HOST
This is a program which we just have to sign up for, and we are matched with British family who will host us for a weekend. Our school has even paid the L40 administrative fees for us. In light all of this generousity, I will try to be as polite as possible:
The weekend was a disaster. There were salvageable bits, but mostly, I was so happy to get back to my dorm room that I could have cried. The weekend started off with a late train, which caused me and 20 other people to miss the connecting train. No problem, the train company called a cab to take us to our destination. One cab. Twenty people. So we waited an hour, for another 40 mins or so ride, and I finally arrived at this little village of Tealby. Charming, along with it's huge Tesco (supermarket). Okay, that's fine, they were nice enough to offer me my own room to stay in, even though it was freezing cold in there. The couple is those that are into buying a decrepit place, and renovating it, but also living in it while it is decrepit. So there were building material everywhere around the house, where the extension is being planned, along with everything else made of wood inside (remember this detail; it'll become important later). Anyway, the next day, we went to a nearby village of Lough, and then a bigger city of Lincoln, and I saw cathedrals and shops and castles, even an original Magna Carta, so it was all pretty cool. So what if they have a bratty 14 year old who disagree with everything, and a just-moved-back-home 21 year old who likes to make fun of his mom. No matter.
Sunday morning, I went to a Remembrance Day service in Lough, which was very cool 'cuz I got to see British cadets and other military personnel, doing a parade not so different from home. In the afternoon we drove to the coast of the North Sea, where the beaches had become in recent years a natural birthing grounds for seals. It was freezing cold, but the pups were so cute! When we returned to their home, the mother inexplicably had to wash their horse (they live on a farm with a llama, chickens, ducks, sheep, dog, etc), in the dark. The only light was a motion-detected one, so it comes on, it comes off. Imagining washing a car, in the dark. No, a truck. No, a moving truck, that doesn't want to be washed, 'cuz it FREAKING cold! The whole family was standing outside, so it's not like I can just go inside and sit by the fire. Oh well. Off to bed for an early train.
I'm a light sleeper when not at home, especially when I know there is something that I need to get up early for the next day. So when the hallway light came on at 5am, I was instantly awake, but then decided that I can still sleep for about another hour before getting up. I hear footsteps though, and then, several minutes later, loud pounding on my door and then the door was opened. The house was on fire. I kid you not. They don't have smoke detector though, and only found out 'cuz the father smelt smoke and got up to investigate. The closet was on fire, all the clothes inside burnt, all that's left was the hook part of the metal hangers. The house was filled with smoke, but it is only after his investigation that the father was like, "Right, I'll call the fire brigade now", while we all waited in the kitchen OF THE BURNING HOUSE and the mother made tea with an electric kettle. 20 minutes later ('cuz the house was in the middle of nowhere), 2 fire engines arrived, and while the firemen were pulling their hoses into the house, the mother tried to shove cups of tea at them. Other firemen arrived in their own vehicles minutes after, and even in all these confusion and madness, their hotness was not lost on me. Too bad I looked like an illegal immigrant smuggled away in a British family in a small village. The stars were out though, so that's nice, and we saw the sun come up. Eventful is an understatement.
Madrid
Was a much nicer weekend. Mostly I just loved the vibe of the city, and people and music on the streets, long into the night. Flamenco dancers were pretty cool too, even if the fog machine was a little overused in the performance, and people kept taking pictures with the flash. It is contradictory to say "No hablo espanol"? My grade 10 Spanish is sorely lacking, but some words did ring a bell as the weekend progressed. My flight was delayed for 6 hours though, and having spent 6 hours already 'sleeping' in the airport, it was not fun. That's a painting of Don Quixote fighting the windmill that I bought from a street artist. I also got one of a bull.
And Such
It's a little crazy to think that there is only 3.5 weeks left of my exchange. I've got papers to do, and, on the more fun side, still a day trip to Oxford, weekend in Paris, and a final weekend in London before flying home on Dec 16. Feeling a little ambivalent about going home, and especially back to Windsor, for surely drama awaits. But at the same time, you grow tired of being a stranger.
