So my blog has been on the back burner recently, but I have decided to try and revive it, so I can write about my forthcoming adventures!
I'll start by filling in the space that has been left since April. I haven't actually stayed in any one place for more than a couple of weeks and have spent quite a bit of time touring the country - living the nomadic dream!
At the beginning of April I travelled to Tijuana, Mexico with a group of young people from Stafford, with a charity called 'Urban Saints'. It was awesome. Between the 20 of us, we made a house from scratch, it was an amazing achievement. The family we were building the house for were so cute, Miguel and Esperenza and their 2 dogs. This is the house which we built...
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| Miguel and Esperenza outside their new house |
After my Mexican trip, I spent a couple of weeks back at Bivouac helping to get the next set of shacks ready for when guests arrived, and spent a bit of time working as a joiners assistant which I really enjoyed, got to test my practical skills out.
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| Getting the shacks ready for their first guests |
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| I helped to make the reception desk... |
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| ...these railings... |
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| ...and collect wood for making a bench. |
In May my friends, Alex, Joseph and I went to Scotland to stay with my granny on the Isle of Arran. We celebrated Alex's birthday at the Distillery, with copious amounts of cheese. It was, as Alex would say, amazeballs. The weather wasn't great whilst Alex and Joseph were with me, but we didn't let that ruin our fun, having fires on the beach and trips around the Island. The weather did however perk up when they had left and I stayed a bit longer to hang out with Granny.
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| Chilling out on Holy Isle |
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| Granny with her crab which arrived in the post |
June was spent doing various bits of DIY in both my house in Lincoln and my dads house in Lincoln - I got to practice some of my joinery skills when building some shelves. I was pretty impressed with myself.
I decided in July that I wanted to do an intensive TEFL course, so promptly booked on one which lasted the majority of August - it was definitely 'intense', possibly one of the hardest things I have ever done...mainly due to the sheer volume of work that was required in a short period of time. I went from never having stood in front of a class of students, to teaching hour long lessons to non native English speakers, including grammar points I had learnt merely hours before the students. Despite the hard work, I actually enjoyed the course, and slightly missed it when it ended...I think I had become institutionalised by it all! I passed and am now a qualified TESOL teacher, qualified to teach in a language school or abroad. Exciting times.
Also during August, my sister Leah got married to Lorenzo, and I got to be Bridesmaid again. I also learnt 'bacho', when shouted at an Italian wedding, means the Bride and Groom have to kiss, every time it is shouted.
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| Bancho! |
So that brings me on to my current impending adventure...when in Scotland in May, Alex and I decided we quite liked the idea of going to France and came across the idea of house sitting. Fast forward a few months and a few Facebook encounters later, we have lined up 3 months worth of accommodation in France from September to December. Our first host will be Jon, who lives in Normandy. In return for some of our painting and decorating skills we are going to be staying at his B&B for a few weeks. After that, we are moving south to a small village, La Chambre, east of Lyon. Here we will be house sitting another John's house, and hopefully improving our French. We also have an offer of a house in the Pyrenees which we are currently organising. We are doing our complete trip on a budget, and in my newly acquired Ford Escort Estate.
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