calling all flora, fauna, and merriweather

FLORA
   For some time now, I've been longing to write about this place, but couldn't find quite the right mood or headline.  But, "I've got it now Wendy!"  Now, I can finally tell you all about Heritage Market, one of my favorite daytime destinations in the area.  

   Heritage Market is a two-tiered, open area ringed by several little shops and cafés.  It honestly reminded me a bit of La Jolla, California, with it's tiny front windows and brick store fronts.  It just felt wannabe chic, but still had that taint of kid-friendliness that kept it from rising to the tippy-top of fancy-shmancy-ness.  The photo above and below are of the public pavilion in the center of the market.  One time, a little boy had his birthday party underneath its protective shade.

   Pretty much all the cafés have outdoor seating, perfect for the weather here most of the year.  One of them, "La Vie," has a sign post by it, telling customers that the shop "Two Crabby Ladies" is up the stairs... the latter is a kind of clothing and supply shop, where we bought Natalie and Maggie their swimming caps.

   Another shop that really caught my eye, located upstairs, goes by the name "Dancing Needles."  It's a dance supply store and I went in to chat with the girl working at the time I was visiting.  She was very helpful and said there are a few studios in Kloof and Durban-- so who knows?  Maybe I'll end up brushing up my rondes jambe and port de bras whilst I'm in town!

   There's also a little play structure and bounce-house, which makes it a prime spot to take the kids on a nice morning or afternoon detour, when the distraction is needed most, haha.

   So far, you know that the pavilion marks the center, the cafés line the perimeter, the kids get their playtime, and that lush, shady trees complete the scene.  But what you don't know yet is that Heritage Market is my favorite lo-cal so far because of the ROSES that are simply everywhere, covering every free nook and cranny!

   To see more gorgeous pictures of the girls and the flowers, please follow the link of the left-hand side of the page that says "heritage market."  Personally, I highly recommend this course of action, seeing as there are some exquisite examples of my work as an amateur photographer therein ;]

FAUNA

   As I've mentioned before--aka, in some previous post-- South Africa ranks as a premier destination for twitchers, fancy-shmancy for bird-watchers!  Since being here, our most common sightings have been, yellow-billed kites, ibises, and weavers.  But, there are also many other aviators that have since captured, if not my heart, certainly my eye for color.

   One of the girls' favorites is a precious bird: the purple-crested turaco (tuhr-ah-co).  It's major selling point is its colossal plumage which is distinctive purple-mountains-majesty that ends at the wings with a shock of red.  Of course, these features are tough to replicate, but here are the best shots I could find (thank you, interwebs!)

   After my single sighting, I can still truly say that these pics, by no means, do the original justice.  Alas!

   The second bird on my list has been in frequent view since he and has mate have built a nest on the property and are busily preparing for the arrival of their hatchlings-- baby bird sighting soon to come!  This bird is called a scarlet-winged starling

   In flight, when their wings fan out as they glide, you can see the entire scarlet fringe of their wings against the sun: absolutely breath-taking.

   The final bird worth mention at the moment is a fellow I met today while reading outside on the veranda.  He and some friends stopped for a visit at our bird-bath and bird-feeder lodge.  Significantly smaller than his sky-mates above, the pin-tailed whydah ("why-duh") is most remarkable for his huge tail, which is easily twice the length of the rest of his body.  He's quite the charmer to the ladies, but is pretty feisty towards other species.

MERRIWEATHER

   ...Or should I say "merry weather?"  The climate here, so far, has been swimmingly temperate.  February is supposed to be the hottest month and tomorrow promises to be quite the scorcher--high of 96 I believe.  Still, in general, we've had daily averages in the mid-seventies and, with the usual accompanying breeze, it makes for a merry day outdoors indeed :]  We've also had one thunderstorm which was pretty spectacular: gushing rain, lighting, and the tickling hint of thunder.  The garden the next day smelled divine...  If you ever care to check the weather here, I highly recommend the web application "swacket."  It's a fun little gadget that Ben and Carina introduced me to here and has helped immensely with the daily challenge of what to wear.

   Well, in closing, I have some roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble tidings...

tomorrow, we are getting a puppy!

P.S.  I promise to post some adorable snap shots of our most recent addition A.S.A.P.  Until then, feel free to check out this semi-artsy dog video a friend showed me: dog park

foodie, please!

