Yorkshire Pudding is not Pudding

Hello all!
   Well am finally getting settled here in London. Let me try to catch you all up on the adventure thus far...

    I left Denver on Wednesday afternoon for my connection in DC. The flight was supposed to land at 9:01, giving me plenty of time to catch my 10:01 flight to London. Well, of course, the flight took off about 30 minutes late, and after navigating around a storm which took up some extra time, we landed in DC at 9:45. Naturally, since we landed so late they had to change our landing terminal to one much further away from where we needed to be. The jetway was therefore not prepared for us, and it took a while to set it up. We (we as in me and the girl who was sitting next to me... graduated from Monarch High in Boulder the same year as me and knows Kelsey and Dara and Morgan Kois! Now goes to school at UC Santa Clara and is studying in London for the summer... small world!) got off the plane at 10:56, leaving us 5 minutes to RUN ACROSS THE AIRPORT. I am NOT joking when I say across. I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the Dulles airport, so let me post a picture. I feel the need to really show you the insanity of this.

We landed at D32- the last terminal of the red section- and had to get to C7 which is in the same area as the first terminal of the purple section. There is no train. We literally SPRINTED past 52 terminals in four minutes. And, I don't even know how this is possible, but it was UPHILL. I was actually laughing because it was so insane. We came up to the last hill and I heard them say they were shutting the doors to the flight, so I yelled up that we were coming and they held it for one last second for us to get on. The people sitting next to me thought I was insane when I sat down because I was sweating and red and panting.

If they weren't sure I was crazy at that point, they were after I took the ambien. The plane was great- comfy chairs that reclined more than others I've been on, and a tv set on the back of the chair that had 70+ movies to pick from and tons and tons of tv shows. I was actually pretty excited to watch some shows, but that idea went out the window as soon as I took the sleeping pill. I'm not sure what the hell was going on, but it was strange. I guess my body was not tired, but the ambien was trying to make me sleep, so things got weird. I got very loopy and confused. I seriously started to hallucinate. The show I was watching was turning into 3D, there were colors and shapes everywhere, I was so out of it! I confirmed to the people next to me that I was absolutely crazy when they served us dinner. With the ambien messing with my mind, I couldn't hold onto my fork, and I kept dropping bits of food on my lap and missing my mouth and I didn't even care.

Next thing I know I am woken up by the pilot telling us we were descending into London. Taking the tube was simple and after about 70 minutes on it I met Lissie at the tube station in the neighbourhood where she was nannying. We came back to her flat in East London and got everything settled. I walked around a market outside her flat for a bit while she showed her flat to some potential sub-letters. Naturally, the jet-lag set in after a little bit and I was really groggy. We had bangers and mash for dinner (that sounds so English!) and I took a nap, which ended up being the wrong idea. I woke up two hours later and felt worse than I did before, but I knew that going to bed for the night at that point would be a fatal blow.

A few of Lissie's friends came round later at night to play drinking games. We drank cider and played King's Cup! I didn't realize that it was an international game! Her friends are all so sweet and funny! They are super chatty and talkative so there was never a dull (or quiet) moment. Except for me- my social skills took a solid second place to my attempt to stay awake. I was basically brain dead, and the alcohol was no help at all. Somehow, I made it until midnight before excusing myself. My head didn't even hit the pillow before I was out.

This morning was a bit of a mess, just adding to my adventure. Lissie left around 8 am to go to the house of the little boy she was nannying, and I was to meet her there once I woke up. She left me careful written instructions on where to catch the bus and what street to get off at to meet her. I left the flat, of which I have no key to, and went to the bus stop. After waiting for about 30 minutes for the bus, a truck driver pulled over and let me know that it would not be coming- all bus drivers were on strike (Lissie had emailed me this, but I hadn't checked it before I left). I had no way back into the flat, so I went to find a pay phone to ring Lissie with and ask how to get to her via tube.

I got to the pay phone to find that it only accepted coins, which I had none of. So I wandered into a store and bought a water to get some change, only to discover upon return to the phone that it only took coins 50 pence and under, which I still had none of. I went into three stores asking for smaller change, only to get denied. The fourth place I went to must have heard the sheer desperation in my voice and been particularly affected by my pitiful puppy eyes, because they finally gave me change for 1 pound, which I used to call Lissie. As soon as I had explained the situation to her, the pay phone cut off. Of course. So I repeated the process, finally got more change, and managed to heard the directions from her before the phone cut off again.

I met her and the little boy she was nannying- Noah- a bit later. Noah is 2 and is the cutest human child I have ever seen. If you know me at all, you know that I like about 3% of children in the world. Noah falls into that 3%. We played at the park for a bit and then went back to his parent's flat. I was super fun and ended up falling asleep in my hands on the sofa. Yay jet-lag.

Once Noah's mother came back, Lissie took me to Spitalfields Market. It's this cool market off of the Liverpool Station which has tons of stands with bags and dresses and fun things. I ended up buying a dress, but it doesn't really fit well. Too bad, because it turns out that I am currently the most unfashionable person staying in all of the UK. I stand out like a sore American. Everyone here looks adorable in their dresses and leggings and flats. I swear, my flip flops flop even louder than usual here, as if to announce to the world "I am American and know nothing about fashion!"

After the market, Lissie and I went to get groceries. A few of her friends came over and we made a giant roast dinner. It was so good! We had roast beef and potatoes and carrots and parsnips and stuffing and cheesy cauliflower and yorkshire pudding (which I learned has nothing to do with actual pudding- typical american me) and stuffing and gravy and ice cream. I'll post pictures next time! Now we are watching a movie and drinking red wine and life is good!

Until next time-
Meggie