It's now been a full six days since arriving in London. It was a little difficult the first few nights getting over the jet lag but I've finally done it. I've been told it's harder traveling west to east...I guess their right?
I arrived late last Tuesday after two flights from San Francisco. The first leg was pretty rough since it was a red-eye flight and I don't sleep well or at all on planes. It didn't help that my kidney stones were acting up and there was a heavy set drunk man sitting in the aisle seat for me to get my pills from up top. No worries, I got them down for the second flight from Boston to Heathrow. That flight was much better and I slept some and was ready to go once I got off that plane. Immigration was long to get through but finally I got in and Joe Walker, Director of Street Action was there waiting for me. Apparently nobody drives in London so we took the underground and then bus to my first lodging location in Hackney.
Hackney is a burough of London on the East End. An up and coming area that is diverse in nationalities. Not to mention quite a few young, new families. I stayed with some wonderful friends of Joe's for a few days before moving on to the North part of London to stay with one of Street Action's board members Dave. I'll be here at Dave's for a few days before moving on again to some other folks.
What I didn't realize, is how much walking is done here. I swear I've dropped at least five pounds already. My hips are sore as if I've had a good workout. Even though I'm a little out-of-shape, I welcome all the exercise and hope to lose at least another 5 to 10 lbs.
Since I was going to be jet lagged for a few days, Joe let me wonder about as I wanted. The first full day was sunny and beautiful. About 70 to 75 degrees. I wasn't expecting such nice weather and I was a little hot walking all over. I started off at the London Eye, located on the river Thames and walked over to Parliament and Big Ben. The architecture here is amazing. For those of you who know me, you'll understand why I love old things and buildings...I'm a total European history geek. After oohing and awing over Parliament, I walked across the street to Westminster Abbey. Another amazing location. It was really cool to see where all of the famous English court characters were buried. I have to admit I got all excited when I saw Lord Burghley's grave (he was Elizabeth I's Chief Advisor). Told you I was a geek. It took me a while to get through the Abbey but was excited to try and move on to go see Buckingham Palace. I didn't quite make it there and got lost walking around. I didn't want to get too caught up in commuting traffic on the underground so I hopped on a train and made my way back to Hackney.
The following day, Joe had me trotting all over London and I was barely able to keep up. Friday, he took me into Shoreditch, an up and coming neighborhood, for breakfast and then down to the School of Oriental and African Studies. From there we finally made it to the office in Brixton. I was so exhausted by all of the walking and jet lag that I took it easy that night and ate dinner with the flat mates. Saturday I was all gung ho about going down to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge also hoping to get to another location. The day started out beautiful but ended up a little cloudy. By now, all of the walking had started to irritate my lower back. Once I got to the Tower, I was up and down stairs left and right. This made my back even more angry that by the time i was done I hopped onto a river taxi and went up the river to the Waterloo station. I could barely make it home and was all too happy to see my bed. Sunday was painful. The back felt better but my broken foot (from age 11) was pissed and swollen. It was pretty hard to walk about so I stayed in only getting out to grab some lunch.
Monday was a free day so I went to get my library card form SOAS and couldn't do so since it was the first day of classes and I was a visitor. No biggie, I headed over to the British Museum where I got lost for hours. After, I decided to head to Covent Gardens and the Lamb and Flag. Covent Gardens is a major shopping area and the Lamb and Flag a pub that's been around for over 300 years. I got my first pasty (cheese and onion, my fave) and a pint of Guinness. Again I was exhausted from all the walking and my back again was not having it. So I pulled up the strength and made my way back to Hackney and pretty much fell on my bed.
Now I'm in North London with week one over. Had my first full day in the office and was pretty productive in our plan of attack for one of the things I'll be working on. Tomorrow I'm back down at the SOAS helping with a volunteer training session speaking to the vols (as Joe calls them) about my time on the ground in South Africa. Should be quite fun and I feel honored to be one of the guest speakers. Tomorrow evening there is a talk regarding the World Cup in South Africa and it's impact upon the children. Very much looking forward to that.
So I leave you now with my mug of tea at my side and my bed calling my name. Sleep well everyone.
Cheers!
Big Ben
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