super chaotic trip to london!
celebrating greggy's birthday!
the entire cohort at the clifton suspension bridge
picture at the buckingham palace
ss great britain!
nonso and chris matching!
nonso giving piggyback rides
first trivia night!
welcome dinner with katharina, us-uk fulbright coordinator
st. paul's carnival!
last day with alex, our bristol university coordinator
super patriotic fourth of july!
my idol domzz!
So... I spent three weeks in a completely different CONTINENT with a cohort of people I had never met before and ALMOST performed in Bristol's biggest Carnival.
AND I WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!
here was my short, but SWEET, journey to the UK
on the way to the uk!
dustin with me at the dfw international airport
mr. worldwide mr. 305 conquering a new country #sisepuede
Today, I woke up incredibly tired due to the fact that my boyfriend, sister and I had stayed up till one in the morning attempting to finish a Lego set (which we didn’t even finish). I knew my departure was today, but my brain still hadn’t fully registered that. Why?
Because before the flight, I was on “Sami duty”. All this meant was that I had to get my sister to her volleyball game thirty minutes before game time and then pick up some food for us on the way home. My boyfriend was sweet enough to join us, but maybe he was bad luck because my sister’s team lost pretty badly. They didn’t even get to the three sets. But I did get the privilege to take a picture with this other Mini Cooper that also had pink stripes.
Yet, as I was driving off, I saw boyfriend running frantically toward my car.
HE HAD MY PASSPORT!
No, he wasn’t trying to stop me from going to the United Kingdom. I had asked him to hold on to it while I went to the restroom and as I came out, some of the parents started talking to us and it had completely slipped our minds. Luckily, he noticed before I drove off and handed it to me. He wished me good luck and then I was on my way to get bagels, head home and then gather my stuff for the airport.
My parents dropped me off at the airport, which I was grateful for because I was really jittery. This crazy dream I had been looking forward to was finally happening!!! I was also scared for TSA because I knew I was over the liquid limit (and my liquids were also in my carry on, not a checked bag). Before anyone judges, I am on a hair care journey and it is imperative I continue my regime. My hair is so dead, it literally sticks up when I put it in a clip.
Anyways, TSA was a breeze. With 3 hours left to spare, I walked around all over terminal D. The Dallas International Airport is so so so huge. It truly is a mall in there. Inside was Chanel, Armani, and a lot of starbucks! Boarding was also pretty good. The only thing that kinda sucked was that people in my area put both their personal item and carry-on on the overhead cabins, so there was no space for mine. Luckily, it was an easy fix, as the Business section of the plane still had a lot of space.
I have never been on a long flight, so I was shocked to see we had been gifted a pillow and a blanket!! I also got to try airplane food for the first time. However, there was some confusion because a flight attendant handed me a vegetarian meal. I was not complaining, it looked delicious, but then she kept mentioning I had ordered it. I was afraid I was getting someone else’s order so I let her know I hadn’t ordered anything. She asked me if I had switched seats and some other questions, until eventually she said she had the wrong seat. My meal came a little bit later and it consisted of some pasta, bread, crackers, water and a delicious brownie. Everything was pretty good!
I spent some time watching Black Mirror on my Ipad, but I started getting a little teary eyed when it hit me that I was gonna go to a completely different continent without my family or friends. I have spent some time away from them, but I always felt the security that I could just drive back if I desperately needed to see them. This time was different, and I was thankful to have Dustin to catch my tears. I am so excited and thankful for this experience. Never in a million years would I have thought this was what college had in store for me. But I am also an absolute softy and am missing my loved ones as I write this. I know these next three weeks are going to fly by, but it makes me nervous for future study abroad plans. Anyways, one step at a time!
I’m unsure of how often I will be uploading on this blog. I will try to upload at least 3 times a week. But, if you are still reading this, thank you so much! I can’t wait to post more!
arrival to manor hall
When I had booked my ticket for my coach, I made sure to book it with plenty of time between my arrival time and my "need to be on the bus" time", TWO HOURS in fact. But of course, my plane was delayed so instead of arriving at 7:40 am, we arrived at 9:00 am. I am so serious when I say that I grabbed my things and BOLTED through the airport. I had been warned Heathrow was huge but it was MASSIVE. I didn't know how long customs would take or where the bus terminal was, all I knew was that I had to be there ASAP. I was hungry, needed to pee but in that moment NONE OF THAT MATTERED.
