Week 27- England

Sunday, 29 November, 2009 9:13PM Northampton, England

We are now finished all our full concerts! How exciting is that? We have a few special events to do.

This past week some of our children and chaperones got sick, which is why we had to cancel a few concerts, everyone just needed to rest. So we stayed all together and just chilled. I wasn't one of the sick ones, so it was a nice break for me, even though we had some long nights checking the children's temps every 2 hours. It's what you gotta do, and I can't complain because they are all doing much better.

Tuesday we are meeting the Prime Minister of England and performing with Annie Lennox again, that'll be fun. On Wednesday we are on to Southern Ireland. We will be there until the children go home for Christmas.

It's been nice to be all together again, especially because it's the ending of tour, you really want to spend time enjoying each other.

The days are getting colder, most people here have said it won't snow until January. I haven't seen any frost yet, just rain and wind. (It was extra windy in Wales)

The children had a lot more energy today, almost back to themselves, they were much louder and more bouncy today, that's for sure. It's good to see. :)

Wednesday, 2 December, 2009 10:40AM On the road in England

We are on our way to Southern Ireland....it’s going to be a long trip. We were near London last night, and we started our journey at 8AM this morning.

Yesterday was a great great day. We spent it n London. First we headed to 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, we ate lunch in the State dining room, that was pretty cool. Many important people have been in that room, we also were in the council room. Gabsile sat in Mr. Brown’s seat, the only one with arms. They have tons and tons of security there, Stormont Castle was quite similar. After that we had some extra time, and across the Thames River just happens to be the London Eye! It was really awesome, it was a nice day out too, very very cold though. It was a highlight of the day that’s for sure. Paul drove us through London to see all the special touristy things, I think the only thing I didn’t get to see was Harrod’s, there’s always next time... In the evening we performed at a special event for Annie Lennox in the Guild Hall, which is a very famous building. She had asked us to come, that’s how much she loved the kids! They were equally excited to see her, she is so great with them. She really wants to perform a song with the choir.

We just entered into Cheshire to give you an idea of where I am. It was also Nompie’s birthday yesterday, she is now 9. I took her picture with Annie, they both liked that.

I’ve recently been having a strange issue with my stomach. All the kids are doing much better, chaperones as well. Anyway, I don’t know what’s wrong but I’m in a lot of pain, it’s not a regular stomach ache, it hurts far more, the most my stomach has ever hurt before, and it doesn’t go away. Sometimes its not as bad at others, but it’s always hurting. It’s worse when I am standing, and I don’t feel like eating. I’ve eaten about 2 meals in the past 2 days. Eating doesn’t make it feel better or worse. It’s the worst when I wake up. I had some Pepto Bismol but it only worked for a few hours. I’ve been praying a lot, it’s taking away all my energy, and it’s just really frustrating.

Oh, we also performed on the 29th, for a special event called Gumboots. They are raising money to help educate children in South Africa, I stayed in bed for it because of my stomach, I was so glad to just lie and rest. I heard it was packed out, and there were people everywhere.

On the bus last night my stomach was hurting a lot again (as it is now) and I was almost in tears from the pain. I asked Nompie if she wanted to sit with me, remembering that it was her birthday, and it would be a nice treat for her. She had also asked me the day before, but I had already promised someone else. Anyway, she was delighted :) We talked for about an hour and then she fell asleep on my lap, she woke up and said, “Auntie, Are you sleeping?” I replied. “Trying to” and she went back to sleep. It was so cute, I love that girl. My stomach felt so much better, although I couldn’t sleep from the lights outside.

It was a day to remember that’s for sure.

We leave the UK today, it’s a bit sad leaving the place you’ve spent most of the last 6 months. This month I will be in 6 countries! England, Wales, Southern Ireland, Germany, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. That’s pretty cool, I have to say. It’s going to be a great month, lots of fun, I’m excited.

I’m off for now, I don’t want to waste all my battery power.

