Birthday

Celebrated my birthday with 2 dozen roses from work and a proper British pint in a proper British pub, complete with the ruins of a castle literally outside the window:)

More Pics from Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall

Spent last Saturday walking along Hadrian's wall with Alice and the student group she leads at church.  The wall was built by the Roman Empire and stretches across the width of Northern England under the rule of the emperor Hadrian.  It was built in an effort to keep out raids by the ancient inhabitants of Scotland.  After walking for about an hour and a half, we stopped at the tree that was featured in the Robin Hood movie (see pics), and then ended the walk at a quiet British pub.

Health and Safety

I’m getting quite used to my professional woman persona here. Office, meetings, desk, computer and high heels. However, it is a bit different than what I would imagine I would be doing in the good ‘ol US of A. First of all, we Americans do not give nearly as much attention to health and safety. As part of my induction last week I had to have a private health and safety meeting in which I was asked, among other questions, whether or not the air was comfortable for me. In addition, my chair was taken apart, put back together and pumped full of air to assure the proper back support and chair height for my posture. I was offered a foot stand so that my feet could tilt back rather than sit flat on the ground, gel pads for below my wrists when I type and my computer was raised so that it sits at perfect eye level. I was even tested, observed while I sat and typed to assure that I was doing it all correctly and nothing had been missed. I’m not sure they approve of my poor posture, but since I’m only here for three months I can get away with it, as I won’t be costing Aquila big bucks on medical bills down the road. Just another crazy day in Britain:)

Warkworth Castle

My first weekend here my supervisor took me and his sons (the two "knights" in the pictures) to see Warkworth Castle. Reasonably well preserved, the castle is situated in Warkworth, a nearby town of Northumberland. Warkworth Castle was originally constructed as a wooden fortress, some time after the Norman Conquest. In 1173 the castle was besieged and taken by the Scottish king, William the Lion. In the 14th century it became a part of the chain of defense against the Scots (don’t worry Greg, not the Irish:).

It was later ceded to thePercy family, who held it, and resided there on and off dependent on the state of their relationship with the royalty of the time, until the 16th C when castle was rebuilt with sandstone curtain walls and greatly reinforced. It was refurbished, with much refaced stonework, by the Dukes of Northumberland in the late 19th C. It is incredible to walk through the castle and imagine the history that took place within its thick stone walls. Still, I was happy to be there in ‘08 watching Steven and Ben have rolling races down the moat, rather than peaking out the small windows in the middle of a siege.

The pictures were mostly taken by Steven, my supervisor’s five year old who confiscated my camera for a large part of the day, but they turned out pretty nice. (I did take the one of the boys standing in the fireplace of the main kitchen specifically for you Pete:).

Becoming a Blogger

I have finally decided to enter the world of blogging. I came to this decision more out of necessity than desire, as I have a healthy fear of writing my thoughts in public, but given my current lack of much internet access and the fact that I am an ocean away from family and friends, it seems to be the best option for keeping in touch and posting pictures. So anyway, it's my first shot... take it easy on me.

As most everyone now knows, I have safely arrived in Newcastle and have been settling in and diving head first into my research over the past two weeks. It has been an incredible experience thus far, but I have found myself far more culture shocked than I had ever expected. It seemed to me that after spending 4 months living in a small tent in Tanzania, Britain would be no match for me. I was wrong. As it turns out, I think that I felt much more at home under the African sky than I will ever feel in this bustling city. Nonetheless, I am beginning to figure out public transportation, relaxing into a schedule and even catching on to some British slang (note to self: getting loaded means 'sick' not 'drunk').

I live in a small flat with an older woman who also works at Aquila. It seems to be working out well so far, and is in a nice location just outside the center of the city and only about 6 miles from the coast. The pictures I've attached are from a walk at the coast a day last week. The coast is absolutely beautiful when the sun shines, but the weather is pretty windy, wet and cold most days. No one here seems to need heat inside, so I'm usually snuggled under a blanket or two both at home and at my desk in central office.

The city of Newcastle was historically a Roman settlement and is situated on the North bank of the River Tyne only about an hour from Scotland. The city became a coal mining area and in the 16th century was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centers. These basic industries have now gone and the city is now largely an administrative and cultural center with two universities. The Georgian architecture of the city is incredible and one of the streets in the center of the city which I pass each day on my way to work was voted "Best street in the UK" in '02. So much more to tell, but my lunch break is nearly up so I'm back to work. More later:)