Foggy Travel and Jet Lag

Left May 20^th, from Denver

May 21st, 2013

First Day Fog

The plane ride was a bit miserable, turbulence 75% of the way from Denver to London on a packed British Airways flight, stuck by a grumpy and technology challenged older French couple. I don’t remember much of the flight except I got the window seat, and my neighbors elbow in my side most of the flight. He did not share the duel armrest. I remember drifting in and out of sleep a lot, due to turbulence and then being yelled at by a flight attendant over them not being able to see my seat belt. I add this on top of a very painful goodbye to my boyfriend and his daughter. I still get weepy thinking of the fact I have one day down and 71 to go before I get to feel his touch. Not that out of 365 days in the year this is a HUGE

May 22^nd

6:22 am

I passed out cold last night before finishing my blurb, but I think that now I am on schedule, beating jet-lags ass! We will see if I need a nap later today.

Anyway, still missing Ryan, and debating now if I should give him a call, I do not want to wake him, but my guess is he is still awake. What I was saying last night is that I am only spending a smaller fraction of the year away from him, and out of the year and a half we have lived together (roughly) it’s even smaller. Not to mention all of the days I plan on spending with him in the future…but longing still stings my eyes and my heart feels a little lost. I imagine he feels the same, except he is not the one on a life changing adventure, seeing things he has dreamed of forever. I feel awful about this. He is happy for me, but being left behind while your girlfriend gets to see the world has to be a shitty feeling. However when he speaks to me he seems to just be happy to hear my voice, and happy that I am having a good adventure. I love him dearly.

As far as adventures, besides an awful plane ride, I got through border control without much of a hitch, and I think I had the same guy who almost did not let me through last time. This time I seemed less suspicious, apparently. Through customs, grabbed my small checked bag, and headed for the tube. I rode the Piccadilly line for 45 minutes before arriving at Kings Cross Station. I found bag check, blew £17 (like $25!) to leave my bags for a couple of hours and hoofed it (only getting a little lost) to the British Museum. I immediately went to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and wrapped up with Medieval Europe, snapping photos all along the way. I LOVE walking amongst the gods.

Really, I saw all the items Britain has snitched from the rest of the world. This was my second visit and unlike the first I a) did not have time to look at everything and b) did not feel a desire to look at case after case. I found my favorite pieces instead, like I do at any museum I frequent. I see what I love the most, the pieces that move me every time I lay eyes on them, the ones I remember.

This time I also went to see the Lewis Chessmen, who was on tour three years ago. That was exciting and extremely rewarding. Such beautiful little pieces of walrus tusk, so detailed, and such a reflection of the art and culture that DID exist in the middle ages. People always assume how simple or boring things “used to be” but when you really begin exploring you see how much was there. Imagine our human condition not surviving without any art. I mean no design on sheets, no coloring books, no jewelry, not even a pretty wine label. Take away car design, and restaurant logos, oh and fonts, let us take the design away from them. The thing is that you would tear away at everything that we are, we would end up living in some kind of white box land, but in reality that too would be some form of art. We cannot live without it, and that reflects on every other civilization before us too.

I was in another museum the day I flew out, (big surprise me in another museum, I know, a shocker that one!) The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and my boyfriend, his daughter and I wanted to see this mammoth and mastodon exhibition, and part of it linked the beasts to early humans. What was amazing though, was the little things they had, that were functional, such as a spear thrower, but it was carved like an animal. Or the little bone and ivory beads, or art carving. They were all found in France, they are all thousands and thousands of years old, yet they were art. Art, you see, has been with us from the beginning. It has taken various forms, and images, it has evolved as our ideas and cultures has, but it has always been there.

Which is pretty awesome.

