Venturing South

Over two consecutive weekends I visited my friend Jude who is working in Lewes over the summer. I had never been to East Sussex before and I was very impressed by the sights I encountered.

First of all Lewes. It's a beautiful town with picturesque houses and graceful gardens. You can find the ruins of an old monastery with an extremely well developed toilet system so that no monk had to queue for the latrines (Yes, that's the detail I picked up on...). There are many independent cafés with organic and original food. The one we went to didn't even serve coke. A respectable town should always have a castle, which Lewes does have. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit it, but the view over the valley was also worth the steep walk up the hill.

We did a quick trip to Brighton, which is only 15 minutes from Lewes if you take the train. We arrived there a few hours after the world-famous gay pride parade ended. The atmosphere had gone from festive to rather drunk and merry, which was interesting... We walked up the Pier, tried a few arcade games, watched the scary-looking rides from the safe ground to finally sit down on the free deck chairs on the Pier. Before I had to embark on my long journey back to Essex, we also took the chance to wander Brighton's artsy streets. It is definitely a place I want to go back to so that I can explore more of it!

Brighton

The next Saturday was part of the heritage open days, which take place every year in September and that way we had the opportunity to visit Bodiam Castle for free. Built in the 14th century this edifice is 'what a castle should look like'(Jude) and that is the exact same observation I made. If I had to draw a castle I would draw something very similar. The castle is located in a beautiful valley and anachronistically a steam train suddenly choochooed past us, as we were having both lunch and a hysterical fight against the local wasp community.

Bodiam Castle

Our next brief stopover was Rye, which is an adorable little town, with cute tea houses, gorgeous shops and small cobbled passages. After visiting the local craft fair, we had to get a move on as the sun was setting.

The Grand Finale of the day was the view onto the Seven Sisters. These legendary cliffs are a beautiful background for pictures and we definitely took advantage of that with a mildly embarrassing photo shoot. However, I have to say that we were extremely lucky with the weather and a dim sunsetting light illuminated the landscape. Jude knew of a great shortcut towards the view, through a remote residential area of Seaford, which shortened the usually 25 minute walk from the town to about 5 until we saw the Seven Sisters. The view is worth a detour (and was definitely worth me being really late for my train and nearly missing it!).

Seven Sisters

For anyone who wants to see a beautiful part of England I would definitely recommend East Sussex, as you can just drive around and see gorgeous scenery, cute cottages and impressive country houses before you even get to the many sights that are just waiting to be visited by you!

Essex Tales

In the past two weeks I've been exploring one of the most talked about counties in the UK. Beyond the general stereotype of the 'Essex girl' with which I had been confronted with when I first came to the UK, I decided to also watch the infamous TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex) as part of my 'research into the local culture'. In all fairness I got quite bored with it and it didn't teach me much... So rather I felt it to be my duty to write about my experience here, in case you also relied on these stereotypes.

Romford Market Place

 It's market day in Romford, there is a soft and constant drizzle and a man is sheltered under a roof, playing a gloomy melody on his trumpet, occasionally water splashes from the tarpaulin that covers the market stands. Romford being a historic Markettown, shopping is obviously the local sport. I surrendered and am quite thrilled to explore the various malls, which are definitely confusing for the foreign visitor. As I get out of the shopping centre, I hold on tight to my shopping bags, keeping my head down as it seems the rain just got heavier. I can't help but notice the footwear of the locals. Half of people, though mostly women, are wearing flipflops or Birkenstock. Some less crazy ones are wearing sandals... and here I am, wondering why anyone would look out of the window, see the grey sky and think that flipflops would be a good idea. But really, what I should admire is the people's immune systems. If my Mum saw me wear open shoes in such weather, she would run after me with a frying pan threatening me into changing into sensible trainers or boots, because I would otherwise catch pneumonia... and I'm rather inclined to believe her.

But I am being slightly unfair here, because I have actually really enjoyed my stay in Romford. I was lucky enough to find a home in Collier Row, a bit outside the city centre and rather near the countryside. The weather has been really nice ( it even went beyond 30°C -God bless swimming pools), much nicer than the climate I know from Birmingham. And also, green spaces are only a short walk away, the number of parks is just incredible. With my bike I explored the surroundings and quickly found myself in the middle of fields, literally surrounded only by fields. Here is a picture that in my opinion represents Essex well: two horses in the middle of field and in the distance you can see the London skyline. 

It's the countryside, half an hour away from the big smoke. And although I like London and its seemingly uncountable opportunities for entertainment, food; drink, culture and intellectual exchange, I realised when I was coming back from a day out there last week, that I really appreciated the peace and quiet in Essex. - Maybe I'm just getting old?

