Finally...an update!

So I have fnally got around to writing an update! The last time I wrote I was heading off for training. Now I have completed the weeks training and the first week of the tour! So much to talk about!


Training - Week One - Telscombe
So on a rainy Sunday me and Hasinah headed off from London Victoria to Brighton, the destination for our training. Or so we thought. In actual fact we were headed off to Telscombe about 30 minutes away from Brighton. But first the journey! We got onto the most packed train I have been on in ages, the doorways were rammed with people. It was like being on a rush hour tube. Luckily we (and our huge array of luggage) got seats! When we arrived in Brighton we followed instructions to get a bus. Simple enough, except the next bus would be in an hour and 20 minutes. I forgot just how lucky we are to live in London and have public transport every 3 minutes. London I love you!

So we soon realised we didn't want to stand in the cold for that long to headed back to the station. Thank godness we did as about 20 minutes later Anna from Restless Development (the charity we are working for) arrived to collect us. We had no idea we were being collected so this was a big relief! This would be the first of many miscommunications but this all adds to the experience!

We also met Lydia and El, our fellow facilitators. Both Lydia and El had completed dance degrees (much to mine and Hasinah's panic - we later found out that we were the only people with no formal dance background!). They were both lovely and it was great to know that we would be spending the training week with friendly, fun people. We also met Ash who was going to be our driver for the whole tour. Ash had already been christened Mum by the time we arrived, and she had only been with the Dance4Life team for 4 days!

We then had a lovely coastal drive to Telscombe. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and only has 10 houses in the whole of the village. But the surroundings were beautiful and so peaceful! When we arrived all of te speakers were resting so we didn't really meet them. Instead me, Hasinah, Lydia and El went for a walk up the hill by our hostel and into the fields. It was getting dark and we were joking about us actuallybeing in a horror film as we were in the middle of nowhere with no mobile signal, in the dark and in a field. Perfect set up. But it was great all going up on the hill and getting to know each other.

After we got cold we all headed back to watch a film in the hostel. Four Lions if you want to know. Always great to get to know people over a comedy about terrorists. But it was really relaxed, little did we know it would be one of the only nights we would have t relax. So it was really great.

The next day the training started properly...but I will save that for another blog. Right now as I type this Hasinah is asleep so I think it is time to rest before our drive to Newcastle tomorrow. So I will relive the past two weeks via blogging tomorrow.

Until then have fun people!