For last year’s term paper, I wrote about John Snow and how he discovered how cholera was spread through water during the Soho cholera outbreak of 1854. John Snow was the first person to disprove the miasma theory (the idea that disease is spread through bad air), though Pasteur is often wrongly credited with this discovery. During our trip to London this summer we visited a replica of the Broad Street Pump, which helped Snow in finding the cause of the disease. There is a nearby pub named after John Snow, and nearby is the former site of his house. It was so exciting to walk around in the neighborhood where Snow made his incredible discovery!
This weekend, my friend and I decorated cupcakes to look like our favorite characters from the webcomic Girl Genius (which recently won the Hugo award for best graphic novel). On this plate are six of the twelve cupcakes we made (clockwise from top left: Gil, Violetta, Klaus, Tarvek, Oggie, and Agatha). We had so much fun! To see the whole cast in cupcake form, go here. If you want to see more of my people cupcakes, go here.
Last weekend I was in a production of Pippin, put on by the Berkeley Playhouse Youth/Teen company. For the past two and a half months we’ve had rehearsals three times a week, so it’s been a big part of my life lately. Pippin is a very ensemble-based show, so the whole cast was in most of the songs, which was really fun! I was also a Newscaster and I did hula hoop tricks in our first number. The costumes and makeup were really fun too! Glitter, green mascara and orange eyeshadow was liberally applied to everyone’s face. Our set and cast actually came on stage on a moving “cart” which was set on a part of the stage that can move back and forth. I had so much fun doing this musical, and I’ll miss everything about it: the amazing cast, the fun singing and dancing, hanging out backstage, and finally performing!
On April 8th, my school’s Latin Club and I went to Miramonte High School in Orinda for the 56th annual CJCL (California Junior Classical League) convention. After dinner, we met for an assembly and then set off to take tests in various categories of Latin (daily life, grammar, etc). The next day we arrived at school early, and, dressed in our mandatory bed-sheet-and-safety-pin togas, began to set up our chariot for the race against the other high schools’ teams. There was some tough competition, but the fantastic College Prep charioteer Nettie saved the day by coming in first place. At first it appeared that Miramonte’s team had won, but alas, unbeknownst to the “horses” pulling the chariot, their charioteer fell off seconds before they crossed the finish line. Unfortunately, the man running the races didn’t believe us and would not mark us down for first place. After we folded up our chariot, the Latin level I, II, and III teams went to their assigned classrooms to play Certamen, a Jeopardy-like Latin trivia game in which the contestants use buzzers to answer questions to earn points for their teams. My Latin I team lost in the semi-finals, but we still had lots of fun! After a final assembly, we changed into our “snappy casual” clothes for the banquet and dance at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland, where, during the award ceremony, we learned that we had won first place overall in the small school category! I also won a ribbon for placing 2nd in my level on the daily life test! I had tons of fun, and can’t wait for next year!
- The Seven Dials: The scene of an exciting chase in the first book, “Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos”. In the book, the Seven Dials is in a crime-ridden, seedy neighborhood, but today, it is a nice, friendly section of town. No people getting stabbed here!
- The British Museum: Theodosia visits this rival museum once in “Serpents of Chaos”, and again in the third book, “Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus”. It’s also just a really big, interesting museum that we go to every time we’re in London.
- Cleopatra’s Needle: Scene of a large battle between two secret societies that want something (I’m trying to not give anything away!) in the end of ” Eyes of Horus”. It is so cool to see an Egyptian obelisk just standing in the middle of London!
- Chesterfield Street: is where Theodosia lives. It is also the location of the Embassy of the Bahamas! The street is filled with old townhouses, exactly as described in the books.
- Charing Cross Station: The main train station used by Theodosia’s family and enemies. I’m afraid it doesn’t look quite as it used to.
- The Alcazar Theater: is now called the Phoenix, but looks pretty much the same. Theodosia first visits in the beginning of “Eyes of Horus”, and continues to visit throughout the book. It is at Charing Cross Road.
- Somerset House: The former inhabitance of the Society of Antiquaries, and also, in the Theodosia series, the Brotherhood of Chosen Keepers. It is now “an inspiring space for art, culture and creative exchange”. It looks very grand, and you can just imagine Theo visiting here. It is located on the Strand.
- Burlington House: The current location of the Society of Antiquaries. Not in the Theodosia books, but I wanted to see where the Society was now. It IS a really pretty building, and you can eat lunch in the courtyard… You can find it at: 31 Burlington Arcade.
I didn’t go to any sites particular to the second book: “Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris”, but there are plenty. This was a really fun tour to do: one of my favorite parts of our London trip. I loved being able to actually SEE the places that are in the books.
This was one of my favorite parts of my Mexico trip, and definitely the best workshop. I LOVE animals, and I want to be a veterinarian, so this was the perfect class. You can see more pictures of the workshops here.
