Wakefield, Wakefield, Wakefield.

How good to be back. After arriving back Friday evening a rather busy weekend followed which continued onto today, now I get a rest and some time to myself.

Saturday I worked a day in my previous employment covering for my sister who took an absence to play her flute at Nostell Priory for the Christmas festivities. This involved getting updated on all the changes made since I left that employment six months previously and reading copious notes on her children in order to gage what they were all working on. An early start but luckily I was able to take the car instead of the bus. Work began at 10am and we travelled around various centres working until 5.30pm. However it was great fun to be back a lot of the children remembered me from before and said hi which was lovely, I clearly made an impression on them. It was also fun to be doing something and of course to take a wage, a nice little extra right before Christmas.

After work I stopped off at a friends house and we got ready for the ysa Christmas movie night. I was really excited to be going back I had missed Huddersfield's ysa activities, Leicester's are good but it's different when you don't know everyone so I was looking forward to being back with old friends. When we arrived after picking up another friend we discovered that they were about to cancel it as noone had really showed up. But we made a nice night of it with the six or seven who were there in the end, we watched Elf and had popcorn and treats. It was great to have a catch up with those who were there.

So that made a late night, I think I got back and then wound up in bed sometime around midnight and having been up since eight that morning and then working a pretty active day I was shattered. Then to realise that church started at 9.30am not the 1.30pm start Leicester's had so inwardly crying as I realised I didn't have much time for sleeping.

Sunday was pretty fun, it was nice to be back at church in Wakefield and see everybody. Although I did miss giving my lesson to my kids I'm looking forward to being back so I can do my lessons again. It was really strange to be in Relief Society again after being in Primary for so long now. My plan was to have a nice afternoon nap, but then I got invited to go to Chorley to see their presentation of "The Christmas Truce". It was pretty cool, strange they got us singing its a long way to Tipperary at one point in a round with pack up your troubles. That was interesting. It was nice singing the carols though they sound so good when you have so many people singing them together. O Holy Night was my favourite. The Temple looked really good at night though and I'd never seen it at Christmas before the decorations were all lovely. But that was quite a trek and led to a lateish night and then early start today.

Went into Leeds in the morning with my dad for some Christmas shopping, haven't got the train for a long time and had reminisces of college journeys. Had a nice time going round the shops and stopped of at Patisserie Valerie for cake and hot chocolate which was lovely! After we got back I had some paid work to do from home for my old boss. Then rang up a friend and had a good chat with her.

Had a nice family evening and we played a new game I got called "What is this?" where you get picture cards with weird images and crazy captions and you have to pair them up. E.g there was a picture that looked like a plug but actually the caption was "an octopus throwing a stool" it was a pretty funny game.

Tomorrow promises to be equally as busy. I want to squeeze in a run, making gingerbread, work and Christmas shopping and get started on revising some university work. We shall see how far I get.

Vale Ratae Corieltauvorum (Goodbye Leicester)

This time tomorrow Semester One will be over. It started off so slowly, but it has really speeded by these last 10 weeks have really flown. Which I'm glad for because I can't wait for the Christmas holidays, four whole weeks off. Well kind of, I have three exams in January to revise for but that wont take up all the time.

I already have my exam timetable, luckily none of them are at 9am, all are afternoon ones 2.30pm-4.30pm. Roman History is the first day back, then the two Archaeology ones split over the first Saturday and following Monday. Yes that is right an exam on a Saturday. Apparently because of the amount of modules and stuff they run the exam week Monday-Saturday so they can fit them all in. I don't mind so much it's only two hours of the day.

Today I had my Latin exam. Well can you really call it an exam? It was open textbook so we got dictionaries and notes it was pretty fun and I think I did okay, I got 97/100 on the mock last week but our tutor said he would make it harder for the real and it was so we shall see in January how I did. It was a four part piece, some maths numeral reading questions, grammar functions on nouns and verbs. Then sentences to translate and two inscriptions. The first was a funerary inscription which we had to transcribe, translate and then explain, then repeat for a coin. So Latin is now officially over, we do Ancient Greek next semester. Which I'm looking forward to even more but I hope we can do modules in Latin in next year because I'd love to keep it up. 

In the exam I think I found a mistake/spelling error. It's always worrying when that happens, however I did my best but after we had finished I was talking to some of the others and they said they had noticed it as well. In the verb section we were asked to translate "audistis" it doesn't exist. The root is the fourth conjugation verb "audio" to hear, but it had been coupled with a third conjugation ending "istis" my guess is it was either supposed to read "auditis" - you hear or "audivistis" - you heard. However I did check the dictionary a million times to see if there were any third conjugation verbs with the root of "aud" but there were none. 

My room is just about packed up now for going home. The washing machine has been going crazy, I think I may be one of the few students who tries not to bring back all their laundry for their parents to do. Just clothes and things to pack up when my dad brings the suitcase tomorrow. I'm really excited to be going back, even though I went up twice since going (October, November) it has been a while and I'm looking forward to spending the Christmas period with my family and friends. What is even more exciting is that I am getting put back on the car insurance! I am so grateful and happy, I have really missed driving. First trip will be hopefully be driving back from Leicester to Wakefield after I get picked up tomorrow. I've missed the little orange machine. 

Busy-ish weekend. My sister is volunteering at Nostell Priory so she needed cover for work so I offered to, it will be nice to be back at my old job even if only for a week. Also a nice little bit of extra money in time for Christmas, which as a poor student I can't complain about. Even nicer, my old boss has some other work for me to do from home creating I think sort of revision/note guides on English for his ks3 students so that will be really fun and something nice to do over the holidays.

I have now finished my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Finally, I'm sure my assessor is sighing with relief. Just have to wait to get some dates back now for when I can go for my presentation. That should be pretty exciting, sometime next summer I think.

So of the three essays I have handed in I have the results for two of them back. On my Archaeology one on Cave Art I got 68 which is equivalent to a high 2.1, two marks off a first. I was feeling really pleased about that such a huge improvement from my non-assessed essay. Then I went to get my Latin Source Project back on Augustus' res gestae and got a score of 70. Which is the mark for a first! Very much pleased with that and it gave me the motivation I needed to get through the Roman History essay which I will get back after Christmas.

Tomorrow I only have one lecture 12-1pm and it's just a summary on what the exam will be like in January so that will be okay, and then homeward bound. Happy times.

Essays

Just something short and funny.

Maybe it's just me but when I write essays I try and give myself time frames to work to, say I have to reach a certain point by an hours time I find it increases my productivity.

This also has negative sides to it, in that sometimes the conclusion of the last bit I was finishing is hilariously bad because I spewed it out in about three seconds.

The funny side is when I come back to edit it another day and read what I thought was pretty good at the time.

So today I was editing about 800 words of my Latin Source Project, somehow when I wrote this out the first time my brain decided it was okay to describe Caesar Augustus as a "magical man". Reading this back was hilarious, I laughed so hard, then rang my sister up and laughed with her about it.

Who said essays were always boring to write? Me, often, but it's little things like that that don't exactly make it worthwhile but bearable!

Half-Term Report

Five weeks in means five weeks left. Time seems to have started off slowly but quickened quite suddenly. So halfway through semester one and what do I have to show for being at uni. I can think of a few things: 1. I can definitely cook a Jacket Potato successfully (though I did have to ring my mum every time I wanted to have one because I kept forgetting to write it down), 2. I'm not bankrupt, from some of the conversations I hear at uni a lot of people seem really hard up - I can only equate this to a. I have a budget and b. I don't go over it. 3. Talk about time speeding up I had no essays and now I have three.

On the subject of essays I think this is the most prepared I have ever been to write them. I got books out of the library weeks in advance and started reading them and I'm currently on top of all my deadlines. I have 3/4's of my archaeology essay done (due in for the 24th) and half of my Latin source project (due in 17th). I haven't started my Roman History essay, which will be my favourite as it is on the pax deorum between the Romans and their gods definitely the most interesting aspect of ancient history, but that doesn't have to be in until the 8th December so I'll have a nice two weeks after handing my others in to get that sorted out.

Things I'm excited for: my society jumper. I ordered it a while back it's a cornflower blue colour and I can't wait to get it hopefully in time for the winter cold that's coming. On the back of the jumpers you could have a nickname printed, I deliberated over a few and I nearly went with Salisbury until I figured that no one who saw me wearing it would know what it refers to so I went with just my name in the end. What else am I looking forward to, hmm Christmas I have an advent calendar in my room already my mum gave it to me from when I last went up to visit and I'm really excited to start it. Excited because 1st December means only 11 more day at university and then I get to spend a whole month off visiting family and friends.

I taught my first sunbeam lesson at church on Sunday. Out of the four children I am supposed to teach only one was there I think the rest were away with family or something. Anyway I had trouble trying to get him to stay in my lesson, his mum had previously taught the class and I don't think he was too keen on having a new teacher. Still it was pretty fun we coloured pictures and sang songs with musical instruments and had lollipops as treats. I think he was pretty happy with me as his new teacher by the end of the lesson. After the lesson I went to help out in Nursery that was really fun. We played with the children and sang songs and did games. One of the ladies in Nursery is Spanish and she can speak Italian too so I got to talk a little Italian to her which was really nice I've missed speaking it! I still practice my Italian though, I don't want to forget everything I managed to pick up. I'm quite excited to prepare my next lesson for this week.

So this weekend was like the first weekend I'd actually spent in Leicester for quite a few weeks. It was my cousin's 1st birthday so my aunt and uncle had a party for her and it was lovely, got to spend some time with some of my extended family catching up and playing. And they had fireworks which was nice because I missed them on Bonfire Night and Halloween this year so that was fun, there were some really good ones.

My running is going pretty good, this is the third consecutive week that I've managed to go out everyday (weekdays only - weekends I get off so my legs can stop hurting). I feel a huge difference from it. Just in simple things like being able to sleep easier, get up earlier, better prepared and awake for lectures (since I started running in the morning before uni) also I just feel healthier which is good because I think in winter its hard to motivate yourself to go out into the cold. But today I ran the furthest I've run so far 4.87km in 33 minutes. Perhaps that's not good timewise, I don't really know but I managed to keep a steady pace and run for longer segments. I try and motivate myself through the music so I stick on a really long song and make myself run at least until its finished. It works, I only stopped three times on my run today and one of them was because of traffic lights. Running is a nice way to explore around where I live as well, I run from Glen Parva into Blaby and I went a little further into Blaby today before looping back. Because I run via the Nike run app it tracks all my progress and so today I squashed four of my records which was fantastic, I got furthest run, longest run, fastest mile and fastest km. My heart still felt dreadful at the end, but I can that'll get better the more I do it.

I've started picking up leisure reading again, just to make a change from uni course texts all the time, I really need to update my bookcase so any suggestions are welcome - by update the books can be old books too. I picked up Jane Eyre yesterday. Very reminiscent of Italy where I read it like everyday, mine is a different copy to the one I had in Italy though and it's weird reading it when I was so used to the other one. I've never really been attached to a specific version of a book before, but then I've never really read a book so repetitively as I did Jane Eyre in Italy. I guess I'll get used to it.

A few years ago I had a really good list of bands and music I liked but then I lost it, which is a little annoying because I can't remember most of the ones on it. Italy sort of got me hooked onto the mainstream stuff because that was the only English stuff the radio played so I was just on English summer hits and Italian stuff. The Italian bands aren't actually half bad. If I had to recommend a song: La Pioggia by Dear Jack or Come un Pittore by Moda. I've got back into the All American Rejects again recently and The Pierces and I've had some new stuff recommended which had been really good.

Guess that's it for the half term report. To surmise, it's going pretty well. It's just difficult, but that was to be expected.

Weekend Coach Trip(s)

So a downside of being at University is that I don't get half term in October, although I think it makes up for it by the fact that I get a whole month off at Christmas, not sure that I want to wait that long for my holiday though.

Instead I kind of had a mini weekend holiday back home. Friday at uni consists of one lecture 12-1pm, so after that finished I got a bus into the bus station in town and hung around for my coach to the North of England. It was supposed to leave at 2.45pm but it didn't really get going until 3.15 so a later arrival into Leeds. But all good the coach was nice and comfortable but still three hours, a good opportunity to catch up on notes though. After I got to Leeds I had to get a train to Wakefield, then my mum came and picked me up with William. He was super excited to see me which was really cute! He'd grown up a lot since I saw him last, it's crazy how much little kids change in such a short space of time. Spent the Saturday with the family and then church in my home ward on Sunday which was great I got to catch up with everyone. Then I had to get back to Leeds for my coach back so my dad and Louisa dropped me down at the bus station. I sort of fell asleep on the way back which was one way of getting through the trip. All in all not a bad way to travel, though I definitely prefer car.

Short night's rest after a late arrival and then an early start for university 9am lecture. What a horrible time to have a lecture on a Monday, I'm sure out of all the lectures in the week that is the worst attended, and the people who do manage to make it are usually half asleep.

This week seems to have gone very very fast, before I know it the weekend is creeping up and that means another trip homeward bound and beyond. The last one I think until Christmas, who knows we'll see. This will be a busy weekend though, coach up on Friday and then Saturday is hairdressers appointment (I trust my home town hairdresser too much to try a new one and they had no slots last weekend). Following that is a train ride further northwards to visit some friends who I haven't seen for a very long time, dare I say ridiculously long time, for a catch up and birthday celebration! Then another week in my home church ward before the coach ride back to Leicester.

The worst bit is packing and unpacking. Actually it's quite funny, because of the coach time up to Leeds and the times of my lecture on a Friday I have to take my suitcase to uni with me, and I do not have any mini suitcases. It is still a pretty small suitcase it just doesn't look it compared to everyone else's tiny ones and consequently it looks like I'm going away for a month not a few days - though I will say it isn't jam packed, but I guess you can't tell that from the outside.

Two essays are in the mix but then that seems to be it until exams start in January. I've managed to keep quite on top of them, I've taken six books out of the library to read up for my sources so so so much reading. But it's going well. My archaeology essay is on the ways cave art has been interpreted and my ancient history one is on the relationship between the people and their gods. Yes some mythology at last!

Non-Assessed Formative Essay

The first essay of university. Though non-assessed I still wanted to do well as it would set a mark for the rest of the year.

Today we got an email saying they had been marked and to sign up for feedback on Monday. On my way to sign up for a slot I bumped into my tutor and he said he could give me the feedback then. 

It wasn't a rubbish essay but it wasn't brilliant either. When I handed it in I thought it was pretty good, just shows we are biased when we come to our own work. 

The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is that having such a ridiculously long summer the process of essay writing had become to be erased from my memory because at college all I wrote was essays. I studied three essay based subjects. I got really good grades in all of them. Something happened between June and September.

The process of referencing especially seems to have gotten a little crazy with me putting just about everything in quote marks making for an essay split into equal thirds of my words, the books words, and citation references. Not the best. 

The feedback is really good here though, better than college. They go into more detail. Hopefully by taking it on board I'll do better for next time for the essays that really count. 

Though it wasn't to be assessed they said what it would have got. Mine came in at a low 2.2. Really not what I was aiming for. Although he did say that with work and taking on the feedback he thinks I can push it up a lot further. So I think it's just the step up to university level essays as well.

