Are you there, Internet? It's me, Greta

After ten days of being in the English countryside I think I can safely say, and this is horrifying... I've almost forgotten how to type. Now that I'm here and settled I'll do my best to rack my brain for details of the past week and a half.
 
After a not-as-long-as-I-thought-it'd-be flight from Minneapolis to Reykjavik to London, (I had to type that into the Google toolbar to make sure I spelled it right, don't judge me) I met up with a big group of other volunteers. Volunteers from all over the place; Uganda, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Columbia, Honduras... With all these Latin Americans around, my Spanish has come back swingin'.

Anyway, we all packed onto a bus that took us to Hockley, a small town somewhere in Southern England...that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge of Hockley.  We stayed at a scout centre, which means no internet, shared bathrooms, and close quarters. All was well though, we managed to keep ourselves busy by playing an absurd amount of games of Jungle Speed*, playing football** with the guys, and going to the local***.  I felt like such a cheater being one of the two English speakers of the group, so I made myself somewhat useful by cleaning in the kitchen and sitting in on some of the classes. You read that right, Mom, I was voluntarily cleaning everyday. So most of the week was a blur of Latin American meals, tea, football, Jungle Speed, socialising, and drinking copious amounts of cider. All in all it was a great time and I'm really, really excited for these upcoming months.


Oh, and just as I got settled into my flat and got comfortable on the couch the power went out for the first time in almost a year, according to my Taiwanese housemate, Crystal. Naturally, I would bring in the bad luck and it would happen the second I get here. She and I were searching in the dark for a half an hour for the fuse board. Minor setback, but it's settled. I'll have to remember to look above the front door and under a nearly invisible hatch next time. Ohhh England


Much love, I'll keep you posted



*Jungle Speed - A dangerous card and totem game that should only be played after clipping your nails and taking off rings and watches, I have battle wounds to prove this

 

**Football - I changed it from soccer to football in fear that the British Empire might actually kill me

 

***Local - The pub nearest you! In our case it was The White Hart...and The Spa, that was an interesting one