11:38 PM

Blessed With Jasmine

Posted by Melody

For your information: I have been notified that some people have been having trouble voting on the poll for this month. It seems that the site I was using has an error with their polls. I have used another site to host this month's poll. It is not as pretty, but does the same job. Thank you for being so alert with changes on the blog.

Top of the mornin' to ya! I got up this morning at 8:45am and went to breakfast. After breakfast, I came back up to the room and loaded my laundry into my backpack.

I washed a huge load of colors and a small load of whites (in two different washers of course). I got the colors out and put them in the dryer, then went back for the whites. I open the lid and ALL my whites were a reddish pink color. There were just little specks of blood red paper material littered all around the washer and all over my whites. Included in these whites was my favorite long-sleeved shirt from Old Navy and my V-neck short-sleeved top from NY & Co.

Does anyone have any suggestions to get my whites back to their normal color?


I notified the lady that something weird happened with the washer. When I loaded the washer, I did not see anything like that. She said that I must have left something in my pockets. I told her that I knew all of my pockets were empty because I use my backpack to carry around stuff since I bike. I asked her if she had any washing powder I could use to redo the load because I only brought enough tablets to do my two loads with. She was very understanding and put a cup of powder in a different washing machine, then put a little stain remover in there as well. All I had to do was start the machine.

We rewashed the clothes and they came out slightly less reddish pink, but still noticeable. I thanked her for trying it again and just threw them in the dryer so I could take them home without getting my other clothes wet. Matt walked in shortly after and I warned him to not use that washer.

I had an interesting interaction with a local while my clothes were drying. This guy walked in after Matt dressed in lots of reds and golds (like a guy from India would wear), but he was a UK English speaking person. I do not think he was a native of Cambridge because he did not speak in the same sort of accent like the people here do. The guy and Matt started talking and the man started asking Matt interesting questions like, "What do you want your page of history to say?" "Do you want to be the ink or the paper?" "Where is the treasure?" "How will you find this treasure?" etc etc etc.

I stopped and listened because it is not often that you run into the kind of people who will make you think in detail about random trivial (but with deeper meaning type) things. I folded up my stuff and right before I left, the man was like, "Hold on, I have something for you." I look around at Matt and we exchange this "what could this be?" sort of glance. The man searched in his bag and then asked me for my hand. He used a little roll-on thing to put Jasmine oil onto my wrist and neck. That made me feel awkward because Americans just do not like being touched by strangers. I did not say anything because, whereas it was odd, I did not get the "creeper" vibe off of him. He explained the oil and the properties it was said to hold (peacefulness, tranquility, optimism, confidence, etc.).

I thought about my initial reaction once I left. He had overheard the conversation I had with Matt about the laundry accident, so I believe that was his way of trying to get me to feel better about my laundry situation (peacefulness, tranquility, optimism, confidence, etc.). The Bible mentions perfume and oils. That kind of stuff was expensive and rare (still is today the closer it is to pure form), so it was an honor in those days to be the recipient of that (just think about the woman who poured perfume on Jesus). I thought that maybe it was his way of trying to bless me. I know I could not exactly help my initial reaction because cultural things like that are deeply ingrained, but I truly believe he was trying to be genuinely helpful and just did not realize the cultural difference there.

Now that we are done with that in-depth analysis, I came back to the hotel and got ready for the rest of the day. I finally finished up my paper for British History. I realized that I needed dinner if my brain was going to be of any use to me, so I went off to The Castle Inn (a pub) and had myself the castle burger and chips (fries) with tap water. After that, I went off to my secret pub that I go to for a little bit of quiet relaxation and coffee. The atmosphere of my secret pub is rustic and warm, sort of like a cabin retreat. I love it, and I love how quiet and tucked away it is. I ordered a mocha and a rhubarb crumble in custard. Both were great, but I am stuffed...really stuffed. I am really going to miss this place.

What do you like to do to relax and unwind a little?



New word of the day: electric fire = space heater


Cheerio poppets!

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