Day 8: Home isn't Where My Heart Is

Sadly we are back home, state side. I keep clicking my heels together hoping that when I open my eyes I will be back in Wales. I didn't think I'd miss Wales as much as I do. I think for the most part being home means back to school, back to work, back to my internship, and basically back to no free time. Wales was a dream come true. I needed this time away to in a way find myself and grow up. I definitely did a lot of that while I was there. I've learned that I don't have to talk to my mom 5 times a day, but my puppy has also taught me that I'm never allowed to leave her again. I'm good on flying for awhile at least long distances. I probably could handle a 2 hour flight, just no more 7 hour flights for awhile. I took sleeping pills before the flight so I slept for a good portion of it, but I didn't have luck sitting next to any friendly people. I at least had Lauren behind me to semi keep me company. We made it to DC and had a two hour layover, which seemed like forever. Everyone was quiet. I'm pretty sure by this point we had bonded enough. We finally boarded our plane only to be evacuated because the plane filled with smoke. Remember how I mentioned I was a worrier? Well I immediately started having an anxiety attack and was refusing to board that plane. After another hour and a half maintenance finally fixed the problem and we were able to re-board and head to OKC. We landed in OKC about 10:15pm, only an hour and a half late. It was nice to sleep in my own bed, but I can't help but dream and wish I were still in Wales. It is my ideal atmosphere to live in, if only it were a little warmer. This was a trip of a lifetime and I know I will never forget it. I'm so glad that I have pictures to remember everything. This trip has helped me realize that if I'm ever offered an opportunity to travel I should take it. Cultures are so different from us and it is good to experience them from time to time. We sometimes get stuck in our own world and never really embrace anything that happens in our lives. Take chances. Take risks. It's worth it in the end.

Day 7: LONDON!

I woke up earlier then anyone I think. I just couldn't stand the excitement of what London had to offer. I got ready and even made it downstairs for some very delicious pancakes. We longed for pancakes when we were in Wales, but the hotel didn't serve pancakes. We loaded up into two taxis and headed towards the subway station. The only other time I had been on a subway was when I traveled to Washington DC, surprisingly enough London's subway was a lot cleaner then I expected. Although I do watch too much crime tv and I kept expecting something bad to happen. I'm too much of a worrier. We made it to London in one piece and from there our group went seperate ways. Our options were take the Big Bus Tour or go shopping. I knew this would probably be the only time I'd ever be in London so I wanted to see everything. Taylor, Nicole, Mark Scott, Nelson, and myself all purchased tickets for the Big Bus Tour. I do not regret my decision at all. I couldn't describe the beauty we saw. It was the greatest experience of my life. We got to see everything, including Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abby, Tower Bridge, and the ORIGINAL Hard Rock Cafe. I wish we would of had more time in London because I know there was a lot that we weren't able to experience. I couldn't pick out one thing that I loved the most. I learned so much about London and I love all of it. We were even able to see a few protests while we were there. It was great seeing all the other tourists. We sat next to a couple from Texas, I didn't feel so out of place. We finished our bus tour and met the rest of the group and headed down to Hard Rock to have our last meal in another country. I must say I had the best Chicken Mac and Cheese of my life. I devoured it, I really don't think I took a breath. London is just as beautiful at night. I truly wish we had more time to spend here, there was so much more I would of loved to do. Unfortunately tomorrow we head back to the States. I'm not looking forward to the long plane ride home, but I know my puppy is missing me.

Day 6: New Hatred for Buses

The day we went to London, wasn't very eventful. We spent most of Friday morning packing and killing time. We had to check out of our rooms by 10:30am and the bus didn't pick us up until 3pm to take us to London. Emily and I woke up early and ventured down to the Uni so I could get a Swansea U hoodie. It didn't take much time at all because we finally got the hang of the public transits, of course on the last day. We then went down to Mumbles to get a few souvenirs and try to meet up with the rest of the group. After doing some shopping we went down to Verdi's Cafe to have lunch, but we had missed our group by probably 30 minutes or so. Because when we finished eating they were walking back from the pier. We had to try Verdi's ice cream to determine if Joe's was better or not. I preferred Joe's only because Verdi's added whip cream to theirs. I should mention whip cream in Europe tastes like sour cream. There is nothing sweet about their whip cream. I was very disappointed. By the time we walked back to the hotel it was almost time to get on the bus. We gathered our luggage and loaded the bus. The majority of us slept and it was probably for the best. European drivers are about as distracted as we are when driving. And our driver said he would drive straight through that he didn't like to stop. That was a lie to say the least we stopped at least twice before we finally made it to London. We arrived at the hotel, got to our rooms and then met down stairs to decide on dinner. Once again, we all ended up at McDonald's across the street from the hotel. Americans and our fast food. Which as a side note I would like to add that the population of obese people in Wales, was very small. I saw maybe 5 overweight people the entire week. I will miss that.

Day 5: The Last Full Day in Wales

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! But not in Wales. We soon discovered that St. Patty's Day isn't a very popular holiday in Wales. It deeply saddened me. Again team SYSHP got to sleep in and not rush to be anywhere. We took our time to get ready and then we all loaded the bus and ventured down to the City Centre where we shot b-roll for our client's video. Eliot, our Swansea U student ambassador, met us there to have lunch and chat with us one last time before we had to leave. After lunch Eliot led us back to our client's headquarters and saved us from having to pay a taxi again. We shot our last interviews of these two girls that have been out of SYSHP for quite some time, but love to come back to visit. SYSHP has helped them get their own loft and they are both in college now working towards degrees. They said if it wasn't for SYSHP they wouldn't of made it where they are today. Meeting with all of these kids was such a rewarding experience. I am so blessed to have met these kids and hear their stories. The stories were heartbreaking, but so touching. We walked back to City Centre and did some window shopping. I find it very difficult to pay 90 pounds for a pair of heels. It was tempting, but I just couldn't do it. We grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel to meet with the rest of our class. We then all ventured down to Mumbles for some Joe's famous ice cream. Blue bell has nothing on them. Tomorrow morning we leave for London and though I'm excited, I'm going to miss Wales. This has been the best experience of my life. 

