Day 1

Hello from London! This is going to be a short post since we have been up for over 30 hours and my eyes are beginning to involuntarily close. The flight over was unspectacular save for the fact that none of us got any real rest, and that my subconscious sleepily merged the plots for "How to Train Your Dragon," "The Hurt Locker," and "Shutter Island" into one mega-film. It made for one weird 6 hour long movie.

I've already encountered a problem with my luggage. Working in the field for 2.5 months and having to trek around Europe are more incompatible than I thought. A giant suitcase sure seemed like a good idea at the time, and I did my best to pack it with only the bare essentials. However, neither of those things detracts from the fact that it weights 69 lbs and I can barely move it. This was especially problematic today when we had to walk several blocks from the tube station to our hotel, a journey that included a generous helping of stairs. I've since removed some of my clothes for my sister to take care of (donate or transport), but my suitcase is still a behemoth. I plan to backpack for every single travel engagement in the future – no exceptions!

This afternoon we bypassed several English pubs in favour of pizza, and England repaid us with one of her infamous smoggy downpours. Three of us are staying in a hotel room the size of my bathroom, which is now strewn with wet clothing. To cap everything off, the water has been turned off "due to an emergency" in our hotel. But after 30+ hours awake and a gut full of pizza, it just doesn’t sound like such a big deal.