July 8

Im on a plane from London to Nairobi Kenya. We got the worst seats on the plane. The last row, in the middle, where we cant recline. But the two seats on the row next to us were open so now we have 5 seats for 3 people so it turned out pretty good. Im reading a lot. I watched The Sting and then watched Ted blankly stare at his personal screen for a little bit. And now Im writing. My mom has the two seats by the window. She called us over when the Mediterranean met the top of Africa- what is that- Egypt? It looked incredible. The water faded lighter until you could see the orange sand under the water and then the water tapered off and then there was just the orange sand. Completely flat, no slope down to the water or anything. Like when you take a bath and look down at your body- you whole body is there but at the knees and your neck and your ribs here and there, the water cant cover anymore and your skin is exposed. That’s what it looked like. It was striking. I went back to my seat, unwrapped a foil covered chocolate ball and finished watching the movie.
I felt a little weird just finishing the movie like that but what else do you do? And after a few minutes, the chocolate looked really good to me and the movie started to get interesting again and I could complain about my seat location again, deciding that this is just a vacation and Ill just relax and enjoy it. Its hard to decide whether or not it’s a good idea to delve into that little state of mind that I easily let myself fall into. Where I look around me and everything looks fake and like its coming in on me and theres no way out and I have to get away before it all catches me. But those little moods havent gotten me anywhere before. Im happiest and most inspired and do the most things Im proud of, feel best about myself, when I decide not to go there. And I think sometimes that that happiness is fake and is not genuine (Im obsessed with everything being so damn genuine) but I don’t think that’s the case. We function under a delicate balance- of, I don’t know what. There’s your brain and logic and all that and then there’s physical sensations, and then theres chemicals. And I think sometimes that only the first one is real- that I have to think my way around everything and understand things before I can appreciate them and I don’t think that’s true. Im watching Ted two seats over from me, watching a movie. He hasn’t moved and has a completely blank look on his face and from what I can see, theres nothing happening there. But his brain, I know, is ticking away. (One step ahead of all the twists in the movie- he’s amazing with movies like that. Mysteries with little twists in them and plot details that you have to remember for the grand twist at the end to make sense- I miss all of those all the time. I have to watch those kinds of movies over and over and have someone explain it to me. Most of the time though, I just don’t really care enough.)
So that all- the thinking and the visuals and all the processing- can amuse you for a little bit but that lacks all the balance. The balance from chemicals you get from being physically active and eating the right foods. If my mind starts freaking out and I get depressed, I start thinking about morbid things and the bigger, way too big, picture and lose touch with everything little- all the important things really- and I think that theres something in my mind to figure out and that I have to stay morbid and look at huge pictures of things that I don’t even understand and shouldn’t. But maybe its just that I havent gone on a run in week and havent been eating good food- and its my chemicals not my brain and that’s all just as important. So I brought my running shoes on this trip. Im going to be alone pretty much, for a month after this trip and Ill need all the chemicals I can get to keep me going and strong.
Having said that, lets talk about London. I only got to spend one day there so I got a certain view of it. A tourist view of it- which, as far as Im concerned is a waste of time. Someone said, at breakfast, “We only have one day here so I think we should just see all we can.” Oh god, I thought, this is going to be a waste of a day. I hate sightseeing. I can see the big Ferris Wheel and the guards with the funny hats with 5 seconds on google images and that’s that and guess what- it looks exactly the same in real life! What’s the deal with sightseeing and getting autographs and taking pictures in front of monuments? Is that just to prove it to other people or what? I never understood that. So we all toured around London for the day. And we were quite the motley crew. Eleven Americans traveling together, from ages 10 to 74, waiting in lines, pointing at things, snapping pictures. It was kind of fun in a very touristy kind of way. We got rained off of the top of a double decker tour bus, went to Harrods- the huge department store- and marveled at room after room designated to different designers, and we ate Sheppard’s Pie at an overpriced pub. Then Mom and Ted and I split off and went to Paddington to check out the hostel Ill be staying at in 2 ½ weeks when I come back for a few days.
It was great. It got me so excited. I recognized the shops from google street view. The hostel itself is pretty ghetto. Kind of dank and dark and quiet- I didn’t get to see into the rooms but I got it- it’s a bargain place. The neighborhood is great though. There are cafes everywhere, little street vendors selling produce and fruit, Indian food restaurants with affordable buffets advertised out front and curry that you can smell from half a block away. Its lively but not in the bustling business type way that the other parts of London we looked at are.
Then we got on the tube and made it down to the Thames for dinner at a great little brew pub we found in a super old, cobble stone, relaxed part of town just on the London side of the London bridge. Around the same area is a beautiful cathedral that has been around for a thousand years- literally- which I definitely plan on going to a service in, and the Globe Theatre which I might also go back to. We tubed home and passed out. I understand the underground system. That’s my major accomplishment of the day.

