Conversation had,
Coffee drunk,
Collegial goodbyes said.
Papers arranged,
Diary checked...
Now it can begin.
Freshly printed article smiling up at me with patient anticipation.
The bright clear bold type of knowledge
encoded
waiting for my - or someone's- attention.
Oh how I am grateful!
It is anxious to expand its
very narrow
readership
which I am eager to join
though nervous of being found out
revealed
as a mere grad student.
Shhh, don't tell the article that I'm an amateur.
This way we can be partners.
Its solid printed "facts" and my open, uninitiated
but not blank
mind can together make beautiful things
and maybe even another of its kind
to be devoured by a
future
coffee-shop loiterer trying to make something of herself.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Friday, 6 February 2009
How I (Almost) Went to Morocco
Who knew 12 hours could be so jam-packed with adventure? Let me fill you in on my day.
First, 4 friends and I were on the 3:10AM bus to Luton Airport, where we sat (slept...) on the plane for 2 hours in the snow, then got off the plane after Ryanair (the cheapest an airline can be while still following most safety requirements...) flight attendants had shoveled a path back to the terminal for us (really! in their uniforms and high heels and everything! awww, they are NOT paid enough), then we waited for Ryanair to cancel the flight, then we sat in the terminal for 5 hours waiting for the bus service to start up again (it was completely shut down), then finally we bit the bullet and took a 2-hour taxi ride back to Cambridge. We arrived at Clare Hall at exactly 2:45 PM. We left Clare Hall at exactly 2:45 AM. Poetic, right?
Top left: The snowy wing of our Ryanair plane, taken during my 2 hours sitting in the plane on the runway.
Top right: The airport's flight notice board... guess what RED flights mean?
Bottom: Sleeping, reading, caffeine-ing at our coffee shop hangout. We were there a long time. Don't judge.
Sigh. I knew Morocco was too far away and foreign for me to actually get to go there.
The frustrating thing is that the weather is really not that bad. It's barely below freezing, so most of the snow melts anyway and it wasn't too windy and honestly there was never more than a few inches on the ground. Basically, Chicago would not have even THOUGHT about closing its airport in conditions like this. But England just doesn't get snow, so plowing doesn't happen and I heard a story that the entire country is running short of "grit" (road salt? I think). It also means
people don't know how to drive in the snow, so lots of trucks and buses couldn't get up the hills around Luton (= why the bus service stopped running) which caused massive traffic jams. It was a little intense to realize that we could NOT leave the airport by plane, train, or automobile. The coffee shop we camped out at actually ran out of milk! Desperate times...
Me playing in the reason for me not being in Morocco
Overall I had a really good time. We goofed off and read trash magazines and took pictures of snowy Ryanair planes and laughed at people who were carrying skis around and clearly hadn't been able to fly to their skiing destination (which could have been right outside the airport...). We ate junk food and took turns wandering around the (very small) airport checking if the bus service was running. I also skimmed an entire book and wrote half a letter. Not an unproductive
day, if you ask me! AND I got home in time to make it to a 5PM lecture on Darwin in Literature (which was AWESOME). :)
I must say, I was very proud of Chicago/American weather-handling infrastructure today.
with love from England and not Africa :(,
C
First, 4 friends and I were on the 3:10AM bus to Luton Airport, where we sat (slept...) on the plane for 2 hours in the snow, then got off the plane after Ryanair (the cheapest an airline can be while still following most safety requirements...) flight attendants had shoveled a path back to the terminal for us (really! in their uniforms and high heels and everything! awww, they are NOT paid enough), then we waited for Ryanair to cancel the flight, then we sat in the terminal for 5 hours waiting for the bus service to start up again (it was completely shut down), then finally we bit the bullet and took a 2-hour taxi ride back to Cambridge. We arrived at Clare Hall at exactly 2:45 PM. We left Clare Hall at exactly 2:45 AM. Poetic, right?
Top left: The snowy wing of our Ryanair plane, taken during my 2 hours sitting in the plane on the runway.
Top right: The airport's flight notice board... guess what RED flights mean?
Bottom: Sleeping, reading, caffeine-ing at our coffee shop hangout. We were there a long time. Don't judge.
Sigh. I knew Morocco was too far away and foreign for me to actually get to go there.
The frustrating thing is that the weather is really not that bad. It's barely below freezing, so most of the snow melts anyway and it wasn't too windy and honestly there was never more than a few inches on the ground. Basically, Chicago would not have even THOUGHT about closing its airport in conditions like this. But England just doesn't get snow, so plowing doesn't happen and I heard a story that the entire country is running short of "grit" (road salt? I think). It also means
people don't know how to drive in the snow, so lots of trucks and buses couldn't get up the hills around Luton (= why the bus service stopped running) which caused massive traffic jams. It was a little intense to realize that we could NOT leave the airport by plane, train, or automobile. The coffee shop we camped out at actually ran out of milk! Desperate times...
Me playing in the reason for me not being in MoroccoOverall I had a really good time. We goofed off and read trash magazines and took pictures of snowy Ryanair planes and laughed at people who were carrying skis around and clearly hadn't been able to fly to their skiing destination (which could have been right outside the airport...). We ate junk food and took turns wandering around the (very small) airport checking if the bus service was running. I also skimmed an entire book and wrote half a letter. Not an unproductive
day, if you ask me! AND I got home in time to make it to a 5PM lecture on Darwin in Literature (which was AWESOME). :)
I must say, I was very proud of Chicago/American weather-handling infrastructure today.
with love from England and not Africa :(,
C
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
P.S.
There was ice on my oar after rowing today. Whoa.
There was not, however, ice on my hands, so that combined with the incredibly beautiful frosty sunrise, the steaming river, the sleepy swans ignoring our oars coming down on either side of them, and the smiles of my teammates as two boats crashed into each other and it wasn't our fault... this is a great start to a day.
:)
There was not, however, ice on my hands, so that combined with the incredibly beautiful frosty sunrise, the steaming river, the sleepy swans ignoring our oars coming down on either side of them, and the smiles of my teammates as two boats crashed into each other and it wasn't our fault... this is a great start to a day.
:)
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