Day two: I meet one of my bros for the first time

I went to sleep at 11:30pm on Monday eve and woke up the next morning at 10:30am. Yes, that's right, I slept for 11 hours. But, in my defense, I was making up for two days of not sleeping, so back off.

When I left Shane's place at 4pm, it was already dark outside...

Shane was still at work, but he explained how to get to the nearest tube from his house. "Make a left and then a right and then another left..." Seemed easy enough and it was. In about eight minutes I was at the station...

(Aww. Look at that cute little English man.)

The trains looked so small at this station. When I stood at the door waiting to get inside, I towered over the roof of the tube. At first I didn't think I'd fit in the door. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. But then I realized 1/4 of the train was tucked underneath the platform and when I stepped down to board the train, everything was normal sized again. 

It was rush hour, so the tube was packed...

Everybody just looks so "normal" but remember they ALL have cute little English accents! I met an *Asian* guy with and English accent. And a Spanish-looking guy. In London I'm not annoyed by people talking too loud or too much, I just love that accent. It makes me happy.

I got out at London Bridge (no, it wasn't falling down) and I felt like I was back in NYC. Tons of people all very intense-looking on a mission to get the fuck home...

Londoners on the move!

They must've been so annoyed with me standing there in the middle of it all trying to take photos. I tried to shoot the pics while moving with the crowd...which is why this pic is kinda blurry.

Here's a shot of the outside of the Underground (aka subway) at London Bridge. (Notice the circular neon sign that says "Underground!")

 

My plan was to walk to The Tate Museum, explore a bit and then find Shane and my half-brother Aaron at Covent Garden. But when I got out of the train I couldn't remember which direction Shane told me to go, so I asked a few people where I could find the Tate Museum and well...some the accents were gosh darned thick that I had no fucking clue what they were saying! I finally found a guy that spoke somewhat clearly and he led me on the right path...

 

I took a ton of pics while I walked through Central London...

 

 Finally made it to The Tate Museum. This place looked OMINOUS...

 

I planned to go inside, but then I saw this really cool-looking bridge for pedestrians only and I just had to cross it a.s.a.p...

I had no idea what was on the other side, but I wasn't scared because there were a ton of hip peeps crossing it, so I just followed the crowd. If the bridge had been empty, I definitely would not have been so brave.

When I got to the other side, this is what I saw...

 

I think I landed in the financial district, but I couldn't be certain, because I didn't have a tour guide with me. It looked like Wall Street. There were suits everywhere. 

I still had almost two hours to kill before I needed to meet up with the guys, so I just continued to explore...

 

 

I texted Shane to let him know where I was and to find out how to get to Covent Garden. I told him that I'd crossed that bridge and he was like, "Argh, you shouldn't have crossed that bridge." Ohboy. "You need to find the nearest tube and get to Covent Garden." I managed to find the Underground pretty quickly and made my way back on the tube...

 

 It was more crowded than ever...

I found my way to Covent Garden and met up with Shane. About 30 minutes later I met my half-brother for the first time EVER. 

A little HIstory...

I was born in Kingston, England. 

My father is from Dublin, Ireland. My mom is from Detroit, Michigan, He met my mom in San Fransisco. They flew back to the UK when my mom became pregnant. My mom had me in England and one month later my dad had an affair with my mom's best friend. My mother then left my dad and took my back to the States. I met him once again when I was eleven-years-old, but it was beyond weird. I didn't understand who he was or what I should feel about meeting him. I kinda felt nothing. My mom didn't keep in touch with him after that. He remarried several times (two times, to be exact). He had several kids: Aaron and Emmet with one woman. Theresa with another. Jonah (not me) with another. And Adam with the woman that my dad had the affair with.  When my mom died three years ago, my aunt Joan had been trying to contact my mom (because I guess they still kept in touch), but couldn't connect. She finally found my grandmother's number and then my grandmother contacted me. I called Joan and explained that my mom had died and in the conversation with Joan she told me about all the half-siblings that I never knew about. I think my mom knew about the half-siblings and other marriages, but she kept it from me because it was just too painful for her to think about. My mom was deeply in love with my father and he broke her heart. So now that my mom is gone, I'm discovering all this stuff. I have *five* half-siblings  (I thought it was just three up until three days ago) Aaron and Emmet grew up in Ireland. Teresa grew up in the States (born in Milwaukee and lived in Florida for most of her life). Adam (who I just discovered last night and found on Facebook). No one has been in touch with him, so I don't know much about him other than he grew up in London. And I also discovered why I was named Jona! Before my dad met my mom he had a child with a woman named Michelle. They named the boy Jonah. They then gave him up for adoption. My dad always regretted that move and so when he met my mom and I was born, they named ME Jona (no "h") as some sort of way to make things right again. I never ever EVER knew this. My mother always told me she was just really liked the name and that was that.

That sort of brings us up to date...

Here's my half-brother, Aaron...

He's fucking great. 

He's twenty-five-years-old. He's fun and friendly and outgoing and smart as a whip. He has a *thick* Irish accent. We have the same eyes and the same father and we have both grown up without him. I felt an immediate connection. 

Here are more pics of him...

Wow. 

I can't wait to meet the rest of my siblings. Emmet lives in Florida raising horses. My sister Theresa is a doctor in South Carolina. And my brother Adam...well...I just sent hm a friend request on Facebook last night and this morning he accepted, so I hope to meet him soon. And as for Jonah, no one knows where he is...

This is my crazy life. 

Welcome!