiences. But there are people going to everything all the time. If its a bad show, you know it because it doesn't sell out. Everything sells out if its good. It isn't where you have a critically lauded show that falls through the cracks because it didn't have a star performer or writer or director (coughcough Passing Strange). Yes, people line up for stars (would I have lined up for David Tennant and/or Patrick Stewart in anything? Absolutely. Not afraid to say it.) but they also line up for theatre in general.

we need the arts like this in America... we really do.

The Nij begins

Echoing Drew's sentiments on updating for the hell of updating...

I miss you all so much. And BC. And America. And everything. I don't know if you who are already abroad had the same sentiments, but I've generally just been overcome with homesickness and feeling like I made a huge mistake in coming here. I'm hoping--desperately--that this will pass.

I'll tell you one thing, though: never have I been so grateful for my friends and family. They have always been close at hand to pick me up and dry my tears, and now that they're not, it's really difficult to function. Their absence is overshadowing everything about the present. Whatever. I guess I'm just a big baby, is all.

Nijmegen, as one might expect, is super Dutch. No touristy bullshit here. Which makes it a bit difficult to get around, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I got a bike, and after some small repairs, Priscilla is serving quite nicely as a tool for assimilation.

Orientation, which is essentially one big pub crawl with a day trip to Amsterdam at the end of the week, starts tonight. Send good friend-making karma, please.

Love and angst,
Mags

An Update for the Sake of an Update

Hi everybody!

Just figured I'd drop an update on you. Just some fun stats that I was thinking about as it rained enough to drown a small village yesterday.

Days since arrival: 24
Shows seen since arrival: 8 (at the National Theatre: 3)
Shows on my list to see (not including those for class): 25 (give or take)
Different theatres visited: 6
Cups of tea consumed: more than I can count
Pictures taken of Big Ben: about 30 - but from various artsy points.
Tube lines taken: 5
Times I've gotten lost: 6
Times I've managed to get un-lost: 6
Times I've watched LOST: 1 (WHAT THE FUCK to that season premiere....)
Books I've read: 5
Sherlock Holmes books purchased: 8 (Penguin has a GROOVY set they just published... I had to)
Concerts I've missed because they were already sold out/I didn't know about them: 2
Times I've been pick-pocketed: 1 (they got my London Moleskine... wanker...)
Pubs visited: 4
American friends I've seen: 2 (Caiti and Riley! woo! and soon Tina!)
Drunk Londoners seen: too many to count... too drunk to have counted...
Cabs taken: 2
Times I've missed you guys: very many
Money spent: quite a lot... oops.
Classes done: 4
Classes to go: 7 (yep. count 'em.)
Percentage of the way through the semester: 33.33333333333....%
Trips planned: 2
Countries visited: 1 (England!)
Days I've been happy here: nearly all
Times my cleaning lady has asked me to make her an egg for breakfast: 1 - it was a terrifying experience.


A semester in London: priceless.
For everything else, there's my VISA card. Because its accepted everywhere. Except, apparently, the Young Vic's website.

Hope auditions went well for everyone and that the semester is off to a wonderful and rolling start. I'll see some of you soon, some of you sooner, and some of you later.

Paris

Coming at you liiiive from Paris!

The travel wasn't as bad as expected; I actually arrived early at CDG and my luggage was the first off the plane. But as of today, I've managed to a) be struck by panic and ask the incredulous attendants at Charles de Gaulle if I forgot to go through customs (no, not kidding) and b) forget to hook up my blow dryer to the converter and have it go WHOA EUROPEAN VOLTAGE and turn orange and all but blow up. I guess I've failed Study Abroad 101, but other than that, life is awesome.

I'm renting a room at the Foyer International des Etudiants on the Rue de Saint-Michel--pretty much standard European hostel fare (plain, slightly sketchy), but the location is...unbelievable. I have a balcony:


And that view of la Tour Eiffel that you see at the top? Yeah, I can see that from the solarium (similar to a study lounge).

Paris is so beautiful that it doesn't even try to be beautiful or acknowledge that it's beautiful. It's got gorgeous, absolutely baffling roads and beautiful people with small, precocious children. Contrary to logic and the best interests of the people I deal with in day-to-day business, being here makes you want to speak French. So I've tried.


Adventures thus far: a cheap panini (in Paris, cheap is 3.9 euros, which is equal to about $5.10), looking at fantastic art until my eyes fell out at the Musee d'Orsay, watching the Eagles embarrass themselves yet again at a Canadian pub, learning the hard way that my cellphone alarm doesn't function overseas, and figuring out the getting-to-Nijmegen situation at the Gare d'Austerlitz.

Up for tomorrow: a day at the Louvre, looking at awesome art until my eyes fall out, and then bar-hopping in honor of our newest president. And hopefully Montmartre and the Musee Rodin on Wednesday.

Hope all is well. Bises from France!

Brief Note. Really.

You're probably all a bit sick of hearing from me, so I'll keep this brief.

One: I met Dr. Watson yesterday and had tea with him. and wandered around Holmes' suite for like an hour.

Two: I saw August: Osage County today. Caiti, we'll discuss after you see it... because I felt this way, it may be that you hate it. But so be it - I've never been so powerfully moved by a production. I was sobbing at the end. I mean, literally, tears (multiple) streaming down my face. I felt like an idiot walking to the Tube because my eyes were still all bleary and I was clearly an emotional wreck.
Maybe its just because I could draw so many parallels to my own dysfunctional family (don't worry - mine is a fun dysfunctional. not a fucked up dysfunctional, like the Westons in the play). But wow. wow wow wow.