It's Raining, it's Pouring

Hello from England. We had a quick but nice visit with our Canadian friends Shannon and Cheyenne in London, spent a night and a bit with our friend Phil, in Birmingham, and now we're spending a week or so with our VSO friends Amilee and Andy in Hull, in Northern England.

After two years of almost constant sunshine, we're experiencing one of England's rainiest summers. Many homes were flooded here in Hull and yesterday a few of the rail lines were shut down. But we're all okay. We've managed to get out and visit downtown and old Hull, which are quite nice. We saw a really good museum on the history of slavery, had a walk along the Hull Bridge and visited an almost rained out cultural festival where the kids practised tight-rope walking and other circus stunts. Best of all, the new Harry Potter book came out yesterday morning, and this rainy weather has been perfect for snuggling up in the living room and reading. We only have two copies of the book though, but Andy does excellent impersonations, so we're having fun taking turn reading the narrative out loud while Andy does the voices. Our latest hunch is that Dudley is really the real Harry Potter...

There's been a bit of culture shock here too. Everything in England just seems a bit too perfect. The trains and busses are clean and spacious and run on a schedule. The homes are big (compared to Eritrea). Everyone has a cell phone and seems to be very busy doing important things when I overhear conversations on the bus or train. Our friends' homes are full of a million types of foods. Fridges and cupboards are stuffed with things to eat. Rooms are stuffed with furniture and "things". After two years of living very simply, it's quite overwhelming.

The most overwhelming experience has been shopping. On our second day here in Hull, we headed out with Andy to get some clothes for me and the kids. We'd all outgrown or undergrown or worn out our old clothes and needed something to get around in in Britain. Andy chose a big, Walmart type store where we could everything for a few pounds. He took the boys downstairs and was very successful at helping them to pick out some things. Maya did well too. But after a few minutes of weeding through rack after rack of clothes, I suddenly went into a daze. The same happened yesterday in the grocery store while we were getting things for supper. We're used to asking someone behind the counter of a small shop for a few things from a very short list of choices. Here there is aisle after aisle of choices and it's too much to handle for now. We'll see how long it takes to get used to things again.

Today we're off to visit the Yorkshire Dales. Then we have a day more before we head off to our VSO friend Mel's in Wales.

That's all for now.

Take care,

Barb