Havering-atte-Bower

Hon(n)i soit qui mal y pense

As I am writing this I am somewhere between England and France. I am on my way back 'home', France anyway. This is the end of my time in England, for now. I can still remember arriving here, about 4 years ago, being really scared and feeling quite lonely at first. I didn't understand most of the people, they had all sorts of different strange rules - these were my first and unhappy encounters with health and safety regulations. But I got to know people, students from all over the world as contact with other foreigners was much easier at the beginning - making British friends took a bit more time, but I've got them now! Speaking with people became easier as well and Birmingham had suddenly become my home. Birmingham and I had our ups and downs, more downs during the extremely busy final year, even though the last two months I spent in England passed by in the blink of an eye.

In a very franco-british way, I believe that I have developed some kind of love-hate relationship to the country, which makes me hate the weather above all and complain about it constantly (I’m sorry!) but I could not stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as the ferry left Portsmouth harbour.

Living in England is easy, you don't really feel foreign because there are so many different people of different origins, that I have never felt excluded. I mean I felt right where I was.

I have seen great places in Britain over the three years I have lived here. I will just mention a few which I haven't talked about in other posts. There are two places I'd like to recommend, these are York and Aberystwyth. I had never been told to visit York until a few months ago and I was intrigued, thinking that the only nice thing north of Birmingham was Scotland... how wrong I was. York was just so lovely with its little streets, its seemingly infinite amount of cute cafes, the different historic monuments and the walk along the city walls. It is a nice daytrip destination I believe, possibly in 'summer' :)

Aberystwyth is foremost a challenge for every foreigner when it comes to pronouncing its name. Luckily, I heard it many times in lecture, as we were informed by possibly every member of staff that international relations first emerged as a discipline in Aberystwyth in 1918. I then discovered that this oddly written place was in Wales and actually one of the nearest coastal places if you are in Birmingham! Off we went on a sunny but cold November day... to this beautiful and peaceful place. I admit there isn't much entertainment , but for a daytrip it was definitely worth it! The castle ruins, the walk up to the National Library of Wales and the promenade also offer many photo opportunities! Not to forget the panoramesque train journey from Birmingham!

Now, I just have a few concluding remarks to my time in England on various things that I saw, that I got annoyed at or that I laughed at. A few odd observations, that might make other people who have moved to the UK nod or smile, while making our British friends think about some of the peculiarities of their own country (if they haven't heard it from me before that is!)

Boots: Yes, I mean Boots, the store. I love it. And a lot of other people from abroad do. Why you might think, it's just Boots! Well, I think for us it's because it doesn't exist at home, no store has everything from medicine, other health products to beauty products... it just makes any woman happy!

Health and Safety: As I mentioned it before, this was a big discovery of mine, more annoying when one is trying to organise an event, or when they tell you that electric appliances need to be ‘PAT tested’, but rather entertaining in the public space. For example, this sign. ‘Slippery when wet’, which you can find on the staircases of many train stations. I cannot imagine it in French ‘glissant en cas de pluie’ or in German ‘rutschig wenn nass’ hanging in a train station in continental Europe. For us that sign makes as much sense as saying ‘cold when snowy’ or ‘bright when sunny’.

Plug socket switches: Why you need a switch on plugs is beyond me... and at the beginning of my time in England many devices were left uncharged, as I forgot to turn switches on. Terrible. More importantly they have created a generation of OCD people, who have the compulsion of turning them off when nothing is plugged in (You know who you are!).

Separate water taps: Really? I mean still? Why? I love getting up in the morning and having to decide whether I want to freeze or burn my hands today. 

The food: I think when my (French) Mum left me in England, she was quite worried about what I would eat and even in the following months she needed regular updates on my eating habits, as I was not only living on my own for the first time and but also in ENGLAND, where the food, according to good old stereotypes was just dreadful. I had a few bizarre encounters with beans on toast, which I still don't like, as well as Marmite, cucumber sandwiches and breakfast sausages. But there are certain things which I will deeply miss very soon, like real tea, like cadbury and galaxy chocolate, a cheap pub meal, curly fries, coffee at every street corner…

British Humour: What is British humour? Judging from what most British people I know laugh about, it's dirty jokes, but maybe I just have the wrong kind of friends... However, even sarcasm, self deprecating humour also exists abroad, but I guess British people are simply the champions of it. Just next time somebody understands British humour, don't be surprised, it's not THAT hard to get.

Systems: I mean, I could complain about driving on the left and not using the metric system, but in the end it's just a different while still equally efficient system to ours. However, when it comes to height, I have little understanding for the usage of feet and inches, and even less for the usage of pounds and stones for weight... I mean... what ? Stones? It confuses everybody. Now for all those who aren't familiar with this :

1 Stone = 14 pounds

65 kg (probably the average weight of a woman) = 10 stone 3.3 lbs

 What I see when people talk about weight in stones

Anyway, I have nothing more to say. I will miss this country and its people dearly and who knows maybe my ‘Au revoir’ will become truthful sooner than I think!

Crossing the Sea... a Youth in Action training course

I have just come back from a wonderful week at a Youth in Action training course On ‘Crossing the Sea- Euro-Med Dialogue’ and I just wanted to share my thoughts about this course with you.

