Life and all that

The time finally came and I have managed to make my way to the USA without any horrible amounts of pain. My flights were not too bad, the international leg was 7 hours (it was early) and they gave me a pillow and a blanket, and access to a choice of movies and TV on a screen embedded in the seat infront. I watched Minority Report and half of some film I couldn’t concentrate on with Jennifer Aniston and ‘two face’ in. Soon got old though, the flight just felt long, and I couldn’t get to sleep. One bonus though, I had a window seat and the seat next to me was empty so I could just stack my stuff there and stretch out slightly.  The border guards at Philadelphia were a bit… over the top. I had to collect my checked luggage, carry it across a room and hand it to someone else for a start which just seemed very random. Getting through passport control was bizarrely stressful, the woman seemed incredibly suspicious of me and the fact I was a student traveling during what she considered to be term time.  Anyway she did let me through with a nice stamp in my passport, first one I have ever had.

Second leg of flying was less fun, I had another window seat and another empty space next to me, but there was no entertainment. I watched lots of Californication on my iPhone but really by that point I didn’t have much concentration left. Saw some very pretty mountains out of the window but I have no idea where I was. Plus there was loads of turbulence. That flight seemed to go on forever even though it was only 5 hours (again an hour early !) and at the other end I got terribly confused as I had to leave the security part before I could claim my luggage! Thankfully Matt and Lea had come to find me, and guide me in my sleep deprived addled state.

From there we went to In-N-Out burger, which was quite nice actually, I just couldn’t eat all of it (why doesn’t that surprise anyone). Sort of reminded me of a Burger King Whopper. Also had refillable drinks, which apparently is the norm. After that we drove back to Mountain View and Matt explained some of the intricacies of American road signage and driving. The fact everything refers to street names rather than place names is a bit confusing when you have no idea what anything is called.  Also, all the speed limits are .5, so 35mph on normal roads, 65mph on the ‘highways’. Next up, Target to buy an air bed for me to sleep on. Sort of a cross between Matalan and ASDA, appeared to sell everything under the sun but had a really small food section. Apparently WalMart is the same and they don’t have giant food shops like our supermarkets. Seems surprising for a country that stereotypically loves its food so much.

Rest of the evening was a blur, I was well out of it. I got the wireless credentials and played around with the television a bit, then  decided I’d go for a shower. Sadly this is where it all went wrong, in my clumsy lack-of-sleep state I slipped in the bath and now my left leg has an amazing purple bruise on it. It’s typical I’d hurt myself somewhere such that there is pain when I sit down. Sigh. Anyway could have been a lot worse, if I’d landed on my head or something, would have had to test out my travel insurance. Matt inflated my air bed shortly after, and I passed out  at about 11pm and didn’t wake up till 7am CA time. I think I’d been awake 30 hours in a row.