   Now I'm sure at least a few of you have been wondering for some time what the food here has been like.  Well, I can completely assuage any fears or doubts with assurances that all the food has been fantastic!  On the home front, there are no concerns to be had: Carina is a fabulous cook and the produce here is to die for fresh and varied.  Right now, we're in the middle of mango, pear, and avocado season-- can you say scrumdiddlyumptious?  Check out the magnificent Mexican dinner we had tonight:

can you say fresh cilantro, grilled [red, yellow, & green bell peppers], onions, garlic, brown rice, italian import beans, local grown avocado, fresh squeezed lime, chopped tomatoes, and [hand-shredded by yours truly] white cheddar cheese?  Seconds, please :]

   As for the food beyond our home on the hill, it too has been exceedingly exquisite.  This past Saturday was one of many occasions so far for me to "ooo" and "ahh" and take a few inconspicuous pictures while browsing.  The event is called "Shongweni" (sh-ung-way-nee).  It's the local farmers's market and is held every week!  It felt like a smash-hit-mash-up of the Alameda Park Street Fair and Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue.  There was a whole stand just for tie-dye clothes and accessories-- whoa!  The whole thing is set up in wooden stalls in a huge grassy plain.  I didn't find out until afterwards that Shongweni is a weekly event; it was impossible to see it all in one visit so I'm definitely going back!


   It reminded me of the Park Street Fair in that there were multiple stands for homemade jams and olives and other small tasties for sale.  Over on the far side of the field, the "Strawberry Lady" sells her wares in little boxes, ripe and plump and reasonably priced!  

   The Telegraph vibe came from, obviously, the tie-dye stand, but also the booths of original paintings and other artwork, woodworks (there was this incredible clock carved into a tree trunk!), and funky jewelry stands.  There are also a few troubadours scattered throughout the place, lending the space plenty of good vibes :)  When I took Natalie for a little while, we stopped by the all-organic, no-preservatives ice cream booth.  In addition to their long list of flavors and free samples, they were also big on advertising that their milk was from grass-fed cows, their eggs were from free-range chickens, etc.  SUPER sustainability and naturally oriented stand, like many of the others.

   There are also about a million pastry stands-- not just at Shongweni, but all over ZA so far!  And not lame like, "oh, I got you these cookies from Safeway/Ralphs..." treats.  Like, legitimately glorious cream-filled pastries and tartlets galore!  So, naturally, seeing as this is a national theme, there were several cupcake and patisserie stalls on the field for my perusing and tidbit-tasting pleasure.  Natalie particularly enjoyed the carrot-cake-with-raisins mini-cupcake with lemon icing; the base of the cupcake was about the size of a bottle cap, to give a point of comparison... so when I say "mini,"  I mean it!

   On the more savory side of things, we also paid a visit and a few dollars to the vendors at two stalls.  The first was owned and operated by "the Cheese Lady," from whom we purchased a block of three-year old sharp white cheddar (mmmmmm!)  I also keenly feel the need to mention that the stand beside hers sold locally produced wines-- perfect sampling combos, right?

roses and lilies?  sound familiar to anyone?  all they need now are some jonquils!  I know from the owner that next season, one of the labels has a blue orchid-- great theme choice for their labels.  Eye-catching and attractive = sales points

   The final stall truly meriting attention at this point entitles itself "Salt of the Earth" and sells all kinds of artisan breads at amazing prices!  Everything was made fresh that morning.  Our family bought two ciabatta loaves for about the equivalent of 1.25 USD (U.$. Dollars).  Talk about a fantastic deal!

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   One day last week, we also took the girls to a frozen yogurt shop as a treat: less sugar than ice cream, but just as pretty!  The place we went was called Wak-a-Berry (the "wak" is pronounced like "wok").  I remember sitting outside spoon-feeding Natalie and having Maggie ask me, "Cousin Lily, what's in this?"  And I look at my mixed berry froyo, which was an outrageously saturated magenta, and answering "lots and lots of food dye."

   Another lo-cal for fabulous eats and treats that I have visited plays many roles: spa, resort, botanical garden, playground, patisserie, cafe, and general getaway spot.  Name?

Makaranga

"mock-uh-wrong-guh"

Of course, I was a complete ninny and didn't bring my camera, but I promise to do so next time!  Truly!  This place, like the others, had incredible pastries and divine views.  Carina and I sat on the deck overlooking the forest, drinking coffee and munching on the pastries.  I got a miniature peacan pie like thing, she had a super moist chocolate muffin, and the girls split a savory kind of scone with some strawberry jam.  Fancy lady time, right?

