Thursday, July 21, 2011

DAYS NINE through TEN (UKSA)

DAYS NINE through TEN (UKSA)

It's odd, even though UKSA was one of my favorite parts, I took like a single picture. It must have been due to the fact that I was on water all the time, and I didn't want to lose my camera in the ocean. It happened to a poor girl while she was boarding a boat, and ever since that I was ever cautious.

I had a marvelous 5 hour sleep. I woke up surprisingly refreshed! We were now in England! We got off of our boat, hopped on a bus, and then walked to a dock where we waited for yet another boat to the Isle of Wight. We took some pictures.

Me feeling like Doctor Who.
It was cold near the water, so we made a barricade of suitcases and sat in it.

Nice and toasty?

Our small boat came shortly after that. It was half covered, and half uncovered. Everyone made a mad dash for the uncovered part...except me. I grabbed a seat under the covered part, and thus, by the end of the trip, I was among the few who were actually dry.

I love this girl with all her preparedness.

We arrived at UKSA an hour later. We were greeted warmly by the most handsome boating instructors to grace the ocean. With that serenade gone, we were leaded to the campus where we were shown around. I got a dorm that I shared with four or five other girls. Our dorm was also the only one that had a wi fi hotspot...joy to the world. People often crowded outside our room for wi fi.

We headed straight to our first adventure, raft building. Seperated into four teams of five, we were given two wooden logs, a barrel, two waterboards, lots of rope, and thirty minutes. Boy, those minutes went fast. Apparently I can't tie a knot because a friendly yet incredibly blunt (I think it's the English way) young man came up to me and said, "That's one shoddy knot!"

Yes, I loved these guys. Anyway, our raft turned out pretty well. The instructors said that they were the best they had seen yet, yay. We had series of races, which my team all lost. Whichever team I am on during the whole trip lost. At this point I am pretty sure I'm either really unlucky or highly unskilled! The people with the most points won something at the end, and my team got last place. We tied for first with our team cheer, though! We couldn't think of anything, so when our turn came, I led my team in an operatic song of triumph. It must have struck a sweet note, because afterwords a guy came up to me and said, "I didn't know you could sing opera!" My "moment" was brought up a lot after that.

We had the rest of the day off, thank goodness! I was really tired. The below freezing water and the five hours sleep got to me at last.

We hung around and just partied. I contacted home, and had a nice long chat with my family, which was wonderful. Dinner was really good! I retreated back to my dorm for some needed R and R.


The next morning we had a delicious breakfast! I think it was my first warm breakfast on the trip! I had ham, and hashbrowns, and oh, it was so good.

 We went kayaking. I had trouble finding my wetsuit, so I had to go ask for another. Luckily, it fit me. I got really scared for a second there though.

We went for our kayaking lessons! I was lucky enough to share a kayak with a good friend. We picked it up pretty fast, and soon we were off kayaking down the coast. It was so wonderful, and I did pretty well. Our kayak stayed consistently in second place. (We were behind two speed demons) We kayaked for two hours. We encountered a deserted boat, crabs, and fish. Our instructors, being adventurous lads, went crab hunting. One got his finger pinched! It was a wonderful experience. By the time we were done, my arms ached, but I felt great.

We had a bag lunch, and it was sandwiches. I enjoyed my chips, but egg and mayonaisse sandwiches just don't do it for me. Because of the uncertain water, sailing lessons were canceled. I am sad I missed the opportunity, but I was so tired at the time it didn't bother me so much. Because we had to use up the free time, the Is took us orienteering in the forests.

I didn't accomplish much there, and my team got last place. It was fun, though. And a good memory. One unfortunate guy, while running through a treacherous path down a hill side, tripped, fell into a series of thorn bushes, and then rolled into a patch of stinging nettle. OUCH.

Later that night we went for our recreational activity. We treked uphill through suburbia for fifteen minutes. My legs went numb, but when I saw the park in the distance I became very happy. I forgot my camera, unfortunately, but the image is still clear in my mind. It was a large green field, and the air was crisp and cool. We did relay races, lots and lots of them, until my legs felt like they were going to fall off. We got to choose between playing soccer and rounders, and I chose the latter.

Rounders is a lot like baseball, and it was so much fun to play! I really wanted to play more, but the others didn't feel like it. We sat and talked with Dan, one of our instructors, instead. He was a funny, quirky red-head, that didn't know a whole lot about America, I think. His eyes bugged out of his head when we told him America has frozen waffles. He had never heard of such a thing!

Back to bed with us! It was a great day, one of my favorites. I worked long and hard, and made some new friends too. One of my favorite moments in all the trip.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a lot of fun, Esther. I'm glad you enjoyed it! The whole food thing still surprises me, I mean... I figured you would eat all kinds of cool foods, but every time I read one of your blog entries it seems like you either ate ham or eggs, ha! I suppose it is a good thing you like your ham.

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  2. UKSA sounds like such a fun place. I want to go!

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