Oct 28th - My first day of Information Meetings for VESA. (Volunteer Eco Students Abroad). After a week of recruiting on campus, I hold Meetings from 10-4, starting a new meeting every hour. While on campus, I saw flyers for the old company I recruited for, ISV, and noted they were on campus the week prior. So, wasn't sure who was going to come. But recruiting for VESA is a lot less intense, and instead of screaming at the kids in the lecture halls to advertise, you just tell them. Results were good! I got 71 applications at my meetings, and already over 15 online from kids that didn't come to meetings! 71 is kind of a lot considering there were 2 recruiters there, doing the SAME exact thing as me, just 6 days before me. I think it's kinda funny actually. Take that ISV. Haha.
The students said they like me way better :) Fine with me!
Meetings ended at 5, had to run back to the hostel, grab my stuff and get a cab to the Belfast airport. Used my flight to london to organize all of the applications and complete my expense report. Land in London, get my bags, and follow signs for busses. I have to get to Cambridge, but unsure how. Trains and busses work, so I am lucky enough to hop on a bus that leaves for Cambridge in 10 mins. It's around 10pm i think. When I was looking for somewhere to stay, there weren't many options. The town was kinda booked up, so I had to stay in an actual HOTEL, not a backpackers. Didn't get there till after 1am, totally tired. The room is beautiful, velvet bed spreads, really old building, looked like it could have been haunted. But in a good way.
Oct 30th - I wake up in Cambridge and have the most lovely, most English breakfast I could have ever imagined. beans, toast, eggs, sausage, a pot of tea...they had beautiful pasteries out, cheeses....etc. I tried to eat a lot, but was too full! I had a lot of running around to do with a map in hand in cambridge for work for the next week. Made 2,000 copies of flyers, (find a place to do so), find a post office to mail off thursday's aps, find campus, check out the biggest lecture halls...etc. Managed to find a place to accomodate my last minute printing, find somewhere to store my bags while I'm running around, check out of my haunted hotel, check in to my next accomodation for sunday night, and to my delight, i was presented with another "skeleton key" for the room door! haha, yes! love those keys. I convinced them to hold my box of printing and work backback there while I jet out of town for the weekend.
I caught a train for Norwich, where my friend Ellen lives! She was a recuiter for ISV with me in Australia in 2008. She came through LAX a few times and I would pick her up, take her for bike rides in Venice beach, and pop her back to the airport. So I am totally excited to get to spend time with her! It's also totally werid to get reunited with all of my favortie backpacking buddies! I used my hour on the train to do the data entry from the 71 applications. I had my laptop out, typing as fast as I could! haha.
Ellen met me at the train station, and we walked through the city to get to her flat, which is in the heart of Norwich. I haven't seen much yet, going to explore today, but from what I saw, it is a lovely, very English town. Stone street, houses and businesses winding around the curved streets, cobble stones everywhere, 18th century churches on every corner, beautiful bells going off from the church towners every hour, store fronts lines with hanging flower baskets...arched walking bridges over rivers...very nice. We cooked in and sat in her apartment drinking wine on the floor in our pajamas catching up on life, it was perfect! It was so nice to sit in her home, chatting and relaxing, and actually sitting still. Bright fall sun woke us up today, which is great! Cambridge was very very clouded in, so the sun is welcome :)
thats all for now - can't wait to spend the rest of the weekend in Ellen's home town. I forgot how happy backpacking makes me! The weeks are so busy with all the logistics of the job, but everything seems to work out, and it's been great so far.
xoxo
m
