"I love being vulgar. It's so fun!"

I began my Thursday in Cambridge after 10:30 AM, deciding sleeping in was worth it since I didn’t have anywhere to be and sleeping in is always worth it if I don’t have anywhere to be. Phil knocked on my door right as a rolled myself from my bed, and he said he was going to go to a bookstore and when he came back we should go get lunch. I agreed and cleaned myself for the day. As I dressed, Phil returned to his door with a porter, having lost his key. Phil is always on top of plans and knows the schedule, but man can the guy forget some small but important things sometimes. Luckily, his key had just been left at the Porters’ Lodge and we were able to go to lunch at our beloved Tattie’s. I enjoyed the exact same lunch again because it was so good the day before. It was just as pleasing this time, and Phil sampled the barbeque burger, finding it pleasing to his palate.

            

Along our walk in the city around lunchtime we ran into Kathleen and Andrew, two of our friends on the trip whom are dating and going with us to Barcelona tomorrow. They informed us that we were supposed to meet with Josh at 5:00 PM in the Porters’ Lodge to go over plans for the next morning since our bus to take us to the airport was to pick us up in Cambridge around 4:35 AM Friday morning. We made sure to add the meeting to our schedule and we returned to Magdalene to work on our travel logs. Before we could get much work done, Team Sperry (Mackenzie, Cam, and Renae because they all wear Sperry’s) showed up and invited us to go punting with them. We happily accepted, but I needed to update some information for the greek newspaper I write for at OSU. The gang went to Snozzberry’s to pick up some beverages for punting, and I struggled with the internet, eventually sending an email to the CCO of the paper letting them know that I was up a creak without a paddle on filling out the info. This is an unfortunate turn of phrase to use just before telling the story of punting, but, thankfully, the adventure wasn’t of that flavor.

            

Phil took the role of punter as we embarked, and I sat on the opposite end, the front, with an oar that was for “emergencies only.” Being dumb Americans who didn’t know how to punt, anytime we needed to turn, speed up, slow down, or avoid walls and other boats all qualified as “emergencies.”  We started our punting adventure strongly, running into a punt boat from one of the punting tour companies on the river and then going directly through an extremely low hanging willow tree. We were soon gliding with some semi-skill, however, and we were able to enjoy each other’s company and the beautiful views offered on the river that you couldn’t get from any other place in Cambridge.  Mackenzie was convinced that our boat was going to sink, so, obviously, I would rock it constantly to scare her. Being an idiot, however, I didn’t think about how that would also affect Phil, who was standing on the back of the boat doing the punting. Eventually he yelled at me to stop, and I sheepishly returned to my oar duties.  We had a lovely time and on our way back to our dock we floated by a little mess of boats. One was filled with Asian tourists, another with two Italians, and a third with a few Americans. None could communicate very well with each other as they tried to untangle, but all of them were smiling and laughing heartily at the predicament. Again, I was reminded at the beautiful nature of laughter and that it is the language we all speak.

            

After punting we all went out to shop in town. We ran into Andrew and Kathleen again, but this time they joined our merry band. We eventually found ourselves in the McDonald’s, shamelessly eating our American fast food because of the fact it was by far the cheapest meal we had found the entire time we had been in the U.K. The Spain Gang returned to meet with Josh.

            

Josh is a funny guy, only 25 years old, with both a Masters and PhD from Cambridge. He now works post hoc at Harvard University researching immunology through monkeys. It’s a pretty cool deal he’s got going. We went over our plans of waking and meeting the next morning so that we were all on the same page. With anxiety and excitement in our hearts, we left the meeting and returned to our free day.

            

Everyone decided to go out and try The Mitre. Everyone got their respective beverage and Kathleen and Andrew tried the nachos. Phil ordered some kind of cheese sampler plate off the desert menu but was informed that The Mitre didn’t have the cheese to make it that night. Phil was pissed. He’s actually still pretty pissed about The Mitre. After our fun but somewhat disappointing trip, we decided we should just go to The Pick, where we knew we’d have a fun time. It was very cold and raining outside, however, and we found the back patio of The Pick a little less fun than we expected. Andrew and Kathleen went to pack and get some sleep before the early morning ahead of the Spain Gang. Mackenzie, Renae, and I all went to the little convenience store next door to buy some sweets. I went with a double chocolate muffin (which I destroyed in like five seconds) and Mackenzie went with a Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Caramel bar (it’s my favorite and she took my advice). We joked on the way back into The Pick and I was so happy to be with girls I now consider my sisters. After a short stay at The Pick, we were interrupted by the Michigan State student crowd and we decided to leave. Phil and I had some deep talk about girls before we left and I thanked God for blessing me with such a great friend and brother.  Everyone hung out in my room as I did laundry and wrote in my journal, and as people trickled off to bed, I accompanied Renae and new arrival Susan to Snozzberry’s so they could get some late-night groceries. Susan and I got a chance to really bond, which we hadn’t been able to do yet, and I was blissfully aware of how wonderful a group of students Bob had assembled for this trip. After walking the ladies back to Magdalene, I finished my laundry and writing late in the night, letting myself settle in for a short hour and a half of sleep before my alarm would awake me for what would be the most striking, stunning, and interesting day of my life. Hola, adventure. Me llamo Jake.