Ash from Iceland

Sorry its been a while but I have been rather busy. I am going to try to catch you all up. Last time I blogged it was the day before this volcano named EYJAFJALLAJOKULL (yess that is the real name, I did not just start hitting the keyboard) started to erupt, spilling ash into the air all over Europe. The last time a volcano spilled ash into the air and a plane flew into it, something like half of the planes crashed. This I guess was a very long time ago, so half of the planes really means something around 8. So with no information about what this would do to the plane engines, they shut down the air space all over Western Europe, and more importantly the UK. I guess this is the biggest flight disterbance in the history of the world, as major airports like Heathrow (London) have never been shut down for 6 days before. Its put British Airways into asking the gorvernment for a bail out and I guess had some damage on the economy becuase people selling fruit and perishables couldnt get their products into europe and they were just dying in the ports. British people were also stuck all over the world and running out of money staying in hotels with all their kids and it was a mess...this was also happening around the same time that the UK was having their first ever televised debate for the election of the new Prime Minister, which I felt bad about because it was totally over shadowed by the volcano.
Well I wasn't flying anywhere that weekend but I happened to have three friends and a father who were supposed to fly in to see me!! I was so excited for Sara, Jess McVey, and Mike Star to come see me for the weekend and for my dad to come and see his old college roommate, John, and to see him for a week. All of that was canceled. My dad was able to find a new flight leaving Wed. night and arriving Thursday morning. So I did end up seeing him very briefly in Thursday because I had my farewell dinner with my program, and then on Friday, when he helped my pack and take my bags to the airport to be left in left luggage for while I traveled and then we went out to a very fancy dinner in Covent Garden at this awesome french restaurant. I tried my very first escargot (snails....they were kinda weird...wouldn't eat them again) and then I had a crepe filled with lobster and prawns (shrimp) and mushrooms. It was to die for.
My farewell dinner was awesome. It was a three course meal in a hotel in London. Everyone got dressed up and we got some free t-shirts that say "I did it in London, Where will you do it?" and then it lists all the places that CAPA has programs. It was cute and funny and I have been wearing it to bed for the past week and a half. After that almost half my program went to a bar for international students with cheap drinks and they also have karaoke, so we can all imagine how that turned out. It was sad because everyone was saying goodbye and I realized how much Im going to miss London and everyone that I met here. I am super excited to come home but at the same time I never want to leave. I miss everyone at home wayy to much for me to have stayed here any longer than I have and I am very happy to be coming home to them soon.
On a happy note, many of the people in my program are from UMass and the University of Pittsburgh, so we have already set up trips for visits and I will hopefully be seeing most of my friends from London again very soon!
Miss everyone from home!