London, England

Hello from England! I arrived at Heathrow airport yesterday at 8AM. We had to sit on the tarmac for awhile as there was a "security breach" in the airport and all customers and staff were evacuated leaving no staff to help us unload. After that little mishap we quickly got off the plane and were back on schedule. I slept maybe for the last two hours of the flight so I wasn't completly out of it. I flew through security and headed towards the central bus terminal, bought my ticket to Gatwick airport and jumped on the next bus heading that direction. That was about a 40 minute drive and I nearly fell asleep right before we arrived at Gatwick. I jumped off the bus and walked what seemed like forever through the airport looking for the Hilton Hotel which was attached to the airport. I finally found it and was lucky enough to get my room early even though it was 11am. I collapsed into my room only for a minute as I knew if I didn't get up right then I would sleep the day away. So I got up and went to the train terminal and caught a train into London and met up with Rob and Vicky! Was so nice to see them both. Rob it has only been a few days but Vicky it has been over 3 years. We then caught the tube and went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. After lunch we headed over to Covent Garden which is always nice to walk around...one of my favorite places in London actually. After that we decided to go to zoo. The zoo is a thousand times better then it was back in 2005. The gorillas have a brand new large natural habitat now instead of the terribly old one they use to have. So nice to see the change! After that we caught a quick bite of sushi to eat in a park before I departed ways with them at the train station to catch my train back to my hotel at Gatwick. Before collapsing in my room I decided I should see if I could change my plane ticket to the night flight into Dubai so I wouldn't have a 12 hour layover (8pm to 8am) by myself in Dubai. The fee was 75 pounds to change, but after researching I would have spent at least that finding a place to safely relax in the airport while I was there so I decided to change it. This way I can hopefully sleep on the plane without having to worry about someone stealing my bag and I should be on the plane with a lot of the other handshake volunteers so that will be good. When I arrived back in my room around 9pm I tried to get the internet working with no luck (glad I didn't because way expensive and found wireless for cheaper today). I then decided to send out a few texts and pass out which I did extremely easily. I was woken at midnight be a lovely call from Ali not realizing I had left yet. Was very nice to hear from her but was too tired to talk and feared the phone bill if I had stayed on any longer. This morning I slept in late (my last time for a month I am sure) took a nice long warm shower (also my last one for a month I am sure) and packed up my bags. I am now just sitting in the lobby of the hotel for a few hours before I head over to the terminal to check in. I have a long day of waiting but I think it is better that I am here in London then lost in the crazy Dubai airport tonight. Well I will try to keep writing throughout the month but no promises on being as detailed as I will be busy seeing Africa!!! (oh and working :)) Email me your updates as well. Love to all!
Leslie