It snowed today! We took Finchley out to see how he liked it. He kind of didn't. Then we went for a walk. I was looking my snowy dorkiest.. There were quite a few snowmen along the way:
And trees with flowers and snow: We figured out how to get into this huge cemetary, where the snow seemed to be extra thick. By the time we got home, the snow was almost gone.
So, the English like this yeast spread called Marmite. During my week away, I came face to face with Marmite for the first time and, being adventurous (and anyway, how can so many people be wrong about the taste of Marmite?) I tried it. And it was good (although it's not advisable to smell it before tasting it). I did not manage to be open minded enough to eat baked beans for breakfast, but beans on toast was the hit breakfast this week, so I just might be missing something... I was glad that the tunnel challenge was cancelled for my group and we were in the open air on grass sleds instead. It could have been a bit "windy" after all those beans and it was a relief not to be trapped in dark tunnel behind some of those kids.
We didn't have him for long, but he was a sweet and loving cat. Oscar ran away a couple of weeks ago and has not come back home. We miss his purring and his hoarse meow and how he curled up in our laps any chance he got. We also miss how he would hide under the chair or the bed but as soon as there was any movement towards his food bowl, all timidness disappeared. But he ran outside into the rain and the darkness and never came back. Maybe he is somewhere else where people love him. We hope so.
I have a general rule of not talking about work on the web, but my past week just can't go unmentioned on this blog. I went with 12 of my students and 6 of my co-workers to Stubbers Adventure Centre near Upminster where we stayed for five days and four nights in a dorm and helped the kids learn how to be more independent and work together as a team. It WAS an adventure!
Each day we participated in two activities and had three meals together in addition to down time where we encouraged the kids to play games and interact with each other. One of the biggest problems our kids have is with socializing, so there was an emphasis on communicating with each other and building social skills throughout the week.
I was very skeptical of this week away, but it was an incredible experience. I wish I could put the pictures of my amazing students on this blog, but you'll have to settle for pictures of me.
Adventures on the high ropes course! I thought I was so brave, but when I got up higher on the course, I was really scared. I managed to get through all the highest levels...but not without my legs shaking, my stomach sinking, and much bear hugging of the telephone poles in between scary parts. Ben coached me through the course and I managed not to fall! It was really windy, which didn't help with the fear factor. We discovered that it was much easier to balance when holding onto the rope that was tied to our harnesses. Only one of the kids in our group went up to the higher levels that day. She was a star!
The kids and the men were thrilled by the 4x4 driving. Because I grew up on a farm and learned how to drive on a 4x4 diesel pick-up truck and because I have been driving for the past sixteen years, driving the 4x4s didn't really excite me that much. But I discovered that my friends never got their licenses which is such a foreign concept to someone from America, the land of cars. I think the driving test is much harder here in England. Despite not being that excited about driving in the mud, I did have fun driving an English car. It was my first time to drive on the other side of the car. The tricky part was shifting.
I can drive!
Archery was another fun activity. While we were at archery, one of my students who tends to speak in a high, babyish voice said, "I want to be Maid Marian!" (we have been reading Robin Hood). Upon being told to please use an adult voice, she repeated her statement in a low, mannish tone...it was funnier, I think, to those who actually experienced it.
I got one bullseye!
I also drove a VERY SLOW Powerboat. So slow that I didn't have to open my eyes, apparently.
And, I discovered that I'm a pretty good soccer player, for someone who has never played in her life. I scored three goals during my first game!
On the last night, we had a fancy dinner with roast chicken. Ed is used to getting his own chicken. HILLLLAAAAARIIIOUUSSSS (that was the banned word of the week)
It was a great experience and now I have two weeks off! HOORAY!!!
On our final day in Cornwall, we went to St. Ives, where we had superior Cornish Pasties. We also all have discovered a new love for scones and clotted cream.
On the way, we stopped off to get a good look at some ancient tin mills.
Some of the stone walls on our way out to St. Ives were more than 4000 years old!
On the St. Ives High Street. It was cold and windy and rainy:
The guys were loving their Cornish Pasties:
Hopefully the beach in Spain will be a little warm. We were impressed by the hard core surfers who were braving the cold in their wet suits.
Recently I caught Finchley STALKING a large fox in our yard. The other day a large fox was SLEEPING in our yard. This is very un-fox like and hopefully the fox was just having a rest and not sick. He left when he heard the garbage men. Here are the pictures:
THis year for Easter, we went to Cornwall again--with Meg and Dan! We headed out with the masses on the oversold train to Penzance, where we had no seats for the first few hours! Yeehoo! Here is the happy crew standing, then sitting on the floor and then...ummm...sleeping in between the seats and blocking the aisles with their legs.
Finally we got to sit down...IN FIRST CLASS (we chose to sit on the floor there and, thus, when things opened up we had a prime position!)
When we got to Penzance,we jumped into our trusty rental car and our trusty driver, Meg, drove us around England on the other side of the road with the stick shift on the other side of what we are used to. At one point, the guys criticized Meg's parking and took it upon themselves to park the car...and ran into our temporary landlord's car. So, Meg drove the whole weekend and there were maps in excess.
We also were introduced to fabulous Kinder Eggs, which have little prizes inside of them! We came up with a whole story for our Kinder Egg prizes, but it ws a lot funnier the night we did it than it is now...so I'll spare the readers.
A good get together is never complete without Cranium!
Our friend Vlad stopped by and did a great impersonation of Angelina Jolie:
And Jim hummed some Bon Jovi:
Team Avant won by a hair...but there will be a rematch soon.
Following our exciting night in, we hit the outdoors, where we almost got blown off of some cliffs by the wind and made it through hail and sleet...while maintaining our good moods!
The start of our walk:
Meg and Dan try not to get blown off the cliffs:
The first and last postbox in England! How exciting!
Some very cute pigs. Some very cute chickens taking shelter from the sleet and hail next to a rock.
And Jim and some weirdo saying "Go On Git" to the pigs:
I was there, too!
Snacktime and shelter from the wind:
I'm not sure what was going on in this picture. Maybe Dan got blown over by the wind.
This video pretty much sums up the wind factor (watch closely as Meg gets blown to the side):
Probably not the safest place to perch in the wind...
It was a great relief to finally get to the pub where we saw this GIGANTIC dog (Newfoundland who, at 175 pounds was still growing and expected to get up to over 200 pounds!)
On day 3, we headed into Mousehole and climbed around on the rocks a little. It was still windy.
Traffic jam in Mousehole (caused by American drivers):
More wind: And water: And hills: And more wind outside of our apartment: I think I will leave this blog, as is, and carry on with pictures from St. Ives some other time. Cornwall is a beautiful place!
