The events that unfolded in London were not exactly what I had in mind. Ben didn’t answer his phone, so I decided to go and tour by myself. Walking around Paddington, the weather is crummy. It is overcast and a strong wind chill. I make my way into a small pub with free wifi and have a cup of coffee and toast. A few old men walk in, purchase a bottle of wine and begin to talk about the various things old Englishmen talk about. I felt as if I was in a movie. The pub was dimly lit, the people had terrible teeth and they were drinking before noon. I left the pub, walking aimlessly around. The biggest difference that I noticed between any other big city and London was the driving (remember, I was only really in London for maybe 3 hours). There really aren’t lanes in London. Cars are parallel parked every which way and it all seems very unorganized, but then again, cars weren’t exactly part of the city engineers plans a few centuries ago. I make a left and start to walk towards a park, Hyde Park. The only thing I know about Hyde Park is that there have been some killer live concerts that I’ve had the opportunity to listen to. The park is full of pigeons and tourists taking pictures. Since I was one of them, I had very little hesitation to pull out my SLR and snap a few photos of the famous park. It’s now been 20 some hours since I last got sleep and the walking around has made me exhausted. I decide to head back to Paddington Station so I can try Ben one more time, and if not, head to Heathrow. Ben doesn’t answer. Exhausted, I say my farewells to the history intense city and make my way to the Underground. The Underground is by far, the nicest public transportation train system I have seen in any city. Better than NY, DC, Boston, SF, Paris, the Underground takes them all.
I sit down and eye the people around me. There is a man struggling with a crossword puzzle. I had been doing a few of them recently so I decided to look a bit deeper and see if I could find help him out. Surely, there are a few that I know. I let him know and we continue to work on the crossword puzzle. After a few stops, we are mentally exhausted and strike up a real conversation. It turns out the man I was sitting next to was on his way Edinburgh where he is a Professor at the University and teaches 19th and 20th Century English History. The conversation soon turns to his youth where he traveled, much like I’m doing now. He continued to tell me about his experiences in Africa and the distinct smell that the African continent has. He has traveled much of Europe and Africa, but has not spent much time in the U.S. I urge him to go and see the crazy place that I call home and that NYC is in retrospect a very small taste of America (the only US city he’s been to). We arrive at Heathrow and before he hands me his business card, he gives me the best advice any young adult could hear: “Travel as much as you can before you get married”. In the back of my head, the Harlem Gospel Choir is singing “Amen”.
Security is a breeze and I walk around the terminal for a bit. All of the sudden I pass someone who looks extremely familiar. I cautiously approach her and ask if she’s part of SFS (School for Field Studies). She says she is and introduces herself as Jess, the friend next to her is Liz. We talk for a bit and then my stomach takes the best of me and I’m off to find food. I decide the best thing to satisfy my love for America would be to eat at T.G.I. Friday’s. I eat at the bar and the bartender begins to tell me about the crazy festivals that happen all throughout the UK. What a place. The people I’ve met seem friendly and so far London has left nothing short of a sweet taste in my mouth. The hours pass and I spend my time getting to know Jess and Liz. We talk about our love for Disney movies, nature and our reasons for going to Africa. We also realize that we have mutual anxieties.
The time has come. It’s time to board the plane. We get to the gate and to our surprise six more students had made it across the Atlantic in time. Emily, Sarah, Christina, Julie, Luke and Erin. I’m excited, but feel like a walking zombie. I board the plane and pass out. I spent the rest of plane ride finishing my book and watching 127 Hours (amazing film, Franco is one of the most versatile actors in our generation). The movie is cut two minutes short due to landing, but that’s okay. The savanna of Kenya is now becoming a reality and everyone on board is excited crowding the windows to get a glimpse of Nairobi.
We are welcomed by the Wildlife Professor in Kenya (he will be teaching us during our Kenya portion of the trip) and are instantly enamored by his amiable, wholesome and loveable presence. He takes us to the currency exchange where we trade in our familiar dollars for Kenyan shillings. He then brings four of the nine of us to the baggage claim so we can help load the truck that will be driving the bags from our site to the Field Station in Arusha. While getting the bags, a girl with a Goucher shirt begins to look at us quizzically. Her name is Ali and she will also be on our SFS trip. She has been in Tanzania for the past month with her grandmother and was told to meet us at the airport. We load the bags, meet a few more people (names are a bit fuzzy) and head back to the terminal to wait for our flight to Tanzania. I ask our Professor if he’s ever heard of a man named David Western. I tell him I just read his book and was really moved by it. To my surprise, he knows him quite well and tells me that if I want to meet him that we can definitely arrange a way for it to happen. I’m flabbergasted. A month ago, he was just a book on my grandmother’s bookshelf, now I’m going to get the opportunity to meet him and inquire more about his work. But that’s not all; he adds that if I’m serious about doing more conservation work in Africa, David brings in researchers to study primates. This could be something I’m interested in, but the only thing I’ve really done so far in this field of study is read about it. First, I need to fall in love with the work I’m doing before any further steps can be taken.
The group decides to look around at all the extremely low priced duty free goods and traditional African objects. We are all so excited. After a while, we work up an appetite and get ready to indulge ourselves in our first meal. I choose the Cheddar, Avocado and Tomato sandwich, Emily and Sarah choose the same and within minutes our mouths are watering due to the smell of freshly prepared sandwiches. The rest of the group is playing cards, sleeping and reading. I pull out my laptop and decide to write this blog. And so it has begun.
No comments:
Post a Comment