Finally Made It!

A lot of firsts have happened already for me upon arriving in London:

1. I have completed my first overnight flight. 
2. I have successfully traveled out of the country. 
3. I did not set off the x-ray machine at DFW.
4. I have only peed since I have been in the states. 
5. A random person on the street told me they loved me. 
6. I couldn’t find Powerade or Gatorade anywhere. 
7. I ate a subpar sandwich with amazing crisps. 
8. Multiple strangers tried to sell me various items. 
9. I learned that Ryan Baker is more terrified of birds than my mother. 
10. I can comfortably hold both Grace Killingbeck and Alyssa Martinez’s hands while I sleep in the middle of our three beds. 

Nine hours in the air is no small feat and neither is the jet lag that I am feeling, as I am typing this blog post at a mere 10pm but it feels like 1am. The flight was one that was filled with restlessness, Netflix, and counting down the seconds until the flight was over. But as soon as we landed and London’s cool breeze and faint smell of cigarette smoke hit me, I knew the discomfort would be all worth it. 

All of that being said, if you have come off a nine hour flight and are desperate for a Gatorade/Powerade and google told you that you would be able to find them at Tesco, they lied. The closest I could find was a sports drink called, Lucozade. It wasn’t terrible and definitely did refuel my electrolytes and put the pep back in my step, but the bottle is American proof. At first I thought you had to untwist to be able to suck out of the top of the cap. But turns out you just have to drink from it really hard to open it up, so after a few trial and errors of attempting to open it the correct way I finally figured it out. This drink was a part of the Tesco meal deal, which is where I had my subpar sandwich and amazing crisps. These Brits aren’t playing with their crisp game, but the sandwiches are lacking the flavor that their crisps have. 

The Brit’s birds aren’t playing either and they love to get in your personal space, along with all of the fellow commuters. Your space is shared with anyone in your vicinity. The same goes with lodgings, Grace, Alyssa, and I will make sure to hold hands tonight to commemorate our first sleep in London. Everyone had a sense of closeness whether that be proximity or not, that brought out a gentler nature, that I would only assume makes the Brits and London so well loved and adored. I can’t wait to experience more and more.