So back at the British Museum, I kept getting distracted by exhibits, like the one on the….okay massive Anglo-Saxon hoard, that big ship they found with all the gold and statues and…okay it was awesome and I will look up the name and get back to you. Then there was the enlightenment gallery that sucked me in, and the room with the Easter Island statue. And Eventually I had to MAKE myself leave in order to go back to King’s Cross, see platform 9 ¾ which you now wait in line forever, have someone take your photo, pay £8 for said photo. I said screw it and just took a photo of the trolley, went to the little shop they now have, and was amused at their wand wall and a few little things, but I did not purchase anything, it was overpriced and limited selection so I left, knowing I had been there and that was good enough.

A train ride later, and I made it to Letchworth Garden City, where my cousin stood waiting for me, even though I had made the slightly later train. Hugs, threw the luggage in the car, back to her house, hugs and greetings from her husband Kristian, inside to meet the kiddos. Mae is 3, and Bonnie is 2 months. A quiet evening of potato eating, news watching, checking e-mail, chitchat and the moment I got into my futon bed, I was out until now.

I did call Ryan in the middle of this, he was asleep, damn it! But happy to hear from me none the less.

May 24, 2013

Being a student

So I got the lovely news on the 22^nd that I won’t receive any funds until the 27^th or later, which is irritating, since I was told I would have money on the 20^th, and that I could pay my program on the 25^th. I’m mad because this means I really can’t go see the older couple I wanted to in Diss, and I don’t want to borrow money, I got $100 from Ryan…so that’s a start. I feel a little like a mooch here, not that anyone is making me feel that way, but I haven’t bought a lot of groceries or anything. I guess I’m earning my keep, or trying to, by watching the kids and helping with them when I can. They’re a lot of fun really, and teaching me a lot about patience and love, and how much instinct I actually have for child rearing. Which is laughable, me the woman that said only a few years ago that NO I did not want children. Now I see maybe I have a knack for them and a calling to them. Yet again, how can anyone hate a baby or toddler?

Off of children and onto activities. Yesterday we took Mae to her “Puddle ducks Nursery” in Balldock, which was in this beautiful old house with a big yard, and a conservatory where the younger kids do lessons. Nursery, or as we call it Pre-School, is a lot of fun for Mae, and a way for her to meet other kids, learn new things, and give mom, Angie, a break during the day.

Besides the nursery the town was very quaint. It is just bursting at the seams with old houses and buildings, flowers and character. That sleepy little British town, cozy, welcoming and very beautiful. Angie and I spent a lot of the four hours Mae was at nursery to get tea and coffee at a little café that her sister in law works at. It was a unique experience, but reminded me of home and the tea houses and coffee shops I personally enjoy. It really comes down to habits, and sitting in a café with someone wonderful to visit with is one of my favorite things.

Back home for the afternoon and Mae went with me to the post office for stamps and postcards.

And that is about it.

We napped.

Angie and I have been talking about our family, she is my dad’s cousin after all, and the habits and things that are connected. I am learning a lot about a part of the family (Paternal Grandfather’s) that I really have not before. One can only enjoy solving  mysteries of such a kind.

Kristian, dad has been great to talk to as well in the evenings when he gets home from work. Last night I was explaining marijuana legalization and its effect on Colorado. Which lead me to realizing just how interesting it is to live there now with everything changing as it is. I think when I get home I want to do more research on the subject and interview people…Hey Collegian, can I have a job?

Today is Friday, and our plans to go to Hitchin were foiled by a very wet and long bout with rain today. Lots of rain. So we will try again next week. I am thinking of walking to the local coffee shop for some WIFI and something other than sitting around the house.

I did learn to make risotto today! Which was really exciting, Angie taught me some tricks and tips and the results were fantastic! Also, it only took maybe 45 minutes which was a real plus. And in the thick of learning to make risotto I tried Marmite for the first time, properly, and damn was it good! I hope to bring a jar to Italy for breakfasts there, since with my food allergies I have a feeling that I may have limited breakfast choices.

Watching baby Bonnie right now, her eyes are so blue, and she is so young and tiny, but she is so calm and happy, and easy. I thought newborns were little demon spawn, and maybe some are, but she is rather a bit of an angel. Also, I think it is fun to make her smile and make faces and watch how she explores her new, big world.

That’s all for now…now to decide…coffee or a nap?