My next essay is due November 24th so I need to start reading for it now and preparing, I want it to be much better than this one, especially as it is marked and counts to my degree as well.

Settling In

Let's see so it's been 13 days since my last post. A lot has happened and I haven't the time to write it all up so I'll just summarise the main bits.

Monday I had to had in my first essay for the archaeology side of my course. It's non assessed just a formative one but I'm real excited to get my mark back I don't know when that'll be but hopefully soon. My next essay is due in November 17th. They have a very specific way they want you to lay the essay out which I found when I was reading the handbook. Specific ways of referencing - say goodbye to footnotes - it's all about the Harvard system. Extra bracketed information eating up my word count. What size and font and line spacing and margin widths. So I was glad I saw that because I think some people didn't realise there was a required way but luckily as it's non assessed hopefully we'll all manage the real ones okay. 

I've been in my new ward at church for two consecutive weeks now. And the second week they gave me a calling. I'm now a teacher in primary I'm responsible for the sunbeam class which is 4/5year olds. I sat in and observed for the first and the four of them are really sweet so I'm looking forward to teaching them. 

My cooking if not improving is definitely working. I'm managing to make a success of everything I make which is good. Definitely a plus if a) the stuff is edible and b) it tastes nice. The only downside seems to be I bought a bag of carrots which tastes really weird and not like normal carrots so it's now sat uneaten in my fridge. I think I'm going to have to have them smothered with ketchup.

I learnt how to use the smart printers at uni they are actually really easy to use. Though it's eating my money as we fund our own printing costs. You would think with £9000 fees printing or some printing might be included. Coughing up £4/5 every week to print out seminar/tutorial reading is not fun.

The weather on Tuesday was crazy, really windy. Several times I had to stop walking and just wait for the gust to be over it was so strong I kept getting blown about. Luckily it has improved somewhat since then.

Whilst managing to avoid freshers flu which everyone on campus seems to have I feel a cold coming on and I'm headachey a lot. But I think it'll pass it's just settling in. Tomorrow I'm going back to Wakefield for the weekend which I'm really excited about, I get a coach right after my lecture tomorrow.

Today should be good I have Latin, Roman History seminar and lecture. So not especially busy. Just lots of notes to type up afterwards. 

1/10 of the term complete in a week.

Wow, so strange the first week of university is over. I feel like it is going to go a lot faster now!

Today I only had one lecture which was about the myths surrounding the foundation of Rome. After that I came back home and tidied up all my university files on my google drive. Made sure everything was under the right heading, downloaded the corresponding powerpoints from blackboard.

This week has been fun. On Tuesday we have film for an hour and we watched a documentary called 'First Contact' and it was about the first time people from Papa New Guinea had seen white people. It was really interesting and I think each week we will watch another episode of it concerning different sets of indigenous people encountering westerners. One thing that made me think was why when other "primitive" tribes and people see "white men" they often perceive them to be spirits or gods or something special, whereas when the situation is reversed we only seem to perceive them as primitive and beneath us. Every time it seems to be that perception.

Wednesday was great I started Latin we learnt about the alphabet and pronunciation - did you know that Caesar should actually be pronounced Kaiser not See-sar? Some cool stuff, then on Thursday we learnt about declensions of nouns and conjugations of verbs. It seems pretty regularised, not many irregularities which is good. It was my landlords birthday on Wednesday and I went over to his family's house for the birthday tea which was nice. One of his sons ate a ghost chilli to see what would happen it looked painful and I wouldn't recommend it. Afterwards he dropped me and one of his sons off for institute alongside a friend. It was fun, they do two classes in Leicester the first one was on time management and then the second was on the Doctrine and Covenants. They got me to stand up and introduce myself because I was new, a few of the adults knew who I was by my surname but I didn't really know anyone. I talked to a couple of people though and they all seemed really nice so I'm looking forward to going back next week. Afterwards they went to play table tennis cricket which looked like an interesting game.

Thursday was in for two hours I had my other Latin seminar and then a lecture on Roman History which was just to introduce it and give us some ideas to think about. Then in the evening I walked round to my uncle and aunt's house (5 minute walk away) who were having a farewell thing for my Australian relatives who were returning to Australia this Saturday so it was great to see them all again! My two little cousins are really sweet, one of them, Zak, after learning mine and Hannah's names kept repeating them which was cute - although mine started to sound like gorilla a bit by the end!

I can't remember which day but, I went into town with the intention of buying some boots because I was sick of having soggy feet due to all the rain and my possessing only canvas shoes - not really the best thing for winter. I had a look around all the high street shops first but boots are actually quite expensive for what they are plus they weren't that amazing quality so I didn't feel like paying that much for them. So I paid a visit to Clarks instead. I should have gone there first they had loads of really nice ones, which although expensive I didn't mind paying for because they were good quality. I tried a few on and decided on the Orinoco brown snuff in a size 3 - I have tiny feet! Only issue was the standards felt a little tight over my foot but they didn't have any wide fit in store so I had to order them to my house. Did so and they arrived today :) They are still snug but I have a little more room so the wide fit was definitely a better choice and I am looking forward now to a day when it will rain so I can test them out!

Today I looked in the fridge and found a bunch of stuff past its sell by date oops, I need to keep on top of it more. I organised all my food and made of shopping list of what I need to get tomorrow so I can get back on track and not waste anymore food. I felt awful throwing it away and that is my lesson learned.

I'm looking forward to next week for university actually I'm just looking forward to the upcoming weeks. So much stuff is going to happen! So much cool stuff. I'll get to see so many people again, several of whom I haven't seen for a ridiculously long time! I'm so excited to be back visiting home in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime may I continue to keep on top of my work. So far all is good.

The Sixth of October Two Thousand and Fourteen.

Today, otherwise known as my birthday started at 12.00am this morning when I was still lying in bed trying to sleep, turned over to look at the clock saw it was nearly midnight and so decided to see the sixth of October in.

After doing it I decided I really ought to get some sleep as I had a lecture at 9am that morning. I managed to grab some sleep but of course woke up excited at 7am. Made myself sort of presentable then google hangouted my family to open the presents and cards (normally we do it all together at home) which was fun. William wanted the balloon and got upset when he realised it was impossible to have as it was with me in  Leicester and he was in Wakefield. I got some lovely cards from friends and family and gifts too it made a lovely birthday morning.

Even google said happy birthday to me!

Had to get ready sharpish after that to catch the bus to university. It started raining surprise surprise thank goodness I had bought an umbrella the other day. Incidentally when I bought the umbrella the guy from the shop said I sounded like I wasn't from around here and when I said Yorkshire he said oh yes I can tell, but when I'm in yorkshire people say the opposite they say I don't sound northern. Strange.

Not having any practical shoes for the rain I had to go out in canvas pumps - bad decision my feet were freezing - I think I shall be investing in some kind of boot. Arrived to university in one piece though wet and cold.

Lecture was really interesting it was the Introduction to World Archaeology BC and we looked at the palaeolithic age - interestingly palaeo means old and lithic means stone. We did a bit on when did we become human? But instead of spouting the "we evolved from monkeys" they took the "we had a common ancestor long ago" which I find more believable but still weird. But thinking about if we all come from the same maker (God) then of course there will be similarities in every species. Anyway that was a side topic, what we actually looked at was stone tools and when they started to be first used. And whether use and creation of these tools began to show the Hominins (humany creatures but not human) were becoming human.

After that I had a nice break until 4pm where I had a study skills lecture until 6pm. It was on things like how to get the most out of lectures, how to manage time efficiently and stuff like that. We have it for the whole of this semester I'm not sure about next. It was okay but so annoying to have such a big gap between 9-10am and then nothing until 4pm. Still it's all useful and it was a good presentation.

But until 4pm I went home and watched The Proposal. I had intended to stop watching dvds so I could study but I thought as it was my birthday I would extend it until today. It was a lovely movie to watch again and I had a nice laugh at it!

After study skills a call from Grandma B and then a bus home and then ordered dominos in for tea. As it was my birthday for a treat and I had so many vouchers from freshers to use up! I was going to give one set to my family when I went up but on the terms and conditions it says valid in Leicester stores only which is  shame. The offer was buy one get one free but you had yo do it on medium or large so I got two medium knowing I would not be able to eat it all. The remains are in the fridge for me to take to uni tomorrow for lunch!

Then I had my birthday cake! Although I bought a battenberg my mum sent me a me to you one in the post with some other goodies which was lovely and some candles so I used that! And did it over google hangouts so they could see it and sing to me.

All in all it was a fairly good day. Uncle Simon and cousin Zak came round and surprised me this evening with a gift and card and Zak told me about his day at nursery! Despite being away from home for my birthday it was still pleasant and I rang my family enough to make up for not being there.

Absolutely shattered, and tomorrow is a busy day two lectures, a film and a tutorial but I'll be done 3pm. I like these shorted days college was such a drag. It makes me feel much more inclined to study when I get back when it is still light and warm(ish).

Every year people ask me "how does it feel to be 19?" or whatever age I am. I don't feel any different to last year. But it's weird to know I'm getting older and I feel like this next part of life is going to go very fast.

The Weekend

So as I predicted I didn't do much. I feel like such a layabout but I did sleep in until noon. Oops that will probably never happened again although in my defence, it was a late night Friday and it was raining when I woke up so I think I was better of asleep anyway.

Stuck a load of washing on as after tidying my room I did discover I had enough to do one. Then hung it all up to dry on the airers in my room. Updated all my accounts and stuff, very important (but boring) I never ever want to go into my overdraft. Too risky and I am already piling up debt through going to uni I do not want to add anymore to it.

Rain sort of kept me indoors, although I had bought an umbrella the day before so technically I could have done. But, you know when you have the option to go out in the rain or stay inside dry...I stayed inside dry.

Brought my pillow and fleece downstairs with my laptop and dvd's and camped out on the sofa for the day. First watched The Tourist, I had seen it in Italy but in Italian so I thought I'd see the English version as it happens it made it a lot easier to follow the plot, understandably. I really like that movie, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie make a good lead couple and the whole plot is entertaining. Only issue about twenty minutes before the end it started freaking out and not playing properly so I think I will take it back to the shop and get them to swap it for me! After that I watched Bridal Wars, again another entertaining one but not one I think I will watch again, it wasn't amazing.

I actually cannot remember what I did after that, I think sort out my washing and ironed it. Cooked some food, oh yeah I had the leftover pasta onion thing. I heated it up slowly so the onion had time to no longer be raw by the time I got round to eating it. Although saying that I think the pasta was thursday because yesterday I am positive I had tinned soup and bread. Foggy memory.

So for you guys reading this post that don't go to my church twice a year we get addressed by our world leaders in something called a conference. We get given talks on topics that have been highlighted as important for us to know more about or that should be re-emphasised. I love it because I always hear a message that's personal for me. Because it is broadcast from America we usually have to wait for the videos to be put online, but because I am now staying in a house with a television license it means I could watch it live. So 5-7pm saturday night I watched America's saturday morning session. It was really interesting and uplifting. One thing I thought was amazing was when the Prophet Thomas S Monson said there were more than 88,000 missionaries operating worldwide! It's such a huge number!

One talk I found particularly good was by Elder Lynn G Robbins, where he asked the question: Which way do we face? Do we represent God to the people, or do we represent the people to God? Are we willing to do what God wants us to do and stick to our standards even though the world doesn't like it or are we more scared and concerned about what our friends and associates will think of us to do the things we believe in and know to be true? Another good point was when Dieter F Utchdorf said that a trait of humanity is to assume we are right even when we are wrong. We have to recognise that we don't always act in an appropriate way and stop being stubborn.

So that was Saturday. Sunday I was invited to dinner at the family of my landlord's house which was lovely. They had a nice big cooked dinner with lamb and potatoes and vegetables with peach crumble for dessert it was great. Afterwards we watching another conference session the Saturday Afternoon Session. It was another good one. My favourite talk from it was by Elder Jörg Klebingat. He asked many poignant and thought provoking questions. Can we say in ourselves that God is happy with us? How would we feel if we had an interview with Jesus today? Happy or extremely nervous? He advised us not to let the adversary chip away at our souls and self confidence. And that the decision to change is ours alone. He then offered six ways that we can increase our self confidence to become better members of the church and better people. 1. Take responsibility for our own spiritual well-being, the Lord knows how hard we are or are not trying to become perfect and good people, we should try to be as good as we can within our own spheres of life. 2. Take responsibility for our own physical well-being, if we are not happy with ourselves we cannot be happy in ourselves. Body and soul are joined if we feel unhappy in one we can't be happy in the other. 3. Embrace voluntary whole hearted obedience, we cannot love God without loving his commandments. And casualness in spiritual matters will not bring us happiness. 4. Become good at repenting thoroughly and quickly. Embrace the atonement and apply it daily and establish ongoing happy repentance. 5. Become really good at forgiving others. As we make mistakes so will they and we cannot ask for forgiveness from God if we do not forgive those who ask for our forgiveness. Don't hold grudges against people or be easily offended but uplift others always. 6. Accept trials, setbacks and the surprises in our lives. We are all here to be tested, why should we not have trials if everyone else is? Some trials come through disobedience or negligence but they are not a punishment only a time to prove ourselves. They are there to make us stronger. We should acknowledge and face our weaknesses and try to repair them but not to become immobilised by them.  

I thought that was the best talk I'd heard all of conference and when it becomes available online I want to print it out and keep a copy because it will remind me of what I can do to dissipate the discouraging voices of the adversary and restore peaceful assurance and spiritual confidence. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865612418/Elder-Jorg-Klebingat-Approaching-the-throne-of-God-with-confidence.html

After that I got dropped back home and I watched the Sunday Morning Session of Conference 5-7pm English time but America's morning. It was another good one. It talked about how we should build up our relationship with God so we can receive personal revelation. Also how we can be more active in sustaining our Prophet. The last talk of this session was by the Prophet. He did a wonderful talk "decisions determine destiny". Our purpose on earth was to have a body and be separated from our Heavenly parents so we can have the same experiences they had and learn to choose well. Our decisions don't just determine where we will go on earth but for eternity. We are given the tools we need to get back. We have to walk as Jesus walked. Emulate Him. He is the light to guide us home. By following Him we can gain eternal life but we have to work. Only He can lead us safely home.

The last session Sunday Afternoon is showing 9-11pm but as I have a lecture at 9am tomorrow morning I think I will have to catch it later in the week when they put it on the website. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng

All in all it was a very uplifting day, which is what I needed after freaking out on the telephone this morning to my mum. Panicking over whether university is the right decision...again. New stuff is hard, but it's something I can work through.

Wed-Thur-Fri

Freshers week = boring. Apart from free junk it means ridiculous amounts of time to waste in front of the TV. There are only so many times I can go into the town centre and forbid myself to buy anything!

Wednesday and Thursday I was in uni, more information picking up, got my timetable and got to meet my tutor. Also we had a guest lecture by Professor Norman Hammond on Maya Pre-History. If you read that and thought pre-history? What is pre-history? (As I did) Because surely history includes all of the past and what can be pre the past? Well I soon discovered that history refers to things known so pre-history is the period we don't know a lot about. For example we know the Mayans as temple building wealthy sacrificing people but what were they before they became great? We don't really know. And that my friends is Maya Pre-history. It was a really interesting lecture and made me feel quite sad that my course is limited to ancient Greece and Rome only. My ideal history course would cover so much stuff it would be like a mega degree. Some areas that I am sad I wont get to study are: Native Americans, The War of the Roses - you'd think Leicester would offer a course on that - well they are kind of I got a leaflet for it that I can sign up to later in the year but it focuses naturally more on Richard the third rather Elizabeth Woodville and Edward.

Bought a Latin dictionary it looks very complicated.

My timetable is pretty good. Not a lot of contact hours, though I am rather annoyed about the random lecture on the middle of Friday. It would have been perfect if that was earlier in the morning or even just on another day. But can't complain I got a pretty good deal.

So a lot of free afternoons/mornings which is good and makes it easy to travel.

Today I booked tickets to go northward got a nice funfare deal on National Express cost me under £20 for journey both ways. Three weekends time I shall be gracing Wakefield with my sunny presence. Clear your weekends you northerners I'm returning ;)

More exploring in town, I found the central library and joined it. They give you two library cards, one normal sized one and then one for your key ring which I thought was a clever idea because if you forget your purse with your card in you're most probably going to have your keys with the other card on!

I also found Highcross shopping centre I was feeling hopeful that they might have krispy kremes. No such luck, only Millie's cookies which were disappointingly priced. 99p for one cookie. Well I shall visit Sainsbury's and get 5 for 75p which taste exactly the same. Lots more shops in there and they had...a disney store.

I never understood why everyone loved the shop so much...until I went in it and then I wanted to buy everything. EVERYTHING. The Little Mermaid is basically my all time favourite disney movie, it's also my favourite fairy tale and just everything and they had so much little mermaid stuff. Ariel dolls and squishy toys, a squishy Flounder and Sebastian. Ariel mug and cup and dinner plates and cutlery. An Ariel costume (which actually looks as though it might have fitted me! The advantages of being small) It was so much fun to be in that store! However I didn't buy anything :( Poor me on a student loan, but my plan is to save and go back haha! Because it is quite pricey.

After that I went and shut down my Halifax bank account which I never use and received a grand total of 26p. Oh windfall for me. Went into That's Entertainment (bad decision) and came out with three DVD's (I budgeted this into my accounts so it was okay!) The Proposal - cannot beat a bit of Sandra Bullock, The Tourist - mmm Johnny Depp and Bridal Wars - never seen it but I remember wanting to when it came out. All together not bad.

Then went to purchase my NUS card from the student union and picked up some bits from morrisons apples and milk and stuff...oh an a birthday cake for me!! Seeing as I'm not at home for my mum to make me one. I chose Mr Kipling's battenburg yumm-y! My mum said it should last me a few days....but the equation goes like this Maria + battenburg + five minutes = no battenburg. And I'm not talking about the mini five pack, I mean the big loaf! At least I can stick candles in it although it is going to kill me having it sat in my room not allowed to eat it until monday!


Plans for tomorrow? Hmm I think I'll call it sleep in and not do much. All my washing is done, nothing to prep for Monday. Maybe I'll make a start on some of my course texts. Get ahead of the game. I also have a gym free day pass to use up so I might go burn some energy there. And it's right next door to where I was born haha I pass the Royal Infirmary (which by the way for non Leicester people is a hospital, where I was born, not an infirmary for the infirm of mind) everyday on the bus to university. Circle of life or something.

And So September Ends

The last day of September 2014. Tomorrow we roll into October hooray! Which means 5 days until my birthday and lectures start - bad crossover. But it's five days until my birthday. Maybe this year I will feel more grown up because my 18th didn't seem to do the job.

Today involved a lovely lie in followed by a trip to uni to get my course induction which basically involved picking up my id card and picking up a course handbook and information. Met another girl who was on my course so we went round the freshers fair together basically picking up more dominos vouchers and free stuff. They don't seem to even mind that they have given you it before they just keep giving you it. The free sweets and bags were the best pick ups.

After that I went home dropped all the stuff off had some lunch and then planned to go out to the New Walk museum in Leicester. Got on the bus okay, got off at the right stop. Then here comes the bit that went wrong. There is a museum called New Walk and there is a museum called Newarke. The bus stop was inbetween them both. Instead of turning left to New Walk I went right following signs for Newarke, having never seen the name written down having only heard it, it was an easy mistake to make. Luckily google maps helped me out and I managed to get there.

 

It's a little embarrassing how I managed to get lost seen as I have been to it several times before - though in those instances I have always been with relatives who know Leicester. Had a little nosy around the displays it was quite empty and some of them had changed since the last time I was there. It's nice because it is free though they ask for donations suggested at £3 but being a poor student I just slipped £1 in hopefully that will do something.

After that I walked back into the centre and popped into the tourist information centre to pick up some leaflets and also to ask them where the nearest argos was turned out to be about another two minutes down the road. Spent £9.99 on an airer only to find that when I got back the guy whose house it is had found me one out, so i'll be taking it back to argos tomorrow! Saves me some money.

Annoyance with the banks today. Wanted to cancel my switchover to Santander because they were taking so long about it and I needed to have access to my student loan. Found out that I had had a letter posted from my current account saying with switchover details except the name of the account holder was definitnely not my name. Luckily they sorted everything out for when I rang up, so I rang up Santander and got them to cancel everything. I'll be sticking with Barclays I think.

Cooked pasta/tomato passata/tuna/onion thing for tea. Boiled the water then added pasta, chopped some onion, drained a tin of tuna, salt, pepper and herbs. When the pasta was cooked I drained it and added the passata and tuna and other stuff. That was the point at which I realised I was pouring my onion in raw! Silly me forgot to fry it first. So that made for quite a spicy tea with the black pepper I had put in as well. To make matters worse? I made too much so half of it is in a tub for another day. Well played Maria. On the plus side I get to have a free pizza with one of the vouchers I got, only valid until Sunday so maybe I'll have that for Saturday tea. I can't remember if it was pizza hut or dominos I got so many.

On the 85 bus today I did notes on where all the stops lead. So now I know that stop 4 is a tesco express and stop 6 is pizza hut and stop 7 is Aldi - hang on these all sounds like food? YUMMY.

Walking around trying to find New Walk I found some cute little places, all the streets lined with Narnia lamposts as well!

Funny thing today, on the bus on the way back form argos a woman got on and sat next to me. About halfway through the bus ride she pointed at my airer and said "I should get one of those". Then she proceeded to have a full on conversation with me about why she needed an airer, her relatives, her son at univeristy, her boyfriend in France who wont talk to her and pretty much everything else. It was weird because I've never met a random stranger before who pretty much tells me their whole life story but maybe she needed to get something off her chest. As it happened the bus ride was more enjoyable for it!

I've moved in!

Week one in the new house.

So I moved in on Saturday morning and the first thing I discovered was that I had been giving people the wrong address. Noooo. I had been telling people I lived at number 27 instead of 127. Mad panic that all my letters and things will be going to a different house. So we took a trip to number 27 but no one was in. We picked up a card from a newsagents wrote a message inside explaining the mistake and left my email so they could let me know if any post came. Then we popped back later in the evening to see if they were in, they were and they were really nice about it all! Though as it turns out, the post came to this house anyway. Although number 27 was on the same road it fell under a different village/town thing so my birthday cards still managed to get to me :) Now I have four cards waiting to be opened! Roll on Monday 6th.

Saturday after unpacking we spent at my aunt Natalie and uncle Nathan's house. I have some family over from Australia so we had a big meet up with all of which was fantastic to see them all again. They had a big bouncy castle in the garden (with no age limit) so that kept us busy alongside entertaining the smaller cousins. It was just so good to see everyone again. Then had first night at the new place, couldn't sleep so I watched the lego movie.

