I Made It!!!

First of all, forgive any weird punctuation errors--I'm at an Internet place down the street from our flat and I've found out the keys are a little different! Also, this place doesn't seem to have USB ports so can't share any awesome pictures yet. I'll have to find another place.

Our plane landed at 6am Thursday. I got a stuffy nose on the plane (which has stayed with me) so I couldn't fall asleep. Others didn't either so we were all exhausted and feeling miserable about starting a really long day.

The flights were really good--nothing to really speak of. We only lost track of one person at customs for a few minutes, but she's okay! Then we waited outside for our bus. Paul, our super funny Irish driver, was really nice and pointed things out to us along the way. He seemed a little bored with us though since we were all in a daze and weren't really talking. We dropped off Gammon's things at his flat and then went to ours on Earl's Court Rd. It is really lovely!! The halls are itty bitty, the bathrooms and toilet areas EVEN smaller, and the kitchen is pretty well equipped, but also serves as a hallway--which is also about how wide it is! But there's one on every floor at least so it's not too bad to use and store food in. My room with Kelsey and Stephanie is really cute. We're on the ground floor so we have really high ceilings and a big window and a glass door to see out into the back yard with the nice class room and beautiful flowers. It's very spacious too--WAY more than Simpson!

We had a little meeting with Fabio, the guy who runs the building so he could tell us the basics. Then he took us on a little walking tour around the neighborhood to point out some essentials: the best places to eat, the Tube, grocery stores, shops, and laundramats.

Then we headed back to our flat to do some unpacking and the rest of the day we had free time. Steph, Kelsey, Liz, Megan, and I wandered around a little, got our Oyster Cards (for discounted and Tube travel) at the Tube station and Yikes! are they expensive! We ate lunch a few blocks from our flat at the Baker's Oven where they serve pastries and take-away sandwiches which were yummy and pretty cheap. On the way there we saw a mom helping her young son pee on the street corner. Not it an alley or anything--on the street corner right by all the traffic! That was pretty crazy! At the restaurant a really nice woman took our picture for us and when she left, forgot a bag and Megan ran it out to her in the street. How nice are we?!

After lunch we went back to the flat to finish settling in and the five of us ended up taking naps! Most other people in the house did too. Then the five of us went off to Sainsbury's Local, a small grocery store a few blocks west. I think next time we're going to try the bigger one on Cromwell Rd. for more selection. I made off pretty cheap, though, only spending £6 ($10). We took those home, unpacked them, and made dinner. Then the girls and I decided it would be a good idea to try out our new Oyster cards!

We took the Tube over to St. James's. It was about 5 stops and only took about 5-10 minutes. We managed to find our way to nearby St. James's Park. It was absolutely beautiful with the late afternoon light! Lots of flowers and lovely benches and a big pond. Once, though, I was afraid I was going to get picked up and carried away by all the pigeons flying toward us! From the west end of the pond we could see, I think it was White Chapel. And just west of the park and pond is Buckingham Palace!!! It is beautiful and incredibly huge, as well as the big statue in front. It was dusk so my pictures aren't the best but we'll get back.

We hopped back on the tube and went home. I managed to stay up until 9pm--an incredibly LONG day! But that left about 11 hours to sleep :)