Boring, and then Better

This past week was mostly boring, with one very nice day. After the Stomachache, on Tuesday, I stayed home to rest and rehabilitate my knee, doing absolutely nothing. So Tuesday was boring.
Wednesday was fun though. I went to Cambridge and was shown around by a real live student! (Thanks Gaby!) We walked around a bunch of colleges, getting into places ordinary tourists can't, and I got a very interesting explanation of some of the history and culture of Cambridge. Those people can party! For two weeks in June, after exams, the University has something called May Week (no idea)where the colleges throw massive black-tie balls, complete with circuses and champagne and oysters and silent disco and Jay-Z and unlimited food and alcohol and fun. I did not get to go to one :(
Very cool though. That night I went out with a young couple I got friendly with. They took me to a kosher pub, which was kind of neat. The place was a pub, and a restaurant, and all the food is kosher; though they don't serve pub food, it was still fun. The food was decent, the atmosphere was...different, and each table had a touch screen computer on which you order, play games, pub quizzes, and can read your horoscope.
Thursday and Friday were both boring days. I stayed at home, RICEd my knee, stretched, and was bored. Shabbos, however, was AMAZING. On Friday night I went to a really amazing family, had amazing food (lamb tagine, brisket, moroccan chicken, roasted veg, roasted potatoes, great salad with quinoa, really delicious) and some great conversation. The grandfather can trace his family entirely in England all the way back to the 17th century; he was in London during the Blitz and told stories about hiding in the bomb shelters and actually getting hit by an explosion. The grandmother and I talked about Victorian literature, we all talked about military history, and the three oldest kids and I (the eldest is exactly Yosef's age) had a very intense conversation about Doctor Who, while the adults rolled their eyes at us. Awesome! It is a shame that American kids don't grow up with Doctor Who, it has to be one the most well-done kids TV shows (that can also be enjoyed by adults) ever made. Watch it.
For lunch I went to one of the rabbis in the JLE, a South African fellow, who had 40 people for lunch. 40. It was massive. I met tons of new people, including a cohort of French girls, some of them med students, who sat across from me. We talked for most of the meal and between mincha and maariv as well. The rabbi put on this hilarious, I guess you could call it a show, where he sang, in quite an operatic voice, a yiddishe song about mashiach and then proceeded to put on hats from a number of different countries (USA, Scotland, South Africa, England, Russia, etc) and sing in each country's 'style.' You had to be there, but it was hilarious. The whole shabbos had great food, great people, great conversation, a great end to my time here in the UK. I leave to Amsterdam on Tuesday, my knee is sort of starting to improve-ish, and hopefully, next week will mirror this past shabbos more than it will this past week.