Summer of Delays

I'm sure many of you have heard of my trials and tribulations in extracting a student visa from the tortuous canals of the British government's bureaucracy. That process, meant to take around two months, ended up starting in June when I graduated Davis with my bachelor's degrees in History and Genetics and finishing when I finally received my visa this September, two days before my flight to Cardiff to start my graduate school program in Integrative Neuroscience. That was nerve-wracking.

So once I received my visa, I was enormously relieved. "YES," I said to myself, "Now the uncertainty is over, and my future plans are secure!"

Ha.

Ha.

HA HA HA HA HA.

So I get up at 6am on Thursday, September 18th, to do my final prep for the first three months I'm going to spend in Cardiff (you know, before I get to come back for the holidays). I pack, I shower, I pack again, I eat an amazing waffle breakfast (courtesy of Jeff), I pack some more, almost to see if I can possibly cram anything more into my bursting luggage.

It's half eaten because it was too tasty.
I forgot to take a picture first.

We set off for the airport, Jeff ahead of us in his car so he can first drop it off at work. Yay! Excellent plan. We have plenty of time and we're all going to get to go to the airport and then head off to our respective locations.

And then the Prius decides to throw a fit and flash a big warning sign at us. Opening the manual, we found we were instructed to stop the car as soon as possible and call the manufacturer. Oh goody. We've got so much time for that.

Later, on the road in Jeff's car, we encounter the joys of rush hour traffic, but we do finally get to the airport with about an hour and 30 to spare, leaving us time for tearful farewells and entertaining pantomimes as I creep through airport security.

Really Prius? Really?

At the departure gate, I again fall into the illusion that now things will go smoothly. "I've made it past airport security," I tell myself, "they didn't become alerted to my inherent suspiciousness and only put my backpack through twice. I'm home-free!"

It is at this point that the stewardess makes an announcement. Due to mechanical problems with the windshield of our plane, she says, the flight will be delayed while they order parts from LOS ANGELES and wait for them to arrive and then fix the plane. "If you have an international connection, you should go straight to the front desk (outside the security line) and have them reschedule your flights."

THAT PLANE. THAT ONE.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. I'm falling over in a combination of annoyance, frustration, and absolute hysterical amusement at this point.

I ended up with a ticket to London, as planned, but this new plan involved waiting 5 hours before my 1 hour flight could leave from San Jose to LAX and then another 5 hours before my 10 hour flight could leave from LAX for Heathrow and then (due to rescheduling and planning for further delays) another 5 hours before I could leave on my 3 hour bus ride to Cardiff. The ~30 hour trip landed me in Cardiff around 8-9pm, far past the time I could have checked in to my dorm.

It's hard to get somewhere when your bus between Terminals has an AIRPLANE in the way.

(PS- Katelyn, THANK YOU so much for the airplane snacks. The roasted peanuts became my dinner that night)

Fortunately, having 5 hours at each stop to kill provided me with some time to adapt to my new predicament. I checked into The River House when I arrived, a highly recommended hostel online. A girl my age with whom I made friends on the bus ride happened to be a Welsh local (fluent in Welsh to boot!) who could direct me to the locale of the hostel when we finally got off the bus. Thanks Esyllt!(My butt hurt from sitting so long at this point and I'm sure my lack of sleep made me a bit of a zombie.)

4th floor (attic). I'm on the second tier of a bunk bed.

I love the River House. I highly recommend it to people coming to Cardiff. It's beautiful, it's got clean bathrooms, it has an excellent view of Millennium Stadium and the river from the attic room, and it serves breakfast. Yum. It also starts breakfast around 7am and on a Saturday, it is very quiet when you go there at 8am, which is nice when you need a break from noise after 30 hours of travel. The garden out back was really pretty, but I didn't spend much time out there because somebody started smoking in it.

Funny thing was, the staff kept asking me if I was ok… I must have looked kind of disheveled and desperate after my journey.

Wall Decorations

As soon as I was settled in my hostel room, I started to fall in love with Cardiff again. There was some sort of sports event going on that night and I could hear the cheers of the crowd from my room. It was really awesome to listen to. It made the place feel alive and welcoming. In the morning I awoke to the sound of birds and the rush of water under rowing boats. Around 4-5 one or two man or woman racing hulls went past my window when I looked.

Breakfast

Garden

Female Rowers

Like an idiot, I decided after breakfast that my shower and sleep had made me refreshed and that of course the residence halls couldn't be that far away, so there was really no point in hiring a taxi. Hannah- I should have learned from our Cambridge arrival. Sigh.

On one hand, I got some directions from a very nice Welshman or Englishman who stopped on his walk to work to point the crazy girl in the right direction and I got to walk through the absolutely gorgeous I-keep-falling-in-love-with-it park.
On the other hand, I was carrying 50 lbs + of stuff and it is HUMID here. I was drenched in sweat and cowboy boots are not great for an extensive trek.

Part of the Park (looking backward)

Part of the park (looking forward)

I finally made it and checked in to Talybont Court this morning. Thank goodness.

My walking, however, was my no means over. For the love of Hubble its time to get a bike.