A long but fruitful introduction

After about 5 days being in Bath I've finally figured out how to get around the place without getting completely lost. It's not on a grid system and there are tons of little alleyways and side streets that you wouldn't expect to offer anything but that's usually where the cheaper food places and thrift stores are. I've been enjoying myself at this local pub called the Royal Oak. It's a friendly place. I can usually just sit down to a table of people and just start talking and we have a nice conversation.

The other night me and some classmates went to a higher end pub that had 'Robert Burns Night.' Basically, at 8:30 a piper (bagpipes) came marching around all fancy like then they read an ode to haggis and then they served free haggis with scotch. If you can get past the thought that you're eating goo out of a sheep's stomach it actually tastes pretty good.

One of the best things here is the ale. They serve it from a pump and it's served more or less at room temperature. One of the worst things is the coffee. Most places either serve instant coffee or real coffee that somehow tastes just like instant coffee. The trick is to find a place that serves 'italian coffee,' but not a chain -- chains that claim italian still taste like ass. I've found a little cart only a few blocks down from where my classes are so I go there every morning and have a nice conversation with the person working then go to class. It's a nice little routine.

one of the weirdest things is the toilets. When they flush, it's not a gentle swirl that sucks your poo to the netherworlds. It's more like a gurgling waterfall splashing everything violently and somehow managing to keep it in the toilet. The other thing about the toilets is that there is no possible way to take a quiet poo. The water is about a foot away from your butt so it really works up its speed then splash!, and you're always pretty certain that even though the nearest person is three floors down, they just heard your bowel movement.

The first picture above is the front of the house I'm living in. Our side is actually just the left side. On the roof you can see three skylights. the left two are over my room and the one on the right is my bathroom.

This picture to the left is my bedroom. As you can see there is a skylight right by my head so when I wake up in the morning i look straight out over the city without having to even move. This other picture doesn't do the view justice, but you get the point.


One last thing, because this post is getting pretty long: Lola, the mom here, is Spanish so, unlike the British, she won't settle for bad food. And, yes, if you don't already know, most British food lacks in flavor. It's not aweful but it's not good. I guess that's why the eat a lot of curry.