safe in london.

all,

below is an email that I sent out to those that have sent emails/left vmails to check in on me. as I am at the end of a long day, I am certain that there will be others interested in my well-being. I wanted to post this message to alay the worries of anyone who might be concerned.

loves,

j.

dearest friends and family,

writing to you now, over twelve hours after all of this all began, I must say that my initial reactions of shock, horror, and disbelief are much different than my more subdued and drained, as I suppose is to be expected after such a day. in writing this, you see that I am fine and safe. thank you for ringing (or attempting to do so SO many times; I know that the networks here have been flooded and have blocked most all personal calls from reaching my mobile) or mailing to check in and make sure that I am okay. it means a great deal to me to know that, no matter how far away I am from you all physically, we are not that far away in spirit.

as I am nearing the end of a long day, I will be brief in describing my experience. unfortunately, there is a bit of mental scarring that has occurred, but I'll get to that soon. first off, I learned of the news of explosions in two of the tube stations (liverpool st. and aldgate) that were due to 'power surges' on the underground system while I was in the gym riding the bike. as there was no volume for the news, I could only see the images and read the headlines. eventually, there were the announcements of an explosion at edgeware, a station on the other side of the city. there were reports of other explosions, still explained as power surges, at several other stations, one of them being quite close to the university of london's gym, which is located at russell square. seeing all of these going on and not yet knowing that this was a terrorist bombing situation, I had some thought that if anyone in the states heard about explosions on the tube that they would be concerned for me. but as I rarely take the tube, I knew that my friends in london wouldn't be worried, as I am a bus girl through and through. in the midst of doing extra time on the bike, the announcement of a bus explosion at tavistock square, a route that I take at least 14 times a week, I began to get freaked out, knowing that my friends here would be worried. I also began to get a bit of 'if I had left earlier' or 'if I had done this differently this morning' going on in my head.

after leaving the gym, the air was filled with sirens and the area was being evacuated. even with this sense of fear in the air, everyone was quite calm and followed directions to stay inside. there was no running about, screaming, and crying. it was a bit odd for me to feel a part of this in some way, stranded in central london with these thoughts of 'it could be me' but being rational enough to know and appreciate that it wasn't and that I am safe.

to end, after walking about for a couple of hours (in the rain, unable to get a cab, thank you london), I made it to my friend kate's flat, where I will be staying tonight. tomorrow, I will figure out getting home, as reports say that all buses will be operating as usual (though I doubt that my bus route, where the bus exploded, will be traveling past tavistock) and most of the tube network will be functioning.

this wasn't as short as I thought it would be, but then again, this day is nothing like I had imagined when I woke up and began about my daily routine. thank you again for being such wonderful friends and for your concern. please pass this along to anyone that may not receive this, as I simply don't have the energy to sort through emails at this moment.

my love to each of you.

j.