LONDON.

whoa. I'm here. the best city in the world.
warning, this post will be short. it's almost 1 am, and I'm worn stinking out. 
I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to be here and do this and be this person.
And now here I am. Being and doing. 
The only way this can be explained is God. it's because of Him that I got accepted, that the money came in, that we got here safely, and that all the experiences of my life have been building up to this, which is building up to something else. so crazy. 
Yesterday, we arrived in London at 7 am, London time. We ended up being awake for 34 straight hours, because of the time change and flight weirdness. It got to some of us, cause A couple girls got sick when we got here, I guess from the crazy traffic in a big bus & jet lag & airplane food. but I was OK! :) I was thanking God that I wasn't in their shoes. It's weird that I'm finally in England, but it's awesome. In the bus between Gatwick & here we saw Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, the River Thames... all those lovely famous places which we have yet to explore.
we are at THE VERY TOP FLOOR of the hotel. so lugging the suitcases up was a feat, but we made it.
Yesterday, Dr. Parks fell and dislocated his shoulder. He is all right now- went to the hospital and got it put back in place, along with a sling and some pain meds. But he's his usual chipper/persevering self and met us for a pizza dinner after the incident and took us to hear Big Ben chime on the hour and see Westminster Abbey and the London Eye all lit up. we also got our Oyster cards (tube & bus passes) and rode the tube for the first time. SO FUN!
Guys, I know this is weird, but I feel like my whole life has just been waiting for me to be here. I love it so much. No one wears make up, and everyone just makes up their own fashion and doesn't care what other people think (not to mention the fantastic history & landmarks). We're reading a George Orwell essay called "England, Your England" to prepare for Brit. Lit. and it states several times that England is much more millions of individuals than it is a single nation, and I so agree with that. Of course they're a nation and are unified in the love of their country, but everyone is so diverse, and they do what they want. 
Today we went on a "tube rallye" and took the underground & buses to basically ever possible inch of downtown London learning where things were and how everything works. We were out 6.5 hours but it was SO FUN! I feel like a true Englander now. Tonight we went to see the musical Guys & Dolls, which of course I loved. a ton. and now, here we are sitting in the hotel lobby. at 1 AM. all trying to facebook and skype our families. feeling the tube rumble a hundred feet under our feet.
I know this all sounds silly and doesn't make much sense. but I absolutely adore every second of it. 


Fun facts: every single house has weather vanes. the accents are AWESOME, duh. customs was really mean & scary. the driving here is crazy like Ecuador, everyone's really close and you think you're going to crush pedestrians and small cars.