London's urban jungle!

A view of the Ashey-Smith Residence, where we are staying

So, day 5 of our adventure in London, Streatham (Stretem phonetically) to be exact, and things are going great! Melanie has had her first day of school, which she is enjoying a lot. She received a huge folder (what we call a binder) full of course materials on mothers and babies, ER care, war wound care, malaria, worms and a ton of other stuff I don't even want to think about!

So far we've experienced the shock of just how much it costs to live here, effectively rendering our money as half what it is in NA. We knew it coming here, and we've come up with a reasonable budget, but it's still a shock.

Going to the grocery store is another adjustment. Let's talk Ranch dressing, sour cream, flavored coffee creamer, seasoning salt (all our favorites!) ALL non-existent in our accustomed form!!!!! We're changing the way we make things accordingly, which is all part of fitting into another culture!

Yesterday we made the trek over to Greenwich to stand with a foot in both hemispheres, which the more I thought about it the less important it became, because as I understand it, it's just an arbitrary line... not like it was ordained by God or anything! We saw "The Queen's House", which ironically only one queen lived in, but has some good art in it, the Maritime Museum, and the National Observatory. Then we ate Mcdonalds to save money!!!

The weekend will likely consist of reading and studying, possibly watching a Rugby or Football match at the local Public House, and attending our gracious host's church on Sunday.

Thanks for checking in, look forward to hearing from you, and remember, look RIGHT when crossing!!!!!

Steve and Mel