monday morning had me starting my 'new' job today...it was a job in discussion way back in october that is finally going to become a reality...although we'll see because after one week, i'm still working both jobs. :) i moved into environment solutions full time and its going to be an interesting position. protecting the environment and words like climate change and greenhouse gas are a buzz everywhere so i'm ready to jump in!

i have to say that this week was a slow, boring and average 'sleep work eat' week. on thursday though, i went out with my friend bim to a celebration of london, hosted by a few christian congregations. the concept was to celebrate london...did you get that from the title?

we were entertained by Joe Stilgoe...billed as a Jazz man, but really, he was more bluesy and a less popular michael buble. so he tried to find 'london-ish' songs to sing and said he found it quite difficult. but he started off with a foggy day in london town so really, how could he go wrong from there? he also sang baker street by gerry rafferty, a song that contains perhaps the most famous saxaphone rift...ever...and it was funny because when i moved to baker street, my friend rick had to bring this to my attention. :) i can't remember what else he sang but he did close with waterloo sunset by the kinks. very enjoyable.

joe was followed by the London Community Gospel Choir. its amazing...only a quarter of the choir was there but they were stunning. they sang 'one love'...who doesn't love marley. they sang many more songs but i know how freaky people get when you talk religion so i won't...but take a listen to them if you can...and if you can appreciate choral music. check out the video on the home page though....its the FA cup starring my darlings chelsea. sigh...they won't win this year. way too many injuries and too many tough games at the end...sadness.

the evening ended with a sermon by rico tice...interesting fella. he used to be a rugby player and you can tell...he's got that build. :) he reminded me of father len at st. mikes back at home. no one could get people excited about regular things like father len...he made things relevant. no wonder the church had their eye on him...inches away from getting the boot! but len beat them to it and i'm glad that he's 'up there' keeping an eye on all of us who got him. he was a very inspirational guy.

the next night was friday and kate and i decided to break with tradition (to some of our friend's dismay) and only have a few beers then head to westfield to watch a single man. we got picked on so badly because we were going to a 'mall' to watch a movie and probably eat at the mall too...how american! hahaha. but no, we had pub food which made me feel ill as it usually does, but when we got to the cinema...oh what a treat. the movie was playing in the 'scene' cinema where it was playing in a 'superior' screen...didn't know what that was all about until i saw we had our own concession stand, couches to lounge on, fab loos, and all the seats in the theatre (75 in total) were loungers. sigh. it was heaven. it was like a private screening.

on saturday i head out to borough market. it was absolute mayhem but i can totally see why. food. was. everywhere.

i got very excited because i now know where i can get rabbit to roast. mmmmmmm. so many butchers, produce, fromagerie, bread, patisseries...you name it, it was there. of course, there were also the stands where you can buy food. big pans of curries, roasts, sausages in buns, fish and chips, juices, salads, fruits and it goes on and on and on. i didn't go for the chorizo as i promised aleksandra i'd go with her next weekend for chorizo in a bun. but i did find some amazing things to prepare for dinner. i ate like a queen. i'll take pics next weekend because it was just overwhelming to do on my own and well, i bought stuff so my bag was heavy. :) i ran into my friend carlos and his lovely wife francesca there. london truly is getting smaller and smaller for me.
xoxo