Field Trips

Hello again faithful (and non-faithful) readers! For both of my classes today, we took a field trip to a museum. I also took a field trip of my own to the library. I felt a little like Ms. Frizzle today or something. Haha.

For my Islam vs. The West class, we were originally going to meet in class for about an hour and then go to the Victoria and Albert Museum down the road to see their Islamic Art exhibit. Well that didn't quite happen. When we arrived at Foundation House, we saw a sign that we were going to meet down in the common room. We all got there and our prof told us that we were just going to head straight for the museum instead. We got to the museum at about twenty after to realize that it doesn't open until 10! Haha. Oops. So we all just split up and walked around until then. Me and a few other people walked by a bakery and then spent the rest of our time in a souvenir/card shop looking at Valentine's Day cards and tacky souvenirs. We came back to V & A (nickname for the museum) and got in. My prof lead us in and talked for two minutes and then said, "Right, just go in, have a look around and leave whenever you feel like." I stayed for about an hour looking at the Islamic Art exhibit and some other ones too and then left. I really liked the exhibit. Its so interesting that Muslims were making bowls and carpets with geometric shapes and literally NO human figures on anything at the same time that Medieval artists were painting church scenes with only people in them. Very different artistic styles 1000 years old, that prelude to the "styles" that still rub together the wrong way today.

I walked from the V & A to the Kensington Central Library and checked out some books. One was by Rick Steves (that CAN NOT be his real name). He has a website that has a whole bunch of travel articles and maps and guides on it. I also picked up a book called "Country Walks Near London". AWESOME!!!!! A bunch of day hikes that are all within about 2 hours of London by train. That was exactly the kind of book I wanted. Lastly, I got a book called "Atilla" which is historical fiction about Atilla the Hun.

Vanessa and I walked from our flat to the National Gallery for Art History. It saves money and its not too far of a walk (a little under an hour). The class was spent going through the museum and looking for signs, symbols, and allegories. We looked at the very famous painting "Marriage of Arnolthini". We talked about all the symbols: dog, fruit, chandalier, mirror, etc. We also looked at the "The Ambassadors" and the symbols in that. There were other paintings too. It was all really cool looking for the symbols and deciphering what they mean. Sometimes I think, it seems like not EVERYTHING has a meaning. I don't know. Maybe it does, but I just think that sometimes the artist just put one or two things in for the fun of it. No way to know really, since all the artists we looked at died like 400 years ago or more.

As we were walking back, I was doing a little quiz with Vanessa on American History. She said she didn't know much so I would ask her stuff and see if she knew it and then I would tell her about it. I felt kind of bad, like I was making fun of her or being patronizing and I said that but she replied that it was good for her so I don't know. We got back and made our reservations for Spring Break (that being plane tickets and hostels). So that's all done, for better or worse. Then I ate spaghetti for dinner, watched tv and read. Later on, I drank my now usual cup of tea and did this entry. Very exciting evening, I know.

To recap my school week, I had 2 hours of Senior Sem, 1 hour of Islam vs. The West, about 2.5 hours of Art History, and then 1.5 hours of Senior Sem (tomorrow). That's it for classes this week. Wow, that's an easy schedule. I have a paper and a check up on my Art History journal and a bunch of readings due next week so it's not all good (though it is mostly good).

As-Salamu Alaykum.
(Arabic for "Peace Be With You". It's used by both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians.)