Why you ask? Primarily because they rock. I had a really good experience. Actually everything has been really good so far. I checked in quickly, got the seat I had reserved (a bulkhead seat with lots of legroom). The flight left more or less on time… I think it was about 15 minutes late… which is on time in airline lingo. And also, they actually board you in a way that makes sense – from the front and the back at the same time, so we were all on board quickly and efficiently. The seats are really comfortable – they have these side things by the head so when you fall asleep you head doesn’t jolt around. I was also glad to see that I had my own little tv screen on a pedestal thing. There were seriously almost 20 movies and about 10 TV shows to choose from. The food was decent – 4 cheese ravioli, salad, a gross roll, and cheesecake. Plus a little candy bar. For airline vegetarian food, it was pretty good! The service was great – the pursers (no flight attendants on BA flights) were crazily helpful. We had all male pursers, and they were falling all over themselves trying to get people’s water open, trays out, etc. Barely had to lift a finger! There was a crazy lady sitting next to me, but she slept until about 20 minutes before landing, at which point she told me literally her ENTIRE life story. She also explained that she is Persian, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. Oh, and also, she is not prejudiced against Americans. And she also recommends that I buy property in London as soon as I can, because there is no way the values will EVER drop. AND, fascinatingly, she lived in Paris when she was 23, and some guy came to pick her up on a motorcycle?!? I just kept thinking, hold on for 20 minutes… Also, I wanted to take a picture on the plane, but they had all the windows closed right from the start and people were sleeping. Besides, you have all seen me, and you have all seen the inside of a plane, so just use your imagination.

So we got here; I got off the plane and went down to collect my bags. It seemed like a crowd was forming around one of the conveyors (no baggage carousels here… conveyors) so I kind of blindly walked that way and waited for about 10 minutes. At some point, I noticed that literally everyone around me was wearing turbans, and I was getting some strange looks. At this point I realized that I was standing at the conveyor for the recently arrived flight from Baghdad. So I found the right conveyor, collected my bags, and breezed through customs in literally 5 minutes – no line, and no backtalk from the customs lady. I was worried because Michael and I had so much trouble getting into Canada. And yes, Michael, I realize that it was a totally different situation.

I went outside an hailed a cab, which was this giant black car with forward and backward facing seats. I knew the cab ride would be expensive, but it was way more than I thought. It took about an hour, and cost 75 pounds (appx $150US). $150………….dollars……….for a car ride. Luckily it was a one time expense, and I should get reimbursed. Got to the hotel, checked in, called Michael and went out exploring.

I’ll comment on some of my initial reactions tomorrow, but right now, I finally get to go to sleep – I have been trying to stay up until 11pm, so I can just crash and be on schedule tomorrow.

I LOVE it here. Can’t wait for Michael to get out here – he’s going to love it too. I can already tell.