Early start. We were all going to my grandparents church which started at 9.30am and was a 15 minute drive from where I was living and where my family where staying. Fun fun fun, I got picked up at 8.30am. Way to early, so we got a tour of the pork pie libraries in Leicester to burn some time.



Definitely looks like a pork pie. And one of them is on a roundabout called Pork Pie roundabout.

So after church we all went back to my grandparents and had another family day which was nice. Then my family dropped me off at my house before driving back to Wakefield.

Today was a bit of a mad day. Exploring Leicester centre and seeing where the buses go. Went in for the freshers fair got some freebies and signed up to a load of societies - most of which I can't remember and will probably not carry on with. Oh well. So that was one bus to uni and then a walk. Then another bus into the centre. Had a walk around the shops to see what was there. Then another bus to Fosse Park where they have a giant Asda picked up some chicken for my tea on Wednesday and apples and chocolate. Then another bus back to the bus station and another back to home. I figured there must be an easier way to get around so I asked the lady at the bus station and she gave me a load of bus timetables and told me which ones to get so hopefully it'll take quicker the next time I go - tomorrow morning.

Cleaned out the oven when I got back as I wanted Jacket potato for tea and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a very very very long time. Took a while but it's in pretty good condition now. Cooked jacket potato and beans for tea. Then sat back a bit after being on my feet for most the day and watched some tv.

Tomorrow I think that I have to be in for 9 so that'll be an early start. But it is departmental induction so I should hopefully get my ID card and timetable which will be good.

Preparation is key.

This week has been a handful. Many postal deliveries bringing me course texts and a laptop to food shopping and picking up other general bits and pieces to send me on my way.

Packing is the worst. I'm not taking everything with me but with the giant pile of stuff I am I wonder how I ever managed to fit it all in my room? Three suitcases and about a several more large bags of stuff as well as three banana boxes of books/food and I think I have everything I need. Of course, they key now is to fit it into my new room.

Luckily for me, or so I consider, I am not having to stay in university accommodation. Not that I have anything against it - I actually didn't even look around Leicester's options - but I feel I have the better deal. Renting out a room in the house of a family friend. Not only will I have a much better chance of feeling like living at home, but I just imagine it being so much more comfortable and a better atmosphere, undisturbed nights and a lot more freedom. Though of course there are trade offs. I have had to purchase a bus pass to cover travel but I'll take that.

Next step is to find a job, I have found one I want to apply for but I have to wait until I get my timetable so I can put down my available hours of work so that is on hold until next week! It's close by and would give me discounts which is fantastic fingers crossed when I apply next week I'll be able to get it.

Tomorrow is packing the car day, which basically involves hauling everything from my room down two flights of stairs and trying to fit it in the car. Hooray. That promises to be a fun morning/afternoon.

But despite the hiccoughs I am really excited to be finally going to the University of Leicester to study Ancient History and Archaeology! Roll on Monday for day 1.

Mixed Week.

Ups and downs but overall it has been a pretty good week! Came back from Italy, got my hair cut. I now have a fringe again!
Then on the saturday I got to see one of my oldest friends get married :) Such a beautiful day, it was really lovely to see her getting hitched.

So nice to see everyone again and have a good catch up! Congratulations Mr and Mrs Garland!

This week has been good so far.

On sunday I had church, nice to see everyone I hadn't for the whole summer. Said my testimony in testimony meeting. Very scary as I hadn't said it for so long but it was good to say what I felt! After I went to a friend's surprise leaving party for university. It was really good fun, we had a nice afternoon laughing with all of his friends.

On Monday I sorted out some more stuff for university found out that a bus pass is going to cost me £360 for a year and will cover the immediate Leicester area. Also tried to sign up for an nus card. Finished my application for Leicester University. So much to do!

Tuesday I took William to the library he was very excited about it. Unfortunately I asked him at 9.40 if he wanted to go he then zoomed off to get his shoes before I got told that it didn't open until 10 so I had to distract him for twenty minutes. We went and I got a book out to read also, William decided to unstack all the kids chairs, choose every book in the tub. I had to sneak some back into the box when he wasn't looking. Then he dragged me to tescos where he picked up some milky buttons and I got some flowers for my mum and dad as a late anniversary present. Went into town to deposit my savings from Italy and had a look round the shops. Nothing tempted me to buy though. Why is it when you have money to buy things there is never anything to buy? Actually that is a slight lie I bought a DVD. The Help. I bought and read the book in Italy and it was so good so I can't wait to watch that!

Wednesday I woke up with a list of jobs for me to do, looks like these three weeks are going to be busy! So I hoovered and washed up and tidied up the car which looks like it hadn't been cleaned the whole time I had been away and had an impressive collection of chocolate wrappers. In the afternoon I took off to see a friend of mine who is leaving tomorrow for university in Newcastle. We had a nice afternoon, played mario kart on the wii at which I got sorely thrashed by both him and his sister. I was shockingly bad! Then I got a really nice treat! He took me to his dad's house and I got to play on the drum kit! It had been so long since I played so he had to show me the basics again but it was so nice to play on them. I hadn't realised how much I missed playing them! After that we went into town to the DVD/CD shop. I managed to pick up a TingTings album for 99p and an Arctic Monkeys for £3.99 so that was good! Then we took a grind. I had never had a grind before and it was actually really nice. I got a sherbert milkshake the flavour wasn't particularly strong but it was nice! Unluckily we hit the traffic on the way back but it didn't slow us down too much. Also he let me borrow The Hobbit part 2 so I am looking forward to seeing that as I missed it in the cinemas last year and the last part is coming out this year!

Downer on the week - my iPhone broke. In short terms: 1. I took it to Italy and used an italian sim. 2. I put an english sim in when I got home. 3. It wouldn't let me update my apps. 4. I reset it. 5. It won't let me reactivate it. Guess who is back on their tocco lite! Thank goodness I kept it. Apple is so good when it works but it is a nightmare when it doesn't. Made an appointment to go into the apple store on Tuesday so will see if they are able to do anything! Hopefully it can get sorted without too much cost.

Day 81: Ciao Italia

Today is the day. Day number 81. The last.

Alessandra woke me up at 7am and then we were all ready to go to the airport. Arrived in plenty of time checked in okay and they didn't charge me extra even though my bag was overweight hooray! Said goodbye to all of them, Bea cried which made me feel very loved :). 

Got through to the duty free. No magazines in English :/. To then find out that my flight has been delayed by an hour. Nooo. Why Ryanair? There isn't even a burgerking or McDonald's to waste my time in. Plus the wifi sucks it doesn't work properly.

Got on the plane okay. Nice flight! Excited to be back in England hopefully these next three weeks in Wakefield will be good :) last minute shopping for Lizi's wedding tomorrow and an early night! 

Week 12: Ultimate Week

Sunday:

No church today as no way of getting there instead I went with the family to watch Fede participate in his first moto race. They took his older motorbike but then found out it wasn't powerful enough to take him up the hills so they had to drive back to take his other one. It takes about an hour to drive to the race place. He did okay, stalled the bike a lot but he isn't as used to it as the other one. But he managed a lap of 7 minutes which was good. It started to rain later in the afternoon surprise surprise. Last day in Rovescala tomorrow morning we go back to Milan. 

Monday:

Left Rovescala at 10 they were all sad to leave but I'm glad to be back in the city I prefer it there. It's busier and more alive, peace and quiet is nice but after a while I longed for a noisier place. The kids don't understand why I prefer Milan and Fede said as much that I must be stupid to prefer the city. I don't think they realise that not everyone has the same opinion as them. I half unpacked and then repack my big suitcase so the things I use I can just throw into my small one. Took Fede to the park most of his friends are back from holiday now so he had people to play with. 

