Caz not-in-Belize-anymore!

I've been back for a few weeks now, and while in some ways I felt like I'd never been away and settled back into letting my lovely Dad make me cups of tea in the morning, some things are hard to get used to again and I miss being over there!

Having flitted around the country a bit to see some very good friends, and cooked enchilladas for some other very good friends, I went to a fantastic debriefing weekend from the EEP experience in Birmingham, where I remet some old friends and made some new ones. It was interesting how different our experiences had all been in different places and doing different things, and yet how many things we wanted to discuss in common!

I've now come to Reading to study for a MSc in Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate, and am really rather excited. I'm trying to personalise my room as much as permitted, have met some people from my course and some other people, been out for the first time in a long time, got soup at the Chaplaincy, stocked my fridge, and generally am enjoying myself. Hopefully this enjoyment level won't fall too much when lectures start!

So, just a brief list of strange or exciting things about the UK:
1) Radio 4 English accents
2) English journalism, which is significantly different (dare I say better?) than both US and Belizean journalism, which are themselves worlds apart
3) having cold toes
4) not having cold toes; going out expecting to be cold on the assumption that England is cold and actually enjoying the glorious September sunshine
5) conkers being everywhere without my being subconsciously prepared for them by the changing seasons
6) trying to buy jeans in Birmingham, where the shops cover several square acres (not that I know how big an acre is) and each takes a good five minutes to cover, unlike shopping in Belize City, where the majority of shops are on one street and you can pretty much see all the shop's contents from the entrance. This Birmingham shopping experience was stressful.
7) automatic doors and escalators
8) cars travelling quickly because there are no potholes
9) cars travelling on the other side of the road and then there being one way systems when I'm running for a train so even after thinking carefully about which way the traffic comes from I still nearly get run over
10) trains
11) people wearing seatbelts
12) the cheese counter in any supermarket, YEY
13) rain which doesn't get you wet
14) PUBS!
15) recycling being common and easy. Hooray!

I may extend this list when things come to me.

In conclusion, thanks to everyone who's supported me in any way, whether through prayer or thought or email or monetary donation or facebook chat or sending letters or ANYTIN ATAAL. it's been fab!