Cheers, London!

Yesterday was a difficult day.  I have grown so much closer with my family over the past month that leaving them proved to be a lot harder than I anticipated.  I was tired, jet lagged, in need of a shower, and very homesick yesterday.  As soon as we were dropped off at the hotel, we were pretty much on our own.  Just handed a map and told to be on our way.  This was very stressful for me.  I learned something about myself on the first day....I prefer a little bit of structure.  For a control freak like me, the helplessness that came with not knowing where anything is, no set destination, and no close friends to be lost with (yet), I felt lost, and not just physically.  It was a rough day.  However, after a shower and some sleep, I feel a lot better today.  This morning we went on a sightseeing tour of London with our group.  We got to see Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, all of the bridges, and drove past many other sights.  Unfortunately, Westminster Abby was closed for tourism today since it is Sunday and they had services.  This slight let down, however, was overshadowed by the fact that I got to have my picture taken at Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station! (Harry Potter fans understand).  Then my new friends and I got an accidental tour of MORE of London when we got on the wrong bus...and did not notice it for an hour.  Luckily, we befriended one of the Underground employees and he not only told us what route would get us to the stop we needed, but also let us in for free (the all day passes we had purchased only worked in the 2 main zones of the city and we had gone past those). 
            I had a great day in London, and it is wonderful...but its just not my city. I cannot WAIT to be in Paris.  The city of lights is calling my name for many reasons.  Obviously reason #1 is because I am, and have been for quite some time, infatuated with it.  But also because I cannot wait to get a hair straightener, a phone, and some sense of settlement and structure.  Once I am able to unpack my clothes, not look like a scrub everyday since I cant straighten my hair, and go through a couple of days of orientation and tours, I will feel so much better.  Also..I WANT A PHONE! I cannot even count the number of times the past two days that I have taken my phone out of my pocket to text, facebook, or check my email only to be met with the disappointment that without wireless (which u have to pay for in the London hotel), my iPhone is nothing more than an iPod with a clock.  Once I am able to keep in touch more with the outside world I will be a lot more at ease.  It is scary to be out at night (even with other people) and know that even if you needed to, you could not call for help.  It also makes meeting up with other people a pain in the ass! If so and so does not show up at the meeting spot on time, is it because they changed their mind about going or because they no longer want to go? Very frustrating.  So tonight I think I will just shower, import pictures to my computer and take it easy.  I think this is a good plan since we have to be up to catch the train to Paris at 5:30am tomorrow. Yikes! Love and miss you all! Cheers!