back in action

British Word of the Day: banger - meat product that comes in long skinny tubes, fried up and often accompanied with mash, [mashed potatoes]. (American's "sausage.") eg: "I'm making bangers tonight, will you make the mash?"

I'm back in England, after much traveling. The ferry took 7 hours (while it was moving). The trains took about 5 hours. The traveling took...a while. But I think it was worth it. I'm exhausted, and my room smells like cumin--my roommate went to Morocco for break, and brought me back a bag of cumin to spice up my night. and day. and afternoons. and mornings. I don't know where to put it so that it doesn't smell up the entire room it's in. I should find something that seals really well--Tupperware in the house seems to be in short supply at any given moment. There are always leftovers, and never any leftover Tupperware as a result. Maybe some sort of bag would work. Some "cling film" perhaps.

Tomorrow we go on a field trip all day to Veralamium / St. Alban's. It should be a good time. St Alban was an interesting fellow. There are only stories about him--nothing is proven, since it all happened so long ago.

In its most basic form, the story goes something like this.

Amphibula was a Christian in England when it wasn't so popular.
Alban was a kind-hearted...pagan.
Amphibula hid with Alban.
Alban was impressed with Amphibula's piety, and converted to Christianity.
Alban dressed up in Amphibula's cloak when the soldiers came to kill Amphibula, a renowned Christian of the area.
Alban was taken away, and crowds swarmed onto the bridge, the only passageway to the place of execution.
Alban became a saint in a matter of a few hours:
1. He prayed that God would allow him to be martyr, and God parted the river, allowing them to cross to the place of execution.
2. He prayed that God would give them water to drink when they crossed--everyone gets thirsty, even martyrs.
3. He was executed, and at the moment the ax chopped off his head, the executioner's eyes popped out of his skull. Some pictures depict the executioner catching his eyeballs having just chopped off the head of Alban, in a moment of spectacular dexterity.

Thus, he came to be known as St. Alban, the first martyr of the Christian church of England.

Tomorrow we will go to see his shrine in the church at Veralamium.

Today, I will try to read some love-letters of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. Crucial to my long-essay.

Up next: Choosing My Case Study Questions During British Landscapes, Quite Feasibly "How does knowledge of the business of theatre OR the practicalities and conventions of the theatre in Shakespeare’s lifetime affect our understanding of his work?"
and "'Through hymnody Vaughan Williams reached his widest audience and had his most profound impact on English cultural life’. Do you agree?"

More reading. More writing. What did I expect?

Cheers!