   It's funny because when you look out across the pools of the spa into the gardens and trees beyond, you feel so removed from society.  But... Carina was telling me how just behind the tallest line of trees, there is another normal residential area.  So sneaky!  

   After our delectable snack, we took the girls to the little park and then Maggie and I took a leisurely stroll through the Japanese garden section.  To walk through all the grounds would quite easily take more than a day, in my opinion and on my kind of timeline.  The garden we did stroll through had several interconnected coy fish ponds with water lilies and other small fish.  There were even little stepping stones and bridges that led us across the waterways.  It felt so secluded and peaceful... I swore we were leagues away from another breathing body sometimes-- an amazing experience.  One I was glad I got to share with Maggie...

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   On a completely unrelated note, I've had my first driving lesson from Carina in driving stick-shift... aaaannd driving on the left side of the road.  It was funny, in that the parts I thought would be really challenging (you know, like driving from the other side of the car and on the other side of the road!) were fairly easy to get the hang of; whereas some of the finer points proved more challenging.  The car is really great though and I'm sure I'll be a pro in no time!  Well, maybe after a few more lessons... :]

college of letters and hellenists

   Just so know where all the groovy energy in this post is coming from while you read, when I sat down at my computer and put my music library on shuffle, this is the song that came on:

"I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits

   Now, down to business, though, not to defeat the Huns (sorry Mulan!).  One of the things I've been meaning to write to you all about is what I've been reading down here!  For Christmas, America's most garish and successful commercially recognized holiday, my family gave me a kindle for my trip.  I was quite honestly more than a mite nervous about getting a kindle; I'm such a hardcore believer in real-for-the-feel paper novels that switching to any kind of gadget felt strange.  To be even more frank, I'm not much for the ways of this tech-savvy world-- this blog is easily the most concrete attempt I've made to enter the technological internet-verse.  Still, the kindle was definitely the most pragmatic choice for me and I'm about to prove it to you!


   One of the greatest things about online reading in general* is that the public now has access to works whose copyrights have expired.  Aka, these works are now part of the "public domain."  We're talking Dickens and Jane Austen and Tolstoy and more!  All these books can be downloaded to computers and readers (hint!  my kindle :D) in seconds-- given you have a semi-functional internet connection, which can be intermittent for me at times.


   Given all this excellent, free bookage running around on the interwebs, I decided to get out my net and catch myself a few classics.  I started out pretty conservatively, only taking Dracula, a collection of Brothers Grimm Fairytales, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  A few days ago, on my cozy little cot, I completed the fairytale collection-- and no, it's not really a 'horror' collection as some view it to be; it's honestly not that graphic or violent.  my particular favorites include the following:


   "The Valiant Little Tailor"
      ...in which a clever, tiny man goes out and conquers the world and a kingdom and two giants with his wits alone.  Plus, he's a tailor!  He has a useful trade and doesn't need to be a macho chauvinist to prove his worth in the world.  Heck, he still gets half a kingdom at the end ; ]

our Tailor, tricking the Giant into carrying the whole tree by himself while he gets a free ride atop the oak; later, the Giant still thinks the Tailor has been carrying half the tree!

   "The Water of Life"
      ...in which a dying king's three sons each try to find a cure for their ailing father.  The elder two brothers do so out of selfish greed, thinking that the father, when cured, would bequeath the kingdom to the son that saved him.  The youngest son, however, is humbler and gentler and, as a result of his thoughtfulness and  kindness, receives help from a small dwarf who knows the life-saving water's whereabouts.  The funniest part of the story, however, was when the two older brothers were asked by the dwarf, "Whither you ride so hastily?" to which both brothers replied "You stupid dandyprat!"  Cheers, eh?
      ...other things I came across that could be of interest:  the hardening of hearts and the nature of hearts.  Both are mentioned throughout the various stories and of keen interest to me.  In one story called "Bearskin," the protagonist becomes a solider in the war.  When the war is over, he returns to the homes of his brothers, seeking shelter and company until war breaks out again: "his brothers, however, were hard-hearted, and said, 'What could we do with you?  We could make nothing of you..' "  In "The Valiant Little Tailor," the protagonist kills seven flies that were buzzing around bread and jam.  Pleased with himself, he fashions himself a belt embroidered with the words "seven at one blow!"  When he is finished, "his heart danced with joy, like a puppy-dog's tail."  And even in "Snow-White," when the Queen temporarily succeeds in killing Snow-White, "and she went home to her glass, and at last it said--'Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair.'  And then her envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart could be."  Are the Grimms telling us that a) there are many kinds of hearts and b) that only certain hearts can achieve pure happiness? I wonder if our free-will has any bearing on what type of heart we have... I surely hope so!


