"Welcome to Sunny England!"

... that's the first thing that Scott said to me when he came to pick me up at the airport.  Which, incidentally, happened almost two hours later than it was supposed to.  Because the entire country was in the middle of a freak snowstorm that delayed/stopped most modes of transportation for more than a week.  They'd actually only re-opened the airport a few hours before I arrived!  Somehow, I wasn't quite convinced of this whole "Sunny England" thing.  And I must say, it hasn't done much of a job convincing me in the past two weeks either.  It was sunny yesterday, and I was actually a little confused when I first woke up before I realized what it was!  But at least the mountains of snow have melted...!

When I first arrived, the first thing I noticed was all the snow!  There was more of the stuff here than I had left at home in Wisconsin!  And I distinctly remember being told (multiple times!), "oh, don't worry; it hardly ever snows in Cambridge!" I was also told that it rarely gets below freezing, too.  So imagine my shock when we got nearly a foot of snow on my first day in the country, and spent the rest of the week at about freezing temperatures.  Some welcome that was!  But it is really going to make me appreciate the spring when it comes.  Again.  I feel like I've been experiencing more than my fair share of winters lately...

So far, I've mostly been stranded at or near our house.  First of all, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to buy water-proof boots in a country that is famous for its precipitation!  This made it difficult to go anywhere during the first week because I only have my "breathe-easy" sneakers, which aren't really the best for walking in snow.  I did come up with the ingenious plan to wrap a plastic bag around my feet before inserting them into the shoes.  This actually worked quite well in fending off the cold and wet.  Plus, maybe I've started a new fashion trend!  Especially the day when I wore different-colored bags with the handles poking out of my pants.

We tried to go into Cambridge the first Sunday I was here (I arrived on Saturday the 19th), but that was the day of the big snowstorm and all the buses were cancelled.  Unfortunately, we didn't bother to look that up before going out to the bus stop, and ended up sitting out in the cold for nearly 45 minutes before deducing the truth.  Scott was insistent on showing me something, though, so we walked the 15 minutes to the nearest town, Abington, so that we could pick up some supplies from the little convenience shop there.  It's actually two towns, Great Abington and Little Abington that is collectively known as "The Abingtons."  Together, they have a population of almost 1,400.  Apparently the division dates back 4,000 years, and who are we to change it now?  I haven't seen much of the town, but from what I have seen, it looks very charming.  Quaint even.

My favorite part of these little towns in England is that there are hardly any house numbers.  Nope, we're too good for that--each house has its own name!  Most of them are named for the original owner or initial purpose of the building.  For example, the houses nearby to us have names like "The Windmill," and "The Old Bakery."  Our house was actually originally built as groundskeepers' quarters for a large country estate, known as "Hildersham Hall."  The estate is still there, although the associated land has diminished over the years.  There's still enough to have a good-sized herd of sheep, though!  They do make good neighbors.  Our house is situated at the southern-most end of the grounds, and is therefore called "South Lodge."  There is now a small town on the other side of the grounds named, would you guess, "Hildersham."

Last weekend it actually warmed up and the snow all melted, so we managed to do a little bit more exploring.  We walked through Hildersham (which has a population of around 200 and consists primarily of a church and a pub), and continued on the country road until we reached the next village, Linton.  This is the "big" town in the area, with a population of nearly 4,500.  They even have a full-scale grocery store!  Well, it's actually a co-operative, which turns out to be much better because the prices are good and the food is fresh (and often organic).  On our visit, we picked up some ingredients to make pizza (we didn't realize at the time that we didn't have a rack in the oven yet, but we got creative and it all worked out in the end).

We even got to spend the day in Cambridge (finally) on Saturday!  It was the warmest day since I arrived, although the sun still didn't really want to show his face.  Scott wanted to show me as many of the sites as possible, so he took a very convoluted route through the city.  As a result, I am thoroughly confused as to where anything is.  Except the candy store.  I can absolutely tell you where the candy store is.  It's right next to the round church, obviously!  I've taken some photos of the places, but I'm not very pleased with them.  We're planning to go back again this weekend, so I'll see if I can get some better shots.

