Miles and Smiles Away: October 12: I'm Still Alive, I Promise

It's been almost two weeks since I've been on here, wowza! Let's start off with the Casino Night. Holy moly, it was so much fun. First off, let me say that it was not for real money. When I got there, I was zoned-in and ready to make millions, so you can understand my disappointment when I found out that it was play money. But to make up for it, the school gave us free drink tickets -- so that was nice :-) The place itself was awesome! It was at a club down at Leicester Square. It was on the second floor, so there was a balcony overlooking the square. With everyone dolled up and looking their best, we took A LOT of photos. I'll be posting a few down below. Anyway, we chit-chatted for hours, gambled a little bit, and danced the night away. Yes, I even danced!

The next day (Saturday) was one of my classmate's birthday. She's the mom of the group and is loved by everyone! So attending her birthday party was a must! She found a place in Shoreditch called Dinerama -- this place was the coolest. It's a two story outdoor building... it kinda reminded me of a bunch of food trucks. They have all types of food and drinks available. There was no roof, so it was a bit chilly, but still a very good time. Unfortunately, the place is closing for the winter, and won't be opening again until spring.

Sunday was a cold and rainy day. I was cuddled up in bed for majority of the day, until I decided to put my umbrella to use and explore my part of town. I found a restaurant that was nearby and headed that way. Sadly it was closed for the night, so I kept walking. After an hour or so of seeing nothing but closed restaurants, I stopped at a coffee shop and got the largest cup of hot chocolate I've ever seen. Once I drank a gallon of hot chocolate, I decided to give up on food and head home. Aside for the nasty weather and the lack of open restaurants, it was a nice evening walk around my home.

The week flew by! On Monday I had Global Economics. Aside from showing up everyday, the only grades there are for this class are the midterm and the final exam. Which kind of stresses me out! But the teacher is awesome and keeps the classes interesting. On Tuesday I had International Accounting. This class is going to be my toughest one. Even in my undergrad I struggled with accounting, so I'm definitely going to need to stay on top of this class. A few of my friends and I actually started a study group for this class. We meet everyday after class and go over the lecture and make sure we all understand it. Luckily for us, there is a tutor available on campus for us if ever needed (which we will). Wednesday I didn't have class, so I spent the day catching up on readings and sleep. Thursday I had International Marketing. Man oh man, I don't even know how to explain this guy. He is so strange, yet so awesome! He is a brilliant man, but he's a quirky one. One example would be... he opened a thing of cat food, pulled out a spoon, and took a huge bite of it. But he didn't stop after one bite, he continued eating it. *barf* Friday we had Business Math. I was nervous for this class because I didn't know which type of math it would be, but turns out it won't be too bad (at least I hope not).

This weekend was supposed to be jammed packed with fun events, but a few of them got cancelled. On Friday I was invited to an event hosted by Women in the World. I am so incredibly grateful that I went, because it was the most amazing six hours I've ever had. Since we had class in the morning, we only attended the afternoon session, which started at 2:30. WITW flew in women leaders, activists, and change-makers from all over the world to share their stories. It was incredible!! The first speaker I saw was Catherine Mayer, the founder of Britain's fastest-growing political party. She talks about gender equality in politics. Next was Joesph Kony's girl soldiers, Agnes Igoye, Polline Akello, and Sister Rosemary Nyirumble. Agnes and Polline talked about life after Kony. They explained how they've learned to forgive Kony, even after kidnapping them and raping them, through the love of God. Sister Rosemary talked about her determination to save all these girls that are trapped under Kony. Next was Tessa Ross, Dr. Margaret Aderin-Pocock, Halla Tomasdottir, Sharon Doherty. The four of them talked about women leaders and what it takes to become a woman leader. They also talked about the importance of men being on board with gender equality. Next were two Ebola survivors, Abibatu and her brother, Lanphia. They talked how they lost their father and two of their brothers to Ebola. They went into detail describing how they found out they had Ebola and what it felt like. They even talked about how they were about to die, but overcame it. Next was the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. This woman is a BOSS. She reminded me Olivia Pope (to all my Scandal lovers out there). She kicks ass and takes names. She talked about her journey to get to where she is today and basically got the entire crowd on their feet. Next we had four more women join the stage to talk about the end of misogyny. On the stage was Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Zing Tsjeng, Bonnie Greer Obe, and Charlotte Rachel Proudman. These four women were amazing. They talked about everyday sexism that goes on in the workplace. They talked about how women (and other men) need to continue calling out guys on the sexist comments, so we can once and for all end sexism. You might recgonize Charlotte from your local news. She made international news for calling out a guy on twitter for sending her a LinkedIn message about her looks. When I was in Texas I had seen multiple stories on her! Next was teenage rapper and activist, Sonita Alizadeh, from Afghanistan. This girl's mom tried to sale her when she was just 10 years old. Instead of obeying her mom, Sonita started to tell her stories through rap. It was incredible hearing how far this girl has come. Next was Mhairi Black, the youngest MP to ever sit Parliament. At the age of 20, she decided she wanted to make a change and decided to run. She is not afraid to do whatever it takes to get what she, and her people, wants. She is a badass! Next was soccer player, Eniola Aluko. She talks about life before soccer, and how she became a lawyer. Next was Yeonmi Park, a 20-year old who escaped North Korea. This girl had everyone in there crying. Her story is so unbelievable and heartbreaking. Next was Cara Delevingne, an English actress and model. She opened up about her struggles with depression. Last to speak were the parents of Malala Yousafzai, the activist for female education and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. They talked about the day the found out that their daughter had been shot. They talked about how proud they are of Malala and how they always knew she was different from the other girls. These two talked so highly of their daughter, it was amazing to see. The entire day was amazing!! When we walked out of there, we were all so exhausted. I've never been so touched and inspired in my life. I'm so grateful for that opportunity and I will never forget that day. After that, we were supposed to do a Pub Run, but that didn't happen since we were all so tired. Instead we went to Shoreditch and had dinner at the BBQ place that I've talked about before -- it's at BoxPark and the restaurant is called Porky's BBQ. It's soooo good!

On Saturday, I spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry. I was having my first guests over that evening, so I wanted to make sure the place looked good! Five of my girlfriends came over and we played some card games for a little while. I whipped out some chips from home (thanks again Jenny and Shawn!) and they LOVED them. I had Julio's chips and some HEB salsa and they all went to town on it. After that, we headed over to a friend's housewarming party. The place was packed with Hult students, which always guarantees a good time.

On Sunday I was supposed to go to London Oktoberfest, but they cancelled the event completely. I was SO disappointed. Apparently, on night 1 of Oktoberfest (Thursday) everything that could've gone wrong, did go wrong. So instead of drinking with thousands of people, I caught up on some readings and then headed over to Hult Towers (where I spend most of my time) and watched some good ol' American Football. Man, I have missed watching football!! Sadly, I couldn't get the channel that played the Patriots v. Cowboys, but it was still fun watching some other teams.

As for today, I was definitely feeling the Monday blues. We have class everyday this week, plus a few outside events to attend. It's going to be a long week, but here's to making it a good one!