Foggy London Town

I had never possessed a huge desire to visit London, but when the opportunity presented itself, I was certainly not going to say no.

When looking at locations to take the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test), I contacted my friend Sam from Mizzou to ask if I could stay with him in London for the week, when he agreed, I booked my ticket and registered to take the test. While February didn't seem like the most ideal time to visit a city known around the world to be miserable and cold, I was excited to go anyway.

Thankfully the weather cooperated beautifully, despite the few days of rain.

London is a city so full of life and vibrance. It seemed like every Tube stop I got off on was full of people, moving, talking and living. I have never visited a city so "alive".

While in London I got to visit an unbelievable number of cool museums, locations and restaurants.

The British Museum (Home to the Rosetta Stone.)
The Science Museum
The Imperial War Museum (With an unbelievable Holocaust Museum.)
The Museum of London (One of the coolest museums I have ever been to.)
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Museum of Natural History
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Millennium Bridge (Where Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price was filmed.)
The Tower of London
The Tower Bridge
Piccadilly Circus
SoHo
Camden Town and Camden Town Market (The hometown of Punk rock.)
Platform 9 3/4
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Parliament
Buckingham Palace

While visiting these locations was awesome, some of the most satisfying things I did while in London had nothing to do with "cool" locations.

Grocery Shopping
Shopping at H&M, the Gap other "Western" stores
Taco Tuesdays at Sam's apartment (thanks to Logan)
A night on the town celebrating the end of the LSAT with Sam's friends
Drinking coffee and studying for the LSAT at Starbucks
Eating Thai food on Valentine's Day
Drinking good coffee in a real sized mug
Spending time in heated buildings
Showing in a consistently hot and clean shower
Speaking English
Eating delicious cheese and sandwiches
Spinach and blue cheese salads

I feel lucky to have gotten to visit London, even luckier to have met some intelligent and interesting people while there and fulfilled by spending time with my old friend, Sam.

One of my greatest fears about life in the Peace Corps was actually a fear of coming home. I knew that I could adapt to life in Morocco and embrace the change, but I was extremely fearful of having to re-integrate into "Western" life. After spending that time in London, I feel confident that it can be done. I was not as awkward, self-conscious or overwhelmed as I feared. It feels silly now to have worried about it in the first place but I also realize there are many more challenges ahead after another 15 months in Morocco and then a lifetime in America.

Overall, London left me satisfied, both mentally and physically; I feel reinvigorated to resume my life in Morocco and begin the tough work ahead of me.

Note: Londoners seem to have a fascination with Morocco. I saw countless "Visit Morocco" advertisements, a variety of "Moroccan style" meals and even "Moroccan" flavored meatballs (even though we don't eat meatballs in Morocco). I found this very entertaining.


The bridge from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.


In front of the Tower bridge in London.


Very soon Kate and William will get married here. FYI, It's Westminster Abbey.


Very Moroccan style jewelry on display at the British Museum but is actually from Oman.


Taco Tuesdays with REAL taco type things. Yummy.