Greetings Again

Well... (Pretend you can hear me saying that aloud... 'Wayelle...')

I am back in London, but it's a wonder. They didn't particularly want to let me back in the country. Too many stamps on my passport, all out of order. The checker at the port security point thought that I had been in England for over a year, and not a student, which would put me at cross purposes with the laws of the land. I finally managed to assure her otherwise; it's a good thing I'm a talker, and used to telling anyone interested what the devil I've been up to over the last year.

I flew with Ryanair from Parma, in northern Italia, to Stansted airport, north of London, today. As I checked in, I noticed that the poster advertising individual passengers' luggage restrictions had emblazoned across the bottom "Ryanair: The ON-TIME Airline." Twas a reassuring little note, until you read its counterpart, posted immediately next to it: "Ryanair takes no responsibility for connections missed due to delayed flights, queues, or other causes. Ryanair advises you NOT (emphasis mine) to plan connections... 'Ryanair: the LOW-FARE Airline'" I laughed, somewhat bitterly, and took consolation from the flyer that said that Ryanair has the lowest percentage of delayed flights, when compared to other European airlines, such as Lufthansa, Alitalia, and EasyJet. They are very proud of that.

My flight LEFT Parma ONE HOUR LATE.

Consequently, I met my train from Stansted to Nottingham, where I planned to surprise my old teammates from Random Fling, the University of Nottingham Ultimate Frisbee Society, at their first social of the year. No luck. Well, it's not all bad though. Yeny, my friend from Colombia, still lives here, so I made my way to her flat, and then made up a pan of cornbread (soulfood- rough day...) and bought a pack of Strongbows at the store, so tonight I'm kicking back and relaxing in a city that I've passed through so much it feels like home. It's nice pulling into London on a bus or train after travelling all over Europe, where all of a sudden I'm familiar again, and know my way around. Though, being able to read every sign around takes a lot of the excitement out of travelling. Guesswork is a key ingredient in international travel.

Any rate, I plan to do some heavy duty blogging in the next few days to catch y'all up a little better on the various footfalls I've dropped over the last few weeks.

Cheers for now, y'all...