The first 24 hours...

 Whew, I have arrived in Durham.

Right now, despite a few difficulties, I am counting my blessings.

1. I made all of my connecting flights.

Turns out I was one of the few from the group I was in.  I met another Archaeology PhD candidate in Newcastle.  She and several other people ran into issues in New York and were 2 hours late to London.  Because of that they were put on standby for their flights and were put in a later "welcome wagon".  She was put on my flight but the guy she met in London was not and had to wait for the next available flight.  So my journey was long and hard but I made it through and am very, very grateful.

2. All of my baggage arrived.

Guys, this is a big deal for me.  Granted, I cannot get into one of my suitcases.  I bought a cheap TSA lock at Wal-Mart and it broke...and I haven't been able to catch maintenance yet for their huge clippers.  But I will, and I will be able to get into my suitcase because it is in my room.  Yes.

Also, special thanks to Alex who will probably never read this.  We met on the bus, you helped carry my 50 lb. bag up 4 flights of stairs, a crazy narrow staircase, and into my room.  You are awesome and I owe you big time.

3. My room is in the attic.

If you are worried I am being sarcastic about this comment you would be very wrong.  My room is in the attic where they JUST BARELY renovated.  I have a room all to myself and it has some serious character.  It was boiling hot when I got in but it has a little wall of windows and it circulates the air quite nicely when opened.  I have to be careful though, yesterday a MASSIVE honey bee flew in and spent a good 30 minutes checking out the beams in my room for a nesting place.  Yeah, I shut those windows once he left.  Now they are just cracked.

The girl across the way says the rooms are glorious in the winter.  While the rest of the college freezes, we catch all of the rising heat in our cute little rooms.

This is only half of the room, it is much bigger than the picture makes it look.

The other great thing about the attic is that I am above tree level.  While there are no mountains in sight, I don't have that claustrophobic feeling.  Also, the view is quite fantastic.

Tender mercy number...five million and three.

4. I slept through the night.

Jet lag usually does not hit me until day two.  It is so exhausting to travel across the world that my body literally collapses from exhaustion.  This morning I woke up under my duvet with a slight chill in the room and a smile on my face.  That is a good start to the day.

5. There are a MILLION lovely things to see.

I spent the morning on walk-a-bout running errands and just looking around my new city.  I didn't go super far but I did cross the River Weir a few times to go to campus, market, and home.  I am in love with these surroundings.  They are beautiful.  

I also saw TONS of runners which made me think of the little Juan and my familia.  It was a beautiful day.

So there are my top five blessings in the last 24 hours.