Summer and Orientation Week!

Well it's been a while since my last post - a combination of exams, graduation and difficult goodbyes left me with little time to fill you in. 

This post acts as an update on what I got up to this summer, and what I've been doing in these first few weeks. I'll post links to a couple of videos and pack this post full with pictures so you can see it all!

With spirits high, we threw another party in our iconic barn. This one was not as successful as the previous few, but was a nice reunion with friends and family. 

I travelled far and wide this summer. First, I visited Amsterdam where I stayed with my Dutch co-year, Jamie. We rented bikes and cycled around (embarrassingly crashing once or twice), as well as visiting Paradiso and jamming with Jamie's guitar to our hearts content. Next, I flew on to Rome where I met up with Martina. We visited so many historical landmarks, however unfortunately I was too sick to go to the Colosseum.  I also flew to Dubai to see Malhaar - we went dune bashing, visited the biggest waterpark in Asia, the biggest mall in the world and ate dinner next to the largest fountains in the world (which happened to be right next to the largest tower in the world). Dubai just has to go that one step further, doesn't it?!

 Dad also took me up to Inverness, where we attended a Sea Kayaking course with Wilderness Scoltand. The place that we were staying in was breathtakingly beautiful, and the course was a lot of fun. With seals, birds and porpoises around you all the time, you couldn't help but admire the Scottish lochs. 

I also was lucky enough to Glastonbury festival again. It was an incredible few days, filled with music, friends and family. Although I wasn't that excited having seen the line up, it turned out to be incredible anyway!

I visited London (twice!) to see MUWCI people, and watched the world cup final with them in style in the Hilton! It was so nice to experience a tiny taste of college outside of context, although having to say goodbye again was not the easiest thing (as I'm sure you can imagine)

And then, it was time for my return to the hill. I began the week well by causing turmoil in the mud games as I poured endless buckets of water over unsuspecting first years.  

In true Brit fashion, we performed Spice Girls 'Stop' in the Second Year show. I'd say it was quite successful, although it was hard with a broken toe (thanks Mehdi). 

Next was the Buddy Ball! (One first year is paired with a second year who takes care of them. Or is meant to anyway.) Unfortunately, I can't now find the photo of me and my buddies (I share a first year with my co year, Prashant), but here are some photos from the night. Just incase it's not obvious, I'm dressed as Ron Weasley)

Here is Mush, my beloved baby who was so pleased to see me that she gave me a kiss, and I got it on camera. 

Our first trip with the first years to Pune was a success. Here you can see Luis (right) enjoying the bus journey. Sam (left), not so much. 

I did my (indian version of the) Ice Bucket Challenge about a week ago, here's a screenshot of the video. If you want to see the full thing, this link should work. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10203636835755446&set=vb.1652975670&type=2&theater

Make sure you watch it in HD!

Ganesh festivities followed my Ice Bucket Challenge! I made a video, which you can watch on this link: however I got impatient so it's really bad quality. But yeah, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuNDH5N3b-o

Now I will leave you - my college apps are calling! Here's a photo of my (slightly messy) corner - my den for the next year. It's really cosy, and very 'Kate', with hand-me-downs from second years splattered left, right and centre. I hope you enjoyed this quick update of my summer, and I'll try and write again soon!

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 17 yesterday, and had an amazing day surrounded by wonderful people. I was made pizza by an Italian, sang to by a Nepali and received hugs from every conceivable corner of the planet. I guess that's UWC for you.

I also worked out that today it's 46 days until I arrive back in England, and it's 106 days since I saw any of the members of my family. That makes me sad, but also extremely excited about going back home to England, especially as it's St. George's Day today (wow - coming to UWC has made me so patriotic). After grad (24th May), I'm planning to travel for two weeks with a Colombian named Maria Jimena. We're thinking of going to the Andaman & Nicobar islands (mainly because we want to swim with Elephants), along with a few stop offs in touristy places along the way.

To think that I could be here in under a month makes my exams seem a whole lot less stressful. 

My brother sent me the below picture of Zed the other day, and it made me realise how much I missed not only my family, but also home life in general; pets included! Funnily enough, I miss my old school, I miss sleeping on time and I miss food most of all. It feels like I've been here for ever. A part of me really does not want to leave as it means saying goodbye to my second years and some of the people I'm closed to, however the other half of me can't wait to get out of here; this term feel like it's dragged on for ever. 

What a cutie

This weekend, 15 of us are going to stay in a hotel in Pune called Pancard Clubs, which is going to be a lot of fun. It will only be my second time off campus in just over 6 weeks, and I cannot wait to celebrate my birthday in style with some of my closest friends. Counting down the days until Saturday arrives!

Apart from that ^, I don't really have much news. I had my english mock on Sunday, which went pretty well, and now I'm just working my ass off in order to prepare for my end of year exams which start in a couple of weeks. 

I never know how to end these posts, it's always so awkward. Bye for now? I guess that'll have to do. 

Travel Week!

I think I owe you an apology. I've been meaning to update this blog since around 2 months ago , but kept on putting it off. Honestly, not a lot of new things have been going on! I've been working hard since winter break and didn't think that would make a very interesting blog post! 

