Crazy London Living!

This week has been normal compared to last week. I finally finished moving all of my stuff out of suitcases into the make-shift wardrobe and the cloth drawers. I even bought the least expensive comforter that I could find, which may or may not be leopard print.

I spent Monday night giving the room a cleaning that my dear mother would be proud of, including using an insect killer / repellent. I was delighted to finally have a clean room…. And that was when I saw him… the biggest, longest-legged, Daddy-Long-Leg Spider! I freaked out and grabbed the nearest shoe I could find and started swatting it until it was dead (about 5 strong smacks). Later, my flatmate asked what all the pounding had been, and I simply replied, “spider”. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much that night with the idea of what other creepy crawlies might be running away from the bug spray straight into my bed… I sprayed again the next morning before I went to work while I was potentially still reeling from being in a closed room with cleaning and bug spray fumes.
Wednesday night, we went to a belly dancing Persian restaurant, which was incredibly entertaining with the worst service ever. I rode the tube home with three new female friends, and as we were chatting a drunk, old, fat, bald man (yes, I used that description again) started interrupting our conversation. We all shutted up and tried to ignore, so I decided the best way to ignore was going to be to keep our conversation going. The drunk moved away and we continued to chat. Well, he started back up again, so I looked at him and said, “Excuse me, so Dia, what were you saying?” As he was getting off at the next stop he said, “Yor booooring, so booooring, boring, boring …” Fay replied with her British accent (after the tube doors shut), “Not all of us can be as entertaining as a drunk, fat, old, bald man, now can we?” Haha, tube ride adventures…

My flatmate Gary is great. He is very laid back and fun, but it is hard getting used to living with a guy… Things like putting the toilette seat down, not being able to walk around freely in pjs, and getting startled awake because he decided to play a shooting video game... Haha, I think I am slowly getting used to it.

This weekend was the Notting Hill Carnival, which apparently is one of the hugest celebrations in all of London. Oh ya, and it was just right down the road from my new flat. This Caribbean Carnival had a parade of beautifully dressed dancers in African and Caribbean wear. I have never seen so many police at one event in my life! I guess they know that it gets extremely crazy… which it did. People were all over the place dancing and drinking in the streets. A couple of my friends and I ended back at my flat and were about to head out when my flat was overrun with my Flatmate, Gary and 15 of his friends. We ended up partying at the flat until 5 am! Oh, London!

This week I am off to Brussels on Tuesday and Denmark on Thursday, so I am sure there will be even more stories to share next week!

Adventures / Misadventures

The past week feels like it has been a month… So many things have happened that I can’t even contemplate that it has only been one full week. During the day, I continued to look for flats online and then visit them after work.
On Tuesday evening I did a round of “Speed Flatmating”, which entailed drinking with people and trying to decipher whether you would make good flatmates. I met a group of four people that had a flat nearby, and they were some characters! They consisted of three guys and one girl, who were chatting about movies and “takin’ a piss on” each other. (‘Takin’ a piss on’ someone means that you are teasing them in a friendly way.) Wednesday after work I went to see their flat along with one other. I cannot even describe how opposite the two flats were… The first flat with the three guys and girl was tiny and smokey, with the smallest little room. They were friendly and easy going but apparently not very tidy and clean. The second of the flats was actually a house. The woman was a 33-year old Brazilian woman that had a “wall of rules” hanging in the common area. The rules included never having more than two people over and any time someone had a “night guest” they had to pay her FOUR POUNDS! The questions is whether she knew that she made it sound like a brothel…
So after doing some very unsuccessful flat hunting, I met a friend out for a few drinks. Upon my return back to my hotel, I got a little lost and then finally found my way by the McDonalds. I was so angry that it took so long to get home, and I was starving! I got back to my hotel and woke up the next morning to my wallet being missing from my purse. I couldn’t find it anywhere and had used it last at the McDonald’s. Therefore, it must have been lifted from my purse… I spent most of the day Thursday canceling my credit cards and stressing over how someone had gotten my wallet. My company was nice enough to advance me some cash in a bank account that I couldn’t access until the following Monday. Belton once again came to my rescue and loaned me some ‘quid’ (aka cash / bucks) for the weekend.