While the weather was warmer than it had been, it was still pretty cold.  I was bundled up in an undershirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, and coat.  It worked well enough until the wind started to come or until we got into the shade.  We first stopped at a market that is held daily in the center of town (is it called a square, or do I just want English cities to be like Spanish ones?).  The market is huge and there are vendors of all sorts--crafts, clothing, food; there was even a bicycle repair shop set up in one of the tents!  Scott's favorite stands were the cheese shop and the sauce shop.  There were samples of all sorts of different sauces.  We held back and only bought two kinds--a spicy red tomato pesto, and a more mild traditional pesto.  That was less than a week ago, and they're already pretty much gone.

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The most exciting part of the day for me, however, was going to the bike shop!  We can't really afford a car right now, so the next best thing is a bike.  Actually, a bike might be better than a car, especially in Cambridge!  There are so many bikes in the city that they are literally chained right on top of each other.  With so many options, I was amazed to find the perfect bike in the first place we looked.  It's used, but in excellent condition.  It even comes with a basket, back carrier, and a lock!  The only thing is that I won't be able to get it until this Saturday.  We're still working on finding a safe route to bike from our house to Cambridge (it's about 17 miles), but it will be great to have a fast way to get around between the little towns around here.  I'm so excited!

Anyways, I just heard Scott come through the gate on his bike, so I guess I'd better go make final dinner preparations.  We're having curry!!!

Here We Go Again...

I’ve gotten behind on my blog updates, but what else is new?  Hopefully I can fill you in on our trip to Pucon soon, although you might not get every juicy detail like you’re used to (due to the fact that it’s been a while since the trip, and also the fact that my notebook with all the notes to help me remember said details is currently smooshed between some couch cushions at my parents’ house in Wisconsin).  Hey, at least I got the Facebook photos uploaded!

Well, right now I am once again sitting in an airport waiting for my next adventure.  I must say, though, that this is by far the most elegant terminal I’ve ever been to.  I arrived to Minneapolis from La Crosse at around 4:30, and my flight to London doesn’t leave until almost 10:00, so I’ve got a bit of time to kill.  Luckily for me, I get to wait in the newly-remodeled “G” terminal!  A small section of the waiting area is “normal,” in that it has a few rows of traditional row seats lined up against the wall.  The rest of the waiting area is taken up by small 1-2 person booths and larger bar-style tables, each with a comfortable white leather chair and an individual iPad for each seat!  There is also a snack bar in the corner, but you don’t even have to get up from your seat—just select a picture of your favorite food from the menu on your iPad, and it will be delivered fresh to your table within 15 minutes!  I was almost tempted to try it out, but the luxury is definitely one that you must pay for.  A small, plain coffee here at the gate goes for nearly $4.  Walk a few feet to the entrance of the terminal and get a “fancy” coffee for just over $2!  Of course you know which option I chose!

It’s currently 6:15 pm, and I’m already pretty hyped up on caffeine.  I had two cups of it this morning before leaving, too!  Now, with the addition of my “fancy” coffee, I’m hoping that the combination of insane amounts of caffeine and sugar will lead to a great crash in about 4 hours or so (just the time I’ll be settling in for my transatlantic flight).  Of course, this plan could totally backfire and I’ll just be wired the entire 9 hours, too.  Luckily, I’m pretty sure there are power outlets on the plane, so that just means I get to spend more time with you lovely people!

There’s actually not free wi-fi in this section of the airport (they want you to use the iPads and be tempted by all the pictures of delicious food that they have strategically placed in the background of all your favorite websites).   I finally figured out how to change the date/time on my blog posts, though, so you won’t even know that I wasn’t publishing on the spot!  Well, I guess except for the fact that I just told you.

