In London at last!

After a long 16-hour journey from Lima, I am finally in London! My father came to Lima from Piura to say good-bye and remind me to not take any packages from strangers at the airport and to call Mom as much as I can. I flew Iberia to Madrid, where I had 2 hours to kill before getting on the plane to go to London.

The Heathrow airport is HUMONGOUS! Upon getting off the plane, we had to walk forever before making it to immigrations, where I was grilled. This English lady I met in Lima happened to be on my flight so we were chatting after getting off the plane and neither her nor I realized that there's a line for people from the EU and a different line for people from other countries. I was in the wrong line, but they put me through nonetheless. Not without asking a MILLION questions first. "What are you here for? How long will you stay? How long have you known your friend? Why were you rejected a visa to the UK?" There should be a pill for verbal diarrhea :) The immigration officer said he'd have to check why I was refused a visa before and when he came back he told me to be more careful and get in the right line next time. After that, I had to get some X-rays at the airport (people from 3rd world countries have to pass a medical check-up) and then I had a hard time finding my baggage. I was met by Emma at the airport and then we took the tube and a cab to my place.

I must say I'm utterly impressed with the English transportation system. The tube is amazing (when it's not packed) and the buses only stop where they're supposed to. No need to pay cash upon getting on the bus. Everyone has a bus pass or an oyster card that simply needs to be touched on a yellow pad. I've gotten lost several times but I'm finding it easier to get around. The bus stops have self-explanatory maps of where you are and where each bus will take you, how often the bus comes around and a huge list of which bus to take to go to a certain destination. It's all extremely well-organized. Nothing like the chaos we sadly have in Lima.

I've already made new friends here and I've been adventurous enough to wander off on my own also. I went to Westminster (central London) last night and stumbled upon the Big Ben and the Wheel and the London Eye. My friend and I aslo got to see the Tower Bridge. There are a million places to see here and a year won't be enough! Please pray as I live in a whole different country. I will post here as much as I can and I'll put some pictures up on Facebook as well. Cheers!