Last time you heard, I was in Serbia. A little has happened since then! Florian, Alex, and I made it safely to Switzerland. The boys drove through the night as I slept in the back- fighting off a nasty cold. I had been trying to pretend for a couple days I was feeling okay. But finally it over took me. I slept the whole drive to Switzerland and the rest of Sunday. With that much sleep and Sarah's mothering assistant (and tea!) I'm feeling much better now.
This morning, Stef, Florian and I packed up the car and headed out. Florian was pretty thrilled as you can tell.
It's about 7 hour drive to Calais. The ferry goes from Calais to Dover. France was a pretty drive. It was foggy which added aesthetic effects for us.
We quickly stopped in Calais to get some Kababs. My first! Very filling and tasty- a success! We headed to the port.
Arriving at the port, we pulled up to the custom window. The British lady looked at my passport and suddenly was very intent on talking to me personally. Florian pulled forward a bit so she could see me. And boom, the questions came at rapid fire. The questions ranged from why I'm here to what major I'll be studying in college. I answered quickly and to the best of my ability. But the problem came in that I had no proof of me planning on leaving the UK. No plane tickets or buses or anything. I tried explaining how I was going to be leaving with my cousins and staying with them. In my mind, I was picturing ruining Stef's vacation. I was becoming a bit frantic. Then Florian spoke up. "She'll be with us and we have to be back for school. Okay?" The lady said one more time, "The UK requires proof of leaving. But I'll let it slide this time." SLAM! She stamped my passport. We drove through. We all sighed collectively together on how that could have gone worse.
The ferry ride was about an hour and a half to Dover. I slept and read some poems. As we arrived in Dover and a young man checked our passports again, all I could say to Stef was, "That accent though..." My first comment on the British. How American am I...?
Then a half hour drive from Dover to Canterbury. We found our hotel luckily by passing it and seeing the sign. Our directions had been Stef thinking he remembered it being a white building with flags. We were glad we saw it so quickly. After checking in, Florian and I went and grabbed a drink at the bar. I talked with the lady as she made us our drinks. She was very excited for me to see London for the first time. She tried to convince me to come study in England. She was convinced that was the best decision for me.
We all settled in for the night. I discovered the tiniest tube of toothpaste I've ever seen. Yes, I was excited about it. And we are ready to begin our adventure tomorrow! To be continued!
P.S. Just discovered Spotify has a British accent. Ads have never been so good.
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