(Picture of me and the suite mates: Cassy, Me, Kathleen, Mayor, Amaya, and our friend Jenna)

From 15 Sept:

So I'm sitting in a cute little restaurant on the Brighton pier in the amazing town of Brighton! I adore this place! It's so amazing, France is just 25 miles away, and Philip or Dr. Phil said that you could hear the bombs from France during WWII. The history here is just awesome! For example, King George the 4th's mistress ha a house here that got turned into a YMCA, or the story behind the Royal Pavilion is amazing. The outside is an Indian style of architect, but it wasn't the first one. The Royal Pavilion was first a small house, and then added to once, and then the big thing came in. It was added to for the final time because the horses had the first Indian style architect, and King George was like 'um why are the horses in a cooler building than me?' so he expanded the Royal Pavilion! Soon we will be touring that place so I'll let you know how it is! I'm walking around with my suite mates, but right now we are eating!

Let me see if I can describe Brighton. I can see this place overflowing i the summer, but even today on a weekday there are a lot of people. The shops are mostly small, unfamiliar and sell weird stuff, and then you come upon a Baby Gap. The streets are narrow, we small a market on some unknown street! We went in one store that could have been in any town in the US, it was full of movie stuff, and both old and new movies. I didn't buy anything but they bought buttons and keychains. In the narrow streets, there are electricity lines running overhead, and there are shoes hanging from them! Like a dozen in total all along one of these streets! It's insane! There are a lot of outdoor restaurants too, and a lot of bakeries and I am not leaving without something from one of them! Brighton I hear is a good place for wedding, and I truly believe tha one.

So I was away for a while. Our food arrived and then we headed for the Royal Pavilion. UNBELIEVABLE! It was so beautiful and a lot of it is still original! King George 4th had awesome taste, the inside is oriental, and the wood was carved and painted to look like bamboo! So cool! It's on the walls, and the banister, basically everywhere. When Queen Victoria was ruling she sold the place and had it stripped and brought most of it to Buckingham Palace, but gave in and returned a lot of the stuff. Every room is completely out of this world! There are dragons everywhere, and they are both European and Chinese. The difference being Chinese dragons do not have wings. A lot of the paintings are not originals as they are hanging in Buckingham Palace. One of the paintings that is copied, the artist put his face in it, and not the Chinese guy. One of the rooms had furniture dedicated to Lord Nelson, and his victories. The dining room was completely out of this world! The paintings were just so awesome, and the table was long and beautiful.

After the guided tour we went upstairs and looked at the rooms up there. There is a tea room that of course we had to buy something from, and while we were there so was the mayor of Brighton. He came up to us, shook our hands, kissed our cheeks and was amazed that we were all from America. We had our picture taken with him, and he was so nice. He told us about how he owns the place, which of course is true. Brighton is the only place where the state or monarch does not own a palace, it belongs to the town. Queen Victoria sold it to the leaders of Brighton.

So now I am sitting on the beach. Our group has a new member Jenna from NY, and she lives in Seething Wells. She's pretty cool. Kathleen and Amaya are walking the beach and I am just sitting here writing, and enjoying myself. We walked most of Brighton, and went into a lot of the stores. I think I would be very happy to never leave this place, it's so nice and peaceful!

I've been in England for three days and I feel ao much at peace with myself and surroundings. Maybe it's because classes haven't started but for the first time in a year and a half I am at peace, and my only worry is money! Um.

Oh one more thing... I never mentioned Fabeesh, or that's how we liked to spell it! He is a boy that will be living in our suite, and Kathleen and Amelia love his name. Of course I do too. Every time we walk in a store, a room, our hall someone yells Fabeesh. It's our thing.

Til tomorrow..