Strangers on a plane

Monday, almost 3 days ago, I boarded the aircraft which brought me back to London. I wasn't particularly excited about the flight itself as int'l flights are one of my least favourite things. Honestly, it's always the people you sit by that make the flight a bit better or rather worse. Isn't that just like life?

So when I found my seat that evening, I wasn't sure how to feel about sitting next to a rather tense, grim woman and the little girl in her care. Before the plane even took its place on the runway, I realised (not without a little interest) that the woman and the girl were speaking completely in German. The woman, asking the flight attendant for meds to treat her unbearable headache, used halting, strained English.

I congratulated myself for pre-assigning myself to an aisle seat.

A short while into the flight, the woman shyly smiled at me and walked her fingers in the air to indicate that she and the girl wanted to get past my seat to use the lavatory. I smiled back and quickly stood into the aisle to let them by. While the German woman pulled out her bag from the overhead bins, the young girl looked at me with the steady shamelessness that only little ones can pull off.

I, in my shamelessness, decided that I would try communicating with the girl, an adorable blonde with bright eyes.
"HOW...OLD...ARE...YOU?" I said clearly and slowly, just to make sure that she understood the question.
"I'm 6 years old. What's your name?" she replied in effortless, native English.

Wow. I was the one who needed the help here.

I answered her and turned it right back on her. "What's your name?"
"Luna." she replied, "It's Spanish for 'moon.' My daddy and mommy met under a full moon, so they named me Luna!"
I smiled, delighted at the beautiful story.

"Are you going to London?" I asked.
"I'm going to Germany!" she declared.
"Do you live in Germany?" I queried, still in disbelief that this 6-year-old had complete, native fluency in both German and English.
"I live in Valencia."
"Oh."

I began to wonder if the reticent woman chaperoning her was her mother (I deemed this unlikely) or a German-speaking nanny taking her to the Fatherland...

Little Luna answered my silent question minutes later by asking "Mommy" a question. As Mommy dozed off, I entertained her by watching her play with a teddy-bear sticker book. Luna glanced deviously toward her sleeping mother and then leaned toward me and said, "Mommy and Daddy are divorced now." And just as quickly she returned back to playing with the stickers as if nothing had been said. I took another look at the German mother with lots more questions building in my mind but, out of the bit of propriety I have, kept them to myself.

A couple hours later, it was time for Luna's bedtime. She rested her head on her mother's lap and tucked her feet onto her own seat. It only took a few minutes before her feet involuntarily found their way to my knee. Something about this sweet, little girl with such a divided life stirred me and I preferred having her tiny feet in mismatched socks invade my plane seat.

Probably the most enjoyable flight I've had yet.

And here I am safe & sound!

The Remix

Isn't it interesting how hindsight is 20/20? In my last post (written 6 months ago) I was leaning toward the idea that I wouldn't be back to Europe in the near future (or ever!)--and here I am with a ticket to London scheduled for tomorrow!

It feels funny to be going back; this time, all by my lonesome & without a real plan. No job, yet : )
I'm told that my adventure is rather Sabrina-esque; and in fact, it does seem to be quite parallel to my life.

Don't expect the sophisticated haircut upon my return, though...nor an increase in culinary ability.

See you on the island!

My semester flashing before my eyes.

Although I've been diligently prepping myself for the ensuing three finals, I really must continue doing so. However, I am finding every excuse to occupy my person in other ways...including writing this.

I'm really sad to be leaving London : (
Saying good-bye is never enjoyable--especially if you know that you may not be back for quite some time, or ever. Loved the people, loved the city, loved the independence, politics, newspapers, public transportation, musical theatre, having a monarchy...
(You realise that if you a confidante of mine in LA, you'll be hearing more than you bargained for about the UK--so I apologise, you'll need to be non-confrontational and tell me "Enough!")

On the other hand, I am very excited to be graduating...in 3 days (technically!). And I can't wait to see everyone!! And I'm curious to see what LA/A-town is like again.

And hurrah! I get to have a couple more weeks prowling about Europe : )

My Roman Holiday

Rome, Italy was a nice enough city. Still, I am much relieved to be back home in London.

La Boca di Verita was my favorite spot. It's from the scene in Audrey Hepburn's debut in the film Roman Holiday.

I was most in awe of the Pantheon. I don't know why, but I never got over how massive & grand it was. Even after 3 visits.

Oh, and I ate a ton of gelato : )

A Greek Thanksgiving

So I went to Athens for Thanksgiving! I'm not sure what else I can concisely say about it..

I thought it was really surreal to see Greek writing. It paid off to be 'greek' with a small 'g', I was able to make out some of the letters and words! As I told my roommate, I should feel at home in Greece...after all, I am a sista : )

On our first night there I stopped a man who was passing us in the street.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at a ginormous lighted mountain.

"...Acropolis??" he semi-replied/questioned back. (It must have been like asking what century we're in)

"Ohhh okay, just checking...I found it!" I exclaimed.