Some observations about London from my one day of bustling about:
1. The women have beautiful shoes. Im used to Boulder women who work out relentlessly- if you don’t have a sport (running, cycling, swimming, all three in one day, rock climbing, kayaking,..) than you don’t fit the Boulder stereotype. The Boulder woman is incredibly fit, motivated, getting up at 6 to get a trail run in before work and then meeting other high strung, in-your-face liberated women for an obnoxiously health conscious overly priced meal to discuss business plans for non profits helping to make Uganda a green country and then back home to maybe get a ride in. So that’s nice and all, but too much of that is a little overwhelming, not to mention intimidating. So it was a refreshing change to see the London girls- chubby legs and no arm muscles, but with beautiful shoes that are worn, through torrential rain, heat and miles of walking, like no big deal. That deserves some respect.
2. Its not just the women. The men also have beautiful shoes. The men are definitely the more feminine of the sexes. I get the impression they spend a decent chunk of every paycheck on hair products, coat jackets and incredibly fashionable footwear and set their alarms a half hour earlier than American men in order to get in a certain amount of time pouting their lips in front of the mirror and deftly matching their outfits to look smooth and clean cut while still achieving a certain air of apathetic aloofness and detachment.
3. Londoners lock their wifi. I wish they didn’t.
4. Heathrow is the slowest airport ever.

Catch Phrase of the Day
The announcement on every stop of our tube ride to town.
“This is a Piccadilly Line service to Cockfosters”. I think you can get a crème for that.

Im expecting things to be very different in Kenya. This morning, talking about what to expect the next two weeks, I learned that we take showers from boiled water put in baggies and then poured over our heads. My massive mess of hair itself is probably a 5 bag job. This will be fun. I hope theres internet here and there. I like contact. I want to skype Baxter and I want to know what happens in the Tour- I am so sorry to be missing the Tour this year.

A little later now. Im in Kenya and checked into the hotel outside of Nairobi. Its very weird. It was a 40 minute ride from the airport and along the way, there were road blocks we had to avoid, a car pulled over in a ditch/sand dune on the side of the road and vans with 20 people in them passing us, the vans coughing up huge bursts of black thick smoke. And here we are. In a beautiful hotel. I have my own room somehow with a kingsize bed, a fireplace, a complimentary mini bar and a bathroom with two sinks and a claw foot bath tub. When I got into the room and the Kenyan man finished giving me the tour, I sat down and cried. Later, out on a deck, I told my mom if felt weird and guilty to me and she said "There are a lot of nice things in the world. Enjoy them." And that didnt make me feel any better. But I looked at everyone elses rooms, set up a wake up call for the morning and skyped with Dana in Santa Monica and Bax in Boulder (he was on a little break from work but still in his chefs coat), and now I feel better. But its late- its one in the morning and we traveled all day. Yesterday ran around a new city like crazy and the day before that, endured another grueling flight. So Im tired. Im going to have some complimentary chips and an orange juice and call it a night- maybe read some Carl Hiaasan- prime airplane reading. Tomorrow, we get on yet another plane for an hour and will be camping for the next 3 days.
Its beautiful here. Still havent seen it in the light but it smells fantastic and it feels like your walking on the real ground with nothing between you and the ground and that makes me feel alright.