First Day of Work

Unsurprisingly, there's not really any WiFi here. I would have to bike a few miles down the road to get a possibly adequate connection. Even now, I'm actually on their computer and it took me a good 5 or 10 minutes to type in the correct URL to reach the page I need in order to write posts. Two months ago, after writing a post on my phone, I kept it up in case something like this occurred.
Anyway, after a wonderfully restful Sunday night in Leicester, I arrived yesterday afternoon. Before departing I had to figure out how to get my Lyca mobile card working and to learn about how the bank holiday here affects the buses. I get to do glorified camping! The tents are massive with slightly raised mats for beds and there are showers and flushing toilets. Last night, I enjoyed the feel of the cool, fresh air as I was trying to sleep.
Today, I got to do weeding, "planting out", and some hoeing. It was good work and I enjoyed being able to work with someone else who was committed to doing a good job. While placing the plants we were covering the bed with a biodegradable plastic used to keep weeds from thriving. We would roll it out, cut a + shaped hole, dig a hole into the compost, and then place the squash plants.
Parts of today felt a lot like summer camp. There were two group discussions; one about the highs and lows of the previous day, and another about what we can do to keep the camp running smoothly. Even though we're a transient work crew, some of us are staying long enough, that this discussion was relevant. But the collaborative effort made it feel reminiscent of a summer camp.

Going Off the Grid

Tomorrow I will be going to an off the grid community for my new Workaway experience and will stay there for however long I can. (I need to make up for the £'s I've spent the last few days since I lose $1.60 for every £1.) I had contacted these people while in Dordogne and had received a 'yes' after which I had dropped the ball for while. This was actually something I wanted more than the job in Ireland because while here I won't be very likely to feel lonely while the other place was going to be very isolated. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Ireland as well, but I didn't want to be trapped in my own head for any longer...which might be the real reason I didn't freak out at the airport in London.

Anyway, today, after a surprisingly exceptional early morning (I woke up with the sun around 4:45), I took a 2 and half hour bus ride from Stansted to Leicester. Once I found the hotel and dropped my bags, I wandered around the city center, ate a good lunch, and got a really good haircut for just £7. It was the first time I've ever walked into a place where they used the shears for more than half of it so when they asked me what size I wanted on the shears, I said, "3" and ended up with a more edgy, but still acceptable look.

After coming back to the hotel, I found a way, with help from the front desk, to get to where I need to go tomorrow and everything, besides the chat with my mom, was dull from there.

More Running

Booked another last minute room tonight. I'm actually kind of glad I only took one night at the Ramada because otherwise I would have had nothing to do for the whole day. Instead I spent the whole day looking for rooms online when I could. The airport has terrible WiFi; I kept getting shut out of it while trying to load a google chrome search. Finally ended up in Bishop's Stortford with fairly cheap accommodations. Ended up watching Pursuit of Happiness.
I have an early morning tomorrow and will be catching a bus towards my next workaway. I might start up on Monday though so I am looking into more rooms close by for Sunday night. It's just about time for bed.

Run Til You Drop...or Until Your Luck Turns Around

So, today was crazy! I felt certain I would sleep last night and then was still up at 5:00 breathing deeply and calmly. As much as I hated that I was still up getting upset about never helps you fall asleep. After an €80 taxi ride to the airport, I got on my flight with only a small hitch of the plane being 40 minutes late and discovering that I didn't have any more than 40 minutes between my flights. I had only seen that the connecting flight left at 12:20 when I bought it and was ignorant of the fact that the gates would close at 11:50 until I saw my ticket. So I snuck my great big backpack into the cabin (it was too big, but the airport was too small to care enough to stop me). Then we arrive in Stansted with just 30 minutes until the gate closes and I run through a bunch of hoops and get some help from the TSA (they allowed me to go into the fast-track line and skip a bit a paperwork). At the last security check point, where everyone takes off their shoes, things got interesting. Due to the rush, I didn't take my laptop or my toiletries out and they put my bag through twice and both times had to search it to find the error. Me being too honest perhaps said, "I think I know what the problem is," and pointed to the locking blade I had attached to the top of my pack.
That was a mistake for better or for worse. They took my passport and boarding pass and told me to follow them. Then they had me take a seat and wait. I learned half-way through the tense pause that we were indeed waiting for the police. Between the stress, the fatigue and the low blood sugar, it took a lot for me to remain calm, but I did pretty well; better than usual, I think. Luckily, they just filled out a form and had me sign it and warned me that I can't make this mistake again because it wouldn't go so well the next time. Then I wait one more time to get escorted out of the airport (which is also done for anyone who misses their flight fyi).
So after having a seat, eating some of my tiramisu, I'm waiting for inspiration. I walk back and forth outside the airport and try to gauge whether or not it is possible to walk to a hotel or hostel. I decide against it, and after a good hour or 90 minutes of indecisiveness, I found buses from the airport to hotels with a place to buy food right there in front of it. I go in, buy food, chat with someone else in a similar situation and with his help I research my options for the night.
Anyway, now I'm at a Ramada 5 or 10 minutes from the airport and I might already have landed a workaway opportunity 30 miles away.

New Adventures Ahead and A Brief Recap

Last day in France! Tomorrow, there are two planes to Belfast and a bus towards New Castle. I had a wonderful time here even if I spent too much time in my head lately. It's been a challenge to make the mayhem stop and even when I do it only lasts an hour or two before all the same BS came flooding back. It's the reason I didn't write anything for four days. It's too easy to run out of things to say when your mind gets hijacked and goes for a nauseating roller coaster ride. Anyway, I called home today and the chat I had with my mom really helped.
In the last few days I learned how to make tiramisu, spread a bunch of hay over the garden (instead of mulching), cleared more weeds, ate dinner in a tiny house, had two days where all the grey clouds came without the thunderstorm. The clouds would grow darker and higher all day and then by sunset, the sky would clear up. One odd thing I've been enjoying is seeing all the dirt come off my hands when I wash them. It's a satisfying sign of hard work...or I guess as a kid it meant we were playing hard.

New Plans

I'm heading to Ireland tomorrow to work some more. I'm hoping I won't miss the jacket I left at my first workaway and that there will be plenty of opportunities to hang out with people. The other option I had was to work in an off the grid community in England and I'm not entirely sure why I chose a harder and more expensive place to get to but that's the direction things are going. Anyway, crossing my fingers that this will be amazing and that I'll let it be amazing. I've been feeling as though I'm making wrong choices but when travelling around there shouldn't be such a thing.

More Photos

Photo Montage of My First Two Weeks in Dordogne