I find myself in an empty room in London, where this vending machine makes an extremely loud noise, waiting to see if my cousin will appear some time today. Not sure if she has gotten my texts/messages.
These last few weeks have been pretty insane, but in a good kind of way. I have been prepping for this exhibition in Miami, which will open during Art Basel, and the whole project seems to be a leap of faith (as the gallery seems to be at best very relaxed)... What's been good for me is forcing myself to take a new leap with my work, and as of now I have stuff to do for the entire year ahead of us. I am very happy with the Miami piece, and hope they install it properly.
Yesterday I woke up and worked on finishing the materials for shipping, DVDs and flashdrives for the videos, the drawings wrapped and boxed the night before. I had so many export issues that by the time I had all the stuff done and ready to go it was past 11 am. I drove to Pak Mail (in the same location as the old Lemberg Gallery), and waited an eternity for my turn; the worker sweet but I won't be surprised if the package never arrives, she seemed so clueless (and I went there because I have dealt with them before in a favorable manner). $200 plus dollars later, the work should be getting there before thanksgiving. After that I drove to the bank to withdraw cash and let them know I'd be abroad. In the past I have had so much bad luck with cards when traveling abroad that now I am extra vigilante when I do go somewhere. I took the cash and went to this place in Birmingham that exchanges money and got some British pounds, and unfortunately the lady only had 20s and 10s and 5s, but that could be okay. Drove back home and called all my credit cards to let them know I was traveling, folded two loads of laundry and took a break with Milah. I really hope she'll be alright in my absence.
My friend Maicon will be house-sitting and cat-sitting while I am away, in fact he'll be there for all my trips between now and the end of the year (having sold his place in Detroit and moving to CA after xmas, thus becoming my first roommate in 15 years, even if we'll only sleep under the same roof at the same time for only 8 or 9 days). I was able to lay on the couch for about 20 minutes with my darling until Mike showed up to take me to the airport. As always, I like to get there ultra early, and my check in went pretty quickly, even with the passport reoccurring issue (my passport last names do not match my credit card last name, so that when I buy a ticket with Delta with the Delta credit card, it thinks I am someone else, kiosk check-in a mute point). The woman was very friendly and I felt bad for her because this guy (who was totally getting the runaround actually), was in the process of raging, raising his voice, saying things about their appearance, etc. I was glad my ticket was issued and I walked to the security gate.
Every time I go through the obligatory scanner, I am confronted with the thought that a) in the beginning one could ask for thepat-down instead, b) I may get cancer from this, c) I am a grower, not a shower, and d) I feel like Janet Jackson in that album when I raise my arms for the scanner (only waiting for two unknown hands to cup my breastesses). I ended up eating a hibachi chicken with sticky jasmine rice which was pretty good... for some reason I can never get the option at the Delta site to get "gluten-free" meals, so it ends up I only eat the salad and the chicken breast and the soggy veggies, and for breakfast only the banana. The flight was full, I was sitting right behind the emergency exit and I KNEW the people sitting there did not know a single word in English, they just said "ok" to everything the flight attendant told them. For once I actually had an attractive guy sitting next to me, who was also friendly, and I thought we'd chat the night away and fall in love by landing, but low and behold I actually fell asleep immediately; in fact, I was sound asleep when they passed the immigration cards and was nudged by the flight attendant when the food arrived (I took two bites and tried to watch the Superman movie). Before I finish the flight, let me go through the movie.
First, they had to reboot the system twice, and after they gave up my movie (and everyone else around me), was completely glitchy, which made me think of my woes with U-Verse earlier in Spring. The movie itself made me speechless. I could not believe that in the first 15 minutes I watch a rehash of Avatar, The Matrix, and Transformers, with dashes of Batman broodiness and Wolverine butchness throughout the whole picture. The last part of the movie pretty much made no sense to me what-so-ever. And as luck would have it, while I stayed awake for the almost three hours my lovely neighbor with the gray hair, the British accent and the striped socks slept like a baby. By the time the movie ended I was ready to sleep again and work up only 45 minutes before landing, when they served the horrid breakfast (both banana and orange juice were actually frozen still, and like all refreshments throughout the flight, the attendants kept skipping us for drinks). The plane landed, I had to pee, and the line did not move. I moved to a different aisle because mine was stuck, and by the time I crossed the threshold, my flight companion was there and we had a brief moment lol. But because he was British and I had to pee, we parted our ways and never saw each other again (he went to the UK/EU side of airport, I went with the masses).
