6 July

First day of class here in London.  We are to keep an activity log accounting for what we did on each day here.  This afternoon some of us had lunch at a pub (so much fried food is happening!)  and then went to the British Museum, which is located very near where we are living and studying.  It was a huge museum and I was moving pretty slowly, so I plan on going back and seeing more of it on subsequent trips.  However, on this day I had some worthwhile experiences.  The Museum was in the midst of a mummy exhibit.  Seeing those in person was just breathtaking.  The mummy rooms were so crowded, so I didn't stay long, but even seeing a few of the preserved remains and sarcophagi was pretty surreal.  They are so old, and yet so well-preserved by so many patient hands.

The other exhibit I spent time in was an Australia exhibit (sponsored by BP, and yet I still had to pay 10 GBP to get in there, hmm).  I met a lovely woman who chatted me up after she cautioned me against taking photos -- so refreshing to have a nice chat with someone who is just thrilled to be in a museum, learning for the joy of it!  I had a lot of seeds of thought planted about the relationship between Britain and Australia, and the relationship between the Western world and Aboriginal culture.  There were even some quotes from Aboriginal people about how they didn't think their artifacts should be in England; they should remain in "country".  Interesting stuff.  Worth the begrudging ten pounds.

Since I wasn't supposed to take pictures of exhibits, enjoy this picture of giant meringues: