dia de accion de gracias en oxford

i got to spend the last 4 days in one of my favorite places in the world with one of my favorite people in the world. i went to oxford to visit my friend dre and i also got to partake in the thanksgiving dinner at the acu house where i studied abroad two years ago. for those of you who have been faithful readers since the beginning, dre should be a familiar face bc she was probably in most of the pictures and stories that i put up from my first european experience. she is back in oxford this year getting her masters in english at oxford brookes university. she lives in a house with two other ACU and Siggie alums, Lindsay and Johnna, and it was great to get to see them as well. the weekend was amazing and i loved every minute i spent there. the city is beautiful and the weather even cooperated pretty well, meaning that it didn't pour rain the entire time i was there. actually it only started raining when i was leaving on sunday. dre and i visited most of the places we used to go all the time but we also went to some new places that she has discovered since living there. the best thing about the whole weekend though was being with someone that knows me so well and who gets my jokes and knows what i'm talking about even when i don't really make sense. i think that is definitely the hardest part about living in spain, that i am away from the people that i love. i knew coming into this year that it would be the hardest thing for me and i was right. the culture and the weather and the language are nothing compared to not having my friends and family just a phone call or a short drive away at any time. so i guess what i am trying to say is that i am extremely thankful for you guys and i hope you all know that i love you all a lot. a lot, a lot.

wow. enough sap, here are some photos from the weekend.



dre and i visited primark, a store with ridiculously cheap prices. sometimes it also has ridiculous items, such as this braided headband. we later found out that lindsay, dre's housemate, bought one and wore it to work. she said it was just as a joke, but im not too sure.



magdalen college.



dre and i and on the hoof. the bacon, turkey and cream cheese panini was JUST as good as i remembered.



our contribution was delicious but simple sweet potatoes, served on a foil regal platter. that's right, the label says regal, and you better believe we threw that word around as much as possible.



dre, johnna, lindsay and i at the thanksgiving dinner.



me and dre.



someone brought some "corn".



janine and i. it was so great to get to spend some time with her and ron, and i wish he had been around to be in this picture.



seek through christ.



on saturday dre and i went to peppers burgers, a place we frequently visited before. it had been shut down for a little while, but it is so much nicer now than it used to be and you can actually sit inside! it's great. i weawy, weawy wuv peppas burgas. please ignore that if you didn't study abroad with me.



i finally made it to port meadow, this huge meadow in oxford that basically hasn't been touched since 1086. nothing has ever been built or grown on it, and its supposed to stay that way forever. somehow i never went while i was there before, so we decided that it was at the top of the list. we went with janine and ron and walked through the meadow to the trout, an old restaurant where we sat outside and had coffee and tea. it was suuuper cold on the way out there because there was nothing to block the wind.



he looked at me, he loves me.



dre and i at the trout.

this week i am teaching the kids about thanksgiving and they are drawing hand turkeys and writing things they are thankful for. i'll try to take some pictures tomorrow and post them later. hasta luego. eat a lot of turkey and dressing for me on thursday.