Now we are on the ferry, I’m glad it’s the fast one, most of the kids were feeling sick, had a few throwing up, so we decided to put them in the play area to nap, it’s solved the problem well, I was feeling sick too, so I took an hour nap, but I’m going to use the Internet in the Sea now. :)

Week 26- England

Tuesday, 24 November, 2009 12:45PM Gloucester, England

My last day off was in Bath, we were performing in Bristol. Our bus driver Paul is from Bath and had asked the 4 of us that were off if we’d be interested in going to a natural spa bath. They are like hot springs, but not as hot. It’s what Bath is known for. We all said yes, so he hooked us up with a free 2 hour spa session. It’s quite expensive and you get to go in the pools (one on the roof and one inside) of natural hot water and they also had aromatherapy steam rooms which were totally awesome. I felt like a celebrity being there, everything is really fancy. We went in the roof one first, it was nice that it wasn’t raining, it was neat to feel the contrast of being in hot water having the cold wind blow on your face. It’s like going in your outdoor hot tub in the winter time.

Everything in Bath is old and Victorian looking. It’s beautiful. I took a few photos. The day in Bath made up for the London day of getting lost.

I had a really great host family in Bristol too.

We then went to Weymouth, which is on the Southern Coast of England, very nice views, but the area wasn’t very safe. The dad in the family I stayed with was from Zimbabwe, he had an interesting accent living in England for 30 years. The house we stayed in was a previous Bed and Breakfast so it was really big, almost too big. I was afraid of getting lost in it.

In the morning we spent 30 minutes at the beach, it was cold, but we hadn’t been to the beach in forever so we wanted to experience it while we were there knowing we may not see it again on tour. We had a fabulous time, I forgot my camera on the bus :(

Next stop was Cheltenham. Just for one night, again a great host family and we all wished we could have stayed longer. It was raining like crazy the whole day we were there and then stopped in the morning when we were leaving. We have avoided a lot of rain on tour, but this past week has been every single day no matter where we are.

Currently in Gloucester and staying with a Jamaican family. I think almost everyone is because the church hosting us is primarily Jamaican. I never realized they had churches in England like that. Learn something new every day don’t ya? Anyway, their culture is very different from the UK. I can’t really describe it other than telling you my experience. My hosts are nice, but they haven’t really talked to us much. I’m used to being asked every kind of question you can think of, and they are just quiet and ask something if they need to otherwise they are quiet and keep to themselves. They made us food and left the dining room. They are just living their life as if we aren’t really there. It’s fine, it gives us freedom to do what we want, it’s just different. Some of the others have experienced the same with theirs. My hosts are singers, they have really good taste in music, I’ll say that.

On Thursday we are going to perform for the Prime Minister of England. Yes, that’s right. Sadly, the queen won’t be there. Afterwards we have been given a Choir Christmas present of going on the London Eye! I’m so so so so excited. 1) because I was planning on doing that on my day off in London, if it was the one thing I got to do- but then didn’t have time due to getting lost and 2) because we get to go as a whole choir, and things like that are so much fun with the kids around. It’s going to be a fun surprise for the kids when they find out, they have seen it already when they visited.

We only have 3 church concerts left. I can’t believe it. I knew time would go fast, but it’s going crazy fast. Even the kids are shocked. Were trying to get things packed up because we won’t have our bus with us in about a week. We will be going to Southern Ireland and renting a bus to get us around while we are there for December.

P.S. I had canned corn beef with rice for dinner. It's one of the more interesting things I've had here.

Week 25- Wales

Sunday, 15 November, 2009 12:01AM Swansea, Wales

WOW. So it's way later than I realized. Guess I was in that nice bath for a while...

Yeah, so I'm in Wales, it's true. It's really nice from what I've seen so far.

Southampton was good. Didn't get to see much of it though. On our way here we watched "Home Alone" the kids loved it, so did I. (It's my family's fav, we watch 1 and 2 about three times every year.) It reminded me of my brothers a lot. Good times, good memories. I miss them lots.

It's a shame I don't have my day off here, I'd love to be able to see around a bit. We are only here for 3 nights. :( Then we are back to England for a couple weeks.

Chocolate/Chips update: Sorry, I forgot about reminding everyone how it's been going. I've been pretty good. I'm not completely avoiding either. I take it in doses. Crisps I've been being quite careful about. I'll try to trade for sun chips with another kid if someone gets them. I'm definitely trying not to eat them if possible. I don't love chocolate so it's a bit easier.

Hey. Got some time to write...

I tried to make time to write in here, I had internet, but I had lots of emails to reply to and didn’t get around to this. Wales is very different from the rest of the UK. In my opinion anyway. People in Wales speak Welsh, and they have just made it a law that all things need to have English AND Welsh on them. (Much like in Canada with French and English) I had a really nice host family and there house was really warm and cozy. I really wanted to stay longer than 3 days. It rained every day we were there as well, so I feel like I missed out on a lot. Swansea is known for being the city with the most rain in Britain. Crazy huh?

