Better late than never.
Sunday we (Laynie, Trey, Lyndi, and I) planned to go
to Earth Trust to catch up on our last few volunteer hours. The only issue with
that is we had just received a WHOLE BUNCH of rain and just about everywhere
had flooded including pastures and roads. That meant that there was no way we
were getting out to Dorchester by bus and then hiking nine miles to Earth
Trust. Plus, the time we were supposed to be at Earth Trust was an hour before
the buses started toting people around. We were in a serious pickle. So, we
cautiously asked Jacque if there was anyway she could take us. She seemed a tad
reluctant, but with our charming smiles, pleading eyes, perfected puppy dog
faces, and our natural cool factor, we persuaded her. We end up going on a bit
of an adventure. We all piled into Jacque's cute little car at 8:45am and began
the road trip. It was a little awkward at first because we thought Jacque was a
little miffed that we didn’t prepare for this before we agreed to work at Earth
Trust, but soon we were laughing, joking, and cruisin’ along. We had to go a
completely different way because the roads were so flooded and went in quite a
few donuts a.k.a. roundabouts because we kept missing our turn off point.
Jacque is probably an expert trick car driver by now. At one point, we went
down a road that had some cones on it (clearly it was highlighting the way we
should go) and encountered a fully flooded road that went on for a good twenty
feet or so. Cars can float in up to two feet of water and Jacque’s car was kind
of a lightweight so we all held our breath (at least I did, nearly passed out
we were going so slowly) as she eased her way through the water and through the
road. We couldn’t even really see the road, just water in the outline of a
road. It was all very exciting. Eventually we arrived at Earth Trust semi
unscathed and hopped out to find our supervisors. Earth Trust did not look very,
hmmm, lively. There was literally no one around. Then we started freaking out
thinking we made Jacque come all this way and drive so far and put her little
car through so much only to find out we had the day wrong. Jacque told us to go
see if we could find anyone (reasonable thing to do) before she left so like a
good Auntie, she waited by the car while the kids ran inside. We ended up
finding some people and waved Jacque down, thanked her endlessly, and followed
our supervisors. We were told that today was a kind of Christmas festival and
we would all be helping with crafts. Lemme tell ya, I FREAKING LOVE CRAFTS. So,
needless to say, I felt like I was in kindergarten again. We learned how to
make wreaths, like real ones out of super long willow and dogwood branches, and
how to decorate them. We also learned how to make star wands out of little
pieces of willow and Laynie and I learned how to make pomanders, which are
oranges with cloves stuck in them to make a lovely Christmassy smell. That
booth was fun too because little kids could do that one all by themselve and they were all surprisingly very focused.
SIDE NOTE: English children are so smart and polite.
They are precious. Add their little English accents to all that and your heart
just about melts every time you talk to one.
Anyway, we had a lot of fun making crafts at Earth
Trust. We had to take lunch breaks in shifts so Laynie and Lyndi went first,
came back, and then Trey and I had a date :) He and I have been friends for
over a decade! That’s a long time. My bro Trey had this awesome hat that he had
to wear, but bless him, he’s got a big head and it just was a small hat. He was
a good sport though.
It was so much fun getting to spend the day just
making crafts, teaching people how to do it, joking around with each other, and
getting to interact with our supervisors who were SO nice as were the people and
kids that came to learn. The kids were so sweet and surprisingly brilliant for
their ages. That was another thing that struck me about the kids in the UK.
They are so smart and independent starting from a very young age. Laynie and I were
helping a mother and her little girl make a pomander and her mom would try to
stick a clove in it and the little girl would forcibly say no, and continue
sticking the orange with the spiky stick and then inserting a clove in the
pattern that she was choosing. SHE WAS THREE. In America, most parents would
flip if anyone handed their child a pointy object and told them to stab
something with it. In addition to that, there is no way they would allow them
to do it by themselves because they wouldn’t think that they could. Amazing.
Kids are amazing. Anyway, after the craft craze the day dwindled down and we
asked our supervisors if they knew if the buses were still running to Dorchester
considering the flooding. They looked nervously at us and told us no they
probably weren’t and in addition to that, hiking all the way to Dorchester was
probably not a good idea for us. They then offered to give us a ride to the
train station, which was about a twenty-minute drive. Our main supervisor and
another helper discussed what to do and who should take us and assured us that
they would get someone to take us. Eventually we all piled into the Earth Trust
truck (which brought back lots of memories of my Pops truck when we trained
cutting horses) and they took us to the train station! We made it just in time,
got a discount on our tickets because there were four of us, and got to our
platform and hopped on our train home. Once we got home, Laynie and I went to
the Eagle and Child for supper and got fish and chips because she hadn’t eaten
there yet. That pretty much finished out the day for us. It was a pretty good
one!
