The flight from JFK to Heathrow went pretty well. I did not get much sleep; however, but it’s all a part of international flights. There were several movies to watch on the plane, but I kept nodding off too much to really be able to watch them. We were given a meal on board this flight which was not too bad. I had a cesura salad and beef with potatoes, veggies, and gravy. They gave us a small breakfast of either a cheese danish or lemon cake.
The flight landed around 8am London time (3am EST) and we went through border patrol with no problem. We then met up with Carla, our kind of point person with WCV, and had a short orientation. She handed out our oyster cards (what we use for the trains, tubes (subways), and buses) and told us that we would be taking public transport to the WCV office. I have to admit, this threw me. Here I was standing with a laptop bag, duffle bag weighing about 20lbs and a suitcase that weighed 50lbs. I was freaking out just a bit at the idea of lugging this around all of London. We then found out that the American intern’s mother was also arriving and was held up in customs. Carla took three girls on and left the rest of us with the intern. We ended up waiting about an hour to an hour and a half for the poor mother to finally meet up with us.
Our journey on the underground began, and let me just say, it has been the hardest thing I have yet to do on this trip. I was already pretty tired from my 3 day whirlwind in NY. Then we just had a 7 hour flight across the ocean. I had had about 4 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours and had not had a proper meal since the food we were given at the beginning of the flight. I then had to drag 80lbs of luggage on and off a train, 2 tubes, and up and down several different flights of stairs. I then had to drag my things 2 blocks to the WCV office where I had to again drag my items through the building, down more stairs, through a garden, and into a room where we waited for Carla to come take us to our home stays. I dozed a bit here, but we were given a bit of food to snack on.
A couple of hours later, Carla made it back and took one of the girls and me to our placements. This involved much dragging of the luggage. At this point I was so exhausted, I was almost ready to cry, Praise the Lord, my host came and picked me up in her car from the station. :) The room they were setting up for me was not quite ready, so her daughters entertained me for a while.
They definitely have a house full! There is Gwen and Ali (mom and dad), Ali’s mother, Gwen’s son Chris (24), Leila (11), and Aliyah (4). They have been so sweet and have welcomed me into their home. The first thing Aliyah asked me was, “Are you here to take my trucks?” I looked at her and said, “What trucks?” “The one’s have in the garden under that bush.” (pointing out the window) “No dear, I would not take your trucks.” Leila is fascinated with all things American. She asked me, “So, in America, you say pants instead of trousers, right?” or “In America, you say hamburger instead of burger, right?” :)
They have given me the biggest room in the house -- the front parlor. I have a bed, two couches, a fireplace, and they even put up a door with a lock. :)
I fell asleep shortly after 7:30 and did not wake up until 9:30. Nothing like 14 hours of sleep!
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