   Since these revelations, I have embarked on my first case with Sherlock Holmes, "A Scandal in Bohemia," as related by his trusted friend and sometimes assistant/partner/accomplice, Dr. Watson.  Though I'm really loving the writing and the little quirks of the characters, I was completely shocked by the conclusion to this first adventure: the not-so-black-and-white "villain" of the story, a woman named Irene Adler, escapes!  Sherlock doesn't "win!" Totally strange to me, as I was expecting this unstoppable, unbeatable sleuthing secret agent.  Still, he's got class and finesse that is undeniably addictive.  I'm in the midst of continuing his saga in "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League," which promises to be hilarious.

Watson and Holmes outside the United Kingdom's Embassy in Russia

   Speaking of Russia, I ran into some English-speaking Russians at the Greek-speaking Hellenistic Greek Orthodox church I visited this past Sunday called Holy Trinity.  The inside of the church is gorgeous; the background color for the ceiling embellishments (what I believe to be a combination of mosaics and faux-frescos) is a fantastic peacock blue-teal-tiffany's blue-esque color (a favorite color group of mine).  Afterwards, we were served very intense, sugary Turkish coffee and biscotti-textured biscuits.  The Russian family Ben & Carina have befriended has four sons, the youngest of which looked to be about 11 years old.  Natalie spent pretty much the entire time flirting with said pre-pubescent boy.  Classic.

   Now, on that note, do any of you have any reading recommendations?  I've currently got my heart set on re-reading so that I can finish the Inheritance Cycle books by Christopher Paolini (the last book came out awhile ago and I'm re-reading the first three books so all the detail are fresh! ... rather, I was re-reading them before I left my mini-library in the states) and am perusing Sherlock while I wait for the library request to be honored for the kindle.  But I'm definitely up for something fresh.  Any epic fantasies and adventure books hiding in the closet??  Come, out with it!  

...please ; ]

   P.S.  I have since become much more liberal in my "free-downloads" for the kindle and recently added about 25 new titles to my collection, including The Three Musketeers, "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," and Asgard Tales From Norse Mythology.  Oh, and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, of course!


   *in general, I loathe reading online and commend all of you for reading this blog on a screen right now.  If I could have it my way, you'd each be getting handwritten notes daily from me.  Woe that there are so few hours in a day!


   <>  title inspired via the title of UC Berkeley's requirements for the "college of letters and sciences."  Of course, I replaced the "sciences" (blechk!) with a variation on the hellenistic society I encountered here in Durban.

just keep swimming

r e s i l i e n c e

n. [1] the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity

    [2] the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness


   That's Mr. Oxford's take on it anyways.  Well, whatever it is, Natalie has it.  Today, the girls had a playdate of epic proportions at Miss Ashley's house.  But don't worry; I'll ease you into it slowly by doing a short game of "who's who"

mom  Carina

child  Maggie [2.87]

child  Natalie [1.08]

mom  Jax*

child  Zak [2.21]

mom  Ashley

child  Daniel [2.08]

child  Sophie [2.08]

child  Alessandro [2.08]

legend

   bold-- role

   normal-- name

   brakets-- age

   *general abbreviation for 'Jacqueline'

   Now, if you've read my handy-dandy little chart correctly, you'll have realized that, yes, we had a playdate with a set of triplets.  And what a trip!  Miss Ashley was absolutely amazing... what a "lovely" sense of humor that woman has.  I place lovely in quotations here since it's what everyone says after meeting me, how "lovely it is to meet [me]."  So many things here are insanely British.  


