I'm in London!!!

I arrived at 8 a.m. this morning, got into the country by the skin of my teeth (I was interviewed by a very zealous immigration official, which is just fine, but it was a little scary) and, after an hour of wandering around Heathrow airport pushing an overloaded trolley looking for the pick-up point, finally found my friend Nikhita, who came with great mercy to pick me up.

After a fun trip to the grocery store (I had to ask Nikhita where the crisps were, because she didn't know what I meant when I said chips) we sat in her lovely new flat and chatted and ate lunch. Then Nikhita brought me to Jon March's flat, where I met up with my dear friend Sus. Jon was working at the church all day (he's a vicar at Holy Trinity Brompton and there are four Sunday services) so Sus and I had a blast in London. We took the tube to the Picadilly Circus area and spent hours wandering around looking for a toilet, inexpensive scarves and a sandwich shop, in that order. There was a giant Indian street fair going on, which was fun, but all of the sandwich shops were closed. We literally walked around and around and around looking for a place to get a sandwich. We finally bought baguette ham sandwiches inside a department store then took it to a sidewalk pub and drank beers while we ate our baguettes.

How do I describe the feel of London? Lots of stone and curvy streets and shops everywhere you look. It feels ... old. I'm exceedingly sleepy right now so can't be poetic, but let me just say that it is a wonderful city. I also toured around South London with Nikhita, which is a lot more like Chicago with varying neighborhoods, including rundown ones, but there's no place like Central London.

After our sandwich seeking adventure, Sus and I headed to Holy Trinity Brompton, a very cool church near the Victoria and Albert and the British History Museum, where Jon is a curate. It's the church that started the Alpha program, now used internationally to introduce people to Christianity. We hung out in their cafe drinking tea (I drank a lot of caffeine today to stay awake) and then went to the service. I also met lots of Jon's friends. Finally we went to a restaurant with Jon and his friends then back to his place, so now I'm just waiting for Nikhita to pick me up (she's a wonderful friend! Couldn't join us today but stil offered to be my chauffeur) so I can go back to her place and finally go to bed. I haven't been too jet lagged, actually, because I slept about 5 hours last night on the plane, thanks to an eye mask, neck pillow, ear plugs and Benadryl.

It's been a very, very long day but also an amazing day. I was so charmed by all of the British accents on the airline yesterday (I flew Virgin Atlantic) and for my first few hours in London, but I'm used to it now already. I haven't been able to understand everyone, however. It's been so wonderful to see Sus and it will be sad to say goodbye to her until I come to her wedding at Christmas, but I'm so glad we got this time together. And I'm looking forward to lots of fun with Nikhita the next few days before taking the train to Nottingham on Wednesday.

So it's all very surreal. I saw tons of London today, walked over miles of it and drove many more. I keep having to pinch myself and say, "Wow, I'm really in England." I had one of those moments after Sus and I came out of church and were waiting for Jon. I stood outside gazing up at the silhouette of the church (it's old...am too tired to look up details) but there was a gorgeous tower standing out against the English night. People were chatting in those unfamiliar accents all around me, drinking their coffee and tea in the green park, and it was a pleasant summer evening. "I'm really here," I said to myself. "I can't believe it. After all these months, I'm really here."