August Period, done.

Thursday-

We went on a hike! To the Brecon Beacons, this is apparently the highest point in the South of Wales. Three mini-buses full of AOC members, packed lunches and water bottles galore. It was a really nice day  I kept in the front with Simon and only passed on the opportunity to go up one peak. It was probably only about 10k, but going up and being such a big group we took quite a few breaks.


Friday-

Dress-Up Triathlon! I was in the ‘Cuddly Animals’ Team with Oli and Gerry. I had Paula draw a tail going down my leg, gills on my neck, my Stingray Swim Cap and I was set. Oli had a full on Giraffe Costume which he managed to keep on even with a helmet for the bike. Gerry was a panda. We came second- Simon in the teacher team on the bike was too much for us. (I was the first to touch Oli’s hand for the pass over though, first time swimming in the Outdoor Pool!)

The rest of the day we prepared for the First Years. I took on the job of making Birthday Bunting Flags. It was quite nice though because I listened to the Harry Potter Audiobook while making them. Yeaaah Buddy.

The teacher’s had a show for the Second Years that evening. It was actually pretty funny! They made fun of us in our services and our houses and each other. Marcross after that.


Saturday-
SLEEP. Finally got to sleep in!


I then made Buddy Dorm posters, wrote letters and dabbled in a bit of EE editing. That afternoon I walked to Nash Point (past the lighthouse) with a bunch of friends to have a BBQ. Turns out we couldn’t there. So we kept walking, to do a circle around the Marcross. In this time I managed to step in boggy water- so I was doing the island barefoot way. Thankfully, a kind farmer said we could use his field if we cleaned up. I ate guacamole and chips, and Shana’s vegetables and humus. Good stuff.

Nearly the whole of the Second Year came, our last night together. It was amazing. All that needs to be said.


Sunday-

FIRST YEARS. AH. I was SO excited, eating my peas and corn at lunch I could barely reach my mouth as my hands were shaking. The expression one of my Second Years told me was more than true today ‘In AC, you experience the highest highs and the lowest lows, and they’ll probably happen in the same day’.

A few of my friends were having drama-rama problems. Which was so hard.


Even so, we got to cheer the cars coming in. More often it was a car passing down, which was SUCH a let down. I got to run a car to Morgannwg, as Mary did for me. I wore my Caymanian flag. The weather was beautiful. The bus arrived. The cheering continued. The atmosphere was euphoric. I loved it. That night I spoke to as many First Years as I could. But between little sleep and so many emotions- I was EXHAUSTED. Our house is not 48, half unfamiliar. The extra dorm is being built, and while it is being built the dorm next to me [Paula, Proma, Coral and Sara], have moved into a Castle Dorm. Probably for a couple of months. The call themselves the infinity dorm. The building in the started today, they’ve broken down a wall- right by Chloe’s window. Lots of noise. Oh Well.

Today- I RAN FOR THE FIRST TIME OUTSIDE EVER. Monumental. I had hoped to go to the gym, but it was still locked. And I haven’t properly exercised for over 3 weeks. Heidi ran with me to the Plough and Harrow and then she kept going and I ran back. Not too much, but it’s a start. *This happened after we had a House breakfast of Waffles and fruit. MMM.

This has been very rushed and not enough detail. I am sorry. I hope I covered the basics.

I leave for Camp tomorrow morning. YAY.

AOC Diploma Week

AOC- Monday: My group did the Ropes Course in the morning. This involved going up the Jacob’s ladder, which I did with one of the AOC summer instructors named Andrew from University of Victoria and Proma. We worked quite well because up until about half way I was able to use my long legs. From there we used each other’s thighs, heads, arms… anything to get to the top


Then we went up a wobbling pole one by one and did the leap of faith. Very adrenaline-inducing, my hands were still shaking the whole way through lunch. The afternoon we did a canoeing session in the outdoor pool, all games we already knew but were fun to do in the water as it wasn’t too cold yet. The Head-Shoulders-Knees and Toes, while standing on the kayaks while all the Surf Lifeguards watched us was the most memorable: I promised that one day I’d teach them how to be on my level.


