Hello all, hope all is well with all of you. I have been receiving a huge amount of support lately from emails, comments, messages etc. All of you are really encouraging me and it's so wonderful. So thank you. I am happy to say that currently it is not raining here. It has rained practically non stop for the last two days..so needless to say England has officially opened her arms and her skies to welcome us here. It is all good though. I am learning quickly however, just how much of the wardrobe I brought can handle this kind of weather. Definitely looking forward to buying a pair of wellies, or rain boots, soon. Also, I have found it very difficult to not buying everything with a British flag on it during our tours around London. London is so beautiful all the time, even in the rain.

I wanted to note really quick that even though I have gone back into my blogs and corrected names and titles, I haven't been entirely correct in naming some of the things in the pictures I posted. For example, the London Bridge is in fact officially named the Tower Bridge. I will try and do a better job of that in the future. Another fun fact is Big Ben is a made up name and there is no part of the clock tower or parliament that is named Big Ben. The official name for the clock tower is Elizabeth Tower.  It is still okay to call it Big
Ben though, everyone does.

So, to update you on my most recent adventures. Part #1. Monday was a national bank holiday. Our group of five took this opportunity to go to Notting Hill to witness Carnival. Carnival takes place here in England every August and is the largest street festival in all of Europe. Notting Hill Carnival is a three day long parade where people dress up in traditional "Mas" costumes from Trinidad and Tobago and basically dance in the streets. It is a very beautiful show with elaborate costumes and exciting dancing. The music is loud and life giving and the energy that the dancers have is infectious. Most of the music was from steel drum bands or Soca. I have included a few pictures below.This event was made even more special to us because one of the girls in the group studied abroad in Trinidad and Tobago and has studied the history of Carnival. It was a very special thing to witness and one of many unexpected things I am sure to experience while here in England.

Us soca-ing up the rain (ba dum ch!)

This was predominantly how large the costume groups were 

Ashlyn, Andrea, and Elise soaking in the rain. Luckily people were handing out Brothers hats so they used them for a bit of shelter.

The costumes were pretty elaborate and large. Very beautiful. Most of the women had large wings.

Steel drum band

"Mas" costumes

Another example of the large elaborate costumes.

More Mas costumes