Tuesday:

Didn't get much sleep, I think because I changed beds hopefully tonight will be better. Bit of a slow morning as Bea and Fede did their own things homework etc so I just had to supervise. Fede was making a book that he had written gluing various pieces of paper etc together. Bea was translating songs for me from Italian to English and English to Italian. She was very good. When she wants to she can speak English well...she just often does not want to. Fede loves the 'What does the fox say?' song and keeps asking to replay it he likes the video too. Went our to the park and took an ice cream at Massimo's as he was back open. 

I found Rebecca the cat sat on my bed.  

Wednesday: 

Early awakening. I go to bed too hot so I sleep without the covers but then when morning comes I'm cold so I wake up tired. Today is colder, yesterday was very warm even too hot and the all the mosquitos come out so the cool is better. 

In the morning I did English with Fede then tired him out by walking to Porta Romana to see the hole made by all the rain but we couldn't find it. Then we walked into the centre and I picked up some final gifts for family. I read the map wrong at one point and we ended up going the long way round Fede wasn't impressed and we took the tram back. 

After lunch we went to see some friends of theirs. They live in Porta Romana near the hole so we got to see it after all. 

It was bigger before but they have already stated repairing it. All the heavy rain washed the ground away because underneath it is hollow where all the underground parking is for the flats. 

Another ice cream from Massimo's. I had salter caramel and passion fruit. The caramel was nice not too salty and not too sweet. 

Thursday:

Last full day. In the morning went out to the centre. I picked up some more bits and bobs. Gifts for the kids to say thank for the summer. Alessadra bought me a book, it's cool because on one side of the page it is in English and on the other side it's the same page but in Italian! I choose A Midsummer Nights Dream. After lunch I finished packing had a dilemma run out of weight space. Why I brought so much stuff with me is beyond me I didn't use half of it. They gave me a load of pasta to take back but I don't know if I can because of the weight. When I weigh it in at the airport tomorrow fingers crosse there will be enough room. Had a last last ice cream at Massimo's. Mandarin and Passionfruit the two best flavours. 

Built a race track with Fede out of kapla - jenga bricks. And we raced ball bearings down it. 

For my last dinner Alessandra made Lasagna yum! 

Week 11: Settimana Penultima

Sunday:

Went to church as normal, got assigned a talk to do next week. How fun that will be to write in Italian and also pronounce. Having had gone to bed past midnight and then having got up at 7am I was absolutely shattered especially as I hadn't slept well the night before either. So in the afternoon I had a nap...turned out to be five hours long but I needed it! Luckily Sunday is my day off!! 

Monday:

Today was a weird day. Right from the word go Bea and Fede were at each other's throats...for the whole day. We cleaned the house. Then I did English and reading with Bea tried to with Fede but he refused. He managed to calm down as we read some English. Then the girls came over and we went on a bike ride around Scazzolino as they had just got new bikes. All was fine until one of the girls left then it was two girls via Fede and they teased him unceasingly he did not have a good time. The girls asked to go in my room bad decision later I found out they had gone through everything. All my drawers, my wardrobe, my books as notepad, my bag and even my purse also my surcease and shoe boxes. Nothing was missing but I couldn't help feeling upset as they had disrespected my privacy. Next time they ask the answer is no. In the evening we went to Rovescala for the last night of the festival. The music was better tonight and some of it was English so it was nicer to hear. They had a firework show at the end. It was the best I have ever been to. They were huge and loud and so colourful!

Two mishaps today. 

1 - we went to see the field that the family own which is more like a mini forest and I got a random nosebleed in the middle of nowhere luckily they had tissue in the pick up

2 - after dinner when I took the tab cloth out to shake I didn't realise it had rained and I slipped on the marble steps and fell about halfway down. It was very painful I hit my arm, hip and shoulder. They were all very sore and I had ice on them.  Bruises tomorrow I think. 

Tuesday: 

As predicted lots of bruise all over me from yesterday's fall and dull aches. Fede was on a homework spree today after being threatened with not being able to compete in the motor cross race on Sunday. He summarised a chapter of Italian and did eleven English units. A record. He never gets past three usually. Did some English with Bea also. She had a horse riding lesson in the afternoon Sofia and Alice came to watch and I went to McDonalds to steal wifi again! Watched Cobra 11 it's a German show but they do Italian voice overs. It is very dramatic in the car crash department. Every episode at least five cars die in dramatic over exaggerated ways! 

Wednesday:

Read two chapters of a English book with Bea. Fede a huge contrast from yesterday he managed to only do two units of duolingo and very badly. Today should be called 'hate on Maria day'. If I ever I wanted to cry today was the day. If ever I felt homesick today was the day. The girls came over and stayed for lunch. After lunch all four of them sat on the swings and pretty much covered everything they dislike about me. Clearly none of them realised I could hear it all through the open windows and door...or maybe they knew it. It happened they moved so I went outside to read, they didn't want me to join in play with them. Then they came back...invented a 'code name' it wasn't hard to realise they were still talking about me. Then surprise surprise they want me to take them to Rovescala oh boy I did not want to but we went. Guess who had to carry all the water? Guess whose instructions of stop, slower and move inside away from the cars were ignored? Guess who got mimicked, laughed at and whispered about the whole way there and back. But I didn't answer back, I wasn't mean I remained as pleasant as possible. Maybe one slip up they wanted to play on my phone and I said no. Though they had the gall to ask why. I'm not a total sucker, my patience has limits and they were close to breaking them. Then on the way back they found an injured butterfly on the road Sofia picked it up and they took photos and she was. carrying it away, of course they all know I dislike butterflies and of course Bea wants to put it on my head luckily it decides to fly away.

Thursday:

Another bad day, should have known when I woke up and the weather was bad. Both treating me badly. Hooray. Managed to do some English with Fede none with Bea oh well it's her choice at least I try. Afternoon was a nightmare. To make matters worse it was Alessandra and Stefano's 17th wedding anniversary not such a lovely day for them! Although they went out for dinner while I looked after the kids we had all calmed down and managed to be civil the later the evening rolled on the better we were. Hope this good feeling carries onto tomorrow. 

Friday:
The day Bea goes on protest, avoiding all possible contact. Stefano and Alessandra went out to shop pick up more water etc. she glued herself to her room for the majority of the morning coming out only to pick up her homework books or use her phone. She refused to eat dinner with us. After lunch we went to Bobbio to see where Fede would be racing on Sunday, again Bea did not come. The pitch was big and nice and lined with blackberry bushes so we picked some. I saw a Ramarro, green lizard but it ran off pretty quick. Everyone cheered up after that Bea and Fede went down to Rovescala to play with Sofia and Alice and their cousins for most of the afternoon. One of the cousins Giacamo is so sweet Alessandra said he looks like the little prince and I agree he was very cute. So we all had a quiet afternoon up at the house. Stefano was jet cleaning the motorbike and pick up for the race apparently its a ritual though I am pretty sure they are going to come back covered in dust but oh well. Alessandra was busy washing linen for the appartment downstairs that they are preparing to rent out to people. I caught up on duolingo and helped Alessandra. Also they fixed the shower! The bathroom kept flooding with water, they have a weird draaning system the drain in the shower links to another on the floor outside of it and the one outside kept spewing the water out inside of keeping it down but yesterday they managed to fix it so we were able to have proper showers!

