Ashley's Arabian Adventure

Leaving the UK was predictably difficult, but I am so glad to be here! Maybe it is possible to adapt to any culture, but I think this one is a better fit. I think I will fit into it pretty quickly. In just a few days I have learned enough to get around by taxi alone, where the best local food is found and where to get good quality pirated DVDs. In the past few days I have found more American food than I ever saw in the UK, yelled at a taxi driver for trying to rip me off, and accidently and awkwardly made eye-contact with a lot of Arab men.

At Popeye’s (PTL!) I accidently made eye-contact with a man and then he tried to talk to me. Eye-contact is like hard-core flirting here. Of course I had no idea what he was saying so I stared at my chicken and hoped he would go away. Well he did, but then he came back and sat at a table next to me and kept chatting away. Finally my friend came back from getting her food and he shut up. Awkward! I think that has been one of the most challenging things so far. I tend to make a lot of eye-contact with people, but I will surely get over that quickly.

So this morning I decided to “read” the paper. Maybe 2% of it was in English, but what I found was pretty amazing. Check out the swimsuit ads!

That's veilkini.com in case that didn't make it in the photo. You're welcome.

That so happened to me today. I went into London to take my GRE and allowed over half an hour to get from Victoria to Cannon Street. It's only like 5 stops down on the Circle/District line, so I thought I gave myself plenty of time. As I get on the underground an announcement is made about some idiot causing a power outage on the line and that alternate routes were advised. I realize that Cannon Street is only on the District line and that I am going to have to take a bus. I don't usually do the bus because it's confusing. Well I just run up the stairs and out of the station and pretty much assault the first bus driver I see. He very kindly walks me to the bus stop I need and tells my which bus will get me pretty close. I figure I'll just take a taxi from St. Paul's since I don't know where to go from there. Anyway, by the time I get on the bus, I have about 25 minutes until I am supposed to be there to register. The bus takes it's sweet time and I notice that we are in a traffic jam about three-quarters of the way down Victoria Street and I have about 15 minutes left at this point. Well since I know there's no way I will make it in time on the bus, I basically jump out of the bus and take off running towards Westminster station, passing Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament as I go. There are tons of tourists all over the place and I am running and pushing throught the crowd, running in front of taxis and buses to cross the streets. As I run with Big Ben and the London Eye in front of me, I think about how a camera should be following me and how I wished I was in better shape. Anyway I finally get to the station and find out that the District line was back in service. I scream "praise the Lord" and then realize that I screamed it. Slightly embarrassed, I dash down to the train and catch it just in time. The train goes a few stops down and then announces that it will terminate at the stop just before mine. Seriously!? So I get off and wait for the next one. Once I finally get to Cannon Street, I run the 100 feet to the place I need to be a rip open the door. The receptionist looks a bit frightened and directs me to where I needed to be...15 minutes ago. Praying that they even let me take the exam, I walk in and get registered. Praise the Lord, I was able to take the exam and I even rocked out the math part! That's pretty much my story of the month.