Arrival

We'll see how coherent this is. I don't think I'd experienced jet-lag before, but I think I get it now. It's a cloud around your mind, a faint headache and exhaustion, but more of an aura of numbness, as though your brain isn't getting enough oxygen or something. I was fine until about an hour after I woke up, and then it attacked.

But! Some things I've noticed so far.

The charter bus we rode from the airport had seatbelts. I'd always wondered why American buses don't ever have seat belts. I was also strangely surprised by the fact that the bus door was on the opposite side as back home. I should have expected it, since the traffic flow is backwards here, but it was immediately startling.

The showers in the dorms make a ridiculous amount of sense. Rather than turning on a continual spray, pressing the handle produces a strong shower for about 30 seconds, then turns off, giving you time to lather or shave or whatever you need to do. It's a great way to save water--I'd at times considered doing that sort of thing at home, but there you feel awkward about turning off the shower--it's not normal for it to start and stop--but now it's expected.

I tried out a vending machine this morning, and I was surprised to receive my grapefruit drink, via the machine's slot, in an un-topped paper cup and filled with crushed ice. Amazing! It's like a fountain drink, filled by a machine.

It was also quite delicious.

More to come later!