Luckily, I made it on the Coach mwahaha.
I was expecting to fall asleep since I was running on possibly a combined 7 hours of asleep from the past 48 hours, but I was taken away by how beautiful the ride was. I couldn't help but notice how green it was.
Anyways, when I got to the bus station, I was greeted by Amber, the sweetest Bristol Student helper, and she got me an Uber to the University Accomodations. Once I arrived, I met Joseph and Alex, the Bristol University Staff in charge of all things University related for the summer schools. I also met Maria, another Bristol student helper, who gave me a tour of the entire building.
Once we went over all the important information, I went to my room and CRASHED. I was knocked out for a solid couple of hours. Then, I reached out to Téa, who was also on campus (we were some of the earliest arrivals) and we went to explore the city. I wanted fruit, so we went to a mystical "Reg the Veg" up in Clifton Village and I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the city. We went out to eat some pasta and then headed back to the dorms while we waited for our official "welcome dinner". After dinner, we all just got to know each other a bit better and then went to sleep early since we had some CRAZY days ahead of us.
day1: intros, the boston tea party and a suspension bridge
our entire cohort at the suspension bridge
wills memorial (where we had most of our classes)
a tea shop on park st.
view from the suspension bridge
katharina and the fulbrights
I certainly do not plan on blogging every single one of our in-class sessions, but I think its important to FOR SURE get the first and last. So, this retelling will serve as an intro for you and me.
I woke up and went on a stroll around the city before heading back for breakfast. Our breakfast and dinner were always provided by the school's fabulous dining hall team. For our breakfast, we were truly culturally immersed into UK culture. Every morning, we could count on: beans, mushrooms, poached egg, turkey bacon, potatoes and a delicious pastry (plus a delictable yogurt bar + fruit). Now that we had established our breakfast for the next 3 weeks, we were ready to go.
Now, we were warned that Bristol would be very "hill-y", THOUGH NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED US FOR THE PAIN OUR CALVES WOULD ENDURE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. It was tough at first, though towards the end of the program, most of us actually preferred walking everywhere because it would give us time to chat.
But yes, the location of our meeting spots varied between Wills Memorial and the St. Paul's learning center (which I will talk a bit more about in future blogs). Our classes were formatted as following: Everyday, speakers would come with a presentation/lecture to talk to us about what they do or help us build skills (think TSP 1000 but everyday). These speakers included artists, fashion designers, entrepreneurs and overall, changemakers. We would typically have two sessions a day, though sometimes we would have more or less.
Our first two sessions really set the mood for what to expect in terms of classtime. Of course, we went over the basics, "syllabus", "what we expect from you" stuff, but THEN, we had Nia Malody actually teach us a song and sing. It shocked all of us (I think we were expecting this program to be like a "go to class, take notes, have quizzes and tests), but NO ONE backed down from the challenge and towards the end, we ended up in 3 part harmony!
We explored Park St. during lunch and found some cool vintage shops + yummy places to eat (including the "Boston Tea Party" hehe) and once our sessions were done, we headed back to the accomodations to rest up.
BUT OUR DAY WAS FAR FROM OVER
Because WE WERE GOING TO MEET KATHARINA!! So Katharina was basically the Fulbrighter's Kristi. She had been the one to email us, interview us and basically ran the US-UK Fulbright programs. She took us out to dinner at the Bristol Saucer and we chatted about a number of things (including Brexit mwhahaha). We also had an excursion to the Clifton Suspension bridge immediately after dinner! The walk to was about 15 minutes and uphill, but by this time, our cohort REALLY started bonding, so the trek wasn't TOO painful. We took many pictures and admired the view from the bridge. I also clarified my suspicions and found out that YES, Maria did in fact speak spanish. They all slid down some rock (I was wearing a skirt and didn't want to flash everyone) and THEN, we decided it was time for another cultural experience.