Friday night I caught up with a girl I hadn’t seen in 14 years since 6th grade, Athena Simpson (who had been known as Ashley Simpson 14 years ago). She saw my facebook status and contacted me. We had a great time at a tapas bar and went to a really fun whole in the wall bar named Bradley’s with a jukebox. It truly is a small world after all!

Saturday, I finally found a flat! It was relatively cheap for London at £170 a week, but the room is extremely small… The taxi driver on the way to my new flat, said that I was a "Tastey Burd" and that my new flatmate "must be avin' fun wi that'".  (It was a nice compliment =/)  My new flatmate is Gary who is from northern England, 30, bald, and a Systems Analyst for MTV. The flat is located in Bayswater which boasts a fun mall and many restaurants and pubs. I moved in on Sunday and bought all new bedding (you do not want to know what the mattress looked like…). Sunday evening I received a call from the Citadines, my old hotel, because my wallet had been sitting at the front desk for a few days but no one had bothered to open to verify who it belonged to. Therefore, the one thing that made this week so awful was entirely not an issue.

Here I am on Sunday evening praying for an uneventful week, but I guess only time will tell =)!

First Weekend in London-Town

I arrived last Thursday Morning with four ridiculously heavy bags, including two checked bags that weighed about 48 pounds each (thanks, Mommy). I managed to get to my hotel in Trafalgar Square (which I was pronouncing incorrectly as TRA-falgar), and proceeded into my new office. Without sleeping for over 24 hours I can only imagine how “shattered”, aka extremely tired, I was.
The weekend began with a night out until 4am with my friend Belton who I had known previously in the states, while working in Seattle. We began at Canary Warf, which is the financial district of London. All I can say is… HAPPY HOUR! Londoners have a stronger love for happy hour than anyone I have ever seen in the States. By 5:30pm every Friday, the pubs are bustling with people! Saturday we went out to the Tate Modern and walked along the Thames. I also learned a very interesting fact! SKINNY JEANS HAVE A VERY USEFUL PURPOSE! It was pouring rain on Saturday, and I am pretty sure my “US style” jeans soaked up at least a gallon of water. By the way… I really should have bought an umbrella before arriving in London (I know… DUH!)
Sunday was wonderful and began with a run around Green Park. A normal Sunday morning running by Buckingham Palace =) The tourists started coming out towards the end of my run, and I started playing the “weave in and out of people and try not to piss anyone off” game… Good times! I also went shopping at Primark with Belton, which is apparently the Walmart version of Sears in the UK. I can’t think of a better way to describe it! Everything you need in 5 stories of one retail building for an amazing price! I then tagged along with Belton to meet his friend who ended up taking us to the SoHo club. I was unaware of exactly where I was, but apparently, the SoHo club is one of the ‘poshest’ places to go in London. Needless to say, we were asked to leave our Primark paper shopping bags in the closet by the door. (Those of you who know me are probably chuckling to yourself thinking, “oh, Leanne… some things never change, like you and your complete naiveté towards all things in style.”)
Today, however, was my first Monday, and unfortunately, I must report that Mondays are Mondays no matter what side of the pond you are on. I am now faced with the daunting task of trying to find a place to live in London when I am not even sure of the different areas. Apparently London is filled with Council Estates, which are clustered blocks offered for low income housing. These are the areas to avoid however they aren’t in just one easily avoidable part. So, here I am completely confused, totally excited, and unwaveringly curious about all the adventures that lie ahead.

INTRODUCTION TO CUBAN GAL IN LONDON

This blog is about me, Leanne, and the different adventures that I am having in London and all over Europe during my travels. I have come to London for at least 6 months to work, travel, and play. My dear friend, Belton, convinced me that this is easiest and most fun way to share my experience with friends, family, and other curious readers. So here I am… blogging for the first time, which I will try to update every Sunday at least.

Now, I invite you read along, share my experience, and hopefully entertain you with a story about the Cuban Gal in London…