This week it seems I got a bit of a taste of what it is like to be an
introvert. That is not to say that introverts are bad, but being a bit more
extraverted myself, it is sometimes hard to find time for myself and I often do
not realize I need some time alone until I am alone. And that is exactly what
happened this week!
Recently two of my flatmate's parents came to visit and took us all out to
dinner, which was very nice I of them. But then they decided they wanted some
alone time with their children, and both happened to choose this current
weekend as the time to do it. Amy left Thursday morning to go to London with
her family, and Libby left Friday morning. That left Austin and myself alone in
the flat this entire weekend, which I was very excited for. (Well, until Sunday
when Amy returns.)
But on Thursday, Libby and Austin both have classes all day, and Amy was
gone so I was all alone in the flat. Usually Amy and I send the day together
going to a random restaurant and visiting some shops, but not this time. This
time I was completely alone.
At first I was really nervous about it, because I am in a new city and I
have horrible sense of direction, and what if I got lost. And who would I
ramble on to? But as it got closer, I got really excited for the day alone. I
realized that a day all to myself meant I could look around a store as long as
I wanted, I could try on clothes forever, I could eat whatever I wanted, I
could even sleep all day if I wanted. It was a day all about Caitlin, and I was
totally fine with that. (Also, I love Batman, so I felt the title was fitting.)
I ended up choosing to get up early and ride the bus into the main city
center for the day. I started off at a clothing store called Primark and tried
on a few clothes, none of which I particularly liked, I just wanted to try on some
random clothes for fun. I then walked near Christ's Church and visited a little
shop I had heard of called Alice's Shop. It is suppose to be the place that
Alice, the real girl who Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is based on,
would go to buy sweets.
I spent a good fifteen minutes looking about the shop, just because I could,
and bought a few postcards, some Mad Hatter Tea, and Alice's Tea. I have always
really liked the book, so I was very pleased to go there and look at all the
Alice themed merchandise. I considered buying a mug that the Cheshire cat on
it. When it would get hot the cat would completely disappear except for his
smile, and I thought was really cool, but not 15 pounds cool.
I then strolled around the Covered Market and the Golden Shops which are
attached to it. I did not go in anywhere, but it was nice to walk around among
the busy shop keepers and customers, as well as the mixed aromas of bread,
cookies, and bacon. I also ended up walking down Cornmarket street, and went
past it to the other side where there is a large church and several tall
buildings. I found a Tesco there and felt extremely proud of myself for the
discovery.
Next, I headed to some of the really touristy shops to look around. I am
usually too embarrassed to go in them, but on Caitlin's Day, nothing is
embarrassing. There really was not anything I liked, so I headed to
Sainsbury's, bought a Rekorderlig, then went to a Cornish Pasty stand and
bought a pasty for lunch. I ate it up as I was very hungry at this point. The
warm dough and chicken inside, along with the strawberry-lime drink helped heat
me up against the chill winds that blew about.
Lastly, I went inside Jack Wills to look around, just so I could say I went
in there. I felt a bit out of place among the extremely fashionable and
expensive clothes as I walked about in my blue raincoat with butterflies all
over it. The security guard said 'Cheers' to me as I left though, so I guess I
did not look too strange. I also went to Blackwell's poster store and looked
around. I didn't want anything but it was fun to look around.
And that was the end of Thursday's activities, but Friday Austin and I had
the whole day to ourselves so we hung out together doing whatever we wanted. We
chose to go to the National History Museum, as well as the Pitt Rivers Museum
which is attached.
There were all kinds of stuffed animals and skeletons you could touch. There
were actually signs that said 'Please Touch'. I got to pet a cheetah, fox, random
spiral shell fossils, pheasant, badger, and as many rocks I could find. There
were also some amazing dinosaur skeletons, such as a triceratops skull, which I
got a bit over zealous around and petted even though the sign said not to. We
then saw a dodo exhibit, tons of creepy insects, a petrified human skull, animals
from around the world, and creepy water parasites that made me extremely
uncomfortable to look at.
In the Pitt Rivers Museum we walked around for a bit, although it was three
stories tall and we started getting rather hungry, so we did not stay very long,
but it was still fascinating. In the far back was a giant totem pole made by
some Native Americans. I immediately, upon seeing it, exclaimed to Austin that
it was from our home land and went over to get a closer look. It was almost
three stories tall and had carvings of a man, bird, wolf, and several other
creatures. Upon inspection of the inscription I found out it was actually made
by Canadian Native Americans, which upset me a bit, but it was still very
exciting to see. There were several other cases, but as I plan to go back there
at some point, I will save what else I saw for another post in the future.
Until next time...
Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin
"Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, though the cockroach would miss us most." -Joseph Wood Krutch
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