London!

Hello! So much has happened in the past 72 hours. It seems almost like a blur and almost surreal that I am currently sitting in our flat in London, where we'll live for the next three and a half weeks. I'll catch you up on our adventures so far...

On Tuesday around 6pm I arrived in Chicago and took a shuttle to a hotel, which was our team's rendezvous point. There are 12 of us...10 girls and 2 guys. We are from all over America...literally. Boston, California, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and (of course) Virginia! :) It is been really fun getting to know new people and we've been slowly shifting from the "Where are you from? What is your major?" kind of questions to laughter and memory-making. We spent Tuesday night in Chicago and then began the longest day of my life. Literally. Boarded the plane for London around 4pm and arrived in the UK at 5am Thursday...even though it was only an 8-hour flight and I could only fall asleep for about an hour of it. But we made it! Here is one of my first looks at London--from my window seat (yay!):

We were met at the airport by Chris (our project coordinator) and we made our way to the flat where all us girls would be staying. Rolling/carrying 50+ pounds of luggage through the city made for an exciting--and tiring--adventure. Upon arrival, we were greeted by other members of Agape UK (what they call Campus Crusade over here) staff from London. It was really cool to meet this group and they kept repeating their excitement and saying how we were an answer to prayer. 

Even though our bodies wanted to just stretch out and go to sleep, that was not in the plans. To combat jet lag, Chris explained that the best thing to do would just to go along with the time schedule of the new country. So after a delicious English breakfast made by the women staff, we set out to explore the city in 2 groups of six. Navigating throughout the city on the Tube (just like the Metro in D.C. or the Subway in NYC) was a learning experience but by the end of the day I was a lot more comfortable scanning my "Oyster" card to get on/get off. Some highlights of our very full day of sightseeing...

In front of Buckingham Palace

Crowding into a traditional telephone booth :) 

We stopped and ate lunch along the Thames River at a grab-n-go restaurant called "Eat." Later on that afternoon, we spent some time in the famous Covent Garden shopping and food district. It was fun to go in and out of each shop and I enjoyed chatting with the workers sometimes. One girl looked about my age and as we were chatting and she realized I was from America, she said "Oh! It is my dream to go to America!" And I answered: "Really? Because it was my dream to come here!" She laughed and said "Why?"  It was interesting because I think its all about perspective. If you grow up and live in a certain country or area, then that place is not always the place that holds allure.

Just a quick side note, here are a couple things I've noticed in London that is different then the United States:

--Men wear scarves. A lot.

--Obviously people drive on the left side of the road. But they also walk on the left side of the sidewalk. 

--Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way. At all.

--If someone says something is "close", then it is usually a 20-minute walk. At least!

--Restaurants don't like you asking for tap water. 

--You can't buy peanut butter here!

Yesterday (Friday) we finished up our bus tour tickets (they were 24-hour ones) and it included a Thames River Boat tour! The commentator was very funny and informative. When we passed the infamous Tower of London (picture below), he said that the last person to walk through the gates who was to be executed was a man by the name of William Wallace! 

Tower of London

Yesterday afternoon, we met with Chris and Monica (married couple on staff with Agape) and the rest of the staff for a briefing meeting. We got our schedules and a booklet with a lot of information to read. It was a great time of learning and worship. We also spent awhile in prayer for our mission and our hearts, for unity as a team, and for London as a whole. We will be reading through the book of Mark on our own throughout the month and talking about it together a couple times a week. Our ministry on-campus begins Monday and I am so excited. Our flat overlooks the city (we can see St. Paul's Cathedral from our window!) and I spent some our first night here just praying and looking out at all the busyness below. This city is a cultural crossroads and the nations are certainly here. It is also very dark, and I have seen that clearly in the short time I've been here. Hope is dependent on one's job, clothes, schooling, country of origin, and income. I am excited to be here but burdened for the lostness of the people. Pray for the hearts of the people I will interact with. Thanks for reading (sorry it was so long!) and being such a wonderful support to me. Love you all!

This is the verse that the staff chose for us to cling to throughout the month: 

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." --1 Peter 3:15