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When I woke up, again, I went running in Hyde Park. It was my first time doing this and it was really fun. I hope that I will find the time to go again. The park is huge, and running is the perfect opportunity to explore it. There are so many different paths and the scenery is amazing!
After going home, showering, and eating a light lunch I went to the market! Yes, that's right, Portobello Market by Notting Hill. It was sooo much fun and such an experience. At the last market I went to I really just wondered around and didn't buy much...such a different experience this time! Portobello was huge! And had everything! Touristy stuff, fruit, meat, food, clothes, antiques, shoes, ah, it was amazing. I ended up buying a lot of little odds and ends here and there. It really is so much fun buying stuff from vendors in the street...it's definitely a different experience.
One thing I knew to keep my eyes open for while there was a watch. Since coming to London I've realized that I usually rely solely on my phone for time information. Since I have no phone, I never know what time it is. This has proven to be a slight problem when I'm touring the city by myself or when our group is on our trips and we have to meet up at certain times. So when I found a vendor selling watches I had to stop and look.
So I have been looking for a white leathery watch for a long time and I found exactly the kind I wanted except in was pink. But I did find a more dressy white watch that I also liked. They were pretty well priced (just £4 = $8) and the vendor even said I could get three for 10 pounds. I really didn't think I needed three watches but I did decide to get the two. One of them needed a new battery so while I waited one of the vendor's helpers started talking to me. He was a semi-older Indian fellow I believe...anyways he asked about how long I was in London, if I was studying, where I was fun, etc. When the watch was fixed I paid him and he wrapped them up for me, but then he kept kinda giving me like a half-way hug. I just said thank you and then he kinda walked a couple of steps before he was like, so, can I get your number? Haha it's a good thing I don't even know my number here, but I was just like, oh, no. It was the easiest turn down I've ever done. Later one of the girls in my program saw my watches and told me I had to take her back to get one another day...I wonder if he would even remember me if I go back...
Anyways, I went home to drop of my purchases, grabbed my book, and then was planning on heading off again to Hyde Park because it was a gorgeous day to read outside. On my way, this man on the sidewalk asked my for the time. Luckily I was wearing one of my new ones so I was able to tell him. He kinda kept walking next to me for a minute and I expected him to either walk faster or slower than I was so there wouldn't be that awkward moments when you are walking side by side. But instead, he started talking to me.He thanked me for the time again and said that he had just returned from a trip somewhere (he told me but I don't remember). It was a little odd to have some stranger try striking up a conversation with me and, while my natural reaction was to clutch my purse a little tighter under my arm, I didn't really feel that he was dangerous or anything. Every time I try to recount to someone what he said, I don't feel as though I can give it justice. He really was an interesting man, and he really made me think about stuff, my life, everything. But when I tell someone what he said etc. people tend to take it in a creepy kind of light. But it really wasn't like that...just keep that in mind.
Sometime during our conversation he told me that he had noticed my aura and felt drawn to talk to me. He was a very spiritual person and had a connection with something, it seemed...I really don't know what to think about it...if it was real or what. But he did know a lot about me; either that or he was really good at guessing. He started out just talking to me about general things; recounting a little bit of the trip he had just returned from and sharing a few of his experiences. He said that he was very spiritual, very religious, and that's part of why he wanted to talk to me. He asked if I was religious, I said yes. We kept talking, he asked if I was studying and how long I was in London for. He told me that traveling in the best kind of education and there is really no comparison to the opportunities you have and the different cultures you get to experience. I don't remember very much of the exact words he said, but I do remember that while he was talking I was thinking However weird this seems, what this guy is saying really seems to make sense, I really want to remember that phrase, etc. One thing I partly remember is something like You are a child of the Universe, you grow like the trees, and...something that completed it for you.
As we were walking he would every so often stop and ask for my hand. He did this 3, 4, maybe 5 times. He would just cup it in his hand like a palm reading might and would just hold it for a second, maybe touch my thumb, and then he would release it and tell me something and continue initiating conversation. Some of the things he knew about me...He said he could tell that I was very sensitive. He said that I often get tense in my neck and lower back. (so true- actually I think when he said this he went on a bit about how we really need to just relax and take life as it comes to us, to experience the different experiences that come our way to to live life to the fullest) He asked if I had many brothers or sisters, I said yes, and he knew I was in the middle. He even knew I was Mormon! (This came a few minutes after the question of whether I was religious) He said I liked colors and that I liked mixing them. I wish I remember everything but I really don't :( Even though I tried.
So back to the actual story, as he approached me I was heading to Hyde Park to read...but I didn't want to tell him that because I really had no idea who he was and that would mean I had nothing really to do and no one knowing where I was. So when he said that he would really just like to talk to me sometime because he had seen something in my aura and asked where I was going, I told him that I was meeting a friend at Marble Arch in about 15, 20 minutes and that I was about to get on the Tube. He was like, oh don't take the Tube, you should take the bus because then you can see the city, etc. (He also related this to our conversation about D.C. because he had been doing research there or something) So he convinced me to take the bus to Marble Arch where I really had no intention of going. He decided that we had a few more minutes before I needed to catch the bus and asked if I would walk through the park with him on the way to the bus stop. I was like, Okay... while thinking, am I really going into the park with a strange man who approached me on the street? But at the same time he kinda intrigued me. So he walked me to the bus stop and said he was just going to watch the sports game in a restaurant nearby. He said he still wanted to talk to me and asked if I had a mobile number or anything. I said no, because I don't. So he said he'd give me his number..neither of us had a pen however...So he said no worries, he just feels that we will be seeing each again. And he left. And I got on the bus to go to Marble Arch. I don't know why.
I roamed the busy shopping streets of Marble Arch for a while, grabbed dinner, and got back on the Tube home. Now I went to the park to read, but only got a couple chapters read until I was too chilly to focus. The park is amazing though! It was full of people just busy chatting, eating picnic dinners, or playing football, frisbee, or something. I found a nice big tree with a nook in it to lean on however, and enjoyed a few moments there.
