Day 1: 30 hours of no sleep!

I flew out of Evansville on June 26, at 11:30am. After layovers in Memphis and Atlanta, I found myself sitting on a plane next to someone who was neither fat nor a crying baby. That is all I wished for. 

Here are 3 things that I think sound funny if said in a British accent (heard in the ATL airport)

1. Barking Mad 

2. The Real McCoy

3. Have you heard of the ice cream "Rocky Road?" (just say this sentence out loud in your best British accent. Funny, no? 

I will have more of these to come since I talked to about 327 British people today. 

Things of importance on the flight: I finished Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I highly recommend it to anyone. Turbulence was bad, and their reasoning was that we were flying near a storm. That's a really good thing to tell the passengers when only a few weeks ago a plane disappeared because of a storm over the Atlantic. Therefore every time I got close to dozing off, the plane would shake. Causing me to turn into a nervous wreck and pray until I calmed down. Then it happened all over again. No sleep. Also, we flew over Ireland, and through gaps in the clouds I could see the rectangular fields of different shades of green and the Irish sea shores. Something stirred in my heart that I haven't felt for 3 1/2 years. I didn't leave my heart in San Francisco, but a piece of it on the Emerald Isle. 

Here are 3 signs you know you're in England:

1. When someone says "Excuse me, are you in the queue?" And you look at them with a blank face. 

2. When you go to step on the moving sidewalk in the airport and realize that it's coming towards you. Oops, left side! 

3. When 5 o'clock hits and suddenly everything is closed except the Pub which is suddenly full of loud men. 

After arriving and meeting with my boss (I'm not really sure what else to call her. She's just helped me through everything and is the one evaluating me at the end.), Becky, we waited for another intern to arrive, but she missed her connection, so we had to wait an extra two hours. It was no big deal, really. Extra time to get acquainted. When Emily finally arrived we stopped in a small town called Lancaster. Very old with a big castle and cathedral. It was really pretty. We went into a pub for dinner that was very much like a hobbit hole. It was in the side of a hill, so you could walk in the front door, but it was underground. I ate fish and chips. A big man who had too much to drink announced that Pippy Longstocking was there. (I was wearing my hair in pigtails, and he caught sight of me on my way to the loo) 

God works in mysterious ways. Here's an example: We parked in a parking garage type place, and when we went back, the gates to get in were closed and locked. There on the side was a sign that said "garage closes at 5:15. 30 pound penalty if we have to remove it after hours" It was close to 6pm-ish. eep! Then a man and his son came up and they had done the same thing. They were British, so we didn't feel like ignorant Americans. So it had downpoured earlier, and apparently everyone's money was so wet, it jammed the machine and a guard came to look at it. So he let us out for free since we didn't call the number on the sign. He said it was a good thing he was there. I wanted to say "It's a good thing God let it downpour." 

We drove to Carlisle through beautiful hills that reminded me of Ireland so much. I unloaded at Becky's house, I'm staying with her just for tonight, and we took Emily to another host family's house.  

I'm about to go to bed soon, but since we're so far north, the sun doesn't completely set until about 10:30/11:00. It's bizarro! I'm about to pass out, but I'll leave you with some pictures.

what they are:

1. View of Lancaster and the castle

2. Just a normal street.

3. The cathedral next to the castle. 

4. just our room of the pub.

5. Wicklow-esque mountains/hills.