Day Three:
Eduardo and I awoke realizing that this was the last day we had to crash at his friend's place and that we were essentially nomads. Although we were told we'd have his place through the week, he was unable to lodge with his friend as planned...be/c he decided to tell said friend that he was in love with her right before we arrived. Needless to say, the feelings were not mutal so bunking with her might have been a tad awkward. As he works for a bank and is awake at like 5am every day, I felt that staying in his small apartment might not work for all three of us, two of us being in a couple, so we packed our stuff up and left to meet his friend, Sasan. Sasan is an amazing person, truly. I had heard some stories about him but they were all of the being 16 and drunk at noon type of variety. Nothing that really seemed to spell out the type of person he was/is. I was in quite a somber mood, not knowing where we were going to sleep (and hotels in the UK were so expensive, even more so with the exchange rate slump, that I thought for sure we'd be homeless). Sasan showed us around the school which was AMAZINGLY new and organized, nothing like I have ever seen in the States. I think Bloomberg Media must give a ton of money to that school because there was Bloomberg publications and media rooms with the name Bloomberg across them everywhere. And Reuters. It felt very business like...well, whatever I'm an idiot, it's a business school, but it felt so global - maybe be/c it was London and I have realized lately how closely Business and Politics are that I found myself wondering what would I have been like had I pursued Business in college over Poli Sci. I think I would have liked it. Anyway. They had an amazingly tasty cafe for the students and we ate lunch and Sasan and Eduardo caught up while I sat and watched. After a short tour of the school, we went and had coffee and later Sassan, hearing of our homeless state, offered to house us at his apartment. I thought this apartment would be similar to the one we were leaving but I certainly was wrong. I felt as though we hadn't exhausted our resources just yet, so we spent the afternoon hotel hunting and when nothing seemed affordable or livable, we phoned him and dragged our stuff from South Kensington all the way up to Hampstead. It was quite a trek and also was during rush hour so the udnerground was packed. When we arrive at his apartment I was in shock (Eduardo of course wasn't, I swear, sometimes I forget what different molds he and I are cut from but anyway). The apartment was in a huge like...manor, on top of this hill. High ceilings, floor to ceiling windows; it was amazing. I wasn't 100% comfortable (basically be/c I am like obsessively clean and this place was just sort of...neat. Not dirty but come on, a 23 year old Grad student leaves here alone so it wasn't the cleanest - but surprisingly was cleaner than some of the hotels we looked at online and in person) but I realized that this was the bed we had and I couldn't really ask for more. I suppose it was the...dependence I had on Eduardo on this trip that shook me most. I am just flat out not used to it and I don't like it. I didn't have a phone, I didn't have my own place or keys to a place that was just ours...I didn't know where I was going and I didn't really know how to get in touch with anyone. I think it was a good lesson for me but at the time it was a bit trying on my patience. Anyway, when we got to Sassan's apartment, we laid our stuff in the entry way and slept for about three hours, no joke. When I woke up I turned on the TV and watched some of Law and Order: SVU. Honest to God, I had seen the episode. Sassan was still at school so we left to get some food...walking out we literally ran into him. Seriously this guy is the nicest guy in the world, always in a good mood. That night was his religious New Year but he couldn't really celebrate due to all of the work he had...so we went out for Thai (not really a celebration at all but the Thai was good). Sassan was working on this project with two other students, one from the States and the other from Greece, and he was tied up with it for most of the week. I still have no idea what it was exactly. Anyway. Sassan is originally from Iran - his father owns some bank over there and they clearly have enough money (he made some joke about how much his father had invested in his education but still had yet to see any return on that - this is Sassan's second masters degree). He speaks persian and has one sister, who actually had her first child the week Eduardo and I stayed with him - she lives in Germany. Sassan was really excited about being an uncle. It was interesting to see that play out. He has a very interesting dialogue about what is going on in the world, esps the Middle East, as Iran is his home. I really liked him.
After dinner I retired to bed while Eduardo and Sassan stayed up chatting. I swear I slept more on this trip than anything else.
