I'm sorry love I'll have to turn you down

Well, 41 hours remain in London. That is so utterly depressing, but I'm adjusting. I will always love this city, but I think I'm successfully savoring my final moments here (for now). I will DEFINITELY come back here someday. I plan to live here at least once.

This despite the fact that London seems to have it out for me. I was doing a little reflection in light of recent events, and I realized that I have had, on average, one near-death experience a month in this beautiful city. Now for a summary:

1) The guy that wouldn't leave me alone in Hyde Park when I went to Speakers Corner. I ended up being afraid that he was going to trail me home, so I sat in the park for a few hours until it was almost dark.
2) The guy that tried to kill me and Kelley on the tube. To make a long story short, he attempted to keep us from getting on the train, effectively leaving him completely alone with us. When we finally did jump on the bus at the very last minute we noticed that he had kept one hand inside his jacket during our entire interaction. And he had a creepy smile on his face as he watched us pull away.
3) The guy that asked me out for Valentines Day at the Greyhound. I didnt call him, so he approached me again later. THEN he saw me walking alone at 2am with Burger King on St. Albans and he stopped and wouldnt leave me alone. When I sort of started freaking out and walking home, he followed me slowly in his car for a block and a half till I got home. Stalker much?
4) Tonight. We were in McDonalds with our friends and this big black guy wearing a white do-rag walked up to us and started bothering us about what kind of music we like. This is pretty typical of club promoters, so we just ignored him like always. He started getting really belligerent though, and followed us out of the restaurant. Him and his friend cornered my friend Allyson and started saying how they should slap us in the mouth. THEN they accused us of being racists and were threatening us, so Rebecca called the cops. There happened to be some cops right near us, so they came over and stopped this guy and the 5 of us went into a club. The club was lame, so we left 20 minutes later and started to walk back the way we came, thinking all was well. The bouncer approached us though, and asked if we had had trouble with a large black man. Apparently he had seen us go into this club and tried to follow us in, saying he needed to talk to us. They didnt let him in, but he was waiting for us in the same general area we had left him.... um SCARY. So we went to Trafalgar Square instead of Piccadilly Square, and took a different bus home. Fucking creepy.

Four events, four months. That average blows. And yet, I will always love it here.

Today I went to Trafalgar Square and looked at the Impressionism exhibit at the National Gallery one last time. I adore Monet. Then I walked around Trafalgar, Soho, and Piccadilly, taking it all in one last time. I bought a new eyebrow ring and just generally wandered through the city. I saw so many places that hold memories for me now and realized how lucky I really am to have had this experience. Then I came home and listened to the rain and missed everyone who is not with me right now.

I tried to go to Tesco Disco one last time, but it was closed by the time I got there. It really upset me at first, but whatever. Tonight was a dud, but I've had so many amazing nights here that I don't care. So now I'm going to bed in room 402 of Atlantic House for the second to last time.

Tomorrow I finish packing, ship stuff home, go to High Tea at Harrods, and go to the Greyhound for my last night out. Friday I go to St. Pauls, Cheshire Cheese, and the Closer park, then fly to Venice. There are only five days until I see Steph, and I couldn't be more excited.

I am so full of mixed emotions about this whole leaving London thing, but I ultimately know that I have been unbelievably lucky to have this experience. No matter whether or not I formed life-long friendships, I had a good time and I made another home for myself. I learned so much about myself that I can't even begin to express it, and I know I will always remember fondly. So maybe it sucks to leave, but every good thing comes to an end sometime. And I have so much to look forward to.

I absolutely love my life.