Holding a Human Brain

Yes, that's right. I got to hold a human brain! It was required that I go to the lab for my Brain and Mind class and I am sooooo glad I did. It was the coolest thing ever! Holding a brain or dissecting things does not bother me one bit. I have dissected so many things in Diversity of Life at Central College. And last semester, I volunteered one day each week in helping a student skin shrews for a project she was doing. Yup, I actually skinned shrews last semester. For those of you who do not know what a shrew is . . . . here is a picture to the right. Anyway, I started the day with going grocery shopping with Teresa. I decided to make tacos this week and some other recipes. I brought a cookbook over here from home and I try one recipe from it every week. It's kinda fun! After grocery shopping, I went over to Teresa's flatt with Mel and we made rice krispie treats. The only marshmallows that that Morrisons had were pink, so the rice krispie treats ended up being a little pink. But they looked delicious anyway. We couldn't eat them though because they were for Teresa's society meeting on Thursday. It was beautiful outside that I didn't have to wear a coat when walking back to my flatt. I think the last time I didn't have to wear a coat outside was in October. It felt amazing. After working on my OP journals a little more, I then went to my lab for Brain and Mind. I met outside the Psychology building with other students and then we all filed into the room. We had to leave our jackets in another room and then went to put on aprons and gloves. This was all too familiar for me because it was just like my chemistry labs. You could tell some of the students had never done this before because they were all hyper about the gloves and aprons. After a professor came in and told us the safety measures, we were all split up into three different color groups and then went to our assigned table. There were only two whole brains so we didn't get the whole brain at first. But they did have several different sections of the brain on the table. There were the two hemispheres cut in half, a right hemispher cut sagitally, and a section of the brain cut horizontally and coronally. We got to hold each section. It was sooooo cool! I got to see the ventricles, amygdala, hippocampus, mammillary bodies, and a lot more. After a while, we got a whole brain from another table and passed it around. That was really neat. Unfortunately we couldn't take in phones or cameras, otherwise I would have taken pictures. There was a guy at my table during the lab that he fell back against the wall and almost fell onto the floor before some people were there to help him. He had almost fainted from the smell! These brains had been soaked in formaldehyde for a long time but then for the last two weeks they had been run under running water so there was no smell at all. Apparently they guy couldn't take it. There was another girl at my table as well that had to leave and then come back with a mask over her mouth. The lab lasted about 30 minutes. After that I met up with Ashley and we walked to the pier, the stone circle, Morrisons, and then back to the dorms. I made dinner and then met up with Annie so we could walk together to choir. I'm not a big fan of choir being so late but I'm still happy that I'm in it.The practices go from 7:30 to 9:30. And they really do last two hours. We do have a tea break for about 10 minutes in the middle where they actually have tea and coffee for sale. During the break, an elderly lady came up to me and asked me if my hair was naturally curly. Then she said she sees all these tv commercials on how to straighten the hair and she is appalled by it. She said they all look like sheep. Then she told me not to straighten my hair because she rarely sees people with curly hair anymore. I reassured her I wouldn't straighten it. I definately won't because first of all, I didn't bring a straightener and second of all, it takes about an hour to fully straighten my hair. Overall, it had been a very fun day.