Monday was a normal school day, nothing special.
Tuesday Laynie and I got up early and did laundry,
and then we went shopping at this antique shop that we found and looked at old
cameras for Laynie. We both are interested in film photography and I have my
eye on a camera back home that is hopefully still there.
But, we looked at them, found the one she liked best, and took notes on it to research it when we got home. Then we went to class at the good ol’ Quaker church for the last time. When we got there we were surprised with our classroom (their meeting place) being trashed. We think they were practicing their Christmas pageant and forgot to clean up. After talking to Jacque and Dale, the overseer of the Quaker church, we discovered there was a miscommunication on who was using the Quaker church that day so we were told to go home and that we’d have class at home in the classroom. And so we went home…but not without having some fun in the Quaker church for the last time.
But, we looked at them, found the one she liked best, and took notes on it to research it when we got home. Then we went to class at the good ol’ Quaker church for the last time. When we got there we were surprised with our classroom (their meeting place) being trashed. We think they were practicing their Christmas pageant and forgot to clean up. After talking to Jacque and Dale, the overseer of the Quaker church, we discovered there was a miscommunication on who was using the Quaker church that day so we were told to go home and that we’d have class at home in the classroom. And so we went home…but not without having some fun in the Quaker church for the last time.
Once we got home we had class like usual and then
just hung out the rest of the day like we always do!
Wednesday Laynie and I got up and went to the market
for the last time. It was so sad. All those fresh veggies and fresh fruit and
fresh bread and fresh pasties, never to be seen again (until we go back which
will hopefully be our graduation present to ourselves). We then headed back to
the house, had class like usual, yet again, I did some studying, Laynie did
some studying, and then we quit studying (shocker) and went to the antique
shop. We bought Laynie’s camera after some deliberation and then went to the covered
market. The covered market is always cool and always fun. We got some moomoo’s
(shakes) and some Ben’s cookies (honestly I think Jonathan’s mom’s are better),
did some shopping, and came home to study for finals a wee bit more.
All this week I was fighting off a cold so Thursday
pulled around, I woke up, took a couple finals, tried to study some for the
next day’s finals, and passed out. I just slept and slept and slept and blew my
nose and then slept some more. That is seriously all Thursday had in store for
me.
Friday again was pretty chill, we just woke up, took
our last finals, Laynie and I made some yummy yummy chicken and veggies for
lunch, and watched New Girl. I spent the rest of the day celebrating the end of
finals and sleeping some more while Laynie worried and studied for French with
Lyndi. At about 4:00pm we went and saw Mary one last time at her apartment and
had tea with her and Joy. We exchanged mailing addresses and promised to stay
in touch and gave hugs and said a tearful farewell.
Saturday Laynie, Brady, me, and Shelbs went to
Stonehenge and Bath with the Crackens. It was so much fun. We hopped on the
train to Bath and were immediately separated. There were SO many people on the
train to Bath all because of the Christmas Market that they put on each year. I
was standing by Laynie and Coleen, the Crackens’ sister-in-law when I had to go
to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, there was no getting back to
my spot. I was lucky I even got out of the bathroom there were so many people. I
ended up being squashed against this family that I talked to for the hour-long
train ride. They were going to the Christmas Market as well to shop for
Christmas presents for the oldest girl’s boyfriend and little Michael’s
girlfriend. Laynie kept laughing her head off at me because our situation was
just so funny. My newfound family and I were talking about the weather and how
cold it was getting and when I mentioned I wish it’d snow, they just about gave
me a death glare. People over there do not like their snow. They said it’s only
fun for the first day and then it gets all sludgy and dangerous. In any case,
Laynie and I continued to pray for snow before we had to leave despite what the
locals wanted. Anyways, we finally arrived in Bath. We didn’t actually get to
go to the Roman Baths, which I was a little disappointed with because I love
Roman history, but it was just too expensive and Laynie pinky promised me that
when we came back we would go which is basically a blood pact as most three year olds will tell you. So, we were in Bath and had a couple hours to kill
so we told the Crackens we would meet up with them and went out to explore the
Christmas Market. There were booths for every thing everywhere. It was so cool. I
reminded me a lot of the markets in Germany. I wish Abilene had cool things
like that. Baah. OH! AND right before we left we were watching these men in funny costumes dance and Laynie had a tramatic experience with one of them that was dressed up like a horse...it followed her and then chased her. I literally, almost peed myself. And, as any good friend would, I took pictures and videos as it happened.