   Ashley and Jax actually both went to the university here that I'm thinking of attending (I don't think either of them graduated from there though), University of Kwalzulu-Natal-- often abbreviated as UKZN.  This simple fact was music to my ears, since I've been having a field day trying to figure out how to school here operates et cetera.  Their website is pretty shoddy in design and talking to a real person always beats the internet.  Sorry net!  I visited UKZN this past Tuesday and spent most of it running around with Preshantha, easily the kindest soul I came into contact with that day.  She works in the international relations office that deals with admissions, but there's a separate office once students from abroad are actually accepted.  And of course, that office is across Howard campus (the college of humanities, where I'll be studying).  Despite many a road block, I've gotten loads figured out and continue to make progress via my helpful strangers, who I very much hope won't remain strangers for too much longer.


   Anyways, back to the triplet action!  Both our girls had an energy-jet-packed time of it and were very amenable to the dinner-bath-beddybie combo package we sold them afterwards.  It's simply astounding how different all the triplets are; such varied little personalities!  Sophie and Natalie are both quite independent; Zach and Daniel play quite a bit rougher and are so daring!; and Alessandro is the world's youngest tattletale, to be sure!  Miss Ashley was telling us about when she picked them up from school today.  When she got there, Alessandro said, in his pseudo-British accent, "oh Mummy!  You must come and take Daniel home-- he has been so naughty!"  

   Natalie continued to amaze me throughout the playdate. Despite the boys slight roughhousing and the sheer amount of energy in the backyard (the monkeys contributed to that a fair bit as well), she really held her own!  She was more than willing to fight back and dish out her own fair share of hair pulling and bruises.  Participation: full-throttle.

   She's also starting to get chunks of words out.  One she's been working on a lot lately is "Abbie."  Our dog here, a gorgeous, sweet girl is named Abiquiú, after a town in New Mexico near Los Alamos (the place where the nuclear bomb was developed).

   Usually she'll see the dog and run around saying "Ab," "ab," "ab" for a good little while.  Today, however, she was able to say "Abbie" three times in a row!  It's very exciting to see her learning so much so fast.

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   Maggie and Natty have also just started having swimming lessons twice a week.  The classes are taught by a woman named Lara and she uses the pool in her backyard for the lessons.  She's great with the kids and seems to really love her work.  We walk the girls over to her place Monday and Wednesday afternoons.  Maggie is in a class with another little boy named Deklan (spelling??) who is very sweet and shy.  Natalie is doing an infant series with Carina and loving it.  It's so interesting to watch them at the lessons because it really shows you how different they are in nature.

   Maggie is all about organization and pretty cautious.  She gets fairly nervous when she does her little bobs under water and loves to chitter chatter throughout the class.  Natalie, on the other hand, is absolutely fearless and can't wait to get all the way in!  Maggie has her lesson first and Carina and I have a tough time keeping Natalie from diving in the pool while she waits.  Once Natalie's in the water, she can't wait to dunk her head in and comes up giggling and smiling each time.  Totally a water-baby.  I hope to be posting some pictures from the lessons soon!

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  In other news, several reports of an alarming nature have reached this news station concerning the sighting of a large and, possibly terrifying, flying insect.  The insect in question was spotted in the humble of abode of one Sprekelia on the eastern coast of South Africa.  Now, we'll turn to our privately investigated report with Sprekelia:

   So basically, I was sitting on my comfy bed

writing my blog, when I saw a large flutter of brown wings.  I carefully backed off the bed towards my desk and waited.  All was eerily still, when suddenly, a huge, behemoth of wings rushed sporadically around the enclosure in wicked looking spirals and zags.  I deftly rushed out of the room through the connecting bathroom, turning on lights as I went, so that I may better observe my attacker.  Once in the kitchen beyond, I began chucking plastic toy vegetables through the door frame to try and rouse it from its den, but to no avail.  Behind me, another door rattled open and lo!  there stood Ben, in all his tall state, with large staff and flashlight in hand.  Though brave in coming to my aid, it was his fair maid, Carina, who became the hero of the hour.  Through agile skill and valiant thrashing, she bested the beast and caught it in a towel.  After releasing it into the wilds beyond our abode, we discovered it was a 

praying mantis

   Definitely the size of both my hands together.  You know, in my opinion, bugs that big shouldn't be allowed to fly.  It's just not a great plan.  Well, until next time, cheers!

a room with a view

there once was a woman, who lived in a Kloof, she had so many toddlers, but she always knew what to do...

      as many queries as there are buzzing around your head, there are just as many tidbits and treats tumbling over one another in mine, trying desperately to get out of my mouth!  so here they are, in no truly particular order :