It was nice to catch up with old friends over Christmas, but was also hard to fit in again back at home. I've become extremely dependant on the constant company and level of maturity that MUWCI offers, and I missed that hugely for my one month in England. It was so weird, I slept in my own super comfy bed, took a bubble bath, ate my favourite macaroni cheese,  snuggled with my dogs and family in front of the fire, wrapped up in my duvet and watched a movie. And all of these beautiful, luxurious gestures made me miss MUWCI so so much. 

It soon got better though, as I went on a skiing trip to Switzerland with Luke and Dad, and then partied it up with my friends as Dalmatians on New Years Eve.


I was excited to come back, especially as the jeep drove me up the familiar winding track to my second home. However, the feeling soon passed as the reality of classes the next day hit me. I soon settled back into my routine and got on with MUWCI life, taking each new assignment and trying to get it over and done with asap. 

Around 200 of us set up a huge game of capture the flag at night time in January. I never realised how competitive I was until hovering in a tree, just 2 meters above the flag when I got caught. I somehow managed to open my knee which required 4 stitches. I think I'll save the photo of that for individuals, it's pretty gruesome. I also had damaged some of the bone marrow inside, which meant I was on crutches for a few days and couldn't do sport for a long while. 

The first piece of exercise I did after my injury was a 5km running race (a little optimistic, I know) on a beach, organised by a company called running and living. I ended up coming first, which was a huge surprise, especially without having done anything in over 6 weeks. MUWCI dominated the whole race, winning 1st, 2nd and 3rd in both the 5km and 10km races - its safe to say the competition was fairly poor. 

Fire service is just beginning to get a little more exciting. Real fires happen usually once or twice per week and can last up to an hour for each fire. The other day we spent a good 3 hours running around campus putting them out, but the adrenaline rush still gets me every time. 

I've just reached home after Travel Week. I was in a group of 9 boys plus another girl, Sophia, and I. We took a 32 hour long train ride to the south of India and stayed in a hotel in Kerala. We rented bikes and ate amazing food and explored the city of Cochin, whilst fitting in time to play a lot of card games and make some amazing memories. It was a lovely group of people and I thoroughly enjoyed just chilling with them and laughing constantly!

Also, I got a tattoo! I found the design online and really liked it so got it done in a place in Kerala. It didn't really hurt at all, but was a pain to have to keep it out of the sea/shower for a few days. It's pretty much healed now. I've had the piss taken out of me a lot for us, some people don't like it, but I'm really happy with it myself. 

Next, we took a train to Goa, where around 100 MUWCI people were staying in close proximity of each other, and also a lot of bars. This, of course, led to some chaotic but brilliant days. We visited beaches and flea markets during the day and then prepared for a nice evening. Sometimes, it seemed like we almost took over Baga Beach and Tito's lane as we occupied multiple restaurants and bars with just ourselves. 

 It was a really lovely trip, but I left Goa a day early. I wanted to be back on campus and thought I'd seen enough of the beaches as we'd arrived a day before everyone else. I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout the whole time (however could have done without the 72 hours of travelling that we ended up doing) and am looking forward to the next time I can go to the beach. I really miss the sea, and the mountains also! I think we're planning to go skiing next Project week with the outdoor education department which should be really good fun if we can organise it well enough.

 

 I'll leave you with a picture of Baga Beach, Goa, and the beautifully plain sky. I'll write again soon. 

Fire's and Rescues

It's only 2 more weeks until I will have completed my first term and will be on my way home for Winter break. I can't quite believe just how quickly these 4 months have gone. I'm so excited to see everyone, but know I will miss this place a lot too. I discovered after project week (10 days) just how much I'd missed everyone, and I think Christmas will have a similar effect on me. 

The day I wrote the last post was an eventful one. Little did I know that only 4 hours after leaving the med centre, the fire alarm would go off and fire service members would get called to an emergency situation. I ran to the meeting point, extremely confused as we hadn't yet been briefed on what to do or wear. There we found a jeep waiting for us with 2 stretchers on the back. We were told that someone (unknown who, or how badly) was injured on the top of Mount Wilkinson, the mountain next to the college. There is actually a triveni called First Aid Service who are meant to deal with things like this, however they have not completed their training yet so fire service were called up instead. 10 of us jumped in the jeep and were driven to the bottom of the mountain, where we then had to run 30 minutes up the hill carrying stretchers, pillows and first aid kits. 


At the top, we found a girl who wasn't a student, but was staying in the college. She had fallen and hurt her (previously broken) ankle, and kept on passing out then fitting because of the pain she was in. We put her on the stretcher and began the trek down, in the dark over hazardous terrain. We had a few flashlights, but with 6 people carrying 1 stretcher at a time and extras holding the lights, things were very crowded. 







Eventually, we made it down at around 7:30pm after leaving campus at 4pm. The girl was so thankful to us all and we were so proud to have worked well under difficult conditions. We bonded really closely, even though we were only about a quarter of the full fire service team. