Latest Adventures!

So...yesterday was my birthday. I started the day wondering if my mom and dad would call me. Then, I got a call and the phone said it was "Dad," so I promptly said, "Hi, Dad!" It was then that I realized that it was Louise's dad. Oops! Luckily, he has told me that he's happy to stand in for my dad while I'm over here, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been. Later that afternoon, I walked to the top of the Cherhill White Horse. It was carved in the hillside in the 1700's and restored in 2002. It was a good walk up a steep hill and it was rewarding to make it to the top. I went home to make a fancy lamb dinner and then cheesecake to follow. However, I didn't buy a lamb roast. It was a pork roast. Ah, well! I'll figure out the different names sometime. It was still a great dinner, and a really yummy cheesecake.
Other adventures...Karen, another Fulbrighter, came out to stay with me for a couple of days. We met up in Bath and I showed her around this time. We ended up seeing David and Cherry while we were there. That's Louise's dad and significant other. They are super nice! We also saw the Roman Baths that are 2000 years old and they believe that the Celts used them before that. The next day we went down to Longleat. Its the Lord of Bath's castle and grounds. He took a big part of his land and converted it into a drive thru safari park. It is wonderfully planned. You are guarenteed of seeing all the animals because even though the animals have a lot of room to roam, the roads weave through each animals habitat so you can get really close to them. I don't think I will ever drive through the monkey land ever again. They do have warnings that the monkeys might harm your car, but this poor family had their car ripped apart...the antennae, any rubber trim, and the wind shield wipers...gone! I was really lucky! Then we walked through the castle and actually saw the famous Henry VIII painting that I've seen in tons of books. The castle and grounds were really pretty! Our final day we went to both Lacock Abby/town and Avebury. Lacock is where they filmed the 1st two Harry Potters. There were flyers that told you which rooms were used but not which scenes. Most of the classroom scenes were filmed there, but they didn't tell you which class, so we were trying to figure it out. The town is also cool. People do live there, but its a level 3 conservation town, so they have to get permission to do anything inside or outside their homes. It is a really cool town though. I felt like I was walking down a street in the movie Scrooge. They film a lot of movies in town too. I can see why. Then we went to Avebury. Its another ancient rock circle, henge. Its as old as Stonehenge, but its less known and about 3 mile circumference walk. It was neat, but you had to watch out for the sheep droppings and the sheep.
I have met 2 of the other teachers. They have both had me over for dinner and were both lovely times. I'm heading back to Miri's house and town to go to the town's carnival/fair on Saturday.
Enough for now! Love ya all!