Yes, we went to a pub. Not much else to talk about there, though we were surprised by the size of it. It was SUPER teeny tiny. We chatted and went back to accomodations around 11:00 and went to sleep hehe.
day 2: ss great britain, windrush and a mysterious alley
nonso and chris accidentally matching
ss great britain
really cute gyro place on the harborside
selfie at the lower deck of the boat!
zed alley!
My mornings basically all looked the same; breakfast, head to class. So, we are going to skip that for the next blogs. I also really don't want to blog everyday so this will probably be the last one until our first big excursion to Baths.
ANYWAYS, our class today actually took place on the SS Great Britain, a very famous Bristolian boat with a controversial background. See, many people believed that the SS Great Britain was a "slave ship", but it was actually a passanger ship (p.s. When interacting with other activists in the program, we found that this misconception was actually quite common). It demonstrated how important it is for us to adequately do our research to avoid spreading misinformation because many Bristolians never visited the ship for this exact reason. The ship was absolutely amazing and we were so grateful to have gotten the chance to explore it.
We then went for lunch on the harborside. Not very eventful, though Nonso, Cheick and Greggy did race in the middle of the street. I also met a fellow texan because she heard our accents and immediately asked us where we were from (OH MY GOD, I got told so many times that I had a "beautiful accent" WHICH TO ME WAS HILARIOUS BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE MY AMERICAN ACCENT IS SO NASALLY).
After exploring the ship, we had a session with Sauda Kyalambruka, who taught us about the history of St. Paul's Carnival. She taught us about the Windrush Generation, which really spoke to me because it made me realize how common the immigrant experience is. It encouraged me to think about future study abroad opportunities (but more on that later this semester haha).
Once class was over, we headed back to accomodations to rest for a bit before heading to an open mic at a comedy club. It was a STRUGGLE to find it. It was called Zed Alley, but we didn't expect it to actually be in an ALLEY. We genuinely thought it simply didn't exist anymore but we eventually found it. The comedians were quite funny, since they did a lot of crowdwork on us. The place was super tiny and there was maybe 3 people there before our group of 10 obnoxious americans arrived. We had fun and then headed back to Manor to rest up. mimimimi
day 4: drumming, reggae and live rock
the canteen!
drumming at the open decks fundraiser!
a really cool vintage shop on park st.
Okay so I know I said I wouldn't blog till the Roman Baths trip but this is actually so silly funny so VERY BRIEF BLOG. Had Breakfast, went to the Kuumba Project , a culture center near St. Paul's (walked about 35 minutes but took a bus on the way back) and had our sessions. We learned about African Drumming from Rubba, the son of one of the original Nyabinghi drummers in Jamaica who lived with Bob Marley. He taught us a song and told us all about the process of making drums (almost every drum we played on was handmade by him). We then went to the Rastafari Culture center where we learned about the Rastafari culture and played some more drums. This was all fun and games until Rubba, bless his soul, ASKED US IF WE WANTED TO PERFORM FOR CARNIVAL. Now, carnival is only the biggest event in Bristol celebrating the Windrush Generation. WE were pesky Americans who happened to be at the right place at the right time. However, we OBVIOUSLY weren't going to NOT take this opportunity, so we said yes (p.s. we did not end up performing because Rubba got really busy with other performances he was leading, but it was so so much fun regardless).
Anyways, headed back to accomodations, ate and then went out to "The Canteen", which promised to have Latin Jazz music (yes, it was my idea hehe).
They lied.
But they had another band come in their place, so we got to listen to some Rock music instead. Overall, great experience. Then we endured another 35 minute walk back to Manor and once again, went to sleep. mimimimi.
day 6: bath water, prysm and pre-london activities
dagman, carolyne and me!
infamous christmas steps
baths trip!
the roman baths!
I would argue I am quite the intellectual. Though sometimes, I lack both common sense and awareness of my body. Yesterday was Greggy's birthday SO OF COURSE we had to celebrate. We asked Dunya, a Bristol University student to create the Ultimate Birthday Outing for Greg's 19th birthday. We went to a couple places, had fun, it was chill.
