AHH!

So I am totally in London now! Geez, where do I start?

Okay, my flight in went well. I sat next to a middle aged English couple but didn't speak to them much. I also didn't sleep a wink and instead wasted time watching Annie Hall, Bridget Jones' Diary, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and How I Met Your Mother. It was a nine hour flight.
When I arrived at the airport I was loopy and exhausted. Customs were a breeze--I'd been prepared for a battery of questions and accusations but that was not at all the case. Obviously I'd done too much reading. I exchanged money (360 USD became 198 GBP, yikes!), got a trolley for my luggage (free!), and got my bag quickly. I attempted to buy a ticket for the Heathrow Express train, but I was too thirsty/tired/confused. Instead I went outside and got a taxi. I knew this wasn't going to be cheap, but I didn't realize just how crazy expensive it would be. I don't even want to mention the price...it makes me sick to think about. But, fortunately, the taxi took my right to the hostel, so that was pretty nice. Totally not worth it though!
So I arrived at the hostel around 9 AM and was barely functional from exhaustion. I tried checking in but was told at the front desk that I had to wait until 2PM--five more hours before I'd have access to a bed. Some guy (I'm still unclear as to whether he was a guest or an employee) helped me with the larger of my two suitcases to the third floor luggage "room", which was actually just a closet with an open window. Carrying my stuff up that many stairs drained all the energy I had, and I sat in the lounge area for the next five hours, in and out of consciousness, half listening to the conversations between one very loud and obnoxious Australian and everyone else in the place. He was sitting right next to me and kept me awake for a while (sort of a good thing) until I starting looking around the room: a mural of a fire-blowing he-she (or she-him) on one wall, luggage everywhere, uncomfortable DIY furniture lining the walls, and two bookshelves full of what looked to be the worst books of all time (I hadn't heard of any of them, but I feel like several titles were slight variations of actual popular books). This, along with an awful Canadian show called "Corner Gas", nearly put me to sleep. Finally 2 PM rolled around.
My room consisted of three bunk beds, a small sink, a picturesque window, and nothing else. All beds were occupied except the top bunk of the one nearest the window, so I lugged my overstuffed book bag onto it and climbed up for a nap. I hadn't yet gone through my luggage to find my alarm clock (which I still hardly understand how to use anyway) so I couldn't really choose how long I slept as I had originally planned. When I woke up it was dark and I had no idea what time it was. Still groggy, I fell back asleep and repeated this process several more times until I could no longer fall back asleep. I remembered Ben's ipod in my purse and spent about ten minutes trying to navigate the Swedish to figure out the time. It was nearly 5AM. I waited a while before getting up, and when I did all there was to do was shower and eat some nutella and toast. I'm not even sure of what else I did, but I was back in bed by 11AM. I'd planned on going out and exploring some, but when I woke up it was 6:30 and dark. By this time I was starving--I'd only eaten nutella and toast in 40 hours or so. I decided to try an Indian restaurant that was in one of my guide books. After walking for too long, I decided I was too exhausted (still) to find it, and turned around, heading for the Indian place I'd seen across the street from the hostel. So I went there; it was so-so. You can read more about that in my food blog (I'll post a link when I get it started up). Then I went back to the hostel, skyped for several hours with various people, and finally went to bed around 2AM. I got up early to check out and walked the half block to the hotel where the Arcadia orientation would be. Upon checking in, I was thrilled to find this place infinitely nicer that the last. I could rest easy for the next couple hours, sort of napping and being comforted by the greatest of 90's American sitcoms: Will & Grace and Friends.

**I've added pictures of my room at the hostel and the view from said room.