Anyway, soon we met up with the Crackens and were on our way
to Stonehenge. The bus ride was about an hour long and so Laynie and did what
we do best: SUPER MODEL DOCUMENTARY HOUR!
Reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
HAHAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT THE EXPRESSION OF UTTER TERROR ON HER FACE |
The monster chasing Laynie hahaha |
Dancers |
TarTar attack! We love her. |
Annnnnnddd then we both fell asleep. Once we arrived
at Stonehenge, we went and got our tickets with our tour group and the Crackens
and then began our tour. They gave us audio guides which was cool, but you had
to hold it up like a phone so everyone that was at Stonehenge looked like they
were all on their phones. Kinda funny.
Anyways, we walked around Stonehenge. It was so cool. No one is 100% sure what it was used for, but it was definitely important. It is also near the burial mounds so that may have something to do with it. But, the different myths (yes, aliens are one. That is so dumb. Like for real.) were interested to hear about and just getting to be there at such a famous artifact was really cool.
Anyways, we walked around Stonehenge. It was so cool. No one is 100% sure what it was used for, but it was definitely important. It is also near the burial mounds so that may have something to do with it. But, the different myths (yes, aliens are one. That is so dumb. Like for real.) were interested to hear about and just getting to be there at such a famous artifact was really cool.
Me and Laynsters McGee <3 |
Pretty pretty Laynie dawg |
Cracken family...Lewis and Clark there in the middle |
Me and Collen being real cool... |
Super Model Documentary Hour! |
What "they" think Stonehenge used to look like |
After Stonehenge we piled back on the bus, I passed
out again, and soon enough I woke up in Bath. It was just about four thirty or
so and almost completely dark outside. I never could get used to that. Over
there it gets like 9:00pm dark at like 4:00pm. Make you feel like your day is
all over when really it’s just the evening. Weird. The Crackens, Brady, and
Shelby stayed in Bath for a little while longer while Laynie and I decided to
head home by ourselves. On the way home Laynie and I stopped at Ali’s and got
some kebabs. YUM :) Then we headed back home and had a picnic in her room and
watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which I fell asleep in due to
my energy sapping sickness. After the movie we called it a day and hit the hay.
Hey, that rhymed :)
Sunday morning we got up and headed to St. Andrews to
do nursery duty for the last time. I went to my five year olds and Laynie went
to her three year olds. After class, my teachers and I were talking and saying
goodbye and I promised to write them a letter from Texas, which they loved.
Then I went to the big classroom downstairs and helped with the kiddos for the
11:00am service as well while Laynie went to church with Mary and Mary. Playing
with those kids was so much fun. When I helped with the five year olds, I
didn’t really get to interact with the kids very much and just helped with
crafts and sat with them. But this time I got to hold Henry, a six-month old
baby for a good while and play with Alex and James, his brothers. James was a
knight and was dressed for the part and we talked about how he was a knight and
his name was SIR James and how his little brother Alex was his squire, to which
Alex, being two, responded that he was not a squire, he was a cabin boy. Sir
James and I apologized and continued talking about his faithful steed Chester
and talked about how Henry was going to be his pageboy once he could walk and
talk. Solid conversation and playtime :) It made me miss Cash and Clara a lot.
