I left DC yesterday afternoon for our Christmas outing. I'll have internet for the first few days so I'm just gonna type up whatever is in my journal as i go along. Also wanted to give you a link to Al's who is a much more loyal blogger than I so you can see pictures and all.

12/19/08 Paris, France 6:4am

Yes, I'm in Paris. It's an unexpected stop along the way but one I graciously accepted. I was up till 2:30 Wednesday night attempting to get my substitute plans ready- kind of a joke- and then at school by 6am. Never a dull moment there- i'm sure my face was flushed all day, but i made it home and to the airport just in time to hear, "we could have put you on the earlier flight but it's too late now." never a good sign. I won't lie, the process of rerouting me wasn't the least bit painful. I was all about being dropped mid-europe and i had to be flying through the whole night anyway. I'm sitting here waiting for my hour-long flight to London, Heathrow now. I love the "Bonjour" and "Bon Voyage" talk- things even smell elegant here. Can't see much of the city through the fog but it's all the same. I probably shouldn't claim the places i never legally set foot upon, but hey, i'm here.

So typical of my dad, I told him about my flight plans and he immediately texts me all of my new arrival/departure times, weather conditions, the whole deal. Bless his heart. To his credit i did kinda call in a panic when they rerouted me . Although i really could get used to this traveling internationally thing, I hated the feeling of not knowing what was going on in the airport even in DC. I felt like I was in France before even leaving. Nobody could give me straight answers about my arrival times, ect. Anyone who knows me knows i dislike that feeling of being new- of not having experience and broadcasting it to the world. but there is a first for flying alone on flights with predominantly foreign languages and i feel much better about it now- I got through French security, right?

The plane was great- personal TV, pretty decent food, an Indian man next to me who made me listen to song after song on his i-pod to see if i like Indian classical music. Six hour flight, no thang.

My students were all really excited for me today. Some of the most unexpected ones came up to me asking if i would take pictures for them to see Israel.

So all is well, i could use a drink of water but i have no french money so i'll hold off on that one :)

12/20/08 Camden, London 12:05am

I love London! Both Al and I got here early this morning and luckily he was able to find me in the airport. We tubed our way over to the Evans' who have the most wonderful, 4 story, darling home! I really do love it, I'm convinced i was born to work at American schools in Europe. make that my next project. We slept a bit and headed downtown (don't know if that's what they call it) to see Les Miserables tonight at the Queen's Theatre. It was the most moving, brilliant performance I've seen. incredible. Words can't describe. I love that show.

We wandered around Trafalgar Square, saw some carolers that looked like they could have been a high school choir, sported our best English accent imitations. Tomorrow we'll play tourist. All is well.