Lesson 1: always bring more socks than you think you'll need.

I'm writing from the pub beneath my hostel. A band is playing, but I'm tired and want to go to bed. It's 10:30. I have been waiting to write this post for the whole night, but a guy has been on the computer watching youtube videos all night. I asked him to use it earlier and he let me, but I said that it would be only 5 minutes, which is not enough time to check my email and write a blog entry. Anyway, in attempt to save time and make things more coherent, I wrote the following earlier this evening.
I am sitting in my hostel room in London (to be transcribed later tonight). Old punk rock music is drifting through my open window- the Sex Pistols and what I think is the New York Dolls. Today was a good day. I have a blister on my right heel, but that is only because I walked a lot today and wore shoes without socks (I apparently didn't bring enough socks).
I went to Portobello Market and \Hyde Park with my hostel roommates, who are from Spain. There are two women and a man (who isn't my roommate). He is an olive oil farmer in Grenada! I think that's really cool- his father and grandfather and on and on and all of his brothers have been and are olive oil farmers. He doesn't speak a word of English, and neither does his sister Elena. \Susana speaks only a little (she is younger, and a friend of Elena). I am finally glad that I had to take Spanish in school.
After Hyde Park, I set off on my own to see the British Museum. I didnt' spend much time there- maybe 20 minutes and then it closed. Then I TRIED to find a vegetarian restaurant I had read about called |Food For Thought, but for the life of me I could not find it and kept getting lost. Finally I just decided to eat at a Thai restaurant where the prices were pretty good (£3.95 for a meal, which actually turns out to be $8.00, but I was tired of walking and looking). I had steamed vegetables in a ginger sauce. THat was really good, but they charged me £.90 for a glass of water, and then my waitress filled it again, and they charged me double. So I spent over $3.00 on tap water. One more item to add to me 'waste of money' list, which is now up to about $30.00 (most of it spent yesterday on unnecessary transport cost). But I guess I saved dinner yesterday and lunch today by buying a baguette and chease and pears at a grocery store.
Mommy and Daddy, sorry I haven't called you yet- I have to get around to buying a phone card and figuring out how to use it, plus it's the middle of the afternoon when it's night here, and vice versa. Maybe tomorrow morning your time? We'll see. Love you.
It's time for bed. Tomorrow I go to a music festival which will be a good part of my London budget (£30, which = $60), but will be completely worth it.