En route to Rwanda, it is impossible to not pass over Europe so of course I had to make a few trips. Boy, am I packing it in! First off, I went to London for 2 days for a quickie visit. I got to see my former flatmate in Barcelona, Lindy!! Yippee! I got to see her lovely pad which is really Francisºs house. Itºs so cute by the Clapham Common.
I digress for a bit...I find it so funny the different way we Americans pronounce words from the Brits. In the U.S., Clapham would be "Claph-am" versus the Brits´ way of "Clap-ham". Or, "Streath-am" versus "Streat-ham". It is so funny how much better sounding the Brits say things and then also how often we misunderstand each other because of little nuances like that! My Chicago friend Chris, who has been living in London for the last 2+ years, and I giggled last night over how differently we say various words like "water" (Brits : wha-tah). I will never ever know how to pronouce "Leicester Square". ARGH!
Anyway, so the real reason I was in London was that I had an interview. Yes, a real live interview! So exciting because the few interviews I have had in the last year have been really few and really far between! My good friend Joanne, the crazy Irish, called me up one day last month and cries, "I got you a job!!!". She works at Credit Suisse and there was a position working with being this charity´s champion at the bank, motivating employees to donate and to set up activities. So why did I go to an interview when I´m already committed to going to Africa for 3 months?? Good question. I wanted to check things out to see if I would be interested in this type of position in the future and to see if this organization would like me, too. In the end, it was a great experience. I got to practice interviewing and they really asked some tough questions. Face to face time with the CEO and the head of marketing. It also felt nice to defend my skills and experience. In the end, I didnºt get it. They said I was very capable but I didnºt have the 2 central skills required out of the job, namely fundraising and event planning. Iºm glad I went. As I now I know what kind of charities are out there, what they are looking for, and what I can offer. Itºs tough out there when you donºt exactly match what they are looking for! But I never have to wonder what-if.
Oh, the charity is called The Place 2Be and I think they are doing a really great thing. They set up these centers at schools for kids to drop in whenever they feel like it to talk about anything. Itºs basically counselling without the stigma associated with it. How great! The U.S. really needs this sort of thing so that there arenºt so many damn shootings! The point is to get to at-risk kids before the damage is done later. Brilliant!
It was a whirlwind 2 days where I was pretty much out of it most of time, trying to get over jet lag. Now, Iºm in location #2 completely destroyed. I stayed up all night, having dinner and drinks, and hanging out all night until my early morning flight (6AM!!). Now I canºt get into my hotel room so I canºt have that desperately needed shower and SLEEP. Wahhhhhh!!!
What Was Cool:
- Fish! by London Bridge. Has fantastic, oh so yummy fresh seafood!! And a great toffee pudding! A really beautiful modern structure and a great view of a beautifully lit cathedral.
- OXO Tower in the South Bank of the Thames. Great view for drinks!
- Green Tomato Cars is an environmentally friendly private car service. Better for the environment AND it costs less than those black cabs.
