Still Not About Kenya

Greetings from Nairobi!

It's been a whirlwind since I've left the US, and I'm not sure whether to be surprised that it's only been five days, or amazed that it's already been so long. Either way, I'll now attempt to briefly summarize my experiences.

I left Rhode Island with my father at 4 am Friday morning, en route to Boston's Logan airport. 90 minutes later I was all checked in, proving once again that arriving the recommended 2 hours early to the airport is a foolish thing to do. After a lengthy chat over coffee, my dad and I parted ways. By 9 I was through security, aboard my plane, and en route to London. Due to time zone disparity and the unpleasant necessities of transcontinental flight, I wasn't on the ground in London until 9 o'clock that evening. And due to traffic on the M1, Tyler wasn't there until 10:30. Funny how that works. In his defense, picking up a friend at the airport is no small task (particularly when that airport is eight hours away and the rental car costs 250 pounds.) When he did arrive I was enormously grateful to see him, and even more so when we arrived at his roommate's flat a little while later.

Important Roman ruins. Very important.

After 4 hours of Risk and 3 hours of sleep, we set off for Scotland. Driving north on the M6 provides an interesting perspective on the English countryside, and by the time we arrived at the landmark Hadrian's wall (a historically fascinating but aesthetically underachieving Roman ruin), I had probably seen a significant portion of the UK's 20 million sheep. A dinner of "Haggis, Neeps, and Tates" in Edinburgh and a lengthy delay on the Forth Road Bridge (from which I had a magnificent view of the Firth of Forth Train Bridge, possibly the most fascinating structure in the UK: http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/UK/Scotland/EdinburghFirthofForth.html ) rounded out our travels, and by 9pm we had arrived in St. Andrews where, after a brief tour, I promptly fell asleep.

The next day brought clouds, tea, and crumbling 12th-century stone architecture. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andrews ) As the esteemed Michael Boyce once observed, "if Scotland excels at any one thing, it is at looking Scottish." This day was also notable for a lengthy reunion with fellow Princetonian Caitlin Ludwigsen, with whom I will direct a somewhat unorthodox production of Hamlet in June. The evening more or less concluded with an excursion to Andruther's Fish & Chips, voted "The United Kingdom's Best Chippy, Bar One." I believe that speaks for itself.

Caitlin and I cleverly take advantage of the historic architecture for a photo-op.

Tyler and Caitlin were kind enough to accompany me to the Leuchar's train station, where at 11pm I caught the Caledonian Sleeper and rode overnight back to London, where I soon departed (via another 8 hour plane ride) for Nairobi.

If my Internet connection holds out, I will very shortly post again, with details relevant to those of you interested in actually hearing about Kenya. Huzzah!