Family Cometh, Family Leaveth

Well, my family came and my family went. It first started with my sister's surprise visit at the end of February. Unfortunately, she arrived at the busiest time of the year in terms of lectures to attend so I could only do things with her in the evening. This didn't stop her from attending my International Finance course on Tuesday morning. She spent most of the lecture doodling some interesting things. She also met up with some of my colleagues from my program who showed her around town and kept her busy when she was waiting for me at the cafeteria (she makes friends very quickly). While I went to class, Isabelle mostly toured London's art scene. We would have lunch and supper at cool spots and even had a couple pints in my local water drinking hole (Finsbury Park Pub).

On Friday, when the rest of my family arrived, we even had a mini b-day party for my cousin Gabriel, celebrating his 11th b-day (what a great way to have a party... traversing half-way accross the globe). My sister had to leave shortly thereafter to start her own pan-European tour (starting in Vienna). We then started the walking tour (much to the chagrin of my mother's left knee). We saw most of the sights in central London that first day although no museums (this was left for future visits).

On Saturday, I left my family to their own devices while I tied a few loose ends for school. Gabi went to a children's session of Les Misérables Making while my mother and aunt went shopping in Soho and Piccadilly Circus. They then saw the musical Les Misérables and made their way back for supper. The next day (Sunday), we went to visit Camden Town and Portobello Market, two opposing markets in style and substance but both interesting in their own respects. The day was marvellous with lots of sunshine and warmer weather which was a treat, even for me.

On Monday, I left Gabi and Jacqueline went to a British school (she had pre-arranged this to allow Gabi to see a British school and also for her to compare the Canadian system to the one in the United Kingdom) while my mother and I took our time. We then made our way to the British Museum. I had a bit of study time in the Library while my mother saw a few exhibits. Around 3:30 PM, we met up with my cousin, aunt and toured the British Museum together walking past the Near Middle East, Greek and Egyptian artifacts. My cousin thought the mummies were very cool!

On Tuesday to Thursday, my family went to Paris, leaving me to 15 hours of lectures, a project to hand in, three homework assignments due and a number of papers to read. After little sleep, too many group meetings, I was able to complete most of everything by the time they arrived. However, by this time, after sharing my room for over a week and having little sleep, my body was starting to let me down. I had a cold and sore throat and I was exhausted. I had to attend class on Friday from nine to noon so my family decided to visit LSE afterwards. I found them in the Garrick Cafeteria. It was great to have finished my week at school and able to devote myself fully to my family. We toured the LSE campus. I believe my mother really enjoyed this and you could tell she missed her university days. Sometimes you are so immersed into the atmosphere you forget these are the best years of our lives. In the afternoon, we visited the Kensington Palace which was also a treat because it is always interesting to see how the Monarchs live. There was a Diana exhibit which was very well done. We finished the evening by going back home while my aunt and cousin visited the Science Museum nearby.

Saturday was a great way to finish a hectic 10 days. We slept in, looked at some photos from my trip to Morroco and Egypt. In 2010, my aunt and uncle will be taking six months off with the boys and they will hopefully be doing lots of travelling. They are interested in taking the boys back to Europe and making a trip to North Africa. The world is your classroom. We finally made our way to the Tower Bridge where we visited the exhibit (again taking advantage of the 2 for 1 entries which greatly reduced the cost of their trip). We then visited the Imperial War Museum, my favourite museum in London (perhaps the world) thus far. It is one of those museums, so intelligently laid out with something for the ears, eyes and nose (yes, they had interactive trenches, along with some unappealling smells). We finished the evening by eating some Indian food with Sha and Tex, two of my flatmates from Kerala in India. They knew their food and made great guests.

I saw my family off this morning before coming back, sick and exhausted, and holding a copy of today's Sunday Daily Times (thick as a phone book). I dropped the newspaper to the ground, rolled into bed and slept a wonderful three hours. I woke up in silence. And space. It was nice but it felt like something was missing. Although living in a small room with four people was trying and exhausting, it was also nice to wake up to Gabi's non-stop gabbering and questioning the silliest things. He is one of the only children I know who can entertain himself for hours upon hours by simply talking to himself or others (whether they listen or not). Amazing! Yes, it was both sad and welcoming to see my family depart but we will share some wonderful memories from their trip. I truly love them.