London!

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Phew! These last few days have felt like a few months! Arrived in London Friday morning after 15 hours of travelling at least. The flight to Chicago was okay - I sat next to Bethany, a girl also in the Stellenbosch program. The next flight to London however was unbelievable! We landed in Chicago at 3pm and were supposed to fly out at 4:30...we didn't end up flying out until almost 9pm! And most of this time was sitting on the plane while the crew first fixed an exterior light that was supposedly backwards, then the main door wouldn't close, and finally the wings had to be defrosted. yikes!

I feel like I've adjusted pretty well to the new time zones...here in London I am 8 hours ahead of Seattle, and it has been difficult to not think about what time it is back home.

So...London was interesting. Most of my time here I have felt like I could be in any city - nothing really blew me away or suprised me... Yesterday my group went on a tour and had the opportunity to visit some of the big spots: Big Ben, London Bridge, and no, the Queen was not home during my visit. What I enjoyed the most during my visit was the architecture of the buildings. So much history and detail! I thought of my mother when I visited St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. It was breathtaking! It was enormous and had the most interesting (and creepy) stone carvings of baby faces along the edges of the church. I will make sure to post pictures up as soon as possible.

I have met most of the people in the group and everyone seems very nice and outgoing. Last night I went out to dinner with a few girls and I rode the tube! It was incredibly efficeint and reminded me of the many talks I have had with John about how awful the Seattle transit system is.

This morning was definetly one of the highlights for me. I left around 8am for a run and went straight down Gloucestor Road for 10 minutes and then I came to Hyde Park, which was so sweet! The park was huge and in the middle had a pond that was exploding with swans, ducks, crows, and pigeons. I have been feeling pretty anxious since I left home and have been struggling to eat and sleep so this run helped me run a lot of negative feelings I've been having. Right now I know what I need the most - an Al-Anon meeting and I am so excited because I found out that Cape Town has regular meetings! The last I will say about this is that honesty, I am struggling with feelings that I was not expecting and find myself continuely accepting all the feelings - pain, fear, excitement, all of it. As tough and uncomfortable as it has been, I know I can trust the quiet voice inside me that this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

Well it is about time for me to sign out - we are checking out in the next hour or so and heading off to the airport. I have charged up my ipod and I think I am ready for the 11.5 hour flight. :P

Hope everyone is doing great and please write me if you can!

*deep breath* alright....let's do this!

Peace & Love,
Ashley

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Comments

[Kellie]

yay!
Yay, first blog post, first comment! :D I'm glad you're enjoying London and getting to see the things that definitely separate it from any other city in the world. I remember being completely blown away when I went the summer before high school. How cool that there are Al-Anon meetings in Cape Town! Do you happen to know if any of your peers in the program are interested in going with you? In terms of negativity, I think I felt the most homesick in the first two and last two weeks of studying abroad when I went to Mexico. Yes, you are definitely where you are supposed to be right now--so much of your future (and, uh, money) is invested in this program and experience. You will NOT regret it, ever. <3 kellie

[mom]

you are a super hero!
I have been really worried and excited...alot of the same symptoms you report in your blog! ...since you left backwards ol seattle...transportation as you say, is so much more advanced in other countries. You are a great blogger....painted a great picture in my mind and you described London and your run to hyde park. This was first chance to get to a computer...am at B and G's house...they send their love and hellos too. I am printing out your blog thus far for them to peruse. When and if they ever figure out how to do this thing you will undoubtedly hear from them. Anyway...will check again tomorrow from the library or see if peter can connect with his computer...i hopefully will get my own computer going soon. Your trip is a good impetus to get me on the ball about that! Write again with all your thoughtgul insights (such a great attribute to be so in touch with yourself like that! You can conquer anything my sweet girl - am happy you have your group there in stellenbosch to attend and share with!) anyway...i know you are a busy girl so i will let you get 'on with it' as they say! Love and kisses times infinity! mom