Yesterday evening we went to good ole Marcross. There were about 20 of us and we all sat on a long line of picnic benches outside. I thought it was great.. Especially being able to come back to Morgannwg and have Open House, Norwegian Waffles and Brown Cheese (separately eaten for me). MMM.


This morning we went on a two hour drive to West Wales, West of Swansea to a place that escaped my mind as soon as I heard its name, to go rock climbing. (Checked: Gower Peninsula off of Boiler Slab). Though I never have considered climbing fun- I actually really enjoyed it! It’s much more fun on real rocks than on Climbing Walls. Simon set up three different ropes, each at a different difficulty. After about an hour of me lying in the sun with my eyes closed I did the climbing (on the easiest rope of course). It was very rewarding to get to the top  and abseiling back down was even better. I then got to have a great chat with Anantya, comparing India and Cayman and learning his life story (as I manage to do quite often when I’m given the chance to question someone with no interruptions). Also another great UWC-worthy conversation with Proma about being a ‘UN kid’, living in so many places and the stereotypes that come with the background, schools. We even managed to stop at McDonalds on the way back for Oli so he could have his desperately anticipated McNuggets.


********* Wednesday- Today we went to Pothole-Y-Ogof, supposedly in Glyneath. All these Welsh places sound so bizarre. Anyways it was to go Caving! After kitting up in a swimsuit, rash vest, wetsuit, hoodie, socks, wellies, helmet, flash light and one big one suit to go over the top to look like an Ompa-Loompa we were ready for action. I’d say we were under for about 2 hours. Some things I liked, some not so much. Going through small crevices isn’t scary in the sense of Claustrophobia to me, it’s just so restricting and feeling like a suicidal caterpillar wiggling along just wasn’t cool bro. Oli, Anantya and I stuck together as we had mutual feelings. When we were deep enough in, Simon got us to sit and get comfortable and we turned off all of our lights. Pitch Blackness for the first time. The whole waving the hand in front of your face and seeing naaaaathing. It was bizarre- I kept thinking if I turned my head I’d see the safety sign, or something.

Back to the Castle

Arriving back on Tuesday night was very strange indeed. Walking up Main Drive with my suitcase I was convinced I was seeing Second Years in the dayroom. But they were hallucinations, or what I wanted to see. Walking past my old Dorm 12 I entered Dorm 9, the other side of the corridor and closest to the bathroom. Again, strange. Unpacking my things on the bed that’s not by the window: strange. (This took a good few hours by the way).

Screaming and shouting at my co years in the house: lovely. It felt like no time had passed. We were half a house, but a happy house.
We’ve found out our first years:
Dorm 3
Luke Miller (second year)
Naing Thant Phyo - Myanmar
Jimmy Dietz - Netherlands
Ioannes Alexiou - Greece

Dorm 4
Juan Jose Palacio Duque - Guatamala
Hamed Sharriff - Kenya
Paul Kammer - Germany
Odbayar Buyantogtokh - Mongolia

Dorm 5
Giorgio Savni Zangrandi - Italy
Ibukunoluwa Adeleye - Nigeria
Francis-William Afrifa - Netherlands
Mohamad Takiudin - Malaysia

Dorm 6
Eirik Angelsen - Norway
Abdul Hakam El Mitshu - Libya
Zhonglun Wang - China
Daniel Burke-Ward - United Kingdom

Girl Dorms

Dorm 10
Maria Benazzo - Italy
Hannah Pauline Eick Menes - Norway
Yiran Shan - China
Antonia Nicholls - Ireland

Dorm 11
Heidi Egeland - Norway (second year)
Lalita Lalitnantawat - Thailand (second year)
Hristina Gvozdenovic - Serbia
Aja Krystall-Parkin - USA

Dorm 12
Christel Forey - France
Namrata Singh - India
Camilla Bier - Denmark
Yvonne Boateng - Ghana

Dorm 14
Aiden Norton - Canada
Nina Melkonyan - Armenia
Victoria Sheila Walker - United Kingdom
Cheahuychou Mao – Cambodia


If you’ve noticed we have a Dorm 14. This is new, and though it will be lovely to have more first years- quite distressing. They are remodelling the upstairs quiet room and ironing room in three houses to make a dorm room for 15 more students. That will make our house 52 students. With only one study room…

I also missed out on ‘claiming’ a carol unit yesterday, so am quite worried. Desperately hoping I can find a suitable place to leave some of my things and get adequate peace to work. Oh boy..

Yesterday we had a University Presentation and today we have a Personal Statement workshop and then our services are taking over! Lifeguard and ILB are going on a camping trip and patrolling the beaches, Media Service is going to some festival. Not sure about the others.

AOC, which work with children (and have been all summer long), are taking us from Monday-Friday next week for a bunch of fun activities.
Here is what my group is doing (there are 3 groups):

Day / Date

09:30 - 12:00

14:00 - 16:00

Activity

Instructor

Activity

Instructor

Aug 13th

High-ropes

RA, AL ,RH

Canoeing

RA, AL ,RH

Aug 14th

Climbing

SN, RH, AL

Climbing

SN, RH, AL

Aug 15

Caving

SN, RH, AL

Caving

SN, RH, AL

Aug 16

Mountain Day

RHm, SN, RY, RA, PH

Uvicers

Mountain Day

RHm, SN, RY, RA, PH

Uvicers

Aug 17

Fancy Dress Triathlon

Volleyball Tourney

More soon,
xxo
Abi :)

The end of Nice*

Saturday-
We didn't wake up until about midday (come on, we're still on summer!).

The day consisted of a 2 hour walk up a *mountain (to me) and around to beautiful views of Monaco. The breeze was so nice at the top and there was the same satisfaction of making it that I felt in Cader Idris. We brought Silah, their Labrador as well :)

That night we had a dinner at the house, Chef Caroline impressed yet again. Prawn curry, Chicken curry, rice, French Bread, Heidi's salad and gelato for dessert. Ahhhh. One of my first years (omg did I just say that?!), Chloe's good friend Antonia and her mum came. Also Chloe's friend Ali. I thought everyone was so friendly.


Sunday-

Walk to La Gorra, Antonia's house. About an hour in the sun. There I met another one of my first year's, Zara. We had so much cake. And of course I had to try every one... Caroline's chocolate cake again. dkhgdashgsa. Antonia's carrot cake. And a lemon bar. MMMMM.

That night we went to a restaurant Chloe rates on their amazing American desserts called Stars and Bars. It was lovely. -Chloe, Rhys, Heidi, Ali, Seb, Daniel and Ben (Seb's friends). Before walking there we took a walk along the marina at all the impressive boats. They were nice enough. But what got me more excited was that at least nine out of ten were registered in George Town, CI and were waving the red Caymanian flag. YEAH BUDDY.

We then went to the Open Air Cinema, which was a first for me. It's only in summer and doesn't start until it's dark (so about 10). We watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was a really sweet movie (but then I enjoy the majority of light and happy movies). It was good to watch it with the French subtitles as well- something I need to do more. Something that Ben pointed out was also funny -right above the screen is the Monaco prison. Imagine! Sea views for all.

Monday-

Today we slept in quite late. Then I repacked, Chloe packed. We made juice! Chloe let me put in whatever I wanted, bless her. So it had: apples, pineapple, lemon, mango, beetroot and spinach. Sneer all you want, the vitamins and the sweetness was monumental.

We met Ali at the Plage Mala today. It was a pebble beach but very pretty. Lovely, relaxed day before school (EEK).


Now everyone is getting ready to go out to dinner in Monaco (nine of us!). Chloe's dad is back, which is great :D The restaurant is called La Note Bleue, and after Chloe mentioned something about a Buddha Bar...


xxo

-the next blog should be back to the normal script- actual AC news!

Love, Abi

Italiaaa!

Yesterday we went to San Remo in Italy, it's only half an hour from Chloe's house to drive. We walked around a few streets that Chloe loves to shop in and had espresso's (well some of us did, I wasn't too keen) in a very nice cafe. Apparently because we ordered the espresso after 11, it's a sure sign that we're tourists. Oh well...

We then had lunch in a gorgeous restaurant at the bottom of a cliff, somewhere that if you didn't know about it from someone else you would never come upon.  It was called La Spiaggetta Blazi Rossi, here's a link for pictures:
http://balzirossi.it/la-spiaggetta/?lang=fr

After having a lovely lunch I was itching to get into the sun, it looked glorious. We went swimming in water that would be a cold January in Cayman, so very bearable on my standards (a hot tub to Heidi). We climbed rocks, skipped pebbles and jumped off of more rocks. It was a very typical beach day, but so perfect. Though there weren't many, it was my first time being at a beach that there were a few topless people. Olala.

We drove back just before 5. Chloe and I made freshly squeezed juice. I'm a convert. Not sure if that's the right way to say it, but I've become obsessed with it. We included apples, pineapple, mango, lemon and peaches. SO GOOD. And very healthy. I've decided this is a must for University. I will be a proud juicer.

Anyways that night we went to a small get together for one of Chloe's friends who is going to University in Boston. It was interesting to see the 'Monaco' kids. Some of the guys only spoke Italian to each other and then when Marta (the host) asked them to speak English they would go silent, simply because they had never spoken to each other in English before and didn't know what to say.
The best part of the night was by far Heidi speaking to Maike. She was telling Heidi about how her parents had a 'Treehouse Bed and Breakfast'. Which is pretty cool. But Heidi had never heard of a Treehouse before. So the questions she was asking! 'What colour do you paint them?', 'Where do you sleep?', 'In a bed?!' ... Maybe you had to be there but it had Chloe and I in hysterics.

Nice, Monaco

We arrived in Nice after a 3-hour flight, to beautiful heat. Well I thought it was beautiful. Heidi was a little less enthusiastic. We drove through these winding roads, getting higher and higher to what I felt were mountains, but are probably quite typical South of France terrain.

By time we were settled in Chloe’s it was about 8:30 and her mum made a delicious vegetable lasagne, and Heidi made the salad. She has been thanking Chloe’s mum for everything so far, which is making me feel like a terrible guest because I just can’t keep up. I try though.

That night, after blowing up the mattress that Chloe had to endure, and setting up the wicked mosquito-net window ever, we settled to bed by midnight. It was the first time I’ve ever slept under a mosquito net. Oh, the adventures.

Waking up at 11, having my muesli, eating pain au chocolat and watching the rowing for the Olympics, it was a perfect way to start the day.

Chloe’s mum took us in their BMW convertible, down the winding roads into Monte Carlo. It felt so free. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a convertible before. So we went to the Monte Carlo Country Club. Then we sat in front of the Hotel de Paris in Casino Square (Place du Casino), having a drink at the Café de Paris (Mojitos!).

We then went to the Metropole, the shopping centre, where I was so disappointed that they wouldn’t allow me to take photos in the shops. Why, I do not know. Something interesting is there must be a picture of the Prince and his wife in every shop. (That was what I was trying to take a photo of…). We tried these Macaroons that Chloe raves about, from the La Durée. Not that I’ve had many (any) before, but it was very yummy.

We walked to have gelato from another place the Chloe raves about (basically Chloe judges a place by their desserts). Rum and Raisin at its finest. Rhys was very messy though. Had me laughing hysterically. Then we saw the Royal Palace, (the flag was up, the Prince is there).


Back at Chloe’s we were in her pool, so nice with the sun still shining at 6:00.
Now Caroline is making something with lentils. I, for one, am excited.


ITALY TOMORROW.

xxo

Abi