first day

Now that I'm all settled in, I figured I should update this.
So my flight was delayed a while in D.C.  I got to the airport, checked in, went through security and found that my friend and I were in fact on the same flight.  We boarded, got settled in and were just waiting to take off when the captain came on saying there was an issue with the engine.  Apparently an alarm went off saying there was a fire in the right engine, so they went through the steps to handle it and found it was a false alarm. They then had people come examine it and found the plane was unsafe for further use. So they towed us back to the gate and we had to all get off and await further instruction.  Luckily they found another plane and we got to walk across the airport and wait to board that one.  On my way I ran into my cousin Andrew and updated him on the situation (I had texted him asking if he knew what was going on) before waiting another hour and a half to board the new plane.  Fortunately this one had no issues and we arrived in London only two hours behind schedule.  I did get to see the sunrise over England and other than ridiculously long lines at border control, the rest of the trip went perfectly well.

Once my friend and I got to the centre, we dropped our stuff off and I unpacked a little before we went out searching for food.  We ended up in Kensington Gardens and walked around the pond a little ways before going past the palace and then down past all the embassies towards home.

Saturday morning we were told to be up and ready by 9am for a short meeting where we went over rules of the centre, found out our wards (Crystal Palace), signed up for Student Oyster Cards, and got other assignments.  For our orientation walk we found the closest places to eat, grocery stores, tube stops and banks.  We also found out that a neighbor had a fire in his house.  Rumor has it he is the owner of the Chelsea Football team and that he had been remodeling for a few years when this fire occurred last night.  We took some pictures and then we were off.

A group of us went to Nando's for lunch, a delicious Portuguese chicken place that was fantastic.  We went to Piccadilly Circus and then wandered over to Trafalgar Square and from there it was short walk to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.  The abbey was closed to visitors but we were lucky in that evensong started only a few minutes later.  We attended and it was a great experience.  Since it was the eve of Epiphany, it seemed even more special (and a little bit longer).  After taking some pictures of the London Eye, we split up again.  Hayley and I decided to check out the shopping and went to Primark on Oxford Street as well as a dozen other stores.  We were both exhausted by the time we finished and only stopped on our way home to get some food for dinner.  We had another meeting with everyone and when that finished I attempted to go to bed, but of course, could not sleep.

Trafalgar Square

The Brits are still decorated
for Christmas. "Marmite Gold:
You Either Love it or Hate it."