Part of the program I'm studying abroad through includes a mandatory, two night homestay with a family in the United Kingdom. This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to go to Raughton, England, a tiny hamlet outside of Carlisle and stayed with a lovely family, the Openshaws, in their home with two other girls from the program.
The ride to Penrith (the initial drop off point) was about 3 hours from Edinburgh. Unfortunately, I was car sick the whole time, so I wasn't able to enjoy the ride as much as I would have liked, but the landscape was beautiful. We drove through rolling hills, covered in sheep and cows, and tiny villages. After being picked up by our host mom, we drove half an hour to their house and met the rest of the family. The Openshaws have three grown daughters (all of whom have moved out of the house), a cat, and two dogs, Beau and Coco. Beau was a yellow lab puppy, and instantly won our hearts, despite his tendencies to cause trouble.
The family lives in England's lake district, so after an enormous breakfast on Saturday, we met up with a few other families hosting students and hiked to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the woods. It was a beautiful day and nice to get some fresh air. After the waterfall, we were taken to a small lake, surrounded by hills and mountains which were covered in sheep. The scenery was so picturesque and looked like it was straight out of a movie. Although it was chilly, we rented rowboats and got to take a spin on the lake. Thankfully, in the lake district, boats that travel over 4 mph are banned, so we didn't have to worry about getting run over by a large boat, although we did manage to hit each other quite a bit. Rowing was so challenging! I tried for approximately 1 minute, and didn't move at all. Luckily I was in a boat with three boys, and one was able to get us around the lake. After rowing (and by rowing, I mean sitting while people rowed me around) we all went to a stone circle, built 4,500 years ago.
After sightseeing for the day, we went back to the house and took the dogs for a walk around the hamlet. I'm obsessed with British literature such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, and the area is exactly what I imagine every time I read those books. The old houses, huge fields, stone walls, and sheep and cows roaming around was exactly what I had envisioned when I imagined the British countryside. We did have to be careful when walking the dogs though because they weren't on leashes. If dogs get into a field of sheep or cows, the farmer has a right to shoot the dog because it could cause the other animals to abort or stampede. Who knew?
After another huge breakfast on Sunday, my host mom took us into Carlisle, the nearest town. We visited a cathedral built in 900, went to a museum that focused on the history of the town and its Roman influences, and took a trip to TK Maxx (the exact same thing as TJ Maxx). Around 3, we headed back to the bus and back up to Edinburgh.
My host family was so wonderful, and it was nice to get out of the city for a while. I forgot how much I enjoyed seeing the stars! They cooked so much food for us at every meal (think roasted chicken and vegetables, homemade soup, apple and peach cobbler, etc) and the beds were unbelievably comfortable. I slept so well without the noise of cars and screaming boys outside my window all night! My host family was really interesting, and we had great conversation all weekend. Bill, the father, works a supervisor on oil rigs (I refrained from talking about environmental degradation and global warming for most of the weekend) and gets to travel all over the world. Melanie has joined him on many of his trips, and they take vacations all over the world every year, so they've been just about everywhere. Their last trip, last week, was to Boston, so they wanted to hear my thoughts on the Red Sox (there's always next year), the Museum of Science, and Faneuil Hall. They told us all about Europe, India, South East Asia, and Africa. Their stories were endless and very entertaining.
They also loved talking to us about the United States and our views of the world. They both asked lots of questions about the Tea Party, immigration reform, gay marriage, and our thoughts of the Middle East. Their entire family loves Obama, and told us how the election was not only important for the USA, but it inspired the world. I didn't understand what an enormous effect the election of Obama had, but they insisted that it had inspired hope and unity across the planet.
Overall the weekend was a great experience, and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to meet such an interesting family.
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