My trip to London was planned in August 2003 but then got postponed for different reasons (silly reasons like being broke). And so finally, in December 2003, I managed to 'save' enough to buy a cheap ticket in advance online for Spring Break 2004. So there I was trying to finish projects well before deadline...ambitious!
And so on Thursday March 4, I hopped on the Greyhound bus to New York City, for a 12h trip...My plane was from JFK at 9am the next day, so I had to be in NYC by 5am. Fortunately the bus from DC was very fast and we got to Port Authority, NYC around 4:30am. Well, it turned out the Metro station where I was did not have a line E access. So I took the 7 till 42nd, then change for the uptown to 51st street to get the E (not important details, right?). Well, in all that I got picked up by a 23 year old guy from Peru, trying to go uptown, and too drunk to remember his way home. At 5am there wasn't much to keep me entertained or awake.
Finally I got to JFK, and used that AIRTrain again. There was a pretty huge line for the check in stations, but It allowed me to eye the cute guy in front of me. Of course he was totally unattainable, being all smartly dressed and so casually elegant. I suppose I missed that elegant style, being surrounded with nerds in shorts all the time. While waiting for the plane, I indulged in the London guide from Time Out. My host would be working all day so I had to plan for solo wanderings and adventures. And like for every trip, I was happy to escape the worries and homeworks of being on campus. The trip was uneventful.
I cannot remember the movies on board, except for the 'Triplet de Belleville', a nice piece of animation with a catchy soundtrack. Of course, 'Love Actually' was also on.
I was a bit worried about the trip because I had no idea what to expect, from the person who was supposed to bear me for a whole week. We hadn't seen each other in 2 years, and we didn't quite know each other that well. But the unknown has always excited me so there I was, thousands feet in the skies, flying towards London, city of fish 'n chips I thought, with people with funny accents.
I also pondered the idea of staying there forever, since France was so close and school was becoming awfully boring. Once I landed in Heathrow, I recognized terminal 3..souvenir from Yemen trip...hehehe...and ahh the anticipation of finding a familiar face among all these people waiting outside..
And there he was, with a smirk, taller than I remembered. It was surreal, and I felt silly being there, or was it just the jet lag? After all the laughs, few jokes and news, we went to...a pub...yeah, just right there, in the airport. Anyway, I was immersed right into the pub culture. As a good girl, I had a coke....
On the way to the city, while Alan was getting the tube tickets, I almost got killed but hordes of people running to get the tube...My goodness, you really have to keep your ...right...left...or is it right? Anyway I had to pick a side and I picked it wrong...but it was so confusing so I kept being pushed around.
We took the metro, it was fairly late already, maybe 9pm, so we just went to his place, Norbury is the name. I was surprised at how narrow the wagons were. And even more when I saw all the chicken places in the streets. This was chicken city...so many fried chicken or chicken burger places. We stopped to grab a cheese-less pizza (yup!) and headed to the apartment.
I met with the roomies and visitors. At this point I forgot their names, shame on me, but there was one Scottish dude I could NOT understand at all. Just the accent made me laugh and the fact that I was trying so hard to figure out what the heck he was saying was even funnier. The ladies from New Zealand were charming, and I believe their names were Megan, Fiona and...ah well, I cannot remember.
Maybe the guys' names were Michael and Matt...it's not important. I remember how they look like at least. Oh yeah, Toni and Megan....
I soon went to bed, near the window, in the attic. Alan insisted I took his bed while he would sleep on the couch near the window. Being tired as I was, I did no argue and enjoyed the 'guest' honor. The next day was promising to be mega busy and I was longing for some sleep. It felt incredible to be in London, and I knew it would be funny trying to fit in.
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