Sooooo Sara...

No one can meet Sara and come away from that meeting unaffected.

One of the first things I noticed about Sara was, well, food. I met Sara for the first time at a banquet, not even dreaming that this would be a sign of things to come and that in the days to come, we were to share many meals (and snacks)...

Then we got to London and the first thing she said was, "When's dinner?" or was it "Do you have any snacks?"   I am totally kidding here, she did not say this. But pretty much the first thing those girls did together after we all met up at our hotel was to hop on a bus and go to McDonald's. Oh, they may say it was just to take advantage of the free internet but I do have my suspicions. 

Sara has an amazing sense of style. She had at least seven scarves in her suitcase and she bought a couple more while in London and at least one in Dublin. At least that is what I am remembering. It could have been more.. And Sara was the owner of the dress, the lovely black lace dress that the girls took turns wearing.  And not only does she have a sense of style, she is model beautiful...

Another pic of my girl Sara. You may have seen these pictures earlier in this blog. That's ok; they are lovely photos.

Sara pensively reflecting on life inside one of the towers.  Sara does a lot of musing.   Soooo Sara...

She thinks a lot about life, love, personal responsibility, justice, honor and the American way.  And many other deep things. And the one thing about Sara is that she DOES things about those deep thoughts she has.She is my role model; I wanna be Sara when I grow up.

Sara did her homework before we ever set foot on British soil. She knew all the little ins and outs of etiquette in the U.K.; she knew what we should never say and what things we should never do in order not to offend. In fact, one of  her biggest worries was that the owner of  a random pub might feel hurt  because none of us bought any drinks so I came up with a plan...all the girls were to say they were expecting or trying to get pregnant so they couldn't have strong drink and I was to be the designated driver so I couldn't drink either.   And the funniest thing about this was that Rachel really did get pregnant about a month after we returned and Heather got pregnant about 6 months after that.  I like to think that I put the idea in their heads but somehow I don't believe that I really did.

Back to Sara...
Sara is deeply curious and likes to learn things. She liked self-guided radio tours. I believe she took advantage of them every place that had them available. But really I think she just has a thing for radios.
Soooo Sara...

Sooo Sara...learning about the Bloody Tower...on her self-guided tour radio.

She also liked to document the things we did each day. However, I don't think she ever took a picture of our food. Apparently that was my job. And her job was to make sure we got our meals on time. And snacks. I  may not have mentioned this about Sara. She gets hungry. Often. So we took turns throwing granola bars or peanut butter crackers at her. But she was always sweet about it. She never threw a tantrum or got cranky when she was hungry. And here's the thing about Sara:  she was just as skinny when we left the U.K. as when we got there. I cannot say the same about me...

Sara likes to read and learn. I believe she is an avid reader. But I cannot prove it. We didn't have time to do much reading.







Notice how Sara is listening intently to her tour guide radio in this picture? 

I think she is learning about the White Tower. Or hatching a plan.

Soooo Sara...







Notice that no radio is visible in this photo. She has tucked it away somewhere, that cheeky little thing. (Notice how I am using British slang now, like "cheeky.")  We had seen everything we wanted to see at the Tower and our feet were getting knackered (tired) (British slang) and Sara was thinking about food...again...or still...

As the four American women exited the tower walls, something began beeping like crazy. The ever-observant Heather looked at her travel companion and exclaimed,  "You STOLE it!!" when it became obvious the beeping was Sara. Fear filled our hearts as we considered our probable arrest and possible beheading, right then and there. (it might be that Rachel was the only one who had this thought) An amused smile crept across the tower guard's lips and he rolled his eyes as Sara hurriedly returned the item, profusely apologizing. Other guards, tourists, and natives in the area observed the incident and were highly amused in their particularly stoic British way. Nonchalantly we sauntered off in search of an eating establishment before the next adventure which may or may not have involved the river Thames...