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Humanitarian worker / Human Rights activist / Campaigner / Researcher / Member-at-large of humanity / Citizen of the world

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Art of Things Falling Into Place

There is nothing worse than not being in control. And in life, we are never in control. Consider the path of the past few months in our family. When I accepted this new job in London, it sort of lined up a host of things that needed to happen - most or all of which were completely out of our control. Here is a list, in order of how I think of them:

- Our house needed to sell, or get rented out
- We needed to sell our vehicles
- Melia needed to get a job in London
- Melia needed to be able to complete her final class of her MA from the UK
- We needed to get a house here in the UK
- We needed to get the boys enrolled in a new school here
- We needed a plan of what to do with our household goods

The major things, of course, centered around Melia finding a job and our house in Lafayette being taken care of in some manner. So, here is an update:
- We have tenants for our house in Lafayette (thanks to Craigslist). They move in July 1, and have signed a 2 year lease. Yep.
- Melia's final class of her MA is probably the only class that is flexible enough to be done from distance, and her professor has agreed.
- My beloved Xterra sold, literally one day before I was to get on a plane to come to London last time. It sucked, but it had to be done.
- Amnesty Int'l agreed to pay for a container to ship our household goods here to London, and ship them back if and when we move back in the future.
- And...., after a major disappointment, MELIA GOT A TEACHING JOB HERE! Just three days ago, I had decided to look for a house without knowing where Melia would be teaching. I spent the entire weekend driving all over SE England looking at houses. This Saturday, I was just going to take the plunge. On Tuesday, Melia got a call that an interview had been set up. On Wednesday she was interviewed via phone (she is in Mexico right now), and Thursday, a job was offered and accepted.

So, just a couple more things completely out of our control to go. Finding a house (now we have a community to focus in, though), and getting the boys properly enrolled in school for the fall (preferably Melia's new school).

I'm humbled and frightened by the events of the past few months. A tipping point of sorts has been crossed and we are now closer to finding a home in London than living in Lafayette, if that makes sense? Just3 weeks before my family arrives here. Since March, we've lived seperate lives, so their coming here is not just coming to England, but a reuniting of our family after months of disjointedness. It is what we all are looking forward to the most.

This Saturday, I hope to find a house that we might eventually call home.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My London Commute

On my last journey here from the USA, I packed my bicycle on the plane with me, determined to save money (20-30 British Sterling per week) and time (it has taken me 1 ½ hours to make the 10 mile commute from my dad’s place to work via bus/train/bus). So far, it has proved a worthwhile effort in hauling my beloved Specialized across the Atlantic. The net gain is the money, and now it only takes me about 40 minutes ride time door-to-door. But, the gain is not the whole story. The real story is the adventure of dodging double-decker buses and black taxi-cabs in one of the world’s busiest cities.

My first day riding to work was exhilarating and frightening. I can’t really remember being so UNrelaxed on a ride. First of all, I’m riding on the left hand side of the road, which throws off all my natural instincts in avoiding life-altering collisions. Second, there are vehicles of all shapes everywhere, making up rules as they go. I arrived at work on that first day happy to be alive and wondering if I had what it takes to get home that evening. I’m writing here, so I must have.

My follow-up rides in and out of Central London have been characterized by a lot more confidence, which is beginning to scare me. Riding in Colorado teaches one to stay right, make eye contact with drivers, give right of way to vehicles, and stay in the bike lane when there is one. In London, you stay left unless a huge rectangle-shaped double decker is there instead, don’t worry about eye contact because your too busy observing what the big red rectangle on wheels will do, act as if you are a large vehicle and demand the right of way, and if there is a bike lane, get in it before a bus does.