Relaxing and fun weekend

With having no class on Friday, I make it my "being productive day." I now clean my bathroom every Friday and do laundry as well. I didn't do my laundry this Friday though because I didn't really need to. But I did make breakfast potatoes! I sprinkled them with paprika, salt, pepper, and also added some chopped onions. They tasted pretty good. Although, I definitely need to practice making them more often. I don't think I made them quite right. I had lunch with Teresa and Melissa where we discussed what we were going to do that evening. We were tired of staying in on a Friday night so we decided to go out. We started off the evening by going to Bar Uno, a pub that is located on campus, and got a deal of a glass of wine and some different cheeses for 3.50. They asked me if I wanted red or white wine and I decided to go with the white wine. I really liked the cheese, crackers, and grapes but the wine was just plain nasty! I should have stuck with water. I didn't finish my glass so I had Teresa do it. She seemed to think it tasted different but she could still drink it. But she has tasted a lot of wine before and she has acquired that taste for wine. As for me, I'm going to stay clear of it. After Bar Uno, we went to get some pizza so we could have food in our stomachs. We then went back to our rooms to get ready for the evening. Around 10, Ashley, Cassie, Melissa, Teresa, Kaylee, and I all headed down to a club called Octagon. It cost 8 pounds to get in but once in, all the drinks are free. I went to the club so I could dance. I haven't gone out dancing since Central's Halloween dance and I sure have missed it. I had such a good time! So many people were there! And apparently, the whole Central College group decided to show up at Octagon the same night. It was fun just to dance and hang with friends. They played really good music and I had a blast. At the end, I hung around with the group just to make sure some of the people who had been drinking got home all right. It was good to see people looking out for each other. I didn't get home until 3 in the morning and I wasn't sleepy. So I watched an episode of Smallville (season 8!) and then headed to bed. It was probably around 4 before I actually fell asleep.
I woke up around 10 in the morning on Saturday and was sore from all the dancing I did. I was also still sore from the canoeing I did in Outdoor Pursuits. It was also snowing when I woke up. I got ready for the day and basically didn't do much. My friends and I planned a day then to go to Llandudno Junction to go see a movie since Bangor does not have a movie theater. We rushed down to the train station, bought our train tickets, and then got onto the train. When we got on the train we found that the rest of the Central girls were going as well! So we had a group of 10 people going to see a movie. It turns out that we were going to see the same movie as well! When our train arrived, which only took 20 min, Teresa, Mel, Ashley, Kaylee, and I went to McDonalds to get some lunch. I got the ranch chicken wrap which tasted amazing as usual. I also got my ranch fix for the week. Then we all headed over to the movie theater to see Valentine's Day. Their theaters are very nice here. And it's weird to see some movies being advertised here that have already come out in the States; for instance the Princess and the Frog and Leap Year. After the movie, which was pretty good except for some really weird parts and a little bit of a disappointing ending, we all headed over to Pizza Hut to have some dinner. Ashley, Teresa, and I shared a large Hawaiian pizza. It was absolutely delicious. Then we all headed back to the train and headed back to Bangor. After getting home, Mel, Kaylee, and I went back and watched a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory. Now that is a very funny show.
Today I was going to go to a new church with Kaylee but another person that was going to go with us didn't respond back to our calls so we decided not to go. I did however went to the website of my church at home and listened to a podcast about Jehovah Unveiled. It was very interesting. The rest of my Sunday has been spent studying for my Brain and Mind class and Tecwyn's class. And people watching. My window is right in front of my desk and so I am constantly watching people as they go by. Its a little creepy but oh well. I'm familiarizing myself with the campus I guess.
I have officially figured out what I am going to do for spring break. Melissa, Teresa, and I are going on a cruise to Greece and Turkey!!!!! We got a really good deal and its going to be a nine day cruise. We get to go to Athens, Istanbul, Crete, and a few more places on some islands. It is going to be so much fun! And before the cruise, we are going to be flying down to Rome for four days to spend some time there. And I get to see Morgan! I'm super excited about that. Everything is booked and ready to go. We have our cruise passes, plane and train tickets, and our hostels booked for Rome. This is going to be one of the best spring breaks ever.

Riding with the Tide-Advanced Canoeing in the Menai Strait

For the third class of outdoor pursuits, we went canoeing. Now I know that doesn't sound too drastic or exciting, but believe me, it was pretty intense. We began by getting all of our gear and knowing the terms for it. Then we picked partners (Teresa and I were together) and got a canoe. We all practiced how to maneuver our canoes in the little dock area and then headed out to the Menai Strait. We were going with the tide so it was pretty easy going. I was in the back steering the whole thing but I didn't find it to be too hard. We started to get really close to the Britannia Bridge but we missed the tide by 10 minutes and had to paddle to the side. We were able to go under the bridge but we had to paddle around the side of one of the columns. We went into a little calm area and had to pull our boats up over this little rock area. Unfortunately when I got out of the boat I stepped into some water that was deep and it went over and into one of my boots. And I'll let you know that it was extremely COLD water. But I had it easy because one of the canoes capsized and the girls fell in. So they were extremely cold. But by this time it was time for lunch and we pulled our canoes on to shore and made a fire. It was really neat because we learned how to make fire with flint and steel and ate our lunch all around it. We also got marshmallows to roast and we even popped popcorn! After we cleaned up, we were ready to head back out. The two girls that had capsized did not want to chance it and go under again so we tied two canoes together with a wooden pole between them and made a raft. So they became the group of four and then there were three more canoes and then our instructor in a canoe. At this time, the tide was going at an extremely fast rate and it looked pretty intimidating going out there. Teresa and I switched this time, so she took the steering and I went to the front and did the power paddling. We first learned how to ferry glide where the canoe is diagonal to the current. We also learned how to break in and out by doing the bow cut. The bow cut is done by the person in the front (unfortunately me) and when we went into the current I had to put my paddle in the water and hold it there really hard which causes the canoe to spin around to another angle. After this we both paddled really hard and then crossed the eddy line back to safety. The eddy line is a line that separates the current and the slow moving water. As you can see, it was better to be in the eddy, across the eddy line away from the current. Well we were learning how to cross the eddy line, which was pretty spooky for me. I have figured out a fear that I have. I am very afraid of dams but only because its the thought of getting sucked under by the current and not being able to fight it. Well, when Teresa and I ventured out to the current, we would lose control of the canoe for only a few moments, but then we would be able to fight the current and get across the eddy line. It was during those few moments that I would be panicking inside. Everything ended up just fine, but this day certainly made me come out of my comfort zone. We followed Sally by going around an island to another eddy line where we had to go over a very small but still scary looking rapid. Teresa and I were the first ones to follow her and as we went over the rapid, Teresa pushed the paddle backwards instead of frontwards and it caused our canoe to tip. It tipped so much that water started to come into it but luckily we righted it correctly and very quickly so we were okay. Once everyone was in the eddy, we all practiced riding the wave. It looked pretty easy when Sally was doing it. We had to go up against the small rapid but put our canoe parallel with the current of our water so actually we would have to do much at all. We could really just sit there. The group of four finally got it after a few times. The picture above and to the right is when three of them stood up. But when Teresa and I got up there, we couldn't quite put it in the right position and the current kept catching the nose of the boat and spinning us around and carrying us off. But we caught ourselves at the right time and paddled back in. After about the fourth time, we finally got it! That felt pretty sweet. The picture above and to the left and the picture to the right below is one of our attempts to try and ride the wave. After everyone had ridden the wave, we went out into the current again and rode under the bridge to cross another eddy line that was behind a column. Then the big challenge of the day came, we had to cross the rest of the Menai Strait to shore. Teresa and I went after Sally and that was a very tough because somehow our canoe just had a mind of its own and wouldn't turn correctly for us. So the current swept us pretty far down but we made it across the eddy line but it took a lot of paddling to get back up to Sally. Once everyone was across, we went back out into the current and let it carry us back to the Conway Center. Sally challenged us to stand up in our canoes so we did (even though it was difficult because none of us could feel our feet at the moment). But then she took it another level and had us put our feet on each side of the ledge of the canoe, straddling it, and stand up. For some reason, I actually tried it, and I made it! It was the coolest thing ever! Everyone came together then and we each tied our boats together. Sally had us then do the hokey pokey in our canoes! So we had to stick our hands in the water, turn around, do the hokey pokey, shake it all about, that's what its all about! It was pretty hard. Then we were each categorized as a fruit and then we played fruit basket upset! It was really hard to move around and switch seats with someone in another canoe. Trying to cross into another canoe is very hard, especially when one cannot feel their feet. But we were coming close to shore, so we untied each other's boat and then raced back to the dock. Once we unloaded everything, we took the bus back to Bangor, and that is where I took a nice, long, and hot shower. It felt wonderful. And don't worry, I have feeling back in my feet again.

Fieldtrip Number Three-Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwillllantysiliogogoch, Penmon Priory, Beaumaris Castle, Marquis Tower, and Llanddwyn

We started the day with just overcast early in the morning. We toured the Island of Anglesey, which is just about a 5-10 minute drive from Bangor. Our first stop was just at an overlook area that gave a good view of the two bridges that connected the island with Wales. We stopped for five minutes and then we went to the town with the longest name. The town didn't originally have that name. Some guy decided to change it so it can attract tourists and it certainly did. The town even has translation for the name. So the name is (prepare yourselves)Llanfairpwllgwyngyllfoferychwyrndrobwillllantysiliogogoch. It's translation for it is: The church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel near the Fierce Whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the Red Cave. Its the weirdest name of a town I have ever heard of. And I wouldn't ask me how to say it cause I have no clue. Ha ha.

Next was the Penmon Priory. Its a little section by Puffin Island (and yes there are Puffins on the island). There is a lighthouse, a medieval church with two celtic crosses in it, and a holywell. Apparently if you drink from the holywell, it cures people with bad eyesight. I think I can classify myself as someone with bad eyesight (I can't see a darn thing without my glasses or contacts) but I figured since my eyesight is so bad, there is no way holywater could fix it. I'm to the point that they only thing to cure me is Lasik surgery. Which I do hope to get once my eyes stop changing and getting worse. But anyway . . . . we spent a little more time there, exploring the place. There was a building that was really cool there. Once inside, there were holes in the walls everywhere! This was the place where the pigeons and chickens would nest. Right in the middle of the room, there was a big stone column with steps sticking out of it all around it to climb to the top. People climbed up on this column and used a long stick to catch the birds, bring them out, and then people would climb on the holes to get their eggs. It was a very interesting way to get eggs.

Next was the Beaumaris Castle. This is my most favorite castle out of the four that I have seen. There was a small moat surrounding it and when you walked into the castle, it opened up in to this huge courtyard. There were several doors that you could go into. So Teresa, Kaylee, and I went into a dark one in a corner, just being adventurous. We went into the doorway, went to the end of the hallway, and there was another doorway but it was blocked off. But you could look into it and basically it was the inside of a tower. But something fluttered out of nowhere and took off. All three of us girls screamed, because the thing scared the living daylights out of us, only to realize it was just a stupid pigeon! I screamed because I got scared by some stupid pigeon that probably got scared by us. So after we recollected ourselves after that lovely incident, we explored the rest of the castle. There were several passages that we went down but ended up being dead ends. It was still a lot of fun though! We got to walk along the wall that was at the top of the castle. It had an amazing view! After we were done with the castle, we went outside to a park and had our lunch. The sun was shining and it felt so good to sit in the warmth. We explored the beach a little before going back to the bus. We talked to a few people who were from Manchester. It was an elderly mother with her son who was probably in his late 50's to 60's. He asked each of us what we were studying and what we wanted to do after college. They were both very nice and fun to talk to.

Our next destination was Marquis Tower. It basically looks like Nelson's Column in Trafalfar Square but it was dedicated to Henry William Paget in 1817 for leading a calvary into the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. On top of the tower, a bronze statue of the first Marquis of Anglesey was contstructed in 1860. I didn't know we were able to climb to the top of the tower but we sure did, so the first half of the group went up the very long winding staircase to the top. It took 115 steps! But the view was just absolutely amazing! The image to the right is a picture of half of the group waiting on the ground to come up. The tower was pretty tall! After taking enough pictures, we went down and let the other group go on up. When they were done, it was back on the bus and to the last (and definitely the best) place we were going to visit.

We then arrived at Llanddwyn Island. The only way to get to the place is to walk across the beach when the tide is out, otherwise you would be finding it through the forest. The sun was shining and it was fairly warm out. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. It was about a mile walk to the lighthouse. But before we made it to the lighthouse, there was another celtic cross and the ruins of the old Llanddwyn Chapel. Llanddwyn translates to the church of St. Dwynwen. She is the Welsh patron saint of lovers that people made pilgrimages to. She would scatter breadcrumbs on the surface, then laying her handkerchief on the surface. If the eel disturbed it then the visitor's lover would be faithful. We passed the ruins and went on to the lighthouse. The lighthouse had the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The sun decided to peek out from behind the clouds and it was gorgeous!!!! Some of my friends and I decided to do a little sea level traversing and go among the volcanic rocks and look at some tide pools. It was so cool to see all of the organisms living in the pools. I was definitely reminded that day on how much I love Biology. After exploring the tide pools a bit, we headed back to the bus. We were all pretty tired from walking around everywhere. So Allison, Kaylee, Ashley, and I decided to order a pizza and garlic bread, bought some cookies and pop from Morrisons, and watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was a good way to end an evening.

Second day of outdoor pursuits

So on the second day of outdoor pursuits we went on a mountain walk! We went to Mountain Tryfan. We all had extra layers of clothing on and in our backpacks, had our lunches, water, inhaler for me, and hiking boots on. We were ready to go. At first, it was a little difficult for me because the hiking boots were heavy. But once I got used to the weight, the walking came a lot easier. We hiked for a good hour an a half before we made it to a flat area that was finally in the sun. We had been hiking in the shade the entire time and it was chilly. We were thinking about taking a break when we decided to try to reach the top of the mountain. So with our instructor, Sally, leading the way, we hiked towards the top. Unfortunately, there was ice blocking both the paths that we tried so we couldn't get to the top, but it was still fun. So by then, it was time for lunch. We slid down a snow bank to get to a level area to eat. The sliding part was so much fun. So we all sat down in the grass/heather and ate our lunches. One of the girls brought cookies to share and they were delicious. We had a beautiful view to look at. It was absolutely gorgeous! We had some company while we were eating our lunch. There were some wild goats munching on the grass near us, having their lunch as well. There were jets that were flying in between the mountains and we were actually above them! It was so weird to look down on them instead of looking up at them while they passed by. After resting for a bit, we went hiked to the other side of the mountain. It was getting to be a little colder since we went in the shade again and there was more ice and snow. Everyone was slipping and sliding all over the place. We had to climb over a ladder that was placed over a wall that was built in between the two mountains. Once on the other side of the mountain, we rested for a bit and then kept on going down to the bottom of the mountain. It was just so beautiful. I was pretty tired after that. But only a little bit sore, so I guess that's a good thing. After we got down to the bottom, I never knew how wonderful it would be to see the bus parked right there, ready to take us back. I felt pretty good that day. I climbed my first mountain! The second to last picture on the left is not the mountain we climbed. Its a mountain that we certainly admired though. The mountain here on the right is the one that we climbed. It actually looks like an old man lying down.

London!!!!

This past weekend I went to London. It has always been one of the places that I have wanted to visit in my life. We left early Friday morning and got back late Sunday night.

Day One (Friday): Melissa, Teresa, Kristina, and I met by the security office at 4:45 am and then walked down together to the train station where our train left at 5:15am. It was a direct train to London but it made quite a few stops on the way there at other stations. It was a three hour long train ride so we made it to London Euston Station around 8:30 am. Our next destination was to go to our hostel where we would be staying that weekend. It wasn't very far from the station, about 4 blocks away. We got to check into our hostel and put our backpacks away. The hostel wasn't the cleanest place there but it was still very nice. It is mainly for students visiting a major city, like us. You walked into the place and there was a reception area, through the door there was a huge room that was a living room/kitchen, then downstairs to the basement where our room was at. In the basement there were showers for girls and guys but in separate parts of the basement, and several different places where the rooms were. The place was HUGE!! We got into our room and it looked like a train with all of the bunk beds and the curtains that you pull across to give you privacy. The room we were in slept about 12 people and was coed. We actually met some students who were from Chicago! It was a lot of fun. After putting our luggage away we went out to explore London. We thought we were going to just find the stuff we wanted to see on our own but actually we got on the Big Bus tour company that took us around the tourist places of London. The picture above is Trafalgar Square where we got to take some pretty sweet pictures with the lions around Nelson's Column. We eventuallywent to the Tower of London where we rode across the Tower Bridge. That place was pretty sweet. I got to see all of the towers, the crown jewels, and the place where Anne Bolyen was executed. I was so excited. There were a ton of jewels! The safe that we got to walk through had a moving platform that took you around the jewels and the doors to the safe were about 2,000 kilograms each. After exploring the Tower of London, we got some lunch at Subway (where they had my favorite, bacon and chicken ranch (I was so happy that they had ranch dressing)). Next was a quick ride on the bus to Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. I was so excited to see Big Ben. That was one of the things that I have always wanted to see for myself. And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The sun had been out the entire day and it was pretty warm. We went around those places and then we walked on over to Buckingham Palace. There were a lot of people there. I was expecting the palace to be a little more decorative. What I really did like about the palace though were the gates. They were huge and there was gold outlining the tops of the gate. What was really fun was at the end of one side of the gate some of the doors were open and the security guards were standing there in the middle. And one of them let us take a picture with him!!!! He was really nice and told us he would love to take a picture with such pretty girls. He also mentioned after that we told him we were studying in Wales he never goes there cause how it is so mountainous. After Buckingham Palace, we rode on the bus for about an hour or more thinking that it would pull around to Trafalgar Square and we could walk back to our hostel from there. Well we were most definately wrong about that. The bus stopped by Madame Tussauds wax museum and was stopping for the night. We were quite a ways away from our hostel and it was very cold at the time. So we wandered for a bit and found Oxford Street, a main street with a lot of big shops, and kept on that street. We were starving so we stopped at Garfunkels to eat. After eating our supper we decided to order dessert as well. I got a chocolate sundae, and I must say it was absolutely delicious! It had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, a brownie, and covered in whipped cream. I was already full from dinner but some how I made room for dessert. I would definately get this again, it was soooooo good. After we were most definately full from dinner and all warmed up, we headed out again and made it back to our hostel not long after that. We took showers and then got all situated for bed. It was a very busy but fun day.

Day Two (Saturday): We woke up fairly early and had breakfast from the hostel. Then we headed out to Leicester Square to buy tickets to see a Broadway musical! We were originally going to see Le Mis but the tickets were too expensive. So we got tickets to go see Wicked!!!!!!! I was so excited. We then got a day pass for the tube and went to Camden Town. It is a huge shopping area on a section of London. We came here to shop for our dress clothes that we would be wearing to the musical that night. I found a dress, some black tights, and some black boots. We had some lunch and then we took the tube to King's Cross Station. We went through the station and found platform 9 3/4!! (It's from the Harry Potter books for those of you who don't know). They have a trolley that is halfway in the wall to look like I'm going through the wall to the Hogwarts Express. After that we headed to the British Museum to take a quick peek around the museum before we got ready to go see Wicked. I got to see the Rosetta Stone and a lot of mummies! After that we went back to our hostel and got ready. We took the tube down to the Victoria Theater and had a quick dinner at Garfunkels again. Then we were off to the theater! I was so excited for the musical. It was at the Civic Center recently but I never went and saw it. We got to the theater and took our seats. Our seats were farther in the back but I could still see the stage fairly well. The musical was just absolutely amazing!!!! I loved it so much! I am so excited that I got to go see it!!!! It was a good way to end the night.

Day Three (Sunday): We woke up early that morning once again but this time to check out of our hostel. Once we checked out we were able to store our backpacks there and pick them up when we were ready to go home. We started out by getting another tube day pass and rode it to Abbey Road!! I really wanted to go to Abbey Road this weekend but it was only if we had enough time and we did! So we got there and took some pictures of me, Teresa, and Kristina walking across the street while Mel took the picture. I also got to get a picture where the studio used to be. After visiting Abbey Road we took the tube to St. James Park that is by Buckingham Palace. We got to watch part of the changing of the guard but we didn't see all of it because there was so many people and none of us had any desire to watch the entire thing. We did however get to see the band that was made up of about 12 guards with the furry black hats on their heads. They were actually really good and they played the songs Hey Jude, Daydream Believer, and several others. We were getting pretty cold at the time so we headed to Trafalgar Square and that is where we split up. Mel went to the Imperial War Museum and Teresa, Kristina, and I went to the Natural History Museum. When we arrived, the line was sooooo long that we decided to go to the Science Museum. We actually found another entrance to the Natural History Museum and there was no line! So we went on in and explored for a bit. We didn't have much time there but of what I saw, it was awesome! I loved it! We mainly went through the section that explained the geography of the earth and we also saw the ecology section. It was a huge museum and I wish I had more time to spend in it. It was definately my kind a place, being the science nerd that I am. After the museum, we had a quick lunch and then we met Mel at a store called Herrods. It is this HUGE store that is about 6 floors and 6,000 people work there. You could just live there because they have about everything. There is a toy area, a pet shop, a food market, clothing, jewlery, perfume, shoes, instruments, and more. Bascially it's a massive Wal-Mart but to the extreme. We explored the store a little bit and then took the tube to see Picadilly Circus. Picadilly Circus is pretty much Times Square in New York but its in London. We were ready to go home so we took a few pictures of the place and then got right back on the tube and headed back to the hostel to get our backpacks and then to Euston Station. We had a few hours before our train left so we hung out in the food court. Once we saw what platform our train would be leaving from, we headed on over, boarded the train and was on our way back to Bangor. The train stopped at Chester where we then took an hour long bus ride to Ryle station and from there we took a train to Bangor. It was good to be back. I had the most fantastic time this weekend. London is just amazing!

The first day of Outdoor Pursuits-low and high ropes course

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have had a busy week and weekend. Last Thursday I had my first day of outdoor pursuits. It is a class that I get to do several activities at the Conway Center on the Island of Anglesey. The first day there we got a tour of the Conway Center. It used to be the house of the man who owned the island. The man was very rich because all of Conway's supplies are stored in the building that used to be the stables for the horses. The land around the center is also protected because there are ancient burial areas surrounding the property.

We began by doing a tour of the shop and learning where the supplies are and what they are called. We then went to an open area in the grass outside and did certain trust-building activities among the group. There were a total of ten of us in the group. There are only 3 guys and 18 girls in the total Central College group. So in my outdoor pursuits group, there are 9 girls and one guy. It's really funny and our instructor has it easy when it comes to remembering the guy's name. So after our trust building activities, we went to another area filled with wooden walls, boxes with a rope between them, and an interesting obstacle course. We did more trust building activities in this area like getting from one box to the other by swinging from the rope, getting everybody up and over a tall wall, and having everyone finish the obstacle course while bringing a bucket with us. After that we took a lunch break and then we learned how to use our harnesses and tieing off our ropes and putting the clasps on them.


Soon after that we were ready to go to the low ropes course. We all put on the purple waterproof pants and jackets. We all looked pretty stupid but all of us had them on so it wasn't so bad. We also had to wear helmets and wellies (which are rain boots). We went to the low ropes course, picked a partner, and then learned how to actually walk across a wire with just a rope to hang onto 20 feet in the air. We have a rope connected to us in the middle of our harness that had two ends connected to a clasp. While we were climbing we had to ALWAYS have the clasps hooked onto the wire above our heads. This way if we slipped and fell, the ropes caught us and prevented us from falling further. The low ropes course was not bad at all. It was very short and just a training area to have us get used to using our harness and propelling down with a rope to the ground.

I thought the high ropes course was going to be only a little more taller than the low ropes course but I was very wrong. We got to the next course and I looked up and there was the course, about 60-80 feet in the air. We started out going across a log, then ropes that made a big X, then to the cargo net that was super long and slowly going up higher in the air, then we made the leap of faith (a 5 foot gap with nothing in between that we had to jump), then walk across a very long wire with just a rope to hang onto, and to finish the course we got to the ground by going on a zip line. It was a very fun and I did very well for not letting the height scare me.

We had gotten done early so we decided to try out Jacob's Ladder. It was a ladder with 9 thick wooden planks that were about as long as my height if I was lying down. They were connect by each end by a wire and placed in between two trees and was just swinging freely. As the ladder kept going higher, the farther apart the planks were from each other. The 9th one was about 60-80 feet in the air. Three people could go on the ladder at the same time and it was best if three did do it because then each person could help one another getting up on the ladder. Each person is connected to a rope to their harness and the other person on the ground is belaying them. I went on it towards the end and made it up to the 6th plank or level. There was one more person in the whole group that wanted to try it so I decided to go again. This time we made it to the 7th plank. That was one of the scariest things I have ever done. When you are so high up in the air and just swinging freely with nothing to hang onto but the plank that you are sitting or standing onto, it is very freaky. After the Jacob's Ladder we were finished for the day and went back to the shop to put our stuff back. It was a very fun and challenging day but I certainly enjoyed it.

The first week of classes and the hike to Aber Falls

I am taking five classes this semester: Brain and Mind, Developmental Psychology, The History of Renaissance Art, Over Here (a Welsh culture class taught by the program director), and Outdoor Pursuits. My first class was Brain and Mind on Monday morning. I didn't realize how big the class was going to be. There are 400 students in the class!! The lecture is in a huge hall that is probably as big as my high school's auditorium. And this is just for one class! The first class was fun because the professor showed us 3D pictures and we used 3D glasses that were given to us to see them. It was really funny to see everyone with 3D glasses on. My other classes have been fun. The Over Here and Art History classes only have about 25 or less students in them so it seems a little more normal. The academic system over here is different than in the States. The professors do not give out homework, quizzes, or papers over the semester. They lecture and then at the end of the semester they either give a test or we need to hand in an essay/paper. Some classes have a few assessments throughout the semester which is nice so my grade doesn't rest entirely on one test. Having little homework is very nice but I still have been needing to keep up on my studies because they believe in a self-study technique. I didn't have the class Outdoor Pursuits this past week but I do start this week on Thursday. I am so excited for it! This is a class that is through Central College and we get to do rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, gorge scrambling, low and high ropes course, mountain scrambling, sea level traversing, surfing, and mountain biking. It is going to be amazing and very challenging. They are starting off easy this week with the low and high ropes course and it involves trees. I am glad they are starting off with the easier things because I have no idea if I would be able to do some of the things mentioned right at this moment. It's fun to have professors with different accents. I have a French, Italian, and Welsh professor. Overall, the first week of school went very well.

I also have joined choir here at Bangor University. I wasn't going to at first but a friend from the Central group asked me if I would like to be in it with her. I am so glad that I joined because its something that I enjoy so much and its another way for me to meet more people. I also have been attending the Baptist church in Bangor. It is so nice to get back in the routine of going to church and worshiping the Lord. They sing the same music as we do in the States for the most part. After Sunday night services, the church serves dinner to students and young adults. I have to cook for myself here at the university so it is very nice for one night a week to have a good home cooked meal already prepared. And it has been delicious both times. During the dinner, they have people each week perform with some kind of music, be it either guitar or piano and they can sing songs that we know or songs that they have composed. After the music interval they have someone give their testimony or a story where God has made a big impact. It is a good time to get together with everyone, relax, and praise the Lord. I have met some more students at this cafe and it has been such a good time to connect with other students who worship the same God as I do.

This weekend my friends and I went hiking to Aber Falls in Snowdonia National Park. It was the most beautiful place. We left pretty early in the morning and took the bus to where the trail starts. It has been pretty cold here so the last few days it has snowed and even hailed. There were little areas of snow all around the trail but it really wasn't that cold. I was disappointed to see the snow though because I had left it behind in Iowa. Apparently it has found me, I just can't seem to get away from it. I'm grateful that it doesn't stay for too long though. There was a paved trail that we took to the falls which took about 45 minutes to an hour. When we arrived to the falls, we forgot about being cold. It was fantastic! It was pretty high up but not too high that it was possible to hike up to the top of the falls. We stayed here for a little while, taking in the spectacular view. Then we decided to hike the rest of the trail. The rest of the trail wasn't paved, only a mowed area of grass or sometimes just a rocky path. It was still beautiful. The sun was starting to peek from over the mountains and we were anxious to feel a little more warmth. We passed a very small waterfall on the trail and I stopped and drank a little of the water. It was so good, crisp, cold, and delicious mountain water. We stopped for lunch in the sun and sat on some rocks because the ground was still covered in a little layer of snow. I didn't mind because I had this view to look at.

We had a little fun at our lunch break. Well, mostly I did. There was a rock on part of the hill. So Melissa took my camera and took a picture of me as I jumped off the rock with the mountains behind me. After several failed attempts, we finally succeeded!

After the lunch break we hiked the rest of the trail. Little did we know it was slowly climbing higher. Soon we were so high up that we were almost at the same height as some of the other mountains. The view was just amazing! It was so cool! I kept taking pictures of the view but I know that none of them have done it justice. On our way down the trail we met a very big flock of sheep. There are so many sheep here but it was fun to get really close to them. After completing the hike we took the bus back to Bangor. We all went over to the pier where the tea room at the end of the pier was finally open. It is run by an elderly couple and the place is famous for their scones. The elderly lady who took the money called everyone love. It was so cute. So I got a cherry scone and put butter and jam on it. It was pretty much a biscuit but it was still good. I think I'll be trying the shortbread next time I go down though. There was not a cloud in the sky so for the first time I have been in Bangor there was no mist surrounding the mountains. So even though I have taken so many pictures of the same mountains, this day made them look spectacular.