DAY #7

Monday means that we’re back to home school in the morning.  Declan did the final draft of his essay on Trench Warfare, inspired by the exhibit at the Imperial War Museum.  Cal practiced his letters.  Math worksheets are tough for everyone.  I feel like a losing contestant on that Jeff Foxworthy show “Do you know more than a 5^th grader?”  In the afternoon, we went to the Tower of London (very cool) and the London Dungeon (very scary – Cal did not go).  I watched another Chelsea match at the local pub.  One notable thing to me is the extent to which London reflects the world.  You hear this said about DC quite a bit (i.e. people from all over, embassies, international city, etc) but it doesn’t come close to the sort of internationalism you feel walking around here.  Of particular note, there is a large and established Arab population.  So much so that there are Arabic signs all over the city, several Arab language TV stations, even a prayer channel that seems to show worshippers at the holy city all day long.  Can you imagine such a thing on your Comcast or Fios cable package???  We’ve got a long way to go. – Blake

I agree with Blake about the internationalism of the city.  I am also struck by the tourist monuments and how much they celebrate power.  Westminster is a monument to saying no to the Pope.  The Tower of London is a monument to power of the monarchy and its survival over rebellions and Catholicism.  British Museum puts the spoils of colonialism on display.  Of course no one builds anything to celebrate the losers, but the British seem to have no problem with the world getting up close and personal with its winnings. – Connan