Eduardo and I awoke realizing that this was the last day we had to crash at his friend's place and that we were essentially nomads. Although we were told we'd have his place through the week, he was unable to lodge with his friend as planned...be/c he decided to tell said friend that he was in love with her right before we arrived. Needless to say, the feelings were not mutal so bunking with her might have been a tad awkward. As he works for a bank and is awake at like 5am every day, I felt that staying in his small apartment might not work for all three of us, two of us being in a couple, so we packed our stuff up and left to meet his friend, Sasan. Sasan is an amazing person, truly. I had heard some stories about him but they were all of the being 16 and drunk at noon type of variety. Nothing that really seemed to spell out the type of person he was/is. I was in quite a somber mood, not knowing where we were going to sleep (and hotels in the UK were so expensive, even more so with the exchange rate slump, that I thought for sure we'd be homeless). Sasan showed us around the school which was AMAZINGLY new and organized, nothing like I have ever seen in the States. I think Bloomberg Media must give a ton of money to that school because there was Bloomberg publications and media rooms with the name Bloomberg across them everywhere. And Reuters. It felt very business like...well, whatever I'm an idiot, it's a business school, but it felt so global - maybe be/c it was London and I have realized lately how closely Business and Politics are that I found myself wondering what would I have been like had I pursued Business in college over Poli Sci. I think I would have liked it. Anyway. They had an amazingly tasty cafe for the students and we ate lunch and Sasan and Eduardo caught up while I sat and watched. After a short tour of the school, we went and had coffee and later Sassan, hearing of our homeless state, offered to house us at his apartment. I thought this apartment would be similar to the one we were leaving but I certainly was wrong. I felt as though we hadn't exhausted our resources just yet, so we spent the afternoon hotel hunting and when nothing seemed affordable or livable, we phoned him and dragged our stuff from South Kensington all the way up to Hampstead. It was quite a trek and also was during rush hour so the udnerground was packed. When we arrive at his apartment I was in shock (Eduardo of course wasn't, I swear, sometimes I forget what different molds he and I are cut from but anyway). The apartment was in a huge like...manor, on top of this hill. High ceilings, floor to ceiling windows; it was amazing. I wasn't 100% comfortable (basically be/c I am like obsessively clean and this place was just sort of...neat. Not dirty but come on, a 23 year old Grad student leaves here alone so it wasn't the cleanest - but surprisingly was cleaner than some of the hotels we looked at online and in person) but I realized that this was the bed we had and I couldn't really ask for more. I suppose it was the...dependence I had on Eduardo on this trip that shook me most. I am just flat out not used to it and I don't like it. I didn't have a phone, I didn't have my own place or keys to a place that was just ours...I didn't know where I was going and I didn't really know how to get in touch with anyone. I think it was a good lesson for me but at the time it was a bit trying on my patience. Anyway, when we got to Sassan's apartment, we laid our stuff in the entry way and slept for about three hours, no joke. When I woke up I turned on the TV and watched some of Law and Order: SVU. Honest to God, I had seen the episode. Sassan was still at school so we left to get some food...walking out we literally ran into him. Seriously this guy is the nicest guy in the world, always in a good mood. That night was his religious New Year but he couldn't really celebrate due to all of the work he had...so we went out for Thai (not really a celebration at all but the Thai was good). Sassan was working on this project with two other students, one from the States and the other from Greece, and he was tied up with it for most of the week. I still have no idea what it was exactly. Anyway. Sassan is originally from Iran - his father owns some bank over there and they clearly have enough money (he made some joke about how much his father had invested in his education but still had yet to see any return on that - this is Sassan's second masters degree). He speaks persian and has one sister, who actually had her first child the week Eduardo and I stayed with him - she lives in Germany. Sassan was really excited about being an uncle. It was interesting to see that play out. He has a very interesting dialogue about what is going on in the world, esps the Middle East, as Iran is his home. I really liked him.
After dinner I retired to bed while Eduardo and Sassan stayed up chatting. I swear I slept more on this trip than anything else.