The Adventure Begins

My week in England is nearly through and although I will be sad to say goodbye, I am looking forward to arriving in Cote d'Ivoire on Monday. This week and a half has been exhausting, but I have seen so many wonderful parts of the country and have really enjoyed spending time with Dabney! Let me start from the beginning. I arrived in London Thursday evening (Oct. 2), and was glad I was staying close to the airport. It was enough just to drag 4 bags out of the airport and in a shuttle. That was the beginning of learning to depend entirely on the public transportation system here in England, and not to let those sometimes cranky bus drivers terrify me. Friday morning I learned from the hotel clerk that it is not really in one's financial interest to try and take a taxi from Heathrow to the center of London. So she convinced me to take the subway. Yes, and she did see alllllll the bags I had. So, I set off to Victoria station to meet my cousin Dabney. I had told her I would meet her where her bus pulled in at Victoria Station- I said I would be right there to meet her. Of course I was running late and the Tube did not take the 30 minutes I had read it would take. I come into Victoria Station and it quickly dawns on me that the buses (obviously) don't come into the actual Victoria Station like I thought, but they come in 2 blocks down the street. At this point I was very glad I had been in London before as places started coming back to me and I thought I knew where I was going. But come to find out there are 3 places the buses stop right near Victoria and all the old men I asked could not believe that I didn't know what bus Dabney was coming in on ('what color is it? red or green?' they would ask). They just laughed at me when I gave the time she was to arrive. So after running in frantic bus circles for 45 minutes I head back to Victoria (railway) Station wondering if by chance she had made her way there. I looked for her in the lost luggage section, I looked by the coffee kiosks, I looked for a place to page her, and I was starting to really wonder what I was to do next, (go to the hostel I had given her directions for?), when I remembered the ring. I swear looking for Ivy's wedding ring was a precursor to that dismal Friday noon. I stood in the very center of the massive station, with seemingly thousands of people rushing about, and I closed my eyes and just took a moment to find that inner serenity. Where I had to admit there was nothing left in my power to do, and I just had to accept that and find peace in it. So I prayed and reminded God of the ring (I suppose that was more for my benefit than His) and said if He could do that surely He could help me find something bigger and more important than a piece of gold (sorry Ivy). And it was just like the ring story- I opened my eyes and directly in front of me was a girl who looked like Dabney before she got her hair cut. She was by the phones and I couldn't help but be pulled towards her even as I realized it wasn't her. 'But', I thought, 'that's the perfect place to find her! Of course!!! the phones!' And as I drew closer, there she was, right there in front of me, waiting so patiently right where we were supposed to meet- Victoria Station. That was one exciting reunion. :) I don't remember much of the day after that. Only that I couldn't have made it without Dabney's help. Plans had fallen through at the last minute to leave my luggage in London all week, and so Dabney went back with me to the hotel we collected my things and dropped them off at the hostel. I'm a little foggy on what we did that evening. But I do remember noticing that I was the only one wearing sandals. Everyone else was bundled up in scarves and big winter coats. They don't try to prolong summer- they really seem to embrace winter (ok, so it was really cold that night). We ended up at the Tate Modern that night- a little too modern for me. But it was by the Globe Theatre, which we were really excited about 'cuz we were going to get standing tickets to watch a performance, but sadly they sold out. We headed back to the hostel soon after that. Popped up for a quick peek at Big Ben and the Parliament buildings. So beautiful at night!
Sorry for the long post- I'll catch you all up- and then I promise they will be shorter! :)
More next time on Cheltenham, Oxford, and... Cote d'Ivoire!