My dinner adventure!

Last night I was invited to dinner by a guy in my program. He lives with his girlfriend in her house in South Gosforth, which I understand to be like a suburb, because it is technically still in Newcastle. I had to take the metro there, and I have only ridden it once so far, and with friends. So even though I felt sick and depressed all day, I sucked it up to make my way alone to my friend's house. Buying my ticket was easy, but then I had to stare at the map to try to figure out which way I had to go. It took me a good 5 minutes to realize that I had to transfer to a different line at the first stop. I was feeling pretty good! So I got on the train, which was just sitting there by the way, started reading my book, and eventually the train took off. Incidentally, you buy a metro ticket, and it is this little yellow ticket. You don't put it through a machine at all, you could actually just walk on to a train if you wanted to. They do have people come through the trains to check the tickets, but I haven't seen them do that yet. There is of course a fine if you don't have a ticket, or the right one I suppose, but they seem to be very lax about metro tickets! Back to the train: I got off on the first stop, and then found my way to the right line that would take me to South Gosforth. I left a little early because I knew I might end up going the wrong way at one point, and would then have to turn around, but I went the right way the whole time! Yay me! My other friends that are from AZ live in Jesmond, which is also an area within Newcastle. At the Jesmond stop, I said to myself "wouldn't it be funny if Rob and Jamie got on this train too?" So we finally get to South Gosforth (which is like two stops away) and I start to walk up the stairs, and I hear my name. Jamie and Rob had been on the same train, just a different car! So then I just followed Rob since he seemed to know where he was going because he looked at a map before they left. It was maybe a ten minute walk to the house, and dinner was lovely. James made spinach and ricotta appetizers, chicken in a red wine, sun-dried tomato risotto, and for dessert a white chocolate peppermint mousse. Yummy! We hung around and talked for awhile, but my head was fuzzy with congestion, so I was kind of in my own little world. We left around 11 because the metro stops running around midnight.

After the stop at Monument, I headed toward the platform that would take me to St. James, which is right in front of my building. It was 11:30 or so, and no one was around, and I didn't know if a train would even come. So to be safe, I decided to walk from Monument, which is about 15 minutes to my building. At least I wasn't alone in the metro stop! Came home and read a little before going to bed. I was pretty congested, so James' girlfriend (who is a doctor) gave me some drops that you put on your pillow to help you breathe. They worked pretty well till about 9 this morning, but I still laid in bed a bit more. Now I don't know what to do with my day. I feel kind of achy and congested still, so I think it best that I hang around and relax. Plus I have no money, so I can't do anything that you have to pay for! It is pretty lovely outside, and I feel it would be a shame to stay inside all day, but I guess I will see how I feel a bit later. I hate being sick, so I am trying to take every precaution to avoid stretching it out. But my spirits are better today, even with all the crap, so that is a comfort.