Could do worse

Well, the trip to the US Embassy went smoothly, much to my surprise, and we finished at the consulate in under 2 hours. Our lack of a confirmation letter was met with a practically Gallic shrug (rather than a Yankee shove). In fact we did much better than the couple behind us in the security queue, whom we befriended: they had all their paperwork but forgot to bring their baby. Luckily for them home was not far away and baby was quickly retrievable via taxi. Ironically those parents were a lawyer and a banker. If two anthropologists can out-organise them, there is hope for academia in spite of these troubled economic times. To celebrate afterward (I mean celebrate our success at renewing younger son's passport, not at besting the global financial market) we breakfasted at a charming Mayfair cafe and visited Selfridge's food hall, where the children were given, rather bizarrely, their own live clams. In shells.