After that I read a couple of books to the lovely three-year-old Naomi and her
friend Laynie (coincidence!) which was really fun. Naomi would repeat
everything I said and was so cute in her little accent and dainty way of
speaking. After watching the kids, Lesley, the head lady we worked for, invited
us over for lunch at her flat. So, Laynie, Ashley, Sarah, and I went there for
lunch and it was sooo good. We were introduced to John, Lesley’s friend, and he
made us laugh a whole lot. They made us lunch and it was a lot like something
we would eat on Thanksgiving. John then told us he hated Christmas and how
consumer driven it has come. We all agreed, but it was kind of awkward for a
minute or two. Then Lesley showed us one of the old Queen’s Speech’s online
from last year. Every year the queen gives a Christmas speech kinda going over
the past year and that kind of thing. It was so awesome. I just love British
accents. And Lesley did an impersonation of the queen’s voice and it was right
on. Hilarious. After lunch Lesley gave us a ride home, Laynie and I did
laundry, and I started packing. Then Laynie and I with a handful of others set
out in the frigid cold in search of ice-skating. And lo and behold, after thirty
minutes of walking around, we found it! Annnnnddd then we turned around and
left because they were having some kind of show and it was closed to the
public. LAME. So, naturally, after that fail Laynie and I went and got some
Ali’s yet again. Then we watched another movie and at our food. I’m gonna miss
Ali’s like crazy. Mmmmm. :)
Monday we just slept in, I did some more packing, and
we had book buy back. That’s always exciting because you get money back. Wahoo.
And, we also had our gigantic kitchen scavenger hunt. We had to go to all seven
kitchens from both houses combined and search for our utensils and cooking
tools. Each floor had a color and type of silverware, glass, and plates/bowls.
It was a little stressful, but we made it out alive. Then Laynie and I went for
a walk because I was getting frustrated with my suitcase weight and we both
wanted Moomoo’s even though it was like 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So, on our way
out we ran into Auntie Jacque in person. Then we invited her to come with us to
Moomoo’s and she said she’d meet us there in a bit after Laynie and I did some
last minute shopping. It literally took us like thirty minutes to get
everything we needed, so we sat outside of Moomoo’s and waited for another
thirty minutes for Jacque. Lemme tell ya, it was freaking COLD. But, we made it
through, Jacque went up on the cool factor scale because she actually showed up
and then raced Laynie and I’s bus the way home on her bike (it was too bitterly cold to
walk home). After we got home we vegged out for a bit and then hit up the Rose
and Crown with a few friends and Jacque and Mike! It was really fun. They are
the most adorable couple ever. And Jacque looks like Anne Hathaway’s sister or
twin, just as a side note. Anyways, the Rose and Crown was pretty good, I still
like the fish and chips at the White Horse better, but that’s just me.
Tuesday morning I finished packing, tided up my room
a bit, and then Laynie and I got out of the house again, this time with Brady
in tow. And, yet again, on our way out, we ran into Jacque and we told her we’d
meet her at the Jericho Café and have a drink with her. After walking and
shopping for a little bit we meandered over to the café and sat down and talked
to Jacque. It was really fun because it was like we got to be actual friends
with her instead of just being students. It was really fun. Later that night we
had the ACU dinner at an Italian place that was…really…good… … Catch my
sarcasm? Laynie and I ordered something we had no idea what it was really, but
ordered it anyways, and regretted the decision immediately. We looked at each
other super smilingly (we were sitting across from Mike and Jacque and we didn't want to hurt their feelings or anything so we
couldn’t bash the supper) and said through clenched teeth and forced smiles
that our food was horrible and that we didn’t want to eat it anymore. I
couldn’t stop laughing; we get our selves into the worst situations. And no, I
definitely did not eat all of it.
Wednesday we all just kinda hung out for a couple of
hours. We assembled for fruit juice boxes and croissants for breakfast at the
lovely hour of SIX AM and everyone was surprisingly very calm and no one was
too grumpy. AND, wouldn’t you know it, on the very last morning we were here,
it began to snow.
Photo props to Laynie Haley |
Adorable socks. Then man in front of me was laughing
so hard. So, Laynie, Brady, and I continue through security until the most
awful thing ever happens: Brady’s bags, which are packed full to perfection and
approved by the OCD master himself, get flagged for a random check. Poor Brady
had to stand there and watch as they unpacked both of his bags and checked all
through it and then he had to resemble everything just perfectly to fit back
where he had it. This took a good thirty to forty-five minutes. Needless to
say, Laynie and I sat down. After that fiasco we found our gate and some coffee
and waited to get on our plane that would take us home. For a while we were all
a little worried that our flight would be cancelled due to the fog that had set
in. In fact, over eighty flights had already been delayed and/or cancelled. We
luckily averted that crisis and were allowed to get on our plane. Cracken was
super nice to me and let me switch him seats so Laynie and I could sit together
which helped with the ten hour flight stress and boredrum. We both wrote the
majority of our reflection papers for INTS and watched a good deal of movies.