But around 12:00 pm, some of us still weren't quite ready to go home. So we hit up PRYSM, and after 7 "one more song!"s later, we finally headed back to Manor...
AT 4 IN THE MORNING.
So of course, I was exhausted from the night before. In my defense, "When in Bristol?" am I right? No but seriously, I felt like a zombie till I got some food in my system. Anyways, we took a coach to Baths and had a self-guided tour around the Roman Baths. It was wonderful! There was so much history behind the site and I even got to try Bath Water (it was warm and a bit salty). Then, we hit up a small market nearby and I got the cutest heart locket necklace which I will absolutely flex when people ask me where I got it from. We then got a tour of all of Baths from Joseph, our Bristol University coordinator/supervisor/person and he REALLY knew his stuff. He told us all about some cool architecture and then let us loose to explore. Some friends and I went to a couple shops and then ended the trip with some gelato. Overall a 10/10 experience. We headed back, had dinner and then had AN EXECUTIVE MEETING about our trip to London the next day.
All of us wanted to go to London, though it was NOT part of our scheduled excursions. So of course, we planned it ourselves. However, I mean it when I say that my cohort had the BEST people EVER. With all the laughing and jokes (The funniest being that when creating an itinerary, Nonso claimed he only needed "5 minutes" to see Buckingham Palace), we took about 3 hours to create a masterplan for London. We booked the coaches, had our lists and then went off to rest before our big day. mimimimi.
day 7: london, the best burger to ever touch my mouth, and national express
london tube!
tate modern exhibit
yummy cafe
the dawgs
buckinham palace!
the london eye!
double decker!
broken double decker :(
It was time. We all woke up at 6:40 and braced ourselves for a 30 minute walk to the bus station. We were pretty used to it by this point, though making the trek with no food or energy was a bit tough. Regardless, we got to the bus station with no issues and all boarded.
Although most of us wanted to see basically the same things, we split off into groups to make sure everyone got to see what they wanted to see. I'm going to shout out ChrissyChris in this trip because this man singlehandedly led us, kept track of our entire cohort and made sure everyone was content at the end of the trip. I'm not gonna go into too much detail about what we did in London, but here's a list:
- watched the changing of the guards at Buckingham palace (which we didn't know about so Chris started yelling that "the King was coming")
- visited Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and Big Ben
- had the best burger to ever exist (melted in your tongue kind of good)
- explored 3 floors of the Tate Modern
- took the tube
Overall, smooth experience. Except towards the end.
See, some of our smaller groups had a tendency of being late. While my group took the tube to the bus station and arrived with 30 minutes to spare, there was 20 billion other things going on.
1) Téa's phone had died so she couldn't access her National Express ticket (and if she logged into her email, it would text her phone for a verification code) and FOR SOME REASON NO ONE WORKING LET HER PLUG IN HER PHONE (no, there weren't wall plugs visible to the public)
2) One of our groups were stuck in traffic on an Uber (the Uber driver was racist and that entire friend group was black, but Cheick played into it and they made it before the bus started boarding)
3) Our other group was stuck in traffic on a Taxi
4) Arionna needed souvenirs from London but the nearest shop was about a 20 minute walk so she sprinted with Chris.
And you know what? eventually, EVERYONE MADE IT. Carolyne and I stayed back at the bus station to round everyone up and hold up the dude who was scanning the coach passes. Slowly, but surely, everyone trickled in and we were the last ones in line to be scanned. But, of course, they had overbooked the coach. Apperantly there was some accident on the road and all the coaches were delayed, so some people from the prior bus were hopping on our bus, it was a mess. HOWEVER! National Express got us on another bus only about half an hour after our original bus so we were chilling. AND THE CRAZY PART WAS that Arionna, this entire trip, had asked for one thing: to ride in a double decker. But with our tight schedule, we didn't get the opportunity to. AND THEN, AS THE BUS PULLED UP, WE SAW THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING: A DOUBLE DECKER NATIONAL EXPRESS. It was our sign that everything was going to be okay! We would get to campus a bit late, but we would be fine.
And then the bus broke down.
