Sunday That One Day

Sunday: A very special day in general. These kids are so smart and so cute, and many of them are going through really hard trials. So even when they are super naughty, I keep that in mind. The Lea Valley ward is the perfect example of people that make the ward great with not many means. They do so much service, and they all love eachother SO fully. They don't have nearly as many funds or recources as we do back home, and yet they make it work by hard work and creativity. I know lots of the members have hard lives, but they all come together and it's a happy place to be. Sunday night we had an exeptional devotional (at the center) by our stake president, Pres. Phillips. It was about how knowledge is power... but the most important knowledge is to know ourselves and Christ. Good reminder amidst all this schoooool.
Monday was windy and rainy, so I didn't run. But then as the day progressed, I couldn't focus on anything... so I ran in the rain and ice-wind anyways. It actually was as good of a run as I've ever had, despite the conditions. You know, running is actually starting to become a pleasant thing, and it's about time too. I've always just dreaded it till now. We'll see how I feel when I return to high altitude Utah. Bleah.
Then I went to the Imperial War Museum with my friends. It was really cool, and then we went in the Holocaust exibit, and it kind of soaked all the happy sparkily thoughts of roses and butterfies out of my brain and made the day a bit more somber. I'd say that that's a healthy reaction, but I sort of wished there was an option to go in the kids version, like the one in D.C. I remember that, and wondering why I couldn't go with the older kids. Well little children, be thankful. Mama knows what's best. Anyways, they had a copy of Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, very significant. And I've never actually seen a video of Hitler like I did there. It was really creepy- him and the huge crowds of people. I stared at it forever, and I thought how cool it would be if we had pictures and videos of all the people of the past. Like, what if we had a recording of the first Olympics? Or of Mozart conducting his orchestra? Or the Trojan horse? Or of me doing a dance when I was a little cheerleader? Oh wait.... we do have that. (And we'd be better off if we didn't.) But seriously, the past is such a mystery and so full of guess- work.
Today I had class alll morning, then for my classical civ. class we went to the V&A. Don't you wish you went on fieldtrips to the V&A? I mean, the Kennecott Coppermine is pretty alright too I suppose, but seriously, living in Londontown is just priceless. Today at the V&A we went of course to the room of plaster casts, because what Classics teacher could avoid that? Everyone needs to go there. It's like a visual playground of lifesize importance. I'll get a good picture. Dang it, why didn't I do that today? Oh yeah, because I'm SO sick of taking pictures. I need to get back on that.
We also saw Raphael's cartoons (aka studies) for some tapestries. He painted these gorgeous enormous paintings, and they weren't even the real deal. For all we know, they would've been thrown away after they were through with them.
Right now I'm reading the Aeneid by Vergil, and I'm amazed at the ability the people from those times had to create. I mean, of course we still create things now, but we study their art and their literature. It's like a base for so much of what we have today.
Obervations:
...Dang it. I had so many observations I wanted to write down today, but I didn't (for lack of a notebook) and now I can't think of any of them. Well, maybe next time. Adios.