     Kloof is a suburb of Durban, the third largest port-city in Africa.  Durban lies along the eastern African coast, a massive, sprawling city teeming with people, fruit, and wildlife.  Kloof sits to the west, a tad more inland, and the residential equivalent of La Jolla (for SoCal-ers) or Baja Piedmont (for NorCal-ers).  Our home clings to a lush grove about a quarter of the way down an enormous hill.  Our hill, and those adjacent to us, make a sort of encampment around a deep gorge, which is home to several different local species of birds.  Apparently, bird-watchers come from all over to see flyers that frequent these parts, like the 

yellow-billed kite

or, the yellow weaver

I can't tell you enough how green everything is... there are a few photos of the local landscape on my 'fotografias' page, but they really don't do the beauty justice.  You always hear people raving about how green Ireland is, but I haven't encountered any place that tops the gorge.  Admittedly, I haven't been to Ireland yet ; ]

     Since my arrival Friday morning-- ten o'clock in the morning, ZA time-- my days have been flowing from one into the next, almost seamlessly.  Now I know you're all wondering about the time difference and my 'body clock' being out of whack, but I can honestly tell you that jet lag never hit me.  It seems I was made for this glorious, green world.

     House?  More like castle.  There's tons of wide, open spaces, a lovely veranda, and wide strips of grass along the driveway starting at our front gate.  Here's another unexpected detail: there's a ton of British slang floating around down here.  Example?  The oh-so-American "cut the grass" has become "trim the verge."  You can also only call something a verge if it's outside your private property?  So... our grass is still "grass," but the park's grass is definitively the "verge."  Just so you know.  Gotta get these things straight!

     My days so far have been filled with lots of paint, snap-up-the-back-onesies, tupperware, giggles, ballerinas, "Madeline," warm milks, and lots and lots of books.  Titles include: Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, the Cat in the Hat, the Poky Little Puppy, Tales of Peter Rabbit, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the Socksnatchers.  The last book relates the story of a family of 'socksnatchers' who occupy a covert hidey-hole in the Perkins Family's cellar.  As their name alludes, the snatchers poke through the house looking for stinky, dirty socks to put into Mama Socksnatcher's smelly sock soup.  'Lheeuuckk!!  My own reading of late doesn't divert too much from these works.  I've taken up again my old task of reading through the Brothers Grimm stories, which are in many ways, far superior to the cleaned-up, Hans Christian Andersen-ized modern rewrites.

   Girls?  Maggie will turn three at the end of February and Natalie turned one this past December.  Natalie, specifically, is at a fun age.  Infants always amaze me by being so intensely in the moment.  Everything is either : the EENNNNDDD of the universe >,< or, the most FANTASTIC thing to ever happen to anyone EVER!!  Whatever is happening right now is the be all, end all.  It's fascinating.  Maggie IS the apex of inquisitivity,* forever asking "why," "why," "why."  At times a bit taxing, all her questions are perfectly valid and, at times, enlightening to myself as well.  Both ladies have a yearning for books that seems insatiable.  Though for now, there's plenty of dancing, singing, and general playtime in between the reading sessions.  It's certainly enough to make me ready for bed by nine or ten o'clock in the evening.  And so, without further ado, and nary a word longer, adieu and good night!

*I know "inquisitivity" isn't a word, but it's so much more fun to say than the technically correct "inquisitiveness."  Bhleckkk!

safe in heathrow

     Flying over London was incredible.  It made me wish that my stay here was a hundred times longer than these measly four hours >,<
     Heathrow has lived up to all its expectations and is HUGE.  My gate doesn't even open until 16:35 (my flight is at 17:50) so I don't know where I'm going yet!  I'm drinking a cup of constant comment to keep me alert, as if I needed the inducement!  Have I mentioned how cool it is when everyone around you is speaking like Harry Potter?
     You won't believe my luck on the plane.  Originally, I was assigned a window seat--which is awesome!-- (41K), but lo!  Who should be seated beside me but my shadow... A whole three empty seats in a row to myself.  I stayed awake for a bit (maybe two hours or a little less) watching a new Winnie the Pooh movie (very bad indeed!) before trying to sleep.  I got anywhere between 6 and 8 hours but feel odd and sore.  Earplugs were an /excellent/ investment.
     Difficult to tell what time it is.  While it was mostly chilly on the plane, the airport here is /stiffling/.  I'm actually wearing a skirt at present.  /shakes head: silly American!