Just kidding, to an extent. Something was wrong with the ceiling (I think some screw was loose), but we pulled over for about an hour trying to fix it. ANYWAYS, we made it to the Bristol Bus Station and WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT walk back to campus so Greggy got an Uber back. We got to campus and got ready for class the next day. mimimimi.
day 10: harbor boat trip, trivia and piggy back rides
piggyback rides
teaching the peeps how to ride a bike
quiz night!
harborside!
Okay so of course, every morning was the same. Here were some of the eventful things that have happened:
- Greggy and Dagma got their ear's pierced at Claire's
- We went out for Quiz Night on a boat restaurant (AND OF COURSE BEAT THE OTHER COHORT TEAM)
- I met another Mexican! Her name was Abril and she was studying from UNAM. She would be leaving soon, but I made a point to talk to her everyday I saw her at Breakfast
- We met another Cohort of Fulbrighters. They were here for the Black humanities program that was also taking place in Bristol. They were cool.
Our classes had absolutely fabulous sessions though. Most remarkably, our class really enjoyed our session with Keri Andriana regarding sustainable fashion and Rachel Legg + Sam Kidel's session on How to resist an eviction. For Keri's session, we were captivated by her realness. She was a delight to talk to about the issues that Fast Fashion and overconsumption pose. She also told us about London Fashion week, since her company was the only Bristol company to be invited consecutively for many years. All of her products are sustainable and vegan, so I'm linking her website here (yes,I will be purchasing a bag for law school). As for Rachel and Sam's session, they talked about their organization called ACORN, who specialize in housing rights. We learned exactly how they helped people resist evictions through creating human chains between the property and bailiff/eviction officers. We quickly realized this would, unfortunately, not work in the United States (because, you know, guns) but it was fascinating to learn how it all came together and all the different roles they needed (police liaison, media liaison etc).
Anyways, on day 10, we had a trip on a boat. I was dreading it because I get seasick fairly quickly and I HAD GOTTEN POOPED ON as we made our way to the harborside, but I sat inside and luckily did not get seasick. We then went out to this restaurant for Indian food which was DELICIOUS. Though on our way back, we always took forever to make it back to campus because we would giggle and enjoy each other's presence. Apart from taking many pictures, there was a very intense piggy back ride between Téa and Vida vs Leslie and Greggy. It ended in that silly video of Leslie on the floor with her shoe flying off. It was quite funny.
We also encountered a bit of a scary experience though. We were all dancing and having a good time at the square when suddenly, a dude joined us. We were doing great and having fun until he started saying weird things about one of our girls. He started getting too close, and immediately all the guys stood between our girl and the dude. The guy eventually left pretty mad and we decided it was our sign to get back to the dorms. We made it back and then prepared for class the next day, mimimi.
day 13: carnival, domzz and jerk chicken
this guy gifted me a coconut!
festival!
procession!
short king domzz!
No super eventful days recently. Just going to class, enjoying our time together and resting up... is what a LOSER WOULD SAY OHHHHHHH.
Just kidding, jaja. But yes, apart from our daily busy class schedules, our professor asked us to please show up to a rehersal for Carnival. By this point, we already knew we weren't performing, so we were really just going to "be immersed". It was such a delight! Seeing everyone's hard work coming together so nicely made us incredibly excited for Carnival.
However, what we were NOT excited about was that there was a last-minute, mandatory but not, EXTREMELY SHAKY session happening Carnival morning. We were excited to meet new people, but quite frankly we had no information on it and were already being asked to be at Carnival at 10 to help out our Professor. This would mean that from 8 am-5 pm, we would be out and about in Carnival mode. But of course, I and some other friends were determined to go because hey, "When in Bristol?"
But as much as I am a responsible student, I am also so young and naive. I had plans to go out with Abril to a Latin club, though upon arrival, it was super empty. Luckily, my friend's were all heading to an Afrobeats party so I joined them around 1am. This trip really made me develop a special love for Afrobeats because its just so fun to dance to! Anyways, I danced away and pretended like I didn't have to be up the next morning at 7.