A few lessons I’ve learned so far:
- Clip in fast / Clip out faster
- Look over your shoulder on the left, not the right… oops, I mean the other way… I think. Shit. Welcome to my ride.
- Don’t draft behind a bus (seems like a good draft, but inhaling the exhaust isn’t fun)
- Roundabouts are not cycle friendly, so avoid them if at all possible
- Businessmen in suits on folding bikes look funny, but they can pound it
- Don’t look at the sights along the way because you’ll run into something big and red
- The sights really are more amazing on a bike
- Bus lanes are awesome as long as a bus isn’t in it
- If you are unsure about where to go, follow other bikes
- Don’t listen to your ipod on this ride….. way too much going on
- In London, bikes are faster than trains, tubes and buses…..
- Commuting is not racing, but deep down we know it is, so don't get dropped by the businessman in a suit on a folding bike

All in all, I am enjoying my daily rides. We have showers at Amnesty, so I arrive at work not only alive, but awake and ready for the day. I arrive back at my dad’s in the evening feeling much better than if I would have sat on a train and bus for 90 minutes. On a serious note, I’m much less depressed about being here as well. I'm sleeping better. Something about working out….., and look, I have time to blog.

What I really want, though, is a pair of glasses with a camera embedded in them. Then you could really appreciate my daily survival trek.

By the way, on my way to work, I cross London Bridge with a view of Tower Bridge. I pass right by St. Paul’s Cathedral and its huge dome. And I deftly avoid intimate encounters with many, many big red rectangles with wheels.

I’ll get that camera sometime. Then watch for me on YouTube. It will be legend.

Monday, June 9, 2008

No such thing as good-bye

I have prided myself on the perceived strength of not giving into pressure, but I find myself buckling under the constant request of dear friends to open a family blog which may or may not detail the adventures of our family. As I’m sure all of you know, we are in the midst of a move to Europe, to the UK to be specific. I fell into a job with Amnesty International and now we are on our way. The past several months have been full of tension and uncertainty, and strangely enough, peace. As I sit here at Denver International with a one-way ticket in my hand, I am pondering a decade of experience in the first place our family collectively has been able to call home. Leaving Lafayette, Colorado is a leaving home, and I’m not quite sure I’m handling it well.

It’s June 8, and I won’t see my kids or wife until July 15, which is hard enough. I’ve traveled enough in the past to know how to navigate days and weeks apart, but today is different. My kids sense it. I feel it deeply. It is no small thing that the ticket I hold is one-way. We are uprooting and moving and we are all experiencing the loss. Dear friends have told us repeatedly about the adventure that awaits us. Living abroad with children certainly can be an amazing experience, but all things being equal, I wanted to stay. I have reveled in the fact that my kids have gone to the same schools and grown up with the same friends their entire lives. Now that all is changing.

I should shut up with the whining, though. Change is hard, to be sure, but an amazing opportunity does await us. London is one of the world’s great cities and we will be within shouting distance of Paris, Rome, Berlin, Madrid and all the living history one could want. We are a soccer family, and Europe is where soccer (football) calls home. And somewhere in Germany is the giant sandbox, a memory from my youth that soon I will impart to my kids. You’ll have to wait to hear that story.

So we’re off. In a few weeks our goods will be packed and put on a boat headed northeast. Melia and the boys will land in London in July and we’ll head to a place yet unknown that if all goes well, we’ll begin to call home. We’ll figure out school for the boys, church for our family, and of course the local soccer club. Hopefully we’ll find people who we will begin to call friends. What we want is to find community, a place where we can be ourselves.

Today has been hard because it has been full of good-byes for me. There is a surreal finality in the air. I think I’m ready, though. I am tired of the Atlantic commute every 3 or 4 weeks. We are all ready to be in on place. But good-bye’s are difficult. That’s ok. If life is good, they should always be difficult.

So instead, I say, “see you later.” We’ll be back in Colorado sooner or later. We love it too much to stay away. We also own two properties there so we have to come back and deal with those details. We have no idea if this move is permanent or temporary, or what those two words even mean. But we do know that amongst real community, there is no such thing as goodbye. Also, we fully expect everyone of you who said you’d come and visit England to actually do so.

The hugs and hand-shakes meant more over the past week than usual. To all of you, thank you for that. Thank you for loving our eclectic family, for walking with us through every valley and peak, for being our community where we have felt freedom to be ourselves. Thank you for blessing us in this seemingly crazy move. Thank you for helping us raise our children and for sharing your children with us. Thank you for being our friends.

We promise to keep this blog posted with the latest happenings of the Syed family. We might even post some photos at times. Please, keep in touch with us as well. We are not the only ones living an adventure.

Viva la vida,

Andrew Syed – from DIA airport on a cloudy day in Colorado….


P.S. Get a passport and download skype. It is a small planet....