hampton court

hi guys! wow what a day today has been emotionally! hahaha. honestly not that exciting activity wise but i have been super happy and super sad today! but luckily this is the first time i have actually been sad on this trip and i know it's only temporary so no worries everyone!
so even though tuesday is usually our completely free day, we have a travel weekend this week so we had class today. yeahoo! like i always say class really isn't bad. also everyone was excited because we had waffles today at breakfast! i had a bite or two of one.. and the syrup was super gross so yeah didn't feel like i was missing out there.
after class i always go check the mail... and guess what?! i got three different things today! i was STOKED! seriously i came like screaming into the servery with my little bundle and i think people seriously wanted to punch me in the face. hahah no but seriously i was being so annoying and now i feel bad. i got a package from my mom that has my us womens soccer jersey in it, thanks mom!

diane i got your package! THANK YOU! i loved it and everyone was so jealous!! hahaha but i will be sure to share my candy with them :) I sent you a postcard last week and today as well so let me know somehow when you get it! :) also i got a letter from ty!! so that just made my day! so that was my high point of the day. like i said people wanted to punch me but oh well! hahah.

after that i went out to find lunch. i went to this cute bakery we always walk by on our way to our tube stop. it was okay... not all paninis are created equal! but thats okay :) funny story of the day: after lunch i went into this convenience store to get a postcard or something and this arabic guy was running the cash register. i handed him my debit card to pay for my stuff and he freaked out when he saw my name was 'Ali Noorda'. like seriously i think he said my name to me at least ten times. hahaha after he finally got over the fact that that was really my name he asked me if i was muslim. i was so close to saying uh... do i look muslim? hahah no but i controlled myself and politely said no. then he asked what my name meant and i told him how it was Dutch and stuff. then he told me how it means something cool in Arabic but honestly i have no idea what he said. but anyways the story sounds lame now but he seriously kept me in the store for like ten minutes just repeating my name over and over hahaha it was kinda funny but i was a little creeped out. yay for having a muslim sounding name!
so after lunch we got on the tube and then a train to head out to hampton court palace! again talk about memory lane after being there with my mom and sister a few years ago! they still have those funny velvet robes you can dress up in! so i wore that around the whole time and looked like an idiot hahaha. oh well! who cares right? we wandered around for a pretty long time, the place is freaking huge. they have exhibits for william, edward, mary (don't even ask what numbers... i am so lost in the british monarchy right now) and of course henry viii. he was the one with all the wives. 6 to be exact! and i guess he spent most of his time at hampton court so they did a really good job telling the story. i don't know what the english' deal is with henry viii, but i personally think the guy is a pig. marrying 6 different women and beheading them when they couldn't give him a son... but they all talk about it like he was doing it for the good of the country. english people are psycho! hahaha anyways. i am so out of it right now you guys i am sorry. please don't judge me.

hotties in midevil robes

mom and amanda- this is the place where we part of the fake wedding hahaha

gardens! and yes my glasses are prescription.

okay so after a few hours there we hopped back on the train to get back into town and back to the center for dinner. it was chicken and mashed potatoes and weird veggie mix. it was.. interesting? oh well i was so dang hungry i didn't even care. we are moving around so much here i am always hungry. after dinner i called cole to say goodbye :( it was the saddest of the sad. this was my low point of the day. we talked for like twenty minutes until he had to go.. he is gonna be a great missionary! i love you cole!

memories with this kid! 

talking to colbie for the last time :(  

this post is gonna be pretty short because i am writing most of this a day late and i seriously can't remember what happened yesterday and what happened today so i am very sorry (sorry mom!!). after dinner we had some free time so i wrote some postcards and did a whole lot of nothing. then at 10:30 we had our first film as part of our 'film series'. for our history class we have to watch 3 films then write papers on them. so we watched henry v last night. it was so funny all of us were trying so dang hard not to fall asleep. we got pretty creative! i was on the floor, then would move to a chair, then back again so i wouldn't doze off. i don't know why i just told yall that. oh well!

so thats the day! i'm sorry i don't have more detail! hope everyone is doing good :)