We also suffered through the uncommonly consistent release of gas emitted by
the lovely elderly gentleman seated behind us. We found many excuses to get up
and move about the plane. Once we landed we went through passport control. Let
me just tell you, there are few better feelings than getting your passport
stamped by US Passport Control and them saying, “Welcome home, Miss Wilkins.”
And I always feel like I’m in a super awesome movie like Inception when that
happens to me. Once we went through passport control those of us catching
another flight had to go and find our bags and recheck them. It was at this
unhappy crossing that Laynie and I had to say goodbye. With a quick hug and
promises to keep in touch over the break and plans for lunch when she returned
to Abilene, she was gone, running out with her luggage to be picked up by her
dad and surprised by her sister and brother. Lots and lots of tears were to be
had I am sure. I waited around for my pal Trey and then we went out and said
goodbye to everyone that was not catching another flight and at some Chic-fil-a
graciously supplied by Rachel’s dad. After that we went back through security
and found our gate to Abilene. At this point I started to get excited and it
started to set in that I was really, actually, finally, going home.
We
got some Starbucks while we were waiting, said goodbye to Strawb and Liz who
had been hanging out at our gate, and then boarded our plane home. I can
honestly say that that plane ride seemed like the longest flight ever. We
finally landed though and we got off the plane and started walking towards the
“arrivals area” (a.k.a. the side exit from security, Abilene’s airport is quite
small…). While I was walking, I noticed I started to get nervous a little and
my heart was beating really fast. And then I turned the corner and caught a
glimpse of my dad, mom, little brother, and my
best-friend/sister/we-were-separated-at-birth, Abby, all smiling and waiting
there for me. Any worries and anxiety that I had literally melted away once I
saw them. And now that I had seen them, I can’t stop laughing and smiling. I
ran up to my parents to give them a giant bear hug, but Paul intercepted me and
hugged me first and then I got to hug my parents and Abby. After we piled my
luggage in to the van, I went with Abby in her car to my house for supper with
the family. BUT on the way out, we received an estranged phone call from Rae
and Presley asking where I was, telling me that they were on their way, and
exclaiming that I had told them that my flight landed at 7:30pm…which it had.
Anyways, they were a tad bit late and we ended up stopping on the side of the
road and waiting for them. When we all got out of the car I could not stop
laughing because these two friends of mine are just goobers. I got out of the
car and in the light of the headlights of both our cars, I see the silhouette
of Rae, running at me, hear her scream “Malloryyyyy!!,” and feel her slam into
me. Over her shoulder I see Presley standing with her arms wide opened and just
staring up into the sky waiting for me. Then I basically tackled Presley and
gave her a huge hug. I love these girls so much hahaha They make me laugh,
which I also love to do. Anyways, after the hug fest Abby and I had to go, so
we said our goodbyes and said we’d see each other after the Christmas break.
Once Abby and I got home, we had a lovely home-cooked meal provided by my
amazing mother and just got to chill with my family. After supper, Abby went
back to the dorm to prepare and sleep before her final the next day and I got
to sleep in my bed with my cuddle buddy Kobe for the first time in about four
months. It was heavenly:) Finally laying in my bed, after having just been
greeted/attacked/heavily loved on, and having a home-cooked meal just made me
sigh with relief and the realization that I was finally HOME and all the things
I learned to care about and love in Oxford had come back with me and that there
was no where but up to go with those friendships and relationships and as cliché
as it might sound, those memories and friendships will stay with me my entire life.
Cheers for the last time (for a little while) from
across the pond,
Mallory Jean
...A FEW WEEKS LATER...
Finally being back home after being gone
for so long is really great, but I definitely miss my Oxford and my life I had
there. Coming back home with all the life long friendships that I made is a
huge blessing in my life and I am so excited to get to pursue those friendships
here back at home. Studying abroad in Oxford was probably the most exciting,
adventurous, sometimes scary, and most amazing thing I have ever done. I hope
to travel more and see more of the beautiful world God has placed us on and
that he has created. I am so thankful that I found a second family and a second
home in Oxford and I will never forget it. Thanks to everyone who supported and
encouraged me while I was abroad.
...A FEW WEEKS LATER...
I’M HOME Y’A’LL!
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