London, or, "I have two pence"

This will be short and tidy, but I wanted to share a brief update. I feel like time is going quickly, punctuated as it has been by opening up my suitcase and letting it spread all over the floor, and then packing it all up again for another trip to the airport. I left Vienna, where I spent the majority of my 9-day visit sick, sleeping and staying in, this past Wednesday afternoon.

I got to my friend's flat in Leytonstone, East London, late Wednesday evening after a surprisingly long eight hours of travel from Vienna to East London. The metros in Europe are awesome, putting to shame America's woefully underdeveloped public transport system, but traveling by metro is also exhausting, compared with sitting on one's ass in a car. My main form of cardio exercise while in Europe has been daily walks inside the metro stations to transfer from one line to another. The outtings I've made in London so far have all taken about an hour of travel each way to get to any particular point.

Thursday evening, we went to the obligatory pub, in the Angel district. Yesterday, I was in Westminster, which is a beautiful district, home to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Again, the architecture was just wow!! Today, Sarah, her girlfriend Jude, friend-from-Palestine Merijn and I walked around north London, and ended up in Camden, which is a horribly crowded Haight Ashbury-like neighborhood .

But perhaps most spectacular of all during my time here: it turns out the crew I've landed with are huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, so we gathered last night and watched the musical episode of Buffy. Since many in the group are musicians, after some exhortation, someone took the guitar off the wall, a few of us picked up the two doumbeks in the room (one which Sarah bought when we were together in the Old City in Jerusalem), and we started goofing around playing some music. I felt, for the first time since I left San Francisco in December, like I was back home with friends. Oh, and then I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a bad hangover from too much wine. Oy.

Tomorrow I take the bus, then underground, then train out to Coventry to visit Yimei, a very good friend from my year in Taiwan. I'll be meeting Yimei's son Nicholas for the first time, who I believe may be in his terrible twos. Dear god.

Then back to London Tuesday, another pub, Sarah will roast a lamb, and then I pack up yet again for a flight out of Heathrow Thursday morning to India. Is it possible, after 3 countries in twice as many weeks, that I will find India restful?! HA! I already have a homestay planned in Fort Cochin for my first two nights in Kerala, and then train to Vijnana Kala Vedi Center near Aranmula, where I will be staying for 7 whole weeks. Yoga, singing, and homemade vegetarian food every day for 7 weeks. Blessed stillness. Hopefully, without any long bout of illness. Pardon the rhyme.

More soon, and missing you at home.