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Since Mauricio showed it to me a couple months ago, I have been completely addicted to Foursquare!  Unfortunately, I’m a little bit behind the times and only had a second generation iPod—it was so old, in fact, that I couldn’t even update the programs anymore!  I did manage to download the app, but it was pretty glitchy.  Luckily for me, I managed to convince Mom to trade me for her (slightly newer but still not cutting edge) generation four iPod.  She mostly uses hers to play “Angry Birds,” and was super excited to see that I had unlocked about 9 different themes for the game.  I’d say we both came out ahead in the switch.  Actually, I probably came out a bit better, because there is nothing quite as entertaining as watching Mom play “Angry Birds.”  She really lets it live up to its name!

socialmediaexaminer.com

Anyways, back to Foursquare.  Now that I’ve gotten a new iPod that is more reliable, I’ve been checking in constantly!  It has taken me a while to learn how to see information on a place without checking in—there was one interesting blunder during that learning process in which I checked in at a strip club!  And of course all of the check-ins are published publicly to Facebook.  I wonder what my students thought of that one… It’s all part of the intrigue, I suppose!  I’m so addicted to Foursquare that I’ve already checked in to 6 different places here in the airport.  I would check in to more, except that because I have a lowly iPod (and not an iPhone that can connect to the internet anywhere), I can only check-in at places that have or are near to free wi-fi connections.  I know, that is so 2007!  (Can you tell that I’ve had a bit more coffee than usual today?).

I’m actually not really sure why I’m writing a blog post right now.  Mostly to tell you how cool this terminal is.  Also because I’ve had more caffeine in the past 8 hours than I normally do in an entire week.  I would say both are equally valid reasons.  But alas, I must now leave you for the time being.  The little ladies’ room is calling my name.

Changes Coming?

As you may have heard from me over the years, glasses/contacts really annoy me.  I remember when I was first told that I needed glasses at age 8--I ate only carrots for about two weeks, hoping that my eyes would miraculously improve and I could forgo the glasses.  Unfortunately, the eye-health properties of carrots may be somewhat overrated, so a week after my initial eye exam, I was fitted for my first pair of glasses.  At first, my prescription was pretty low so I tried to get away with not wearing the glasses.  I was finally convinced that I really needed them when I went on a road trip with some other kids in my class.  We played "the alphabet game" to pass the time, and I didn't manage to get one letter in the whole 2-hour drive.  After that, I finally accepted the sad truth that I would be wearing glasses for the rest of my life.

I did think I caught a break in 7th grade when my optometrist cleared me for wearing contacts.  I was excited at first, but I quickly learned that contacts weren't necessarily better than glasses.  Apparently, my eyes are actually smaller in size than average, and I have a tendency towards dry eyes.  These two things combined make it difficult to keep contacts in my eyes, especially after a long day or during dry weather.  It definitely got annoying losing and throwing out so many ripped contacts--I could almost see my money going down the drain with them.  I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I'd be dealing with annoying glasses and contacts forever.

Ever since I learned of its existence, I've wanted to get LASIK surgery.  I looked into a little bit when I heard about it in high school, but put it on the back burner when I learned that the average cost is over $2,000 per eye.  I also heard that some of the most common side effects are dry eyes and halos at night, problems that I already dealt with and certainly didn't want to make any worse.  I once again resigned myself to the fact that it would probably never actually happen, and did my best to make the most of life with contacts.  Every couple of years I would re-check prices and side effects, but they didn't change much.

Then, in November 2012 on a whim, I emailed the vision center at Gundersen Lutheran to get some more information.  I knew that I would only be in La Crosse for a little over three weeks, and really didn't expect much more than the generic FAQ answers that I usually find on the internet.  But I sent my schedule anyway, just to see.  The very next day I received a reply from Dianne, telling me that they had a space open for the surgery if I could come in on the certain days that they reserved for me. She also needed a decision quickly, so that she could give the appointment times to someone else if I didn't want them.  I was shocked--I hardly expected a response at all, much less the offer for surgery in only a couple weeks!  Plus, I was nearing the end of my tenure in Chile, so wouldn't have the income to pay for the expensive surgery.

I immediately called my parents and told them about it.  They were very supportive, and encouraged me to go for it!  They even offered to loan me some money so that I could pay for it all at once (and not accrue interest on making payments).  Even still, I was a bit hesitant to reply, thinking about all the possible side effects that I'd heard about it.  I spent a couple days gathering stories from friends who had had it done, and the overwhelming consensus was that I should go for it.  So, I sent an email to Dianne letting her know that I would come in for the consult on December 28.   That's when I really started to get nervous.  One word of advice: NEVER Google videos of the surgery you are about to have, no matter how strong of a stomach you think you have!