A quick visit to England

Being back in Blighty was so exciting that I didn’t even mind the freezing cold weather; it was just good to be back in familiar territory and I had a very exciting reason for being there. Next year I will be going to Canada with Scouts from all over the world for the 2013 Scout Moot, so I had to attend a weekend at the UK Scout headquarters at Gilwell Park, Essex to get all the information needed and of course to meet the rest of the UK contingent. So once we found the car in the car park we headed off to Gilwell, when I arrived there was a slight hiccough with the accommodation, most people were staying in tents, but because I couldn’t bring one from Spain they had allowed me to sleep in proper accommodation with beds, or so I thought.

We didn’t arrive at Gilwell until 1am, so of course no one was around to help me, I tried ringing a few numbers and in the end was told to bed up in whichever room took my fancy and it would all be sorted out the following day. So I huddled up on a bed in an empty room with my parent’s picnic blanket, still a damn sight warmer than sleeping outside! The following morning I woke up and ate some haribo that I had in my bag left over from the flight, feeling all nervous and excited to sign in and get my new necker then start meeting new people. I only knew one other person who was coming, Rhys, from my Network group at home, and when I entered the sign in room I couldn’t spot him – instant panic. It was like being thrown back to the start of Year Abroad when I knew no one and had to start from scratch again, I hadn’t had enough sleep for this! I got myself a name sticker and a necker, task one fold it properly - I had always been rubbish at that. I popped back to my room to get my woggle to hold my necker in place, thankfully new, crisp neckers are much easier to fold than my old tatty one. When I returned to the sign in room there were familiar faces, Rhys and the people he had got a lift with – I had spoken to a couple of them on Facebook.

Once we had all signed in we had a little welcome talk and were split into three groups, there would be three different sessions to attend over the weekend and we would rotate. Our first one was making a promotional video for the UK Contingent, so that people from other countries could see what Scouting (and Guiding, as there are UK guides coming to the Moot too) is all about where we are from. We ran around Gilwell taking some photos and videos of us doing what we do, it was a good opportunity to get to know the site as I hadn’t been there before, some others from our group went in to Chingford and London. Once the cold had beaten us we headed inside to play some cards before lunch, it was good to get to know other people from near my home, we talked about how we could get together in order to do some fundraising – something I will have to do a lot of if I don’t want to bankrupt myself this year!

Lunch was very welcome, a cheese and cheese and onion crisp sandwich for me, which was beautiful – proper cheese and proper crisps again. Following lunch we moved on to our next base, familiarising ourselves with our possible destinations in Canada and then discussing fundraising techniques. It was very useful to get to know the options for our city visit in Canada, we can choose between Toronto, Quebec and Montreal, from the presentations I decided that Quebec was the city for me, one decision down at least. We also invented and played some Canada-related games, including grab a granny and Canadian fruit bowl. The fundraising speed-dating was also useful, we chatted for a minute to someone about how we could raise money then at the whistle we had to change to another person. It was good for getting to know more people, I didn’t realise how many people from the West Midlands there were in the UK contingent, we could make an amazing fundraising team!

That evening we had chilli for dinner, although I just had the rice – not a chilli fan, followed by a Halloween party. I didn’t have a costume but some people had made a real effort, it was great having a laugh and a dance to some classic cheese, there were also plenty of Halloween games, I managed to make a wonderful toilet-roll mummy out of Harriett, even if I do say so myself. After we were all partied out some of the girls came to hang out in my room, it was much warmer in there than in the tents, we chatted more about fundraising and made a plan for some events that we could run as well as discussed our options for travel to and from the Moot and post-Moot trips. In the end some of the girls decided to have a sleepover in my room rather than braving the cold, frosty tents for the night.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a breakfast of pain au chocolat and cereal, following which we finally got to have the presentation on the Moot itself! It was full of useful information that I had been waiting for, and it really cemented my decision to book my own flights, independently of the UK Contingent and not to have a post-Moot activity. There were trips to the Niagara falls, Banff and the Rockies and more on offer, but as it will be my 21stbirthday the day after the Moot I will fly down to New York and meet my family to celebrate. Two girls who I will be fundraising with also decided to book their flights independently, so we have been busy arranging our own flights ever since. Following the presentation my mind was overflowing with information and excitement, I literally couldn’t wait for Canada.

All too soon it was time to have lunch then head for home, we swapped numbers and of course added each other on Facebook, and then it was time for us to go. I got a lift back to Birmingham from another Scout who was headed up to Manchester. My parents had arranged for us to go out for dinner at my favourite Chinese restaurant in town which was really nice, despite being rather knackered from the weekend I was excited to be spending time with my family. It was great seeing my dog again, I had missed him so much, and I know he missed me too as odd as it might sound. After a bath I got an early night, I only had one full day in Birmingham and I was sure as anything going to make the most of it.

I woke up bright and early on Monday feeling very refreshed from having slept in my own bed, not that there’s anything wrong with my bed in Cádiz, but nothing beats your own bed. Once I was up I headed to the shops to pick up a few things that I wanted to take back to Cádiz with me, then we stopped in at my Nan’s house. We chatted for hours and it was great to catch up, although I have been able to Skype her a couple of times when she has visited my parent’s house. As I was leaving Nan presented me with a portion of my favourite food, she had been on a special trip in to Birmingham city centre to get them, she had also prepared a homemade apple and blackberry crumble with fruits from her garden. Dinner for that evening was sorted then! Whilst mum made dinner I hung out with my family and looked over some more Canada options, then after dinner I headed over to my friend Liv’s house to see her family before we headed to Scouts. I run an Explorer group on a Monday night but obviously am having to take a year out, so it was nice to see all of the scouts again, as well as my leadership team, the post-meeting pub trip was of course nothing to do with it. We had a great laugh catching up, I have missed scouting whilst being in Spain.

Then all too quickly it was time to wake up and pack my bags ready for the flight back to Spain. As my dad had to work he was unable to take me to the airport so a family friend picked me up instead. I was glad to be taking a case home full of clothes, finally I would have a more varied wardrobe. It was quite possibly the quickest check in ever, which was very surprising for a Ryan Air flight, so then I had a few hours to sit around in the airport on my own, I rang my nan and my dad to have a chat before I was unable to do so (without costing the heaven and the earth that is). Then the mammoth journey back to Cádiz began, I caught a flight from Birmingham to Malaga (there are no other airports closer to Cádiz that Birmingham flies to), then I caught a taxi to the hostel that I had booked for the night as there were no busses back to Cádiz that late. The hostel I had booked was within easy walking distance to the bus station so when I woke up the next day it was just a short walk to the bus station where I paid €24 for a bus ticket to Cádiz. After waiting around a while for the bus I took my seat for the 4 hour journey along the coast back home, without company it was such a long journey, but I did eventually make it. Was worth it not to have to do all the travelling in the UK though, was much easier than getting from Birmingham to Stansted Airport then from Jerez Airport back home. So it was definitely worth looking at the other options for travel, at Christmas I will be flying back to Birmingham from Malaga. A few days back in England gave me a lot to think about and made me very excited for things to come.

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