LONDON

AH HA! I figured it out! Still no wireless though. My snail mail address is:

Atlantic House
1 St Albans Grove
London W8 5PN

Today I just walked around the city, To Portobello Road for the street market and around Holland Park and then down Palace Court where I witnessed a fender bender. My feet are killing me but it was just wonderful.

My roommate didn't arrive till this morning, her flight from Texas was delayed or something along those lines, but she's really nice and we're going to go out for dinner tonight with her frien and my friend Whitney. I'm officially in love with this city, I want to live here. I've been doing my best spending money wisely and since meals aren't covered on the weekends and we didn't get a meal till 5pm yesterday, Whiney and I went to a pub for a sandwich and a pint to celebrate making it to London in one piece. However, when we asked for a BBQ chicken sandwich and a pint the bartender looked at us and said with a questioning look "to share?" and we said yes to share haha, it was only £3.50 or something like that. This morning I went to a little bakery and got a ham and cheese croissant with some hot chocolate for £3.60 so I think I'm doing quite well.

I had quite an interesting night last night. After dinner, I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens/Hyde park with Whitney and we sat and watched the swans and ducks walk around and stuff and then went back to shower, unpack, and go to bed. I decided to stay up until around 10 to try and kill the jetlag as quickly as possible. So at 9:45ish I turned off my light and had just fallen asleep when I woke up to a piercing beeping sound and when I realized it wasn't my alarm, it was the fire alarm I grabbed my glasses, fleece and flip flops and headed down the spiral staircase to find out what was going on. Needless to say, we all ended up outside waiting for the fire brigade, who showed up a few minutes later. They proceeded to go inside, check the rooms, and then got back in their trucks and DROVE AWAY!!! The fire alarm was still going off and they just left! Finally, the security officer at Atlantic House, the main building showed up and turned off the alarm and I slept like a dream! But it was an interesting start to my trip.

We had a walking tour of the area yesterday and orientation this morning, and their sense of humor is just wonderful. The best part is that they tell their jokes and keep a straight face. The bobby, police officer, that spoke with us this morning was particularly funny and gave us some adive on how to stay safe and such. They told us to only use the black cabs and don't go into the upstairs part of the night buses because you might not come back down...the wierdos hand out up there at night. They also told us they don't carry guns and carrying mase or pepperspray is considered carrying a firearm and can result in jail time! My RA is from Scotland, so eventually I'm going to talk to her and see if she has any suggestions about where to go.

Whitney and I have also decided that one morning we're going to get up really early to see the Cavalry guards exercizing their horses at 7:30. My roommate is also staying the full 9 weeks but I can't remember where she said she's from or what school she goes to. In a little while, Whitney and I are getting some take-out Indian food and going to Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park for lunch and then getting out Oyster Cards-for the buses and tube. And tomorrow is our half-day sight-seeing tour to Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, etc. Whitney is staying for the full 9 weeks and then afterwards because her mom just got transferred here for 3 months for work, she's from PA and we've decided we're going to the park everyday to walk around and we're going to be traveling buddies! I really hope I get wireless soon so I don't have to keep trecking all the way to Atlantic House to check my email. I would like to post on the blog, but I can't for the life of me remember my account name and password, they're saved on my laptop and I always just go to the link in my favorite places, so hopefully I'll get the information for the secure network soon! London is FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!