Hello! *Imagine I just used a British accent to say that.*
I had the pleasure of going to England for a few days this week. It was a quick trip, but I really did enjoy it. I got to see two separate friends who live there, and they each showed me around their respective cities, Eloi in Reading and Munirah in London.
Tuesday: Let’s start with Eloi!
I first met Eloi in 2015 while doing my M.A. in Theoretical and Applied Lingusitics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. We hit it off almost immediately, and he was a valuable colleague throughout my M.A. research project. He has since begun his Ph.D. at University of Reading in Reading, England and remains only about a year from completing it! I’m so proud of him and glad that our paths crossed when they did!
As I said, Eloi is a great colleague, and, furthermore, he was a major proponent in my applying to pursue my Ph.D. at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. I knew I wanted to pursue my Ph.D., but he really helped me to conceptualize my project so that I could prepare a proposal that could be sent to potential Ph.D. superviors. We frequently communicate about our ongoing research and papers/books that we have recently read that might be of interest to one another.
While I was in Reading, I got to visit Eloi’s office and partake in some reserach projects. I participated in one project where they looked at my brainwaves as I learned a third langauge and another one which was an eye-tracking study. There was also an open desk, so I was able to do my fair share of work as well. It was nice to be in a shared office with a group of other linguists while working on my project.
Wednesday: Off to London to see Munirah!
The morning started with a thing called a “Full English Breakfast“. I didn’t realize this was a real term until another British friend of mine explained it to me!
On Wednesday, I worked with Eloi on campus in the morning, and then I took the opporutnity to go to London for the afternoon/evening. It turns out that for about £25 you can get a round trip (direct) train to London (Paddington Station) and the card is also valid on the Underground, too.
When I got to London, I spent some time walking along the Thames River and checking out some of the surrounding sights. Around 5:15PM, I met up with my friend, Munirah. We walked around the city even more, and she showed me all kinds of different places. She also served as my personal photographer for the entirety of our time together!
After walking around for a number of hours, we stopped to get some dinner. It was my first time ever having ramen! (And I don’t mean the crappy stuff that you buy at the store!) It was very delicious but far spicier than I thought.
We continued to walk around a little longer, but around 9:30, it was time for me to catch the train and head back to Reading. I had a lot of fun in London with Munirah, and I can’t wait until we get to see each other again!
Thursday: Back to Barcelona for 13 hours (or so I thought…)
In the morning we grabbed a quick breakfast at a nice local cafe and then headed to campus to do some work for the morning. After lunch, we made our way to London Gatwick Airport via Windsor. I got an opporunity to see Windsor Castle (from the outside) and walk around the city. It’s such a beautiful little city.
Once I got to the airport, I found out that my flight had been delayed by over an hour. This caused a series of problems since I had pre-paid for a bus to take me straight from the Barcelona-El Prat Airport to Barcelona city center. I was very frustrated because I missed the bus and then had to take the local bus, which make stops every few blocks all the way into the city.
Eventually, at about 3:00 in the morning, I made it back to my Spanish family’s home and went to bed. I got up early in the morning, only to find out that I was about to prepare for another day full of delays…
A Full English Breakfast… Hello! *Imagine I just used a British accent to say that.* I had the pleasure of going to England for a few days this week.