I woke up, had breakfast and then headed to the session. Alex was sweet enough to get us Ubers since it was a bit of a drive and then we just proceeded to our Carnival Festivities. We enjoyed the procession, saw some artists, ate jerk chicken, danced a bit and then headed back to the dorms. (Before signing off though, I want to take some time to talk about my short king: Domzz. So, our first week, we had a session with him where he told us about his music. I have no idea why, but "Bring it Back, Bring it Back" was INGRAINED into my skull and I could NOT STOP SINGING IT. Seeing him perform at Carnival was life-changing. (p.s. he makes the greatest comeback on our final day)
day 14: oxford, museums and coloring
oxford!!
pitt museum!
leslie, carolyne, a fox and me!
dagma and ruthy!!
Same thing. Woke up, had breakfast but this time, we made our way to the Coach. I have to say, the ride was so so so amazing. It was so green and pretty, so I literally just looked out the window the entire time and listened to some music.
Anyways, got to Oxford and immediately started the tour. We walked around and marveled at the amazing architecture. I also came to the realization that I adore the UK, but ultimately, I am a sunny girl. It was always cloudy in the UK and it was certainly giving "Dark Academia", but I think growing up in Texas made my body develop the art of photosynthesis. But anyways, we then hit up the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum. My personal favorite was the Pitt Rivers, as it was fascinating to see all the artifacts lined up by use, rather than by their culture. In other words, all things related to vases from every culture had its own section, rather than a section focusing on a culture and then having a small section showcasing their vases. It felt as though, we were connected for our humanity and resourcefulness, rather than separated by our ethnicity or regional location. Of course, its important to highlight how our geography has shaped our cultures and made us who we are, but it was nice to see how similar humanity is. Every culture had something to hold water, every culture had tools to defend themselves with, most cultures had jewerly etc. Though the materials varied, seeing the artifacts displayed in this way was amazing.
But enough intellectual jasbeth. I got my mom a really nice sweater from Oxford and ate some delicious food before it was time for us to head back. When we did, we had dinner, hung out for a bit in the living room and rested up for our final week. mimimi
day 17: patriotism, sausage and some views
darts at the flight!
patriotism
beautiful view of the suspension bridge (with chris on the side)
the girlies!
clifton sausage
the dawgs :')
I'm going to rapid fire the next couple of days as it was basically just class and going out.
Monday: went to class, then played darts at a local pub (This was a sponsored event. I forgot to mention but a lot of our outings were sponsored by the program as a way for us to explore the city and bond with our cohort. LOVE THIS PROGRAM!)
Tuesday: 4TH OF JULY!! Had class and in the afternoon, hit up a karaoke bar and sang the Star Spangled Banner to show Bristolians how its REALLY done. We were there for 2 hours and had the time of our lives.
Wednesday: Went to class at the Wellspring Settlement where we learned about Slum Clearances and then hit up the Clifton Sausage where we tried some authentic UK food. I ADORED my starter (tomato soup and grilled cheese) and my dessert (a banana cheesecake pie situation). My entree was okay, honestly I am not the biggest fan of sausage but the mashed potatoes were delicious! Plus, I was already quite full from the tomato soup and grilled cheese so I just gave my main entree to someone else. Anyways, we hung out till pretty late in the living room this night to work on our final presentations.
Thursday: Started presentations and went to a very beautiful rooftop restaurant as a goodbye to Vida (since she was leaving two days before us). It was absolutely gorgeous and we all made sure to dress up. We took pictures, went to Tesco for some snacks and then headed back to get some work done.
last day: goodbyes, presentations, and shark tank
some of the fulbrights and alex!
domzz!
my favorite conquistadora maria :')
where'd all the time go :')
No seriously, I have no idea how exactly the three weeks went by SO fast. The program was very fast-paced, and us going out basically everyday only made it go by quicker. But I'll probably be more sappy and give more concluding thoughts tomorrow. Until then, y'all know the drill: had breakfast, headed to class
During class, I volunteered to go first to present. We had some unexpected visitors, including people from the Fulbright commission and, the one and only, DOMZZ. The presentation went great, and Domzz did a live performance of Bring it back. We danced with him and I even got a picture with him!! We also chatted with the commission and gave some feedback on the program as a whole. Towards the end of the day, we all got sappy and each said one thing we valued about each other. It was a great way to end our last class.
