July Update

Since the end of term, most of my time has been devoted to my dissertation, which is going well. The exhibition I helped research for my placement opened 28 June and it is amazing. I've been through it three times, partly because it's so good, partly because it is one of my case studies. I've also been back to Manchester and the Imperial War Museum North for more research. I have a draft due 1 August and, at this point, I have almost enough words--I'll see how many I have after I finish the boatload of editing that I have to do.

There's the work update. Now for the fun stuff!

Last weekend, the Tour de France had its Grand Départ in Yorkshire. The second day started in York proper. I went with some of my friends to see it relatively near the start. There was a parade before, so I got a parade just a couple days after the 4th. I also got the best free thing from the parade: special edition Yorkshire Tea (or as it says on the box: Thé). Those of you who don't drink tea or who've never had Yorkshire Tea, you won't understand. Do not fear, I'm sure I'll make some of you taste it eventually.

Yesterday (13 July), in addition to watching the World Cup final at a friends house with some of her family (same friend who I spent Christmas and Easter with). It was super fun and Germany won, which is always nice. Earlier in the day, after church, I went with her, her family, and some other friends to see the York Mystery Plays.

The Mystery Plays originated in Medieval times and are organized by the Guilds. There are historically many more than the 12 included yesterday. The plays are on wagons and depict various biblical scenes, interpreted by each group. The stories from yesterday are: Creation (days 1-5), the Fall, the Shepherd nativity bit, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Baptism of Jesus, the adulterous woman and the raising of Lazarus, the Entry to Jerusalem, Christ before Annas and Caiaphas, the Crucifixion and Death of Christ, the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, and the Last Judgement. If you want to know more about the plays, here is the link.

And now, pictures!

The start of the parade, a Visit Yorkshire truck. Y for Yorkshire!

A float for juice. It was weird.

Yay for free tea!

Yes, that is a giant bottle of wine on top of a car.

And they're off! The first cyclists.

The middle of the peloton.

The support cars, each had multiple bikes and wheels on top. There are three in this picture and there were at least four times that.

The first of the Plays, Creation.

The Fall, featuring Adam, Eve, God, and Satan (the serpent was a hand puppet--it was great).

One of the shepherds and a sheep.

The beginning of the Massacre of the Innocents.

The baptism of Jesus.

The adulterous woman. Jesus is writing on the float.

Jesus' entry to Jerusalem.

Before Annas and Caiaphas.

The Crucifixion.

The Harrowing of Hell.

The Resurrection--featuring all the Marys, but no Jesus.

The Steampunk Last Judgement. I really enjoyed this one, although at this point we'd been there almost six hours.

A final picture: the Imperial War Museum North. I took this as I was returning to the tram station in MediaCity UK. It's a really cool building set on the quay system in Manchester.

Whew, that was a lot of pictures! I hope all of you are having fantastic summers!