The Imperial War Museum in London

Today my International Conflict class took an excursion to London to visit the Imperial War Museum. Housed in what was originally a pyschiatric hospital (fitting somehow) the museum features a large collection of military vehicles, weapons, war memorabilia, in addition to extensive archives of photography and audio recordings telling the stories of those affected by war in the 20th century. Of the two classes I'm currently taking (Common Law is the other) I am certainly enjoying this one the most. I normally get tired of museums after an hour of looking around but I was able to stay focused throughout the 3 or so hours we spent there. If nothing else, I'll take that as a good indication that I'm on the right academic track. Here are some of the photos.

After finishing up at the museum we went to see a one man play called "Within Spitting Distance." The subject of the play was the difficulties in Israeli-Palestinian relations but the most striking aspect of the performance was that it was conducted entirely in arabic with english subtitles. The actor was in fact extremely talented but I was able to appreciate the work most from a linguistic aspect. I had not been exposed to many interchanges in arabic and it was quite cool to hear it spoken at such length with such expression. Not only that but it really added to the authenticity of the performance - it felt real as opposed to a "westernized" take on the situation in Israel. The musical selections were also really cool and left many of us wondering where we could get the music. For my first time in London, I would have to say it was a successful day. It was a bit rainy but as my professor joked, that is part of the real London experience. We will all be going back on Saturday to see Midsummer Nights Dream at the Globe so hopefully this weekend will bring the sunshine my camera lens wants to see. Until then, thanks for reading.