Week 24- England

Friday, 13 November, 2009 12:09PM Thatcham, England

Hey folks! So it’s been a while...A week is a long time for me to not blog, because a lot happens. We had a good time in Boston Spa, the boys went to see fireworks on Thurs night, there was also a bonfire, they really enjoyed it.

On Friday we went to Bradford which is sort of near Leeds. The hosts I stayed with have been working with the choir since the beginning. They were hosts for the first choir! They had also seen Godfrey perform when he was 8. He vaguely remembered them because he is now 25. I’m not sure if I mentioned Godfrey is our male chaperone on tour, and also our sound tech. He was in the choir when he was 8, and has completed his education with the help of the organization and is now giving back. Isn’t that awesome? He’s a really awesome guy, and we are so grateful to have him around.

I will probably stay with these hosts again in January, they invited me to come back and stay with them for a few days.

Our next stop was Coventry, more city-like place. I stayed with a young South African couple, they were really cool. I was meant to sleep on a BIG air bed, but when the boys jumped on it, they begged me to let them, so we switched and I got the room, all was happy :) It’s the biggest air bed I’ve ever seen, it was probably quite comfy. Her husband had a sports car, so the boys went in it, while we went in the other car. She told me her nieces and nephews love riding with him because he plays the music really loud, when we arrived, the boys didn’t want to get out, I think they had a pretty good time.

Deddington was next for a 3 night stay. It’s a very very small place. There’s just one grocery store, and a few shops. I was meant to have my day off here, but I switched because as I mentioned before a friend from home came to visit me. They weren’t in town yet, so I switched to Thursday. Thursday was London Day, where we took the kids to London for the day and did sightseeing, which meant I would miss it all. It was a very very hard decision to make, but I had to do it because they came to visit with me, and I see the kids everyday, and would still get to see London.

One night we were here Hlengiwe was taking a bath and yells to me Auntie I’m too big for the bath! I was really confused since she is the 2nd smallest girl in the choir, and is definitely not too big. I said What do you mean? Trying to think. She repeats it again. Then I realized she was saying there wasn’t enough water, so I told her to put more, the bath water was too small for her. It was cute how she said it though.

It rained everyday we were here, which isn’t nice because your memories of that place will always been of how it looks when it’s raining. The people were really nice, and I had great great hosts.

We then went to Thatcham, a 2 night stay. We had a concert the first night, so we got back late, and then headed out early for our day of London, my friend picked me up and we headed in. We were planning to drop off the rental car and then do some touristy stuff in London, until we got lost, and more lost, and more lost. It wasn’t fun. It was 4 hours later when we finally got there. We tried to not think about how annoyed we were. It was my fault. I got confused with what the directions had said. Anyway, we had a bit of time to see the Buckingham Palace, and then I had to join up with the choir for dinner and The Lion King. That’s right The Lion King! One of the Divas from the Tenors and Divas we performed with in N. Ireland has connections with Disney and got us free backstage passes to meet the cast and crew and perform for them, as well as see the show. How cool is that?

Getting lost is never fun, but when you are with someone you know and haven’t seen for a long time, it’s not so bad. The way I look at it, worse things have happened.

I didn’t have a phone so I was using pay phones to try and get ahold of Angee to join up, but half the pay phones wouldn’t work. There wasn’t an answer so I left a message saying I was trying to find her and I’d keep calling. It was getting later and later so I decided to try and find the theatre and just meet them there. Then we got lost for an hour trying to find the theatre because a guy gave us the wrong directions. I left a message for Angee saying I’d meet her at the theatre because there was no answer and I didn’t know where they were eating. I found the theatre with about 10 minutes to spare.

There wasn’t time to eat because we were trying to find the place. I couldn’t eat because I was so nervous I wouldn’t find them. I have never been so happy to see them all.

Angee’s phone didn’t tell her I called and they were all worried about me. All the kids were very happy to see me as well. Anyway, the show was FABULOUS, and meeting the cast was even cooler! It really turned out to be a great night, and I can’t complain about anything. It’s one of my favourite nights on tour so far. We got back very late, so we all slept on the bus. When we arrived, it was so hard to get the kids to get into the hosts car. They slept in the car, again not wanting to get out, so they slowly got ready for bed, brushed their teeth, heads on the pillows and out. I did the same.

Saturday, 14 November, 2009 2:50PM Southampton, England

I was about to type September...

School has been going well, were quickly checking things off the list that they need to know before returning home. I got a package of glow sticks from the Canadian office for Canada Day, and had forgotten about them. So I have been using them as best listener prizes, they are really liking them.

So because my London Day didn’t really happen I’m hoping either one of my days off I will be close enough to take the train OR if I go to Leeds in January, I have enough time to come down and spend the day. It’s quite far, and I don’t think I have enough time. I didn’t really think about London much when I planned staying here longer, I just thought it would be a hassle, and I was content with Edinburgh, which I still am. I just feel like I’m not going to see London and I will regret it, having been so close. My next day off is in Bristol which is near Bath, Bath is a very popular place and I have heard from many hosts I HAVE to go there. Paul, our bus driver is from Bath and has offered to show us around, so that’ll be nice. I’m looking forward to it. We will see where my next day off.

Today was a day of fun as well, but just a half day, we are staying with people from The Salvation Army and they have a nice Hall they invited us to come and play games, it was really really fun. They pulled out the parachute, fooseball, air hockey, pool tables, colouring, the list goes on. We had a really good time. The kids are napping now, and then we have a concert tonight.

Oh! I have google wave. Most of you won’t know what it is, but it’s sort of hard to explain. It’s a way to communicate online. If you have it you can add me using my email address.

My battery is dying and I didn’t bring my charger. Shame.

Week 23- England

Monday, 2 November 2009 1:41PM Boston Spa, England

Last night I stayed with a family with 3 girls who were 1, 3 and 5. They were so cute. The 5 year old drew a picture of her family for us. They 3 year old scribbled on a paper and gave it to me. They were really excited to have the girls stay with them, the baby was even smiling the whole time.

We are now in Boston Spa for 5 nights. Tonight is night 4.

In school we got the kids to write questions and then get their friends ( we call other classmates friends) to answer them in full sentences, some of them were really funny. Musa asked “ Can I have your chocolate? Maxwell responded “ No! No! No! No! Musa?? They just learned about exclamation points, so he was practicing using them there obviously. Nomkhuleko was asked ‘Where do you work? She responded. I Don’t Work. She seemed a bit confused why she had to answer a question like that. When they wrote them, they didn’t know someone would respond to them. I don’t remember them all now, but we had some laughs. They are so cute, and so smart!

It's crazy to think there's 7 weeks left of tour!

Anyway, time to go get some work done :)

Wednesday, 4 November, 2009 11PM Same Location

Day off today. Def in my top 3 for days off. My hosts told me I deserved to have the FULL day off, and they would get the kids up and send them to school and pick them up. I offered to wake them up, just so I could remind them I wasn't going to be with them, and make sure they were ready. Then I headed back to bed. About 30 mins to an hour later I hear banging on the roof. (my hosts are having their roof re done) They were drilling and hammering, and the dog is deaf, but it was so loud he could hear it, so it caused him to bark...then one of the workers was singing. I just laughed as I lay in bed. Although I didn't really sleep, it was nice to not have to wake up and get ready. I had plans to meet Jenny at 1 for lunch. I got up at 10:15AM. It's hard to sleep really late when you are used to waking up between 6 and 7, 8 if we get a late day.

Lunch was good, we went to a little cafe a few houses down. Angee came and joined us, it was very nice and peaceful. Good food too! I dropped off a package, came back to my host family, wrote a few emails, read a bit, and slept until I had to pick the boys up. It was absolutely wonderful. I wish I spent more of my days off relaxing. I don't feel like I missed out by spending most of the day inside. It started raining just as I got back in anyway...

Tonight the community was celebrating Guy Faux day, they have a big celebration and do a bon fire, and have fireworks. We were going to go but it was cold and wet, and the boys have been happy playing inside with the trains and reading.

5 November, 2009 5:20PM Same Location

Today we spent almost the whole day doing school (minus our breaks for lunch and play etc.) The kids learned how to make calendars. It went really well for their first time. Even adults get confused making calendars... for playtime we went to the park, the kids got sooo muddy because it was raining. Their hands were black, and they ALL had muddy bottoms and shirts and jackets, we had a lot of fun though!

Tomorrow we head to Bradford! It's been a good 5 nights here :)