So, where does the "shark tank" come in???
Literally, out of NOWHERE. Typically, during lunch, we have free reign over what we want to eat. However, our professor, at the beginning of class, told us that there was actually an investor fair going on in the same building we had class in and she had actually booked us a spot for all of us to talk about our changemaking projects. Our goal for this showcase was to receive 2,000 pounds for each student to mobilize our projects. So yes, during lunch, we basically presented our ideas for community projects in front of people with a lot of money. I have no idea what ended up happening, but we have a meeting coming up in about 2 months to discuss it with our Professor. We also networked for all of lunch time which was amazing since we got to meet people with cool products and start ups.
Anyways, back to chronological order, we headed back to the dorms, had dinner and were genuinely considering going out that night. It took some time, but eventually we just decided to stay in and play uno. We spent some time talking and just enjoyed each other's presence. We also had a silly funny situation going on in the midst of us chatting, but I am afraid I cannot share it on this blog bc it is not my story to tell. All I will say is that while we waited for it to play out, I took a shower and immediately went back to the living room around 3 in the morning to check in on the situation. We were literally all in pjs but we just had to know how it ended. This resulted in all of us going to sleep at 4 am, only for us to wake up again at 6 since that's when the first group of people would be leaving.
departure
the only picture i took during my 21 hour voyage :')
Continuing this story, I woke up at 6 because I wanted to make sure to say goodbye to all the peeps. There was a lot of hugging and once they left, I went up to my room to finish up packing. I left my towel behind since there was no more space in my luggage, but it went quite smoothly. I was lucky to be riding on the Uber and coach with Téa, so we literally just chatted the entire way through. When I arrived to the airport, Téa mentioned how we started and ended the program together, which really made the waterworks STREAM. We hugged and said some very sweet things before it was time for us to take our different gates.
Now, I don't know if y'all remember but I mentioned that Heathrow was a monster. I was honestly so so grateful for it though because my flight ended up getting delayed for five hours. So, indeed, I spent 8 hours at Heathrow. I'm not gonna lie, it was a blur. I was running on roughly two hours of sleep and a lot happened. You guys know I love lists so, here it goes:
1) became incredibly overwhelmed because of how big the airport was (I had also just drank a lot of coffee so I was jittery)
2) walked around the airport and got an adapter to charge my phone (i had lost mine a couple days ago)
3) cried about how much I was gonna miss my cohort
4) went into a prayer room to practice some of the breathing exercises I learned during the program
5) met a climate change research fellow from the US who talked about video games and the intersectionality between climate equity and migration
6) met a family who was also traveling on my flight (connection) who talked to me about private schools in the UK
7) met a very sweet airline worker who kept checking up on me since he noticed I had been in the airport for a while
8) got some food and boarded the plane
I swear I met all these people with my headphones on. I don't know if I looked sad or if I just seem like an approachable person but all of these interactions happened in different places at the airport. And I am so so thankful they did. I am such a people person and I felt infinitely better every time I interacted with someone new. I rode the plane with no problem, though I could not sleep for the life of me. I just watched shows and listened to music hehe. When I landed, customs were a breeze and I was home to my family in no time! and then, once again, I got home and rested. mimimimi.
This is a short video of my time in Bristol. I want to thank every single person I met on this trip because they have all left a life-long impact on me. Additionally, I want to thank everyone who helped me along the way. Thank you to my mentors, friends and family who helped me submit this application (even after it got deleted). I have learned so much and I genuinely could not be more grateful for this opportunity. Love y'all!
btw: This is the website in which we submitted our activities and some summaries of our in-class sessions. I suggest giving it a look because the work this organization is doing is FANTASTIC!
There was a slideshow I presented, but this is basically a hard copy of everything I said in my presentation. The activities I chose to do were: Sharing a family recipe, Creating an I am From Poem and drafting a Change-maker Project. There is also two summaries of our in class sessions, a personal reflection and a personal assesment. Feel free to take a peek!