World Views

My time is still all screwed up. It's 6:30 a.m. and I'm wide awake. Those of you who know me well get a kick out of that I'm sure.

If you ever doubted that any major national or political conflict was ultimately based on religion (or lack thereof) I dare you to spend an hour at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park on a Sunday. In short, anyone brave (or silly) enough to drag a step stool in to the park and speak their views to the masses can and does. There were people everywhere and probably about ten main people expressing their viewpoints yesterday. There were a few Christians trying to save everyone's souls (both had minor audiences), a gentleman explaining how the British government was keeping the people of Africa down, but the majority of speakers were followers of Islam. The crowds around each of the Islamic speakers numbered more than fifty each. As you can imagine each situation was quite animated and often heated. It is always fascinating for me to listen to other perspectives on the world. Everyone comes at life with their own filter based on their own experiences. But it is particularly interesting to listen in such a diverse city as London. We spent the majority of our time, probably an hour, moving between the crowds around the Islamic speakers. I learned a lot. I heard quite a few statements on the treatment of women according to the Koran. Most of the statements were made as fact and made my blood boil. When asked about the oppression of women in Islam one gentleman replied that everyone suffers from some sort of oppression, this was basically their cross to bear (so to speak). I also learned that I'm 'sexually aggravating' to all males on this planet because the way I dress exposes more than my hands and eyes. Good to know - I'm sure that will come in handy. Apparently women have more self control to not be aggravated by males? My favorite might have been the viewpoint on multiple wives. When asked how Allah justified an Islamic male having four wives the speaker replied that the Koran clearly points out this is not 'compulsory,' but if you can do multiple wives justice you're welcome to it. Pat found that particularly interesting and spent the rest of the evening wondering what 'justice' was exactly. He seems to think he could do multiple wives some sort of justice ;) We had quite a few questions we wanted to ask but figured it was better we just silently observe it all. Those of you who know Pat well know what kind of restraint that took on his part. There were side arguments going on everywhere on every topic. I almost wish we had video as you'd never believe it. On the whole we really wondered what these people were after. What was their main objective? Or was there any objective at all?

We ended the night in a fantastic wine bar situated in a cave-like setting underground. As you can imagine the wine experience here is amazing for a couple of wine nerds like us. We actually went to a wine museum of sorts. We were able to taste wine from regions all around the world. I found an Indian Syrah and a white Burgundy I absolutely loved - both only seven pounds each. The Europeans on the whole don't believe that America does wine well. In fact, I stood back and watched the crowd request their tastes of wine. Only two dared to try the American wine. But, if you knew the selection, you'd stand clear too. For the American wine they were serving a variety of Cline products and two wines from Duck Pond. Duck Pond! Those of you who know wine well know what I'm saying. I don't even drink Duck Pond on a bad day and that's how we were represented. We had a good laugh with the wine stewards over that one. We figured out how to meet people last night. Step 1: go to wildly popular wine bar. Step 2: command a four seat table. Step 3: wait for the assertive people to ask to sit with you. We spent an hour with a lovely 30-something couple. Both were teachers. He was a history teacher so we were able to get many of our UK history questions answered. Yes, the Queen does have a last name. They drew us a map of sightseeing highlights we plan to use today when we leave town. The second couple to sit with us was a former hairdresser and current drag queen named Alan (stage name: Rose) and his female best friend from Whales. She tried to teach Pat all the bad words in her native Welsh language - a language that is quite harsh and difficult to understand. He was from Northern Ireland so we learned a bit about that whole situation too. Between the two couples I learned that my family comes from the equivalent of Detroit coming from Manchester in England and Caven in Ireland. Nothing fancy and very blue-collar working class. These two couples were the most optimistic on the two locations of anyone we've talked to so far.

In a few short hours Pat will be driving on the wrong side of the road as we make our way to Bath. I sure hope the car rental company has a practice course. Wish us luck. Before we leave I've got to get a 'mind the gap' sticker. That makes me laugh every time. It's short for 'hey, when you get off the tube you better jump so you don't fall in the crack between the car and the platform' - but as with everything around here the way they say it is just so nice and proper.