eThe last three days have been a blur. Maya and I arrived home late Monday night. Eric drove from DC to welcome us at the airport. Coming home and being faced with the list of tasks to accomplish was demoralizing but after a few hours sleep, I woke up by 5:30 Tuesday in time for a yoga class, and then focussed on finishing with all the piles left early Saturday morning. The painters arrived to start on the their job, I packed and repacked everything for Europe and Ecuador for both Maya and myself. Eric removed many of the packed boxes to the storage unit.
After Maya's last music lesson, a group of her friends came over for cupcakes and goodbyes. The gaggle of girls screamed giddily for the entire time they were there. I tried to maintain my composure while talking with the parents; I found myself more and more anxious as the reality of our move took on depth and verisimilitude. Emily and Nathan showed up later, and took Maya away for a few hours while I worked on more piles. I wanted to stay up all night and do paperwork but I did not have the energy, and woke up too late Wednesday to take a yoga class. The rug cleaners came at 9, the painters came with a huge crowd and finished their work on the house by 3. I spent much of the day in the office finishing up paperwork and panicking some more.
Once Eric dropped us off at the airport and we passed security, I found myself calming down. Once away from the house and the office, I had no more responsibility, other than for Maya and myself. I watched a Cannes Film Festival winner as I waited for our flight, finished 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' in NYC, caught our plane to London, and slept as much as I could on the short flight.
And suddenly I was in London. Tara met us at the airport to guide us on the tube to our nicer than expected hotel in Kensington. The weather was warm and sunny and our room was ready shortly after we arrived. Tara's apartment was a 15 minute walk away; a basement room with a skylight and a huge kitchen/sitting room for the nine or so tenants. She cooked us ravioli and made a salad and sent us off to the Globe Theatre. I bought groundling tickets for five pounds each, not knowing that it was Richard III that was playing. Maya stood with me for the three plus hours, and Richard was unusually entertaining and funny, so the horrid parts of the story were tolerable. We had strawberries and cream for a snack and wanted to go for tea afterward, but it was too late. We crossed the Millenium Bridge to look at St Paul's and then took the tube to Hyde Park to join the crowds watching the Olympics on the big screen. Tara met us with her boyfriend Alan, and we stayed for a few races. We had a dinner date with Tara's host family from Figi in Italy. Massimo is a carabinieri and does security for the Olympics and has been in Vancouver, Beijing and now London. His wife and three daughters joined us and we had pasta with mushrooms and were reminded of the wonderful quality of life of Italy.
I am not sure how I am still awake., but I feel great. I will have to try to sleep soon, but meanwhile I am enjoying the peace and quiet of my room looking over the inner garden courtyard. The evening is balmy, I am exhausted, but comfortable and happy to be here and have left my list of tasks behind.
After Maya's last music lesson, a group of her friends came over for cupcakes and goodbyes. The gaggle of girls screamed giddily for the entire time they were there. I tried to maintain my composure while talking with the parents; I found myself more and more anxious as the reality of our move took on depth and verisimilitude. Emily and Nathan showed up later, and took Maya away for a few hours while I worked on more piles. I wanted to stay up all night and do paperwork but I did not have the energy, and woke up too late Wednesday to take a yoga class. The rug cleaners came at 9, the painters came with a huge crowd and finished their work on the house by 3. I spent much of the day in the office finishing up paperwork and panicking some more.
Once Eric dropped us off at the airport and we passed security, I found myself calming down. Once away from the house and the office, I had no more responsibility, other than for Maya and myself. I watched a Cannes Film Festival winner as I waited for our flight, finished 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' in NYC, caught our plane to London, and slept as much as I could on the short flight.
And suddenly I was in London. Tara met us at the airport to guide us on the tube to our nicer than expected hotel in Kensington. The weather was warm and sunny and our room was ready shortly after we arrived. Tara's apartment was a 15 minute walk away; a basement room with a skylight and a huge kitchen/sitting room for the nine or so tenants. She cooked us ravioli and made a salad and sent us off to the Globe Theatre. I bought groundling tickets for five pounds each, not knowing that it was Richard III that was playing. Maya stood with me for the three plus hours, and Richard was unusually entertaining and funny, so the horrid parts of the story were tolerable. We had strawberries and cream for a snack and wanted to go for tea afterward, but it was too late. We crossed the Millenium Bridge to look at St Paul's and then took the tube to Hyde Park to join the crowds watching the Olympics on the big screen. Tara met us with her boyfriend Alan, and we stayed for a few races. We had a dinner date with Tara's host family from Figi in Italy. Massimo is a carabinieri and does security for the Olympics and has been in Vancouver, Beijing and now London. His wife and three daughters joined us and we had pasta with mushrooms and were reminded of the wonderful quality of life of Italy.
I am not sure how I am still awake., but I feel great. I will have to try to sleep soon, but meanwhile I am enjoying the peace and quiet of my room looking over the inner garden courtyard. The evening is balmy, I am exhausted, but comfortable and happy to be here and have left my list of tasks behind.
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