Hello again friends!
I think I may need to start getting used to rapidly changing weather in Philly! This week has been all over the place! As I strolled through the streets with my coffee on Tuesday, I didn't even think to make the most of the sunshine! What a mistake.
On Wednesday I was determined to leave the house, despite feeling a little under the weather. Right as I was walking out the door, my HD (hostdad) suggested I grab an umbrella, as it looked like it was about to rain. I glanced out the window and noticed...it was very, very dark outside! Umbrella in hand, I pranced out the door... and the pouring rain started about 3 seconds later! As I reached the end of the block I considered turning around, going home and curling up with a book. But I didn't want to 'waste' another day doing nothing, so I persevered. And then the thunder and lightning started... very close by. Looking around I noticed there were very few other people walking on the normally busy streets... I wonder why? I reached Rittenhouse Square just as the wind picked up and turned my umbrella inside out! I decided it would be best to take shelter in the nearest store I could find, which, luckily for me, was Barnes and Noble, the wonderful bookstore! I spent over an hour browsing and found 2 books and 2 magazines I couldn't leave without. Unfortunately the rain was still thundering down outside, so I perched in a corner and started reading! When everything had finally died down, I meandered home, and had a lazy afternoon.
On Thursday I was feeling very lethargic and achy - I needed to sit down for a few minutes after a trip up or down the stairs, which is normally something I can do with ease several times a day. So Thursday was a day spent sleeping. Which unfortunately meant that I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight that night, because my body was too rested! I was glad to spend the day inside though, because it was very gray outside!
On Friday I ventured out to the grocery store (woohoo!), but as soon as I turned on the radio I heard "dense fog warnings". Exciting! Driving across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (across the river) the fog was very, very dense - I could still see in front of me, but the cars overtaking me kept disappearing into the fog ahead of me! Speaking of overtaking... the speed limit on the bridge is normally 45 mph, but was changed to 25 mph because of the fog. That didn't stop all the cars around me going at least 50mph! American drivers are crazy! Unfortunately because the grocery shopping takes a few hours, and because my host parents go out on Friday nights, I ended up working more than 13 hours on Friday...ugh. I finished the day tired and grumpy, not least because the children had been given permission to stay up to 9:30pm, instead of going to bed at their usual 8pm!
On Saturday I slept in until 12 (but given the crazy day before, I didn't feel too bad!) and, despite my plans to head into the city, even if just to visit the bank, I ended up spending most of the day in bed, watching The Good Wife! I'm addicted, it's so good! Hulu & Netflix have both been very bad for my productivity levels! I can watch almost any TV show or movie I want at anytime! The previous day my HM (hostmum) had mentioned that they had tickets to a contemporary dance show that night, but didn't want to go. She offered the tickets to me, which I of course gratefully and enthusiastically accepted! The show was called "Bad Boys of Dance" and I ended up with 3 tickets! Unfortunately the 2 friends I invited to come with me both had to work, so I ended up with 2 spare tickets.
I decided that I could walk the 1.4 miles to the theatre, in University City, and because the snow has FINALLY melted, I wore my beautiful new boots. Anyone who knows me well will know that I've wanted a pair of proper cowboy boots for YEARS now, ever since I read "Kitty, Kitty" by Michelle Jaffe! These boots are the closest I've ever found to cowboy boots, and they were only $15! It was a really nice walk, but I underestimated how warm the 16 degree weather would be! It was -7 degrees earlier in the week but now it's 16 degrees! Crazy! When I arrived at the theatre and picked up my tickets, I asked if I could donate the 2 spare tickets to the next people arriving to purchase tickets. The kind people at the box office informed me that all they could do was swap the tickets for tickets to the next performance, but they had no control over what I could do... Taking this advice, I waited for the next person to enter the line, and offered him my tickets - he only needed one, so I gave it to him. At this point, the Box Office Manager came marching over and informed me, in very strict tones, that I was not allowed to sell tickets in the lobby! I told him I just wanted to give it as a gift! He let me give the one ticket to the man, but then got right up in my face and forcibly suggested that swapping the other spare ticket would be best for everyone. He grabbed the ticket from my hand and went and swapped it for me. While it wasn't the most pleasant experience I've ever had, I understand that he was just doing his job.
Anyway, the dance performance was AMAZING, they blended ballet and contemporary dance techniques which was stunning. The beautiful lines, and jumps, and twirls of ballet mixed with the fun and energy, and physicality of contemporary dance was so much fun to watch! It was all set to pop music and the dancers were amazing. The only thing I didn't love was that the only female dancer was dressed in skimpy outfits, and her only role in the whole show appeared to be "Hot girl arrives on scene, boys dance off for her." However, there were some truly amazing dance sequences. One, set to "The Scientist' by Coldplay, while (disappointingly) not done backwards (let's face it, how amazing/impossible would that have been), was danced mainly by the woman and the main male dancer, simulating fighting and anger. Dance-simulated fight scenes are some of my favourite things ever, so I obviously loved this number! Overall, the whole performance was so energetic and joyful that I left feeling super energised and upbeat! I am so grateful that I got the chance to see this performance, and didn't have to pay for it! I also have a ticket for the next contemporary performance in March, which should be super fun to go to! When I tried to give the ticket back to my HM, because the tickets were hers in the first place, she informed me that because they were on the board, they got tickets to all the performances anyway, so this one was mine to keep! She also let me know that in future, if there are any performances they don't want to go to, they're more than happy for me to take their tickets! So generous and kind!
Unfortunately the ~3 mile round trip to the theatre in my new boots has left me with a massive blister right in the centre of my heel, so my plans of adventuring today have been cancelled. I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon in bed, watching more Good Wife! And I've just discovered that Good Karma is open from 7am-10pm EVERYDAY so... maybe I'll go sit there for a while!
I'm sorry this is such a massive essay, you get +100 brownie points if you made it to the end!
All my love,
Jess
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