Here’s a quick glimpse into a pretty exciting trip over the next several days:

On Wednesday morning, I have to teach a tutorial on naturally occurring data. The tutorial will be packed because I’ve asked the students from the Thursday and Friday tutorials to attend the Wednesday session.

The reason?

I’m heading on a 14:10 flight to London.  I will arrive at Heathrow airport at 15:30, which leaves me roughly 90 minutes to make my way to the U.S. Embassy London, where Journey into America is screening from 17:00-20:00pm.

I think Dr Ahmed is asking me to say a few words at the event about the One Film 9/11 interfaith initiative. A few of us (the students who traveled with him during ‘Journey into America’) might be interviewed by a couple of media outlets after the event. That should be pretty fun if it happens.

On Thursday evening, Dr Ahmed is giving a talk in the House of Lords on the tribal areas of Pakistan and the drone war. He has invited me along, so I’m pretty excited to not only see him in action, but to also walk through the halls of English/British history.

I’m not entirely sure where the House of Lords is located, but I’m hoping it’s in the Parliament building (I’ve never been in).

Before the event, which begins at 18:00pm, I hope to spend some time in one of my favourite areas of London: Covent Garden. I haven’t booked my hostel yet, but I hope to stay somewhere close by.

I will leave London on Friday evening, which leaves me another full day to see the city I once lived.  I’m thinking about maybe taking a trip back to Royal Holloway, University of London, where I lived in 2007 and 2008 while completing my masters degree in International Relations.

This trip to London is particularly memorable because I haven’t seen Dr Ahmed in over three years. The two events at the U.S. Embassy and House of Lords will also surely have a lasting impact. I’m very much looking forward to it.

I guess I should arrange a cab from Heathrow to the Embassy, find a hostel to stay in, and maybe book a flight back to Dublin for Friday evening.

I will blog about the experience on Saturday when I return to Dublin.