Saturday:
Penultimate day in Rovescala. Bea had a horseriding lesson at 11am and they dropped me off at McDonalds on the way where I now write this. Today is the ultimate day the postman comes to Rovescala before I leave. I'm waiting on a letter from New Zealand and I hope it comes today because otherwise I will be back in England :( Fingers are crossed. This afternoon I have to pack, no time tomorrow as we will be in Bobbio for most of the day and then after dinner we will leave so I will have to do it today.

Week 10: Rovescala

Sunday:

Took the train as usual to church. Some kind of attention warning was given out not sure what was said fingers crossed it wasn't too important! The two sister missionaries were leaving as they had finished their missions so new ones next week, they got me to add them on Facebook so we can keep in touch. 

We had a barbecue lunch and after we went to see a castle and medieval village. Which as it turns out wasn't medieval but built by a duke in the 18th century it is very nice though. 

Drove back and had an early night.

Monday:

In the morning Alessandra and Stefano had to go to Milan for work so I stayed back with the kids. What a fun morning that was. Refusing to do homework, fighting with each other. Fede wanted to start with summarising chapter 2 not chapter 1 in his excercise book. All in all I was glad when their parents returned. 

Tuesday:

Rainy and cold so spent a lot of the day inside eating and watching movies. 

Wednesday:

In the morning me and Fede played spies which involved turning the sofa and table into a tent/prison and me getting shot at a lot and killed. After lunch me and Bea went on a bike ride and picked up Alice and Sofia then we all rode in the pick up up to the motorcross pitch to see Fede ride. 

Thursday:

In the morning we went to look around Pavia. It is a little bigger than Piacenza but still quite small. At least it stayed sunny. In the afternoon the girls came round again and we went on a bike ride around Scazzolino together. Then when we came back we walked into Rovescala to take ice creams. A tiring but fun day! 

Friday:

In the morning I tidied and hoovered up my room. Fede and Bea argued for a lot of it. Tried to coax them into English no success. Sofia and Alice came over to play but left quite soon as their aunt was coming to take them to Pavia to see a butterfly exhibition yuck! After lunch Fede and Bea wanted to go on a bike ride but I said not until they had both done some English. Fede started and then refused to finish so in the end only me and Bea went. After that Bea went horse riding and Alessandra dropped me off at McDonald's where I could use the wifi to google my family and Jemima was there so I got to speak to her too! 

Rovescala has a festival this weekend which I had forgot about until I went to bed and I could hear the singing. Tough nights sleep. 

Saturday:

Pretty much spent the day on no sleep. After not being able to drop off until the band stopped singing I was awoken again by thundering rain at 4 in the morning. Scared of water coming in under the balcolny door I picked up everything attached to the floor of mine - shoes and suitcases - and put them on the other side of the bed to be safe. Luckily it stopped after a bit and I managed to get some more sleep. Today was another weird day yet again noone wants to do any English so I am bored. Can't go out because it's cold and wet. The only exciting thing is the bicycle race going past. 

This afternoon the showers drain decided to stop working and it up chucked water all over the bathroom floor. Alessandra after mopping it poured some acid chemical thing down it to dissolve whatever was blocking it and it smelt horrible it really made you feel sick. 

In the evening we went down to Rovescala again for the festival. They had a live band...with an accordion. Let us now say I hate that instrument with a passion! One song MAY sound good played on it but a whole nights worth was awful. Still it was a fun night free food and music and it didn't rain. 

Week 9: Rain, Sun, Rain, Sun

Sunday:

Late night and an early start up at 7.05 to get ready for church. There were two new sister missionaries as the others were transferred or had completed their mission. They were both lovely and unfortunately they both finish their missions in a week and a half so there will be new ones again! Got picked up from the train station, the family had guests over some friends from Milan. We had lunch and afterwards I went to bed I was so tired I couldn't stay awake and Alessadra sugested I go. I think they find it slightly amusing how much I sleep the hot weather certainly has an effect on me! I managed a nice three hour nap.  Fede and Stefano spent the majority of the day at the motor pitch riding their motorbikes. Fede came back extremely tired and therefore cross and agitated. An early night after a long day. 

Monday:

Woke up at 2.30 in the morning with a massive headache, luckily I was able to find the paracetamol without having to wake anyone up though it took me an hour or so after to get back to sleep. English with Fede and Bea. Cleaned my room out thoroughly with Hoover and sister bye bye all spiders. Went in the pool. 

Tuesday:

Finished reading Alice in wonderland with Bea. Fede got in a really bad mood with me because I asked him I do his guitar practice instead of watching TV. Which he had been doing for the whole afternoon. 

Wednesday:

Went into Broni with Alesandra who did the food shop. More English with Fede. In the afternoon we wet in a walk - me Alessandra Bea and her friend Sofia - round Scazzolino where we picked figs. Fig is a strange fruit it looks like a sea anemone and I have no fondness for it.

A house had it's own little shrine on the side of it in Scazzolino

Fig tree

We also went up to see Fede at his motorcross circuit he was good!

Over a jump: Fede

Thursday:

Lack of sleep last night, it was almost like waiting for Christmas Day to come, waiting for school results. I did respectfully though I had hoped for a little better. Three A's in: Medieval History, English Literature and English Language and an A* in General Studies. I really wanted an A* in History though but nevermind they are still fantastic grades and I've comfortably earned my place at university. In the afternoon a parcel arrived from home with chocolate and English books. Then me Alessandra and Bea went blackberry piling we didn't find many though it had been a bad season for fruit. I caught my ankle on the gate as I was closing it and managed to take a chunk out very sore and makes it a little difficult to walk as it is on the bend.

Friday:

Today is a special feast day in Italy for all the Catholics. So at 10am they all went to mass, I stayed back though I was invited. Though curious to see a catholic mass I thought as I didn't speak Italian there wouldn't serve much purpose in me being there. After they came and picked me up, and then we drove to the mountains where we had a picnic. 

Very green. 

The clouds were pretty, fluffy white with the edges lit up lit silver

After the picnic we went into the woods to pick raspberries we found quite a lot. The kids have found out my fear of insects so kept pretending to thow bugs at me etc. it was funny at first but then annoying. However I got my ownback haha ;) 

After finishing picking fruit we went back to car as it had started to rain. As I opened the boot I saw something jump inside and then dissappear. A lizard. All of them hate lizards, Bea, Fede, Stefano and Alessandra. So I said "wait there is a lizard in the car" already Bea and Fede screamed and ran away (they hadn't even seen it) Alessandra didn't believe me at first because she knew I was waiting to tease Fede and Bea back. I looked in the boot and couldn't see it anywhere. It didn't help I was laughing so much they still thought I was kidding. Until we lifted the base up and there it was in a little side pocket! 

The real screams began now!

It began to rain a little harder. All the contents of the boot was on the ground outside and we didn't know how to get it out. Eventually Alessandra managed to get it out by wrapping it in a cloth which she then flung on the ground. 

It was quite a sweet little thing. 

I think it might have been hurt because it want moving very fast and it was staying in the middle of the car park. Stefano asked if I could move it. So bravely I picked it up and deposited it in the woods. It felt soft rather than scaly but even I got a bit squeamish when it started wiggling in my hand! Of course having now seen me touch the lizard this was too much for Bea and Fede and they refused to come near me, so I chased them round the car park a bit with my finger! Payback for the insects! Then when we had to get in the car to go, I normally sit in the middle but Bea and Fede had squashed right up the other side of the car so I got a nice side seat! They didn't want to be near a hand that had touched a lizard in their words "che schifo".

Saturday:

No horse riding today as the guy is on holiday, so another trip to McDonalds for us! Had a mini brioche. Made good use of the wifi, updated the blog, and all other social network sites. Thank goodness McDonalds is so close to the supermarket or I would never be able to visit it this often. It looks like it might be rain for the rest of the day it rained last night and the day is not looking too good.