does your conscience bother you, now tell the truth.

when one experiences a class that changes the way they think, it is a rarity, and something that needs not to be taken lightly. today's class has been one of those very instances. today, we talked mainly about the culture of ancient greece and artifacts from that time, and each thing we talked about opened a new door for me. when we talked about the cycladic figures, i came to realize that they might not have been idols promoting the body. in fact, because they are brightly painted, it is more likely that they served one of two other purposes. they were either used similarly to the sumerian votive figures to display reverence to their gods always, or they were perhaps even used as toys. we also talked about the something i was completely unfamiliar with. apparently, the island of santorini is the opening of a huge volcano that once stood three-quarters of a mile in height. a small part of the volcano remains active today, but after its major explosion in 1268 BCE, the majority of the volcano sunk into the sea. the ash cloud was documented as being seen all the way into china, and it was that ash cloud that caused for the many living levels at the palace of knossos to occur. and it is our talk today on the palace of knossos that provided the core for the class experience i had today. apparently, the gentleman who discovered knossos, arthur evans, was even more dishonest than i had ever known. although their was strong evidence supporting the fact that the palace was in fact, not a palace, and that the king's chambers were really a dressing area, he wanted so badly to create the british castle idea and find a king and queen that he ignored the facts. he also added the snakes to the popular piece snake goddess, therefore giving it the goddess image and destroying its true purpose. however, it was the discussion about homer and his writings on atlantis that proved to be most interesting to me. although we always have heard that atlantis sunk to the bottom of the sea, homer merely wrote that it was lost. he said that it was extremely advanced for its time and was a cultural center like no other. in fact, it is most likely the palace of knossos, constantly covered by volcanic ash which ultimately engulfed the city, that the poet was referring to. moments like this reaffirm my major and let me know i made the right choice for my academic career.

today we also visited the ashmolean museum. though i did not care for it much due to the fact it was mostly a pottery and porcelain based collection. it still provided some great examples of art. i saw my first real mummy, an amazing replica of both the head of laocoon and the bronze zeus, a skull from jericho, and countless buddhas from around asia. however, it were the elephants that i fell in love with this time. i focused the majority of my attention in the far eastern exhibits because that is where my interest mainly lies, but i never noticed how exquisite the drawings of elephants from that region are until this visit. the form varies from image to image, but they are always presented in a respectable light. it differs greatly from many other images of animals presented in that time, and the emotion the ashmolean put into presenting them was definitely felt. however, i became frustrated in the fact the identification cards were either wrong, or simply horrible in that they would say the work "probably" is attributed to a certain person or region. the redeeming factor for the museum came in their modern art exhibit. i'm normally not a huge fan of modern art, i appreciate it, but it doesn't keep my attention well, but i was extremely impressed with their piece by kandinsky and the picasso they displayed. the kandinsky work was extremely linear with his signature bright blues occurring in aesthetically pleasing areas. the chose a picasso work which, surprisingly enough, was not from his cubism movement. it was a refreshing change, and i commend them on their selection.

today would not be complete without some amazing things. first, i finally own a pair of rainboots. i promised myself i would by a pair while i was here because it's england, it rains all of the time, and they would know which ones are the best. they are fantastic. bright yellow and pink in color. i am thrilled because this is the first pair of rainboots i have owned since my winnie the pooh ones i had in massachusetts. i also found the perfect souvenir for nicole! nicole is definitely the hardest person to shop for because she is very selective, has too many clothes as it is, and i wanted it to be something she'd love. i think it's absolutely perfect and i can't wait to give it to her! in addition to these things, today's food and drink choices have definitely been great ones. for dinner this evening, duckie, zach, carley, cleo, and i went to fire and stone because we were craving pizza. it's four pounds, for what i thought was just a slice or two, on thursdays, so we couldn't pass it up. it turns out it is an small pizza for a pound! i got what was called quattro formaggi, simply a four cheese pizza, but it wasn't what i expected at all. this is the description given on the menu: fire & stone’s tomato sauce, torn buffalo mozzarella, roquefort blue cheese, grated mozzarella & parmesan. i expected everything to be mixed together or layered, but the cheese was divided into quarters, each one getting to stand alone. it was phenomenal, and i have half, exactly one slice of each kind, to look forward to whenever i want it since i took it home. and when i thought it couldn't get anymore sensational, i had the most incredible cider ale in existence. it was strawberry and bear, and i can't compare it anything i've ever had before. it was good enough that i took a picture, and i am determined to find somewhere in the united states that carries it. after dinner, i came back and took a nap before heading out for the evening, and it was possibly the most appreciated nap i've taken yet this trip. later, barry, josh, and i went out for drinks and karaoke, but it was really them doing the karaoke because sweet home alabama isn't really a song i can karaoke to the best of my abilities. tonight was the night of pitchers for us. it wasn't much alcohol because we each got one good sized drink per pitcher, but the drinks were something i want to learn to make back home. the first was a pimm's cocktail, the second a drink called purple rain, and the last was named frilly tutu. after savoring every flavor they provided, we headed to the castle tavern for their song debut before we turned in for the night. and when i got home i had the best surprise of all, hot water.

but of course, i couldn't deprive you of images of my day, so here some are.

the ashmolean's elephant and buddha which i love endlessly.




the incredible strawberry pear cider ale.


and of course, my favorite thing of the day. a video of barry and josh's rendition of sweet home alabama. however, it won't upload at the moment, so you have something to look forward to in the coming days.