i think i've been putting off blogging because i've been so busy and i expect this will be a long one.
ok i left off tuesday night? wednesday i went to court all day. family court (the equivalent of juvenile court) is less formal than other courts: the judge doesn't wear a robe, and the setup of the room is pretty nontraditional. there are just tables that form a big square, and everyone sits at their specific spot. but there's no bench, and no witness stand as you would imagine. the judge sits at the front of the room, and the witness sits at an assigned spot to the side. what struck me most about court was the lack of formality displayed by the judge and lawyers. now, the authority's lawyer (saag) told me this was definitely not an average hearing, but it was still impressive. at one point, it turned into a big discussion between the judge and lawyers, without any real order to who was speaking when. at one point a lawyer even interrupted the judge! and no one blinked an eye. later in the afternoon, the judge became upset because he believed the authority was trying to force his decision through some legal maneuvering, and he interupted the swearing in of the case worker and started screaming about how appalled he was by the situaiton. now i've definitely seen judges raise their voices, but not like this. he was visibly emotional about the situation. so the lawyer asked for a recess, and the judge threw his pen on the table and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. it was definitely the most unprofessional behavior i've ever seen in a judge. but the lawyer says that was unusual behavior for him, so hopefully it won't happen again.
that night i went to hear a band play with betsy in central london. on the way, there was a big showing of an opera on a screen in trafalgar square. it would have been nice to stay, but we had to get off to the show. the venue reminded me very much of cine. same concept, same basic setup, white walls, black signs in the same font. i'm wondering if someone from cine has been there before? everyone in the crowd looked like they would fit right in in athens. the band was pretty good - temper trap.
it was nice to finally get into central london and remember why i wanted to come here. not to live in ilford, that's for sure. not that ilford's bad, but it's just a little too far out and doesn't even have a tube stop.
so on my way home, i got on the train at the right platform, but it ended up being a fast train out to the suburbs. so i got off the train at 11:45, trains stop at 12, and i was stranded in billericay, wherever that is. there ended up being two girls there getting a cab to the same general area, so i split the ride with them and ended up getting back to the hostel at 12:45. but it was only £20 for the ride, and at that point i just needed to be in for the evening. lesson learned.
hmm, thursday. it's hard to remember that long ago. oh i had a couple of pretty uneventful trainings, and then that evening, betsy came out to ilford and we moved my stuff to her place in greenwich.
i very carefully mapped out my route to work the next day, and managed not to get lost. more trainings that day, very boring. dfcs people: there are two databases. one is incredibly antiquated, and not even internet-based. the other sounds more like shines but i haven't been trained on that yet.
on my way home the dlr (above ground train) was stopped for about 30 minutes. because the police were trying to catch some guy who had hopped on the tracks to avoid being caught. otherwise, my commute that day was long and uneventful. it should take a little over an hour to get to work from betsy's place, but that's not abnormal for london i think, and it will be worth it not to live in a crappy hostel.
saturday we slept in and then went to the greenwich market, which is pretty busy on weekends. she took me around greenwich, where there's a maritime museum, nice views of the thames, and some other historic buildings. we found a mr. t piggy bank at a consignment shop, which is now sitting in betsy's windowsill, and had some indian food for lunch. later we went to the grocery store, which officially means that i live here. taking the bus to the grocery kinda stinks, so hopefully wherever i settle will be close to a grocery store.
this morning we went to betsy's church, which is a vineyard church that's pretty small, but the people seemed pretty friendly. we were planning to go to a civil war reenactment done by some masons, but it's about 2 hours away and the weather's supposed to be pretty gross all afternoon, so we decided against it. too bad, i was really looking forward to the british mason interpretation of the american civil war.
so that's what i've been up to. i'm feeling a little more settled since i'm in a house now, and have access to a kitchen, washing machine, etc. but i'm still living out of suitcases and am really anxious to get a flat and get settled. but right now it's still a waiting game until the other girls get here. i have my bank account set up though, and the check for my relocation package will clear on tuesday, then i'll get a credit card that i don't have to argue about with cashiers. i haven't been lost since wednesday night, so that's good.
update on my bleeding, blistered feet - they're still fairly torn up and i can't really wear anything but sandals without interuppting the healing process. so that's annoying when it's rainy and i want to be wearing my chucks, but it's pretty warm so i'll survive.
i'm sure there are more interesting things to tell, but i can't think of them at the moment.
wanna know how to call me? there's skype - michelle.bakay (but for the moment, i'm mainly using my mom's, which is nita.bakay - that should end around august 10). or get a calling card on onesuite.com, which is about 17 cents a minute, and if you call me, i can call you right back for free, since i have a deal through skype. how do dial? 011 (for international dialing) 44 (country code) 7898644989 (my number). or just email me if you want me to call you. it would be lovely to hear from you.
also, i can't figure out a way for this blog to automatically notify you when i've updated, so if you would rather me just email it to you, let me know, and i'll put you on a list.