So, this weekend was my homestay which took place in a little village called Bassenthwaite. It was amazing, but before i delve into that i'll regale you with tales from my first week of classes.
Good news: I found my Pharmacology class. Bad news: Its basically an applied chemistry class. shoot me. i think im going to switch out of it (just as i did my molecular genetics course). I need something that will transfer as an upper division biology credit back to redlands, but is not terribly difficult or time consuming, is that really asking too much? Probably. I tried my first problem set this weekend and couldnt even get the first answer. So, hopefully i get that all figured out. And, like i said, i switched out of genetics for a much more reasonable class; Population and Community Ecology. Pretty simple. yay.
Lacrosse is going well. Still dont know what team's we have all made and still dont have a stick to call my own :(
We went out on Tuesday night (dont worry mom and dad, i only have one class on wednesdays and its 50 minutes long) and found a really good little place called Bar Kohl which serves fruity, frilly drinks and has the longest menu i've ever seen of shooters. I finally settled on an Appleberry cocktail and a Landmine shooter; first taste of absinthe- not too shabby.
Anyways, back to the homestay. I stayed with two other IFSA kids; Callie and Leo. Both are really great and we got along really well. There was never an awkward moment with our host parents Brian and Ann. They live on a pretty decent sized piece of land in the Lake District of England (Northwest). The closest "cities"-still pretty small- are Penrith and Carlisle. We drove about two and a half hours from Edinburgh to Penrith where we met our host families. From there we drove about 30 minutes to the small village of Bassenthwaite where Brian and Ann live. None of us had eaten since lunch so by our 9 o clock arrival at the house, we were pretty hungry. Of course, our new host parents had a huge meal prepared for us. Roasted chicken and baked potatoes and wine :) We stayed up until about 1130 talking and getting to know each other- even us IFSA kids did not really know each other at this point. The next morning we had a nice little breakfast of cereal, fruit, toast, and lots and lots of tea. After breakfast Brian and Ann took us on a hike up our first fell (hill); there are 214 fells in the lake district- all named and mapped. We kind of cheated though, there was a car park about 3/4 of the way up, so we walked up from there. It was gorgeous! We walked right by some sheep grazing on the fell. From the top, you could see the entire town of Keswick and at least two or three lakes. We got a nice couple to take a picture of our whole "family" and when i locate my camera cord i will share it with you all. From the fell, we drive about fifteen minutes to the Castlerigg Stone Circle- kind of like a mini Stonehenge. It is a beautiful place, the stones were strategically placed to mirror the surrounding fells. From what we were told, many big name poets, writers, and painters have drawn inspiration from that spot. From there we ventured into Keswick, this is probably the largest nearby town and where Brian and Ann's children went to school. They split off from us and let us adventure on our own. There were a lot of sportswear stores because everyone there is into 'fellwalking'-Northface and Patagonia galore! This made me feel like i was home- i even saw someone wearing a Seahawks jersey! haha. After buying a few postcards, we met up with Brian for lunch, as Ann was still shopping :) He treated us to the best fish and chips i have ever had- well, i guess its the only fish and chips i have ever had. I guess the most legitimate fish and chips meal comes in paper and you eat the chips with a little plastic or wooden fork; personally i just attacked it with my hands. So greasy and so good! we ate on the edge of Derwent Water, one of the lakes. People can rent paddle boats and row around the lake or take a boat tour around it, but that was kind of expensive and we were all nearing a food coma so we headed back to the house for tea and some studying. For the evening, Brian and Ann had dinner plans with some friends in Cockermouth- no joke. So we just walked around the town and ended up at a pub called the Black Bull- we each had a pint of locally brewed Jennings and had some really good conversation. We then grabbed some crappy Chinese food and met with Brian and Ann at the place they ate at. They werent quite finished so Callie, Leo, and I had a few more drinks and just hung out. The atmosphere at this place was really fun. We finally left around 1130. Callie, Leo, and I stayed up a little bit later chatting some more and eating Cadbury Flakes ( theyre supposed to go in ice cream, but if you know anything about me and chocolate... we ate them plain) and chatting. This morning we had the best English breakfast ever, complete with Cumberland sausage, a tower of toast, tea, and black pudding- which i did try. Black pudding is not as bad as the reputation it gets. It just tasted like dense sausage. I sort of enjoyed it. After breakfast Brian took us to the Aira Force waterfall. After that we headed back to Penrith to catch the buss back to Scotland, but not before another stop for tea- where Brian actually got a beer. The drinking culture in the UK is alive and well as we could see.
So, i know that this was a really interesting commentary of my homestay, but this is mainly so i can remember what happened, so much easier than keeping a diary.
Well, hopefully pictures will be uploaded shortly. Wish me luck in finding my camera cord and on my second week of classes!
CHEERS!
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