Half a Decade Ago

Five years ago, to this date, Kevin & I moved to Britain. It was a week after 9/11; I remember the look of fright and suspicion on the faces of my fellow plane passengers; and the phone call I made to my mom the night before, where she said a brasilian psychic had predicted the second terrorist attack would be in London. I thanked my mom for putting my nerves at ease just before my flight (like any concerned mother, she was just trying to keep Kevin and I safely tucked away in benign Canada.)

I remember the train ride from Gatwick to central London in the morning, the brown houses and grey skies, of reaching the hostel by Bayswater tube and plopping our stuff in a room with three bunk beds. For the next two weeks, we lived in hostels and spent our days looking for housemates to take us in. We ate a lot of supermarket sandwiches in Hyde Park and used overpriced internet cafes to keep in touch with our families and friends. The plan was initially for us to stay in Britain one year, perhaps two -- long enough for some work experience which could be translated into my immigration to Canada. But we allowed the years to sweep us along... we are still here.

I wonder where I'll be in five years time.

God Must Be an Atheist

"Al Qaeda militants in Iraq have vowed to wage war on the "worshippers of the cross" following the Pope's controversial comments about Islam. The group said it would "break the cross and spill the wine". Pope Benedict XVI caused anger in the Muslim world over the weekend with comments earlier in the week that seemed to endorse a view that Islam was a violent religion." - from here

I don't know if I should cry or laugh when the news begins to sound like something straight out of The Onion.