Better late than never (Heathrow Terminal 5, Day 1)

So it's taken me ages to write my first post, but here it is. Better late than never, eh?

We were supposed to write a blog about our expectations before coming here, so I'll start with those. Mine were to meet some new friends, have fun, see a new country (or two, in this case), practice my Portuguese and Spanish, and learn some new things about theater and another culture--oh, and create some interesting theatre in that new country, in those languages, with those new friends.

By day 5, almost all of those expectations have been met--and surpassed, so I am very pleasantly surprised. More on them in the days and weeks to come.

I'm the girl who had trouble crossing the border, which I'll explain properly once the project is over, but suffice to say that my time in Riveramento (Rivera-Livramento) started a couple days after the rest of the British contingent. For starters, a few pictures from Heathrow's new Terminal 5. I've been there a few times before but this time decided to try and document its shiny, fancy, capitalist mecca, mega-lomaniac-lith effect this time. If you are familiar with the D.C. metro area, you'll understand why I say that this is what it would look like if Tyson's Corner sprang up in the U.K. in the form of an airport.

Is this how we want to look at the world? Growth and opportunity? 

Brazilian colors

The only peaceful spot in the whole terminal

Stairway to heaven?

This Starbucks rocket will take you to the mothership

Everything but the dress

Yes, the sale continues in the store. Let these scary mannequins tempt you inside.

Umm, thanks WorldDutyFree, but I can imagine much more than you can offer.

Rows and columns

20 minutes to get to C gates WITH the tram?

The floors are paved with electric blue energy

You savvy business traveller, you.

Do you really need over 25 flatscreens to sell me make-up?

I adore these butterflies but don't understand how they are enticing me to buy sushi.

D&G has the sexy, shiny black down.

Harrod's is a cuddly teddy bear.

Paul Smith has a painting of an auditorium behind its glass windows. 

The aliens are coming back to the mothership.

Don't worry, the ship sells coffee and espresso.

Hands down the coolest thing in the entire airport. The little metal dots are like sequins that constantly flip over, making different patterns on the giant peanut.

Circular escape hatch. Still don't believe it's a spaceship?

This is what people used to look like, back when there were these things called 'flowers' and 'trees.' 

Metropolis with 6-pointed stars. Shortly after, I took a photo facing the other way, which was of a billboard that was apparently too close to the security area for comfort. This prompted a security guard to stop frisking her passenger and begin screaming at me. She rushed toward me and demanded to look at the photo (a tight shot of an advertisement), then made me delete it, then looked through all my other shots until she was satisfied I wasn't a terrorist. (Which I am not, thankyouverymuch.) When she let me go with a stern warning, I decided to re-join the group so as not to be detained indefinitely in Heathrow and miss my flight.

Batman (Andy) is watching you. Alice politely avoids the spotlight. 

Rewarded for exchanging more.

This picture could not be more fitting. After this was taken, we got on a plane to Sao Paolo together, then got separated at Brazilian border control, and it was another 40 hours before I saw them again.