Today, in contrast with pretty much the entire past week, I did a lot. I woke up several hours before class this morning and decided to go exploring. On my journey of exploration I passed the Round Church pictured below, a very unique building very few of which were made, and though I didn't go in I might return at a later date.
I also did some Catholic sight-seeing and walked up to where the local Dominicans are. Despite the fact that I was once a Dominican Youth Preacher, the thing I was most reminded of was the homeschool theatre group that I was never even a part of. They are a great group of actors and I always love seeing them perform. I might return later in the summer for Mass or something. I also ended up wandering around St. Edmund's College- the newer colleges are not as intense as the older ones it seems.
After going to class I went to a concert at the Botanic Garden. It is a part of the Cambridge Summer Music Festival. Barokksolistene is the name of the group and they are a Scandinavian Folk group. Luckily I love folk music so this was quite fun. This was one of their Alehouse Sessions, reflecting on the traditional music that would have been found in England centuries ago.
The gardens were quite beautiful, at least until it started to rain.
After the concert it was straight to a plenary lecture. The lecturer was the Master (combine a dean and a president and you'd probably end up with a master) of Pembroke, Lord Smith. He is a former MP and has been a very influential politician for the past several decades. He spoke about Brexit and it was a really interesting lecture. It is really quite the opportunity to be in England right now and be right in the middle of everything that is happening. It was in the middle of the lecture that we, Lord Smith included, found out that Boris Johnson had been made foreign secretary.
Cambridge is an area where the clear majority voted to stay and it is clear that most if not all of the people at the head of this program feel very strongly that remain should have won. I think there was a definite bias in the lecture that was given but that it overall would not have been as interesting as an impartial piece. Additionally, this is a semi-retired politician talking to a group of young students who cannot vote for him - what does he have to lose?
It is interesting to draw parallels between the USA and the UK at these times of political turmoil. I think many Brits are choosing to pick on American politicians if only to distract from the mess that is their political leadership. Also if I had a pound for every Trump joke, I would be able to roll to class instead of walk. It's the lectures like these that really exemplify all that I am gaining by studying at a university like Cambridge.
Lord Smith.
Fun fact: according to Dr. Jarvis you are more likely to be executed as Master of Pembroke College than as Prime Minister but on the bright side you have generally better job security.
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