On Thursday we were supposed to leave the hostel at noon exactly. Some of our group decided to go fit in a little bit of sight-seeing before we left, but the rest of us took the opportunity to sleep in and take our time getting ready for the day. Around 10.30 a few of us went downstairs to grab breakfast, only to discover that the hostel wanted us out of our rooms by 11. With only four of the ten inhabitants of our room in the hostel (everybody else had gone out, thinking they had that extra hour to pack and clean up), we ran back upstairs and did a whirlwind through the room, dragging luggage down the four flights of tiny little stairs, hauling sheets and towels off beds to be taken downstairs, grabbing the other people's things and taking them loose downstairs to be distributed later.
At exactly 11, we were out and sitting in the lobby playing cards.
An hour later, our bus arrived, and we rode the two-and-a-half hours to Cheltenham.
A word about the English countryside, because we saw a lot of it. A lot of the time, it's gray - yesterday was the first day that it didn't rain. But it's not a nasty, dreary, Ohio gray. The rain makes the flowers incredible - they're so full and pretty. The grass and trees are this lush green, and the sprawling fields of color are such a huge part of the landscape that it really doesn't make you depressed that it's cloudy or rainy.
When we arrived in Cheltenham, we dumped our stuff in our room and had a little orientation with our English contacts who have been so helpful in getting us settled, making sure we're in the right place, and teaching us a little about English customs and culture. They gave us a little while to chill, then took us to a specifically-English dinner, as was requested by one of our profs. It was at a little place called the Carvery, and basically it's just a buffet with meat, vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding.
Let me just say that it was the first time on the trip that we were full. : )
Wednesday night was the first chance I got to Skype my family, which was fantastic. I keep thinking about my sister through all of this - it's the first time in a long time that I've travelled without her, and I wish she could see all of it, she would absolutely love it. But I got to tell her all about what was going on, she caught me up on everything happening at home, and that was so good to do. : )
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