Hi everyone! Due to a lack of internet access I am just getting around to posting an update. I was all set to put this update on my blog last night because we had figured out the internet but then it stopped working! Thankfully, it is working again this morning :)
The weather has been really nice so far! It has not rained and it feels like falls. I could have used a few more days of summer but I do love fall weather!
Wednesday September 1 - Thursday September 2
So as things normally go with flights, there were delays and it didn’t all go as planned although I didn’t miss any flights! We got to the airport with enough time, got to say hi/by to Uncle Rob, Auntie Mary and Elizabeth which was really nice! Elizabeth and I had gates close to each other so we walked to our gates and waited for our planes. My plane said on time but it ended up being about 15 minutes late, no big deal. My flight plan was Minneapolis to Dallas to London. On the first leg of the journey, we were almost to Dallas but we kept going in big circles….there was bad weather in Dallas. The pilot got an alternative path but unfortunately we had circled so much that we would run out of fuel and had to land in Wichita Falls, Texas to refuel instead. We ended up sitting there for almost 3 hours and taking off around 7:40 pm. This was partly due to the fact that all arrivals were suspended to Dallas for at least an hour due to the bad weather-although it was sunny in Wichita Falls! In the end, we arrived in Dallas 4 hours late-at 8:10 pm instead of 4:10 pm! So I was convinced my flight leaving at 9:10 pm would be delayed. To my surprise when I got off the plane it said on time for my flight to London and I raced off to a different terminal to make it for boarding. When I got there it was delayed 10 minutes and then 20 minutes and I boarded at about 9:15. The plane seemed really empty but I was happy to have two seats to myself and thought it was going to be a rather pleasant 9 hour flight with room to spread out! However, for about 2 more hours people slowly but surely started filling up the seats and the plane was full. I guess they didn’t know so many people had not landed and actually waited for everyone! I would have much rather spent the time walking around the airport since the 5 hour layover I was expecting was drastically shortened and I didn’t really have much time to stretch my legs. Once we took off it went smoothly and I got maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep, watched “How to Train Your Dragon” and completed many Sudoku puzzles. I was supposed to be the first person to arrive but due to the delays, I was second to arrive. Melissa arrived about 2 minutes later. Abby had delays as well and was coming in about 2 hours later so Helen took the three of us who had arrived to our rooms by the where the Assumption sisters in London live. Once we unloaded out bags we walked around a bit. We were close to Kensington Park and walked around there and saw Kensington Palace. Since the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death was on August 31st there were many flowers and notes to Princess Diana attached to the gates of Kensington Palace. We had a nice dinner with the sisters after Abby arrived and had an early night since we were all exhausted.
Flight Summary
1:30 board in MSP
4:55 land in Wichita Falls, Texas (due to bad weather in Dallas)
7:40 Take off
8:10 land in Dallas (original arrival 4:10)
8:20 off plane
9:15 board plane to London
11:00 leave gate
2:00 pm arrive in London (original arrival 11:25 pm)
Friday September 3
We had breakfast, packed up and left around 10. Heather is volunteering in southern England and went by train to her destination. Abby and one of the sisters went by train to Newcastle and Melissa, Helen and I went by car. We stopped along the way for lunch. The rest stop was really nice and had several stores! We got sandwiches and drinks from a small grocery store-it was fun looking at all the different choices like chicken and sweet corn!
When we got to Newcastle we had tea and treats with the sisters and met one of the brothers who lives next door to the sisters. They all seem really nice! They have nice backyards with flower and vegetable gardens. We were all anxious to see our flat so we drove over and unloaded. It is pretty spacious and we each get our own rooms which is nice, although I would not have minded sharing a room since that is what I am used to! Melissa and Abby didn’t want the room with the hot pink carpet and I actually like the hot pink carpet and flowers on the wall so there was no argument about who got that wall. One down side is that I don’t really have a window in my room. There are two small windows in the ceiling but nothing to look out of. Once we all had our rooms we rearranged the furniture to our liking and unpacked while Helen and Carolyn bought some food for dinner. After dinner we got our schedule for the next few days and talked about what we would like to see and learn about in the next few days while Helen and Carolyn are still in town (they are staying with the sisters).
After they left, we finished putting things away and decided to watch a movie. We ended up choosing “Burn After Reading” because none of us had seen it (left by a previous volunteer) but unfortunately we all agreed that it was not a very good movie. My bed is pretty nice but I had a hard time falling asleep due to the long nap I took in the car.
Saturday September 4
We got to sleep in and then started our pretty full day. We went over a bunch of information with Helen and Carolyn regarding our stipend, expectations, bus system, community, volunteer sites, shopping, and more on the schedule for the week. Then we took a nice walk around the Walker neighborhood and got to see Kids Kabin, Common Grounds, the Walker park, a post office, doctor’s office, etc. We then drove a few minutes to a road with a lot of shops. It was nice to see where we could go shopping! It is close enough that we can walk, although it might take 30 minutes or more. Charity shops are common in England and they are similar to Goodwill stores although they are smaller and there are a lot more of them. We can get a lot of decent stuff for cheap and all the furniture in our apartment came from various charity shops. We also found a gym and swimming pool (looks a bit too pricy) and signed up with the library. We can use a bunch of different libraries in Newcastle including one right down the road from where we live and one in the city centre that is open 24 hours. We had another session about conflict resolution and non-violent communication as a tool for use in our community of three or at our volunteer sites. After lunch we headed out again and went to the city centre which is the nicer part of town. We saw the Gateshead Millennium Bridge which is one of the better know sites in the town. It is a cool looking pedestrian bridge that rotates to let ships pass under it. Also, it lights up at night with different colors (we were there in the day time so we didn’t see it lit up). There is a bike path that goes along the Tyne River and apparently takes about 15-20 minutes to bike from our flat to the city centre/Gateshead Millennium Bridge. I’m excited to bike down to the city centre once we get bikes which will hopefully be later this week. The buses are fairly expensive but we will use them for big grocery trips or when the weather is nasty. We found some art galleries, a concert hall, more shops, 2 other churches we could go to (one that other volunteers have go to in the past where there is young adult group they got involved with) and got a better idea of where some things are located. Abby was really excited by one of the exhibits in the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (formerly a flour mill) because she had studied the artist and his work in school so that was neat!
Getting to walk around the city was really helpful but I still feel a bit out of place. I’m eager to get more acquainted with the city and get to know other people. It is weird knowing so few people! After dinner we were all excited to use the internet since we finally had the password and wanted to check emails and Skype with family and friends. It worked for awhile and then suddenly stopped working.
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