The immigration woman was nice and joly, and terrified I was coming to London to celebrate my 40th birthday all alone (I told her I have friends here), and the customs was pretty much two disgruntled british workers gossiping the whole time and not looking at anyone. as the flight arrived early, I was early to get in the tube, and the train took extra long to get where I needed (Piccadilly to Green Park, then switch to Victoria), because there was a problem with the westbound track that was affecting the eastbound one. British subway trains felt very small to me. This family came into the train and basically surrounded me, British father, mother and son (upper middle class for sure, and British upper middle class at that, very different from US upper middle class), and the son's girlfriend, who looked like a lot of Jewish Canadian girls I know (she was Canadian for sure). I was once again struck by how chatty Brits can be at times, as the mother did not stop speaking at all. I gathered they were all going to a wedding some time next weekend (they rode the train to meet the son and the girlfriend for the first time, who was both shy and giddy, as she kept laughing when the announcer said we were "Cockfosters" bound). People always talk about Americans' constant gabber, but I felt for once very reserved, and the chick could totally sense I wanted the mom to shut her (meat) pie hole, with a side of spotted dick.
They ended up leaving two stations before the ones they planned on getting off because of the delays (I know this because they never stopped talking, even though we never actually acknowledged each other's presence - I might even crash the wedding, since now I know where it is at). As soon as they got off the train, the tube picked up speed and before I knew I was in switching trains Victoria Station bound. People who know me would be impressed by the diminutive size of my luggage, which still was a pain in the ass to get through the underground tunnels. Eventually I made my way out to Victoria, and out on the streets. This was a funny experience to me, as 15 years ago I found myself in the same spot when I was running away from my Florida stalker and trying to find myself in Europe. Though I have been back to London twice since my brief London residency in the late 90s, the town sure had changed, and so have I. As my mother used to say, 15 years and 15 kilos ag. London has new construction everywhere, specially around that area. I was completely lost, no visual markers anywhere (in my memory it was more like an actual square, with the Student Travel Bureau right smack in the middle). My first place of residence in London was in Pimlico, nearby, which I walked to and almost got hit by a cab in my first hour in London (I looked the wrong way when crossing the street). Today I was on my way to Oval, a neighborhood south of Victoria (I think, maybe SE, across the river), and I could not find my bearings at all. There were construction and busses and tourists everywhere, and I eventually found an official I felt comfortable asking where my bus was at. He pointed me to go around a circular glass building, and it was then I was once again reminded how civilized the UK is, as he was so polite (in fact, the underground ticket guy was also delightful, how different from the US). Perhaps it is because they are not so friendly in the US, and I am always made to feel like a criminal every time I talk to someone in a uniform. Perhaps it is the sheer multiculturalism of London (where in the last 5 hours I have heard at least 5 languages outside the airport, Portuguese and Spanish once each), that people realize we are all in this "earth" boat together, so we might as well be nice to each other and treat each other well. I had two bus options, and decided to take the 185 instead of the 36 (because I had printed instructions for that, instead of the hand written one for the latter). The bus ride was pretty smooth and I easily found a seat and got off in the right spot. My walking direction were spot on (even though I ended up walking a bit more than I expected. The cold brisk air felt good after hours in the airplane.
My check in time was 2 pm, but I arrived before 1 pm, and I feared they'd make me wait in the lobby. I am staying in a "residence hall" of sorts, a place for students and scholars. This feels a bit like a hostel, except much nicer (I have this studio apartment, that is adorable and has everything in it, making me think I could downsize my life even more). In fact I have been chitchatting with this woman from Spain, who is sharing the desk at the commons, as I type and drink my cold Jasmine tea (who knew it also brew with cold water?).
After getting a tour of the facilities I finally made it to my room, and noticed there were no towels, so I had to come back downstairs. Again everyone one is so friendly I want to kiss them all (friendlier than Canadians). I took a mini nap in my room and then came down to set up the wifi for phone and iPad. I do not have wifi in the room, which may be a good thing, as it will force me to stay in the social places in this building and meet people. Following Jan's suggestion, of not sleeping until 8 pm, I went for a walk in the neighborhood and found a minimarket and bought some tea, water and juice for the morning. I also found this chip&chinese place that sold curry, so I got me some chicken curry (which made me think of a night in Belfast in a cab with drunk girls and a drunk Irishman, a scary evening). The place reminded me a bit of the New Kahala from Carbondale, as it was completely impersonal and cheap. The Chicken Curry with Boiled Rice (they do not call it steamed here), was 4.20 lbs (I do not know how to type the symbol with the iPad keyboard), which may put me in a good budget for this trip, unless I get gluten-sick tonight/tomorrow.
I am actually trying to kill time to see if my cousin Rosana contacts me, as she is staying in the same place... but I might have to go to bed soon. I am looking forward to seeing her but hope she does not feel like I am pain in her neck. Tomorrow she goes to a conference in Birmingham, so I might go to the Tate Modern on my own, to see the Annette Messager and the new London skyline from that perspective. I hope I get to see everyone I know in town.
If you follow my instagram you will see some pics I have already taken here, but to follow travelogue tradition, I will post a selfie at the end of this one. And in a few, as it is almost 7 pm, I will go to my room.
- posted via iPad
Location:Halsmere Road,Lambeth,United Kingdom
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