Yikes. What a tourist.

It must be so strange to be Athenian...to have the Acropolis and old civilisations in your backyard. Also, I was pretty excited to be on the south slope of the site--It's supposedly the place where Pablo gave his famous speech about the "unknown God"!

I wish I could imagine what it was like to be there amidst temples and togas. Instead there were cranes and construction workers putting the ancient stones back together.

Good food, though : )

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Istanbul, Turkey

It began on the plane.

My travel buddy, Mo, and I found ourselves seated amidst a group of Turkish men who were acting as if we were at a bar rather than on a 3 hour flight. They were standing around in the aisle unchecked by the very British flight attendant, Francesca, whom they kept calling over so they could buy more drinks. Every 5 minutes, they would burst out into unified Turkish song. It was pretty intense (And this is already skipping the part where our plane got struck by lightning).

And, of course, these folks became our new friends. By the end of 3 hours, Mo and I were invited to come to a Bisiktas football game, the official team of Istanbul.

Our new Turkish hosts were more than hospitable. They took us out to eat, drink, and sightsee--and wouldn't let us pay for a thing. Right before the awaited game, they brought us into the team gift shop and insisted that we choose Bisiktas gear to wear for the game...and then they paid for it. We protested with all our might, but they acted truly offended at our rejection of their hospitality.

"Wouldn't you do the same for us if we came to Los Angeles?" demanded Ercument.

"Uhhhmmmmm..." said we.

"Well, whether you would or not, this is how we do it." he replied to our awkward pause.

Istanbul itself was an incredible experience. I had never been in a Muslim country before. There were mosques galore and we immediately heard the 5 daily calls to prayer from the loudspeakers posted on the top of the minarets.

It was really neat to be able to travel from Europe to Asia (and vice versa) daily. The Bosphorus Strait was an interesting body of water with lots of vessels traveling through it.

You'll have to ask me later about the strange hostel receptionist, ridiculous rain, racial issues, why the Turkish flag design came to be, beer & wine, and near drugging experience. There are, again like Madrid, way too many stories to recount.

All I'll say for now is that Bisiktas lost 2-0 : ( , yet I am still a fan for life. Also, I have never been offered the sale of so many carpets!

Sadly, I came out sick from the weekend; a combination of not fully recovering from the previous weekend, my sick host, and being immersed in rain-water. Please pray that:

1. I'll get healthy again.

2. I will get all my assignments done.

Thanks : )

Fin de Semana en Madrid, Espana

I would like to start by thanking God that I am alive and safe at home in London.
This was the worst and also the best travel experience I have had yet.

There are so many stories that came out of this weekend; I'll only write about the main events here.

The worst part:
Upon arriving at the airport, I took the Metro to meet my host & was pickpocketed :(
My cell phone and all my cash...all taken.

I was supposed to text my host when I arrived at El Diamante, a bar in the centre of Madrid. This is when I discovered that I no longer had my phone. I wasn't sure which option to pursue: a) run back to find the perpetrator (which wouldn't help), or b) sit down and cry. In the Metro station, I found a police officer and told him my sad story (good thing I speak a bit of Spanish...).
He answered me simply with a, "Es dificil." (essentially "tough luck") and a shrug.

I pulled myself together and asked for directions to the bar. I emerged into the cold night of Madrid and stood on the corner next to El Diamante alone with all my stuff. No way to contact my host, and hence, no place to stay. Also, no numbers to call, nor did I know a soul in the city...or the country for that matter!

I was desperate enough that I started asking random men if they were my host, and when they denied such an identity, if they knew where the nearest Internet cafe was. I finally came across two girls who were English-speakers. They felt so sorry for me that they told me that they'd try to help my situation when they finally met up with their friend.

Altruistically, they brought me to their friend, a gentleman named Miguel. They insisted that I come along with them since they were going out for Halloween night. So with my backpack and all, I tagged along to watch an amazing Flamenco show and then to a club to dance the night away to house-esque music!

At 5am, when the night ended early (in their opinion!), I arrived with Miguel back at his home. After a much needed night's rest, he was kind enough to show me around Madrid and lent me his guest bedroom for the weekend.



The best part:
Madrid was beautiful and sunny. It was in the high 60s F! What a welcome change from London : )

The loveliest part of Madrid was El Parque de Buen Retiro. Amazing acreage of grass, waterfalls, ponds, gardens, walkways, etc. People all come to rollerblade, stroll, walk their dogs, sleep, read, jog...you name it : )

Miguel thought it would be a great idea to take a rowboat out on Enstanque, the big pond. It was very charming, although rowing is a lot harder than it looks : )


And the best part is that I got to practice my Spanish. It was awesome to see that I was able to effectively communicate...although in some cases it was not to my benefit...

The lessons I learned is that: a) there are things worse than death, b) there are more devastating things to be lost than material possessions or money.

And for this I'm a thankful girl : )