Good Start

Well, I'm off. Or I've been off. Arrived to New York one week ago and it's been a great trip since. Spent some time with my lovely sisters and saw some great friends as well. It was a good place to spend my last days in America – a nice comparison point for my oncoming travels. And I was fortunate to have a really nice meal on the last night before embarking on my attempted frugal lifestyle (No, I don't mean the one my sisters and I cooked!). Left early Thursday morning and was pleased to hear the pleasant English accents on my British Airways flight.

And so I made it to England, where crossing the street and turning on a light-switch is a whole new ballgame. My great friend Chris picked me up from the airport and took me to his home in West London. It was just as I remembered it from when I visited winter break of my freshman year.

The next day, before meeting up with Jon and restoring the tripod, we went to Hyde Park, where we ate ice cream and played frisbee (yes, a very exotic experience). Jon came down from Sheffield and we wandered about London for a while. Before seeing the sites, we had a pint and met an interesting Polish fellow who was proclaiming it was his birthday. In retrospect, he most likely told us it was his birthday for a free drink. His intentions were quite clear when, after making our exit and shouting back, "Happy Birthday," he likewise replied, "Happy Birthday."

I recently read someone's declaration that if there is one word to describe American people it is "inquisitive." I wasn't sure what his intended connotation was, but apparently he is on the right track, as, after asking him what he does for a living, Pav alerted me that I ask too many questions. I'll keep it in mind, bud.

So we saw the London sites, which were terrific, and saw a lot of London one night in bussing/tubing/walking from place to place with no particular destination in mind. I then decided that we should go to Stonehenge. We weren't too sure of what to expect; after all, it is just a pile of rocks. But we pushed on through our apprehension and were very pleased with the result.

It was a really peaceful experience. The weather was nice, with a cool breeze, and we walked around barefoot on the grass which seemed able to serve as a putting green at the British Open. Just sitting around on the tranquil day, with an incredibly ancient peace of mysterious history to ponder over was a fulfilling experience. Perhaps we were teetering too far off the edge of spirituality, so we brought it over a notch with a bit of fun. All in all, certainly worth the just-under-two-hour-drive.

One more day in London today on my own. Went to a park and read some Freud. Dude's really intelligent and a great writer, but a bit predictable. Sex again, Siggy? My favorite segment of his Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, in analyzing the patient's dream: "'Where is the key?' seems to me to be the masculine counterpart to the question, 'Where is the box?' They are therefore questions referring to – the genitals." I love the use of the dash. Like a royal entrance: Dun dun dundun! – the same thing as last time!

Flight tonight and making it to Jerusalem tomorrow afternoon. Excited and eager!

Until I figure out a good, repeatable concluding statement,

Sam