Greetings from London!

So... I made it. My first official post in London (aka - the first time it's legitimate blogging about my "experience") The plane ride was relatively painless, minus the fact that I didn't sleep at all, probably because I had the world's loudest snorer in the row in front of me and a crying baby to my left, I was like Lindsay Lohan in that movie "just my luck".

Arrival was easy but the lady at the immigration desk was not very nice and seemed to seriously doubt everything that I told her, leading me believe that I am a much more suspicious-looking person than I had originally thought. My friend Naomi was there waiting outside customs when I got out and I had my first taste of a London motor way as we drove from Heathrow to their beautiful house in Kew, an area in West London. I did okay with the jet-lag for a while but after 32+ hours of not sleeping I began dozing off in every room of the house, so I allowed myself a 1 hour "snooze" and then kept myself up until 10 pm - not too shabby!

As for my excitement today - we went to a delicious hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant in South Hall and ate until I thought I would explode. There was all of this authentic Indian music on and then all of the sudden "Solo" came on, which I found hilarious, but everyone else was totally unfazed, making me the one stupid American laughing uncontrollably in the restaurant... way to go, Ariel.

So now it's real. I've seen the double decker buses, red pay phone booths, people driving on the wrong side of the road and lots of man-capris - I'm definitely in London. I can't wait to move into my dorm on Sunday and start exploring this place on my own, maybe then it'll feel more real and less like a holiday away. Regardless, from seeing the people here and experiencing the little I have so far, the one thing that is certain is, I have to start dressing better.