Wow, it is so crazy how fast time is flying by. It is mind
blowing that a week has already gone by since I have been in England and I have
been loving every second of it! My first week here has been full of adventures,
traveling around the cities and neighborhoods, and working for the NHS in the
Broomfield Hospital nearby where I am staying. Monday is blogged all about in a
previous post!
Tuesday was awesome. I was treated to a proper English
breakfast, bacon and eggs- but the bacon is ham and the eggs are cooked
completely different. It was delicious though! Following breakfast, I headed
down to the hospital to start my first day on the job and it was great. I meet
the most amazing, kind-hearted, people that were so enthralled with my Las
Vegas history. I had a fulfilling time working in the Early Pregnancy Unit and
also with the mothers and newborns just chatting with them and comforting them.
After 7 hours of running around a hospital with destinations and orders to fulfill,
I think I somewhat figured out how to find my way around this place. This was a
great first day to start my time in England! To end the day, I took a walk
around the neighborhood and just completely fell in love with the people, the
buildings, the plants, the cars, just everything honestly! It is so beautiful
here!
Wednesday consisted of total exhaustion. With a combination
of eating poorly, lack of sleep, and a history of fainting, that was the end
result. Within two hours of me being awake and off to work at the hospital, I got
a sudden dizzy and nauseous feeling and then fainted for a second or so. After getting
a better sense of balance, I went home to rest. I ended up sleeping for hours! It
was much, much needed! Following that, we went on a family trip to a historic
spot nearby in Chelmsford. It had beautiful gardens and architecture. The sunset
was just absolutely beautiful on this day and we went and took pictures in the
prettiest grass field! Seriously, all the flowers and green trees and grass
here is so pretty! I appreciate Heavenly Fathers creations so much more now.
Thursday was a very relaxing day. Sophia took me all around
time and we literally shopped till we dropped. She took me to all the “English”
shops and told me all about the British fashions. I feel really enlightened on
what the trends of fashion really are now! The style is much different here! After
spending eighty pounds in one store I was totally done. I was not expecting to
spend that much money but it was so worth it! Then I had to try the staple
combo food... fish & chips! And they are way better here than they are in America!
They cover the chips, (French fries), in vinegar and salt and oh my, they are
so delicious! This was a packed day of walking around the streets of Sophia’s
hometown and really getting a feel for the English culture.
Friday was a great day! I spent another long day in the
hospital but I really loved it. Having this opportunity to intern and gain work
experience in England has been such a great experience in just a short time. I appreciate
all of the efforts of everyone I have met for making this possible for me. Throughout
the day, I was in emergency pediatrics and it was interesting to see what some
people come into the hospital for, and what an “emergency” situation is for
them. I was able to watch a few different appointments, procedures,
conferences, etc. which included a tour around the hospital which was really
eye opening for me to see the behind the scenes of the NHS. There are
incredible differences between American hospitals and this one that I was in
particular, and everything I saw and experienced were such valuable and
interesting experiences to have that I am so grateful for. Following this day
in the hospital, we headed out to London for the evening. We just toured around
the city and enjoyed a few tourist spots that are a must see when in London. This
consisted of the Big Ben, Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Hyde
Park Castle, Harrods, Kensington Palace, and driving around, just purely
enjoying all that London had to offer. It is such a beautiful city, and kind of
reminded me of home. I love bright lights and historic architecture. This was
an unforgettable night.
Saturday we woke up bright and early to get ready to go to
Cambridge. WOW. In one word, WOW, Cambridge is absolutely beautiful! I could
have spent hours and hours here. It was so clean and tranquil. We had a family
picnic for lunch outside of the university and it was record heat for here. The
sun was shining and it was a nice eighty degrees. To everyone from Vegas, don’t
we wish it stayed in the 80’s? I do! We continued to walk around Cambridge and
it was so darling! There were several people “punting” which looked like so
much fun. Too bad it was expensive :/ that’s okay though, there was so much
beauty in this place that I was soaking in at the same time. We walked in and
out of all of the streets of Cambridge, window shopping, snacking, and taking
hundreds of pictures along the way. As we were leaving, Sophia leaned over to
me and pointed at a man ahead of us claiming it to look like one of our friends
from BYU and insisted I shout his name. I did, not thinking he would actually
respond, but he did! Our friend from school was in the same spot as us at the
same time. Now if that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is. It was so fun
running into him! After this, we ended our day by going to stake conference and
ordering Domino’s pizza. I have never appreciated my stake and ward as much as I
did this day because my stake center is only a five-minute drive from my home
and consist of hundreds of members, whereas here, their stake center is nearly
an hour away with not nearly as many active members. I am so grateful for the
gospel and the examples I have in my home-town.
Sunday was great, like every Sunday. We continued with another session of stake conference at the chapel nearby and watched it aired live from the stake center. After this, we had a great pasta dinner and the Deighton family was able to Skype their son in Greece for Mother's Day. Families are the greatest blessings! Afterwards, the Elders serving in the ward came over to Skype their families at home and it was precious to see how happy it made them to see their families. To end the evening, we went on a Sunday drive to Writtle, just outside of where I am staying. We were able just to have a peaceful time walking around the area and watching cute little ducks swim in the pond.
Week one was GREAT! Now onto the next week of this amazing adventure.
ps shout out to whoever actually reads all of this!
XO
Marley
follow @marleystravel on Instagram for photo updates!
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