Several days in the life

Okay, it's been a while, and I have a lot to say (lucky you), so we will take this day by day:

FRIDAY

Friday night was quesadilla night. We knew Jake and Jake were going to make Mexican food, and so we were all really excited, because Mexican food is really not a big thing here. There is a sign on Cornmarket street that honestly says: “OXFORD'S BEST BURRITO” followed by “OK, if we're being honest, it's Oxford's only burrito..” and we have heard a British woman refer to quesadillas as “Kway-suh-dill-uhs.” Anyway, now we have discovered why Mexican food is not such a hit. I'm not sure where they got this “Mexican” food, but I don't think it was Mexico. Actually, I'm being too harsh. The quesadillas themselves were excellent; the main problem was the salsa. It was extremely sweet/weird/tasted like ketchup. We formed a theory that if we put the salsa in a ketchup bottle, no one would be able to tell. Annie and I later tested this hypothesis by eating it with fries, but it turned out to be untrue. It was gross. So basically this salsa is good for NOTHING.

In protest, we (meaning I) plan to start a salsa revolution, protesting the lack of quality salsa and Mexican food in general. We will not accept these low standards. Our first move is to purchase all the “salsa” at Tesco and dump it into the Thames, probably disguised as conquistadors.

SATURDAY

On Saturday, we decided to culture ourselves, so we went to the Ashmolean museum. Bonus: it is free! Drawback: upon arriving, the little museum guys informed us that backpacks had to be worn on the front. We talked to Sam about this later, and he told us it was probably a trick they played on dumb Americans. Apparently, even after wearing backpacks our whole lives, they think that we will forget they are there and make sudden movements that will knock the paintings off the walls. I really don't know. All I know is that it was extremely uncomfortable. And made you feel like you were pregnant/Santa Claus. And if you sneakily swung your backpack around to your back (Jake tried this) a little museum man would pop out of nowhere and tell you to put it back on your front. Despite this, the Ashmolean was a really cool museum, and I was glad we went. My only regret is that I did not take pictures of everyone with their backpack on their front. I missed out on so much potential blackmail. 

This is an example of the excellent culture in the Ashmolean. 

In case you can't tell, it is a unicorn fighting a griffen.

SUNDAY

Sunday was the PACKERS/BEARS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! But Lisa, you say, how could you enjoy such an American experience in a land where they think football involves soccer balls? Pubs, that is how. About 5 of us in the program (mostly Bears fans) went to the pub and got to watch the game. It was great, because they played really weird British commercials. Also, the “commentators” of the game were, I kid you not, a British sports analyst, an American basketball coach, and a third string quarterback that at some point in his career was beat out by Jay Cutler, causing him to make many remarks on Cutler's “rookie mistakes.” I figure, with such low standards, I could be a football commentator here. I would fulfill two roles: token American and token female reporter. Anyway, since the PACKERS WON I get to watch the Superbowl in a pub starting at 12:30PM. I'm pumped. 

Annie (Bears fan) and I had an intense rivalry:

MONDAY

Monday Nicole and I joined the Oxford University College Choir. It was pretty awesome, because we got to sing some German stuff and get called “so-pRAW-nos” instead of “so-pRAN-nos.” Much more dignified.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was the British night that Sam made us have in response to American night. The rules were, similar to American night, that we all had to talk in British accents and talk about how great Britain was. Turns out my British accent isn't so hot. I mostly stuck to British phrases from P. G. Wodehouse that no one actually says, like “Tally Ho!” and “What, what!” and “Right-o!” But then I ran out of those and had to regress to “Wingardium Leviosa.” Jake was definitely the best at it. He could also do cockney, Dick Van Dike in Mary Poppins, and the Beatles. It was great. I am not looking forward to doing it again.

WEDNESDAY

This day was really boring for blogging purposes, because I basically read/wrote all day. I actually do that a lot, although you might not get that impression. My only cool accomplishment was that I have figured out how to truly appreciate tea-time: eat all the cookies ("biscuits") and put milk in my tea cup. 

I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH DAY

Okay, okay, one more exciting thing: Some British guy asked me for directions! I think he was, as they say here, a “fresher,” but I now officially look like I know what I'm doing. I had no idea where he was trying to go. It was great.

Note to self: take more pictures.