A Legal Alien

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21 July 2005

So I've been a bad blogger of late. I was home for the last two weeks, missed the bombing on 7/7 by one day but was in the midst of it all today.

Being home was busy. Too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. It was good to see friends and family and get some much needed sorting out of things done. I also made good progress on my dissertation, nearly finished now.

Job situation is sorted, for the most part. My work permit has come through, now just need to get my visa taken care of but have to get my police clearance first.

Today was my first day back on public transit since the first bombings. I was nervous about riding the bus but I didn't have a choice about going down to my uni. The Piccadilly line is still out of commission and the station at Russell Square is fenced off completely. So it had to be the bus. I texted Frank and told him I was getting on the bus at 1pm. We drove past the tube station and it was all roped off. A bit odd but it had been closed once before after the bombing. That's life with a fundamentalist mosque in your neighbourhood. Anyway, the bus kept getting more and more crowded. By the time we got close to Euston, the road was blocked off and a woman standing next to me said the Victoria line was closed and she had to get off at Highbury. Hmmm. Lots of people got off the bus while we were stuck in traffic and Frank texted to ask me if I was ok. I said yeah, what's going on? A man on the bus said his friend called and told him more bombs, a fire at The Oval and Shepherd's Bush was closed. My phone was working sporadically, getting voicemails but no calls in or out and texts occasionally. Finally Frank told me to get off the bus so I walked the rest of the way to my uni. My meeting with Caroline was good, mostly catching up and sharing our experiences of 7/7 and today. I had no idea how I was going to get home.
I started walking toward Tottenham Court Road, hoping to catch the 29 bus home and avoid the mess of the Tube. I ran into Sandra on my way and she and Ruffina had a wild time trying to get home from Shepherd's Bush. They had to pay for a taxi and then walked because the buses were not taking passengers. So when I got to Tottenhame Court Road, there was no traffic and the street was all roped off. It was so odd to see people just walking down the road, no bus, no taxis, nothing but people walking. I decided to call Anne to let her know I was ok and then I started walking toward home. But Tottenham Court Road was roped off a block from Warren Street Station and I wasn't sure where to go from there. I got off the phone with Anne and rang Elizabeth. No one knew much about what was running, where buses were diverted to. Frank suggested talking to the police officers who were all over the place and one of them said to walk to Euston Station for the Victoria line. Emily called and helped me find my way there because every route I knew was closed off and I didn't have my A to Z with me (won't make that mistake again!!).
I finally got to Euston after walking for about 30 minutes only to find the station closed for the Tube. But the bus was there! Hooray! I was tired and my feet had blisters. It was 5pm by this point and I'd left my uni at 3:30. I grabbed a coffee for the way home and caught the very crowded and quiet bus. People seemed a bit on edge and it took longer than usual to get around because traffic was awful, even by London standards. I got home around 6pm and realized I hadn't eaten anything. Leftover pasta was in order and then lots of phone calls to reassure everyone in CA that I'm fine.
I've had a good bath tonight but I'm still wound up a bit. It was stressful to deal with all of that. I'm not excited about getting back on the bus or the Tube again. I have to but I don't really want to. Getting a car sounds better and better every day.

My first day back in the city wasn't supposed to be this exciting. It was supposed to be uneventful and restore my faith in normality. No such luck there.

For Paul Barrett

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