It is so difficult to describe, yet there is so much to tell.

Participants came from the UK, Portugal, Slovakia, Palestine, Israel and Egypt. It was a rather random mix, with all sorts of languages being spoken when I arrived. The week was filled with team-building and trust exercises, reflections on what good communication is, opportunities to learn about each other’s culture and a lot of laughter! It was like living in a comfortable little bubble.

Together we also visited the Grange, a Camphill village, which is a community that takes care of adults with special needs by really including them in their daily activities. The Grange produces its own fruits and vegetables, they have different farm animals, a bakery, and residents also weave baskets, make pottery and different decorations in their wood workshop, which they sell locally and internationally through the Camphill network.

We then visited Bristol, and despite the rain, which was only appreciated by our Middle Eastern friends, we had some beautiful views of the city, with a strange mix of old buildings and its famous street art. We had the opportunity to pursue our own artistic streaks through a workshop with painter Jeroo Roy, who showed us her work and guided us through our own inspiration. We also helped organising ASHA’s open day, for which the group prepared typical food, dancing, crafts, sports, an interactive theatre play where the audience acted out a variety of Egyptian stories through the different civilisations and a Palestinian wedding as a grand finale.

  

Art Workshop*

One of the exercises -I know that I have never been blindfolded this many times in my life!*

The place where we stayed, the ASHA centre, is a little oasis of peace in the middle of the Forest of Dean. The smells of the rose garden, the taste of the fresh fruits and vegetables, the sounds of the stream that runs next to the property, the sensation of wet grass under your feet and the beauty of the people and the place I will never forget.

the ASHA Centre

The sun sets on the rose garden

A last night of dancing, clapping to Arabic rhythms, singing, sheesha smoking and laughing and it was already the end!

As I stepped out of Birmingham train station and stepped into the hustle and bustle of the city centre, I suddenly felt alone, lonely even, alone amongst all these people, after having spent a week in the middle of nowhere, it was quite odd. At ASHA, every person you meet makes eye contact, smiled, had a friendly word for you, or even a made-up song purely consisting of the repetition of your name. Here, I am alone, you have to look out not to bump into anyone, you are aware of the people, but you see them as obstacles.

As I unpack in my room, I can still hear the voices of the friends I made, the way they pronounce my name, the words they invented, their laughter... now I really feel alone.

Get back to real life? No. I'll first watch the pictures :)

Adrian, Zeiad, Ameed, Jad, Peter

Mark, Antonio, me, Tareq

Haythem, Elisabete, Moataz, Abed

Gina, Linda, Monica, Lucie, Ahmed

Lubka, Denisa

Mahmood, Nasr, Kawther, Gabriela, Alex, Areej

Alex

and Hayat is taking the picture :)*

*Pictures courtesy of ASHA

http://www.ashacentre.org/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/AshaCentre

Across the Hadrian's Wall

After last year's travels, final year has condemned me to become a sedentary working hermit, whose natural habitat is the library. Now, my feet were getting very itchy, so I decided I needed a change of scenery; I jumped on a train and off I was to Scotland!
A charming 5 hour journey later, I arrived in Edinburgh. The dark eerie buildings on the colourful evening sky (we are talking 3pm here) enchanted me the minute I got there. Edinburgh is beautiful from all its angles, but the absolute highlight is the view from Arthur's seat, a 822 ft extinct volcano in the middle of the city! There was loads to visit in the centre, such as the National Museum of Scotland with its curiosities, the Museum of Childhood, the Castle of course.

The view from Arthur's Seat

I also had the delight to see Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the two Giant Pandas who were new to Edinburgh, just like me. They have become such an attraction that we had to book a visiting slot online! What celebrities! The other highlight of Edinburgh Zoo was the penguin parade. A few years ago, the zoo keepers had accidentally left the door to the penguin enclosure open (in my opinion such inadvertence is not acceptable in a zoo!) and a few penguins had then decided to take a walk through the zoo before diligently returning to their enclosure. Today, the zoo keepers organise it, forming a sort of moving path with the visitors. The slightly clumsy humanoid walk of the penguins is just endearing!

Then, off I was to the lovely countryside. All you need is a half decent map, a small car for the small roads and a warm set of clothes! We just chose to wander off to random places, as in West Scotland, no matter where you go, you are almost certain to find beautiful scenery. That's my kind of place!
My personal recommendation is to take the east road of Loch Ness, which was much more exciting than the west road, which runs along the lake. We suddenly ended up in a winter wonderland, with a snowy island in the middle of another loch. Then down to Foyers. (which was originally chosen as destination for lunch for its resemblance to my name, as my original plan was to claim the place!) A huge waterfall can be admired there and less tourists come here, but then again, it was January, so there weren't many people anywhere!

The journey ended on a great culinary note, with the best fish and chips in Britain in a little harbour town in Fife called Anstruther. It was a perfect goodbye, although it's probably just an 'au revoir!'.