Finally Here!

After 9.5 grueling hours of flight and hauling my way too heavy bags through immigration, the Heathrow express, Paddington station, and one very agreeable taxi ride, I AM HERE!

I write to you sitting in the living/dining room of my tiny 2 bedroom 4 person flat in West Marylebone, a very middle-eastern feeling neighborhood in central London. As I look out one of my huge windows in the living room, I can see a bright looking market where the sign is written completely in Arabic and the fruit looks delicious ripening outside. Looking out the window on the adjacent wall reveals someone's lovely porch garden with bright red flowers and huge amounts of wispy, towering bamboo! The brown and red brick buildings here seem to date from ancient to modern with everything in between represented. I love the smell of the crisp, cool air and the rather quaint chitter chatter where people really do end their conversations with, "well, cheerio then, love!".

Walking down the streets trying to find a meal earlier, I was struck by the simple beauty a city block can hold. This is a place where people really just live day to day; where families own restaurants and markets and locals walk slowly while sharing the latest gossip or the days hardship. It is also filled with women wearing what I have come to term "the mask" - that frighteningly dark billowing fabric wrapping the women up completely except for their deep, cautious eyes. Clocks tick, coffee mugs slowly drain to empty, and cats sit in flat windows watching the people on the streets below.

This city already has grabbed my attention. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see what else London has to offer.

Lindsey