A Side of Sardines, Please.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Brighton to enjoy a day off classes. The morning was quite cold, especially when we were walking by the water, and after a few hours it started to rain. Kind of a bummer to be in such a beautiful city right on the beach and have it literally rain on your parade. (I mean it when I say literally - there was a massive parade all through the streets because yesterday was apparently some holiday. hah!) The parade was interesting - it was a 'kids' parade so there were thousands of children and parents dressed up as everything from bananas to devils, from mimes to birds, from turtles to natives. I have no idea what the purpose of the parade was, but it was sweet to watch. There were some unsual street perfomers, too.
The rain only lasted about half hour, thank the Lord, and then the weather began to clear up and the sun began to shine. It turned into quite a lovely afternoon, actually.
The city was beautiful. I loved all the buildings. We parked right by the water and walked for a ways before we arrived at the main beach area. It was so cool - just off the beach there were basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, and little areas where some young kids from a dance studio were doing some freestyle break dancing. All along the beach there were shops and little booths to buy stuff. There's this massive pier that is probably about as long as White Rock pier, but a lot wider and all the way down it are little jewelry booths and snack shops, etc. At the end is a full out amusement park! Game booths, food places, a MASSIVE arcade, roller coasters, haunted houses, the works! All right on the water! I thought it was cool. Of course I did what anyone would do while walking along the water in England - I had me some of their famous fish n' chips! Lemme tell you - America's gotta step up their game because it's true, England has THE best fish n' chips. Except their vinegar is nasty. But that's okay.
So we crossed the street from the pier after the parade died down and walked through 'The Lanes'. The Lanes are pretty much just a bunch of streets that are PACKED with shops for people to walk through, but no cars can drive through them. Sort of how Vancouver was during the olympics with the streets closed down so that people could just walk, except this was like a village full of these streets and shops. It was so cool! Very easy to get lost in, however. Which is what happened. Of course. With my luck, I was bound to get lost. Alexa and I were following the others when a mob of people got infront of us and by the time the mob cleared, our group was gone. So we ventured out on our own and meandered through the quaint little 'town'. I was warned beforehand that Brighton is quite a 'colourful' place with a lot of very different people. That's an undestatement. There were people dressed in anime costumes, outfits that looked like they were better suited for halloween, every hair colour and cut you could possibly imagine... I felt like I was walking through a circus at times!
If I wasnt able to see snippets of the ocean through some of the buildings, I dont know if we would have found our way back to the beach, though. It was a good thing our group had arranged a meeting time to be back at the van in case our group was split up. I had a ton of fun with Alexa. Most of the stores in the area we walked around in were SUPER expensive, but some of them were really neat - like the one devoted soley Beattles souveniers. We found a massive H&M in a mall that was 3 stories high. It was heavenly... for someone who has a lot of money to spend. But we were content to do mostly window shopping.
It was Cassie's bday yesterday so after we got back from Brighton we had a mini party for her - balloons, table decorations, a birthday cake, etc. Then last night at about 8pm we decided to have a dance party. Lucky for us one of the staff members here is a DJ in London and so he set up his whole set - coloured strobe lights, disco balls, all his crazy technology and booming speakers - it was FAB! We went crazy and had a blast. Alex makes some sick mixes. We all agreed we would have to do that more often. I think we were at it non-stop for 3 or 4 hours? I cant exactly remember ahah, but man - what a work out! Aha!
Today Anna and I made traditional Sunday Roast for dinner after everyone came home from church. We started cooking at 9am and finally finished at 1:10pm. We made two whole chickens in a garlic basil glaze, jacket potatoes mixed wth parsnips & carrots, and peas & corn in a butter-cheese sauce. For dessert we baked banana-chocolate chip cookies but layered the desert cups with a layer of mashed bananas, two halves of the cookies, homemade custard, and then topped with vanilla ice cream. Mmmm so yummy!
We spent the afternoon doing a bunch of homework assignments, then at 8pm we decided to play sardines. Do you realize how much fun playing sardines is in a massive old manor?! There are SO many places to hide! We played for 2 hours and only got to play 2 rounds! It was intense. If you dont know how to play, it's basically where one person hides somewhere and everyone else has to try and find them. If you find the person, you then have to hide with them. The last person to find the hiding place is the next person to be it. We turned off the lights to play and it was spooky! I loved it. Found some interesting hiding spots for next time. =)

That's my quick overview.

Cheers!