London, the Alternate Universe

After a 24 hour marathon of last minute preparation, we found ourselves buckled in for flight on British Air, at last. The flight was dreamy - very smooth, quiet, with a tasty vegetarian dinner of Indian curry. We had a number of choices for movies to watch on individual video screens, and this was a real treat, after several weeks of being too busy to watch anything. One channel offered a map of the landforms we were currently flying over; how surreal to be breathing comfortably, watching movies, while soaring through space and time and a long night, into the next day and a country that is familiar yet quite unique. We become Peter Pan, but are we heading for window's window or Never-neverland?

Once we touched down smoothly, Heathrow was a breeze to pass through. The Colquhouns, our friendly hosts in London, had sent their employee Jordan with a large car to "collect us", sparing us the effort of hauling our heavy luggage through the maze of public transportation. The Tubes (London Underground) and trains are impressive to us, since our own public transportation is still primitive in Seattle by comparison, but there is still quite a learning curve to maneuvering through the maze of turnstiles and stations. What a relief to not have to deal with it in our sleep deprived condition.

The rest of Tuesday was spent converting money to pounds (the rate is a little better than two for one), getting reorganized, and then taking Georgina out for pizza. Georgina is a 12 and incredibly capable; she could serve as anybody's host in London, having traveled extensively with her family and being quite comfortable in the worlds of both adults and children.

Wednesday was a traveling day, with a train ride to Oxford University to visit Mark's friend Eliza. She had been a caretaker at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle before applying for the Geomorphology program, and now lives in student housing. On this bitingly cold day, we took a taxi to nearby Brookes campus so Linus and Mark could do some bouldering at the climbing gym. I passed on this, feeling exhausted; instead, I took a walk in the bright sunshine and then a nap in the student lounge. On my walk, I noticed signs stating things like, "Dismount please - bicycles must use care" - which I think in America would say "No Bicycle Riding Here." This is what I mean by "Alternate Universe" - things seem familiar yet strangely different from home.

For example, they drive on the other side of the road. Since we're not driving here, the main adjustment is in crossing streets - you have to look right-left-right, not the other way around. Manners are very important in England, yet pedestrians have to yield to cars here; Seattle might be a genuine anomaly in that regard.

Back at the main campus, Eliza escorted us through the charming streets, lined with small shops and gorgeous architecture. The earliest colleges resemble castles, complete with spires and courtyard walls. Women did not attend Oxford until the 1920's. By the time we sat down for our delicious dinner of Indian fare, Linus was falling asleep in his lamb curry. We all crashed on the Express train back to London.

Thursday was Jet Lag payday - we all slept until 14:00, or two in the afternoon! Spent the afternoon shopping for chocolate cheesecake ingredients, and the evening visiting with the Colquhouns. Sleep was off again, given the long night Wednesday.
And today, Friday, we have a full day of sightseeing and celebrating Mark's 47th birthday!

Hasta la vista, Pearl

The Rain in Spain is nothing compared to Seattle

Taking care of business during this last week in Seattle is going to be interesting and intense. Handling the bills so they can be paid on-line, setting up details for our wonderful renter, completing tasks at our jobs and Linus's school (early finals), and then, of course, saying many goodbyes... it feels as if we're leaping into the void, happily.
Many friends have asked us how we're going about this six month trip, maybe hoping they can do the same some day. We've been very fortunate to have cooperation from our respective employers; Mark and I both expect to return to our jobs at the end of summer. When we moved to Spain in pre-Linus days, back in 1986, life was much simpler, and we left with enough money to live on for the year and no jobs to return to. Now there's a mortgage and household, and a complex life that includes wide, deep circles of loving friends and community. So going and coming back becomes a complex task.
Every journey begins with a dream - ours is to live in Spain for a time with Linus, our 15 year old son. This turns out to be a facinating time to go, as Spain has become very progressive since the change in government following the bombings in Madrid, while our own beloved country has regressed into an on-going state of fear. How interesting to compare and contrast the two countries reactions to being attacked. Of course, politics is only one aspect of life anywhere - we're also going to hang out with old and new friends in Spain, speak Castellano (what we commonly call "Spanish" was originally the regional language of Madrid, and became the country's official language), eat tapas, paint and soak up the sunshine!
If you'd like to know more of how we set this trip up, we'll write a detailed post later. For now, we're swamped, with many more chores to complete. Hasta la vista! M + M + L