Day 4: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round and Round.

Today we saw more then we had planned. Dare I say this was our most miserable day here in the UK, but it didn't start that way. The day started out great. We took a cab from the hotel to our organization's headquarters so there was no way we would get lost. We got to meet more of the kids in SYSHP and were able to see the hostel that they stay in. The broadcast students shot the interviews and Nicole and I took a couple of girls aside to do our own interviews. It was phenomenal experience. These girls have been through so much to be so young. It was heart warming. I just wanted to help them. Afterwards we went to the City Centre to eat lunch. A few of us went to McDonalds. Yes we traveled to the UK so we could eat McDonalds. The surprise was I actually liked their McDonalds, it tasted healthier. I didn't feel as though I was dying with every bite. I still refuse to eat McDonalds in the States though. I got to see my first castle, Swansea Castle, unfortunately it was under construction so we weren't able to go inside. It was still beautiful. I love the buildings here because they are actually old and people actually took time to build it and make it beautiful. It was time to head to our meeting at the Uni so we walked back through the mall to catch our bus. We jumped on the bus we were told we needed to be on and got ready for a ride we would never forget. It took us through places we had never seen before, but we just assumed its a different bus then we are use to so maybe it goes backwards. We kept waiting for the bus to get closer to something we would recognize. So turns out we were told the wrong bus and we actually were an hour and a half from being dropped off  at the University. Did I mention we had already been on the bus for an hour? It is so difficult to get the hang of public transits in the UK. We ended up being on the bus for 2 and a half hours with a screaming child. It was a blast. We ended up missing our meeting so we got on a bus again, to go to our hotel. Frustrated and starving, Taylor, Hunter, and myself walked down to the White Rose to get dinner. And we watched our first English soccer game on tv. Despite the long, undesired field trip, we benefited a lot from the time spent with our clients.

Day 3: Walking, walking, and more walking.

My group got the privilege of relaxing all morning as we are waiting for 2pm to arrive. Taylor, Nicole, Mark, and myself headed into Mumbles to do some exploring and shopping. They have a store called Fat Face which is basically the same thing as the Buckle. Same prices and same clothing. We went back to meet the guys at the hotel so we could get on the bus to meet our clients. We got off the bus on Bryn by the rugby field. We walked about 2 miles to Bryn Rd looking for Bryn House. Turns out Bryn House isn't on Bryn Rd. or anywhere near Bryn Rd. We ended up calling the office and some SYSHP workers came to our rescue. We were 30 minutes late to meet the kids at their cooking class, but we eventually made it. The kids were cooking sausage and gravy (oil, flour, onions, and mushrooms.) They take a cooking class every week. The kids were all shy at first, but they started to open up. We had a lot of fun getting to know the kids and video tape them cooking it up in the kitchen. We then headed back to the University to meet students that are coming to UCO this summer. We have become pro at missing the bus by about 30 seconds every time. We decided it was quicker to walk then wait 10 minutes for the next bus. I'm definitely losing weight by all the walking we have done so far. We finally made it back to the University where we were late to meet with the Swansea U students. I ended up skipping dinner because I was so tired and felt under the weather. I ended up falling asleep by 7pm and sleeping for 14 hours.

Matt cooking it up.

Give Way aka Yield

Police car. 

Castle.

Day 2: Fanny Pack Tourists

We began today on a bus and thanks to Dr. Nelson we got our weekly exercise in finding our way around the University. After giving ourselves our own tour of the campus we found where we were supposed to be. We were given the grand (sort of) tour of Swansea University and after many weeks of Facebook messages we finally met the infamous Eliot Miller. Eliot previously came to UCO as an exchange student a year ago so we turned the tables and came to his stomping grounds. We then went to meet our tour guide of the day, Pat, who took us all over Gower. Our first stop was Gower Beach, which was my favorite part because I have never been to the ocean before. Pat told us many stories about the homes that looked over the ocean, one of which is on the market for 4 million US dollars. We then got back on the small winding roads to venture to our next stop which to me seemed to be a random sheep farm. It had a name, but I don't remember it. Pat explained why some sheep had blue dots on their backs. There are two colors on the sheep one which represents the farmer and the other, either blue or purple represents a sheep that has been "tapped" or is pregnant. We then went to Worm's Head and Three Cliffs Bay. Aside from the freezing cold temperature at this site I enjoyed learning about when the pirates were around. The pirates found Worm's Head and thought it resembled a sea monster, so they claimed it as their territory. We got back on our tour bus and headed to Swansea University where we got to meet our clients that we would be working with during the week. My group worked with a nonprofit called Swansea Young Single Homeless Project or as they call themselves S.Y.S.H.P which took me all week to learn how to pronounce. The other group worked with a Uni project called Discovery. After brainstorming with our clients we headed back to the hotel. A few of us went to an italian restaurant on the pier called Castellamare. Me and Taylor got pizza, which turned out to be quite greasy, but still very delicious. And for dessert we had gelato ice cream, very cold, but much better then the ice cream we have at home. Sorry Braum's, you've got nothing on the ice cream here. Tomorrow we will meet with our clients and begin shooting video.

First time to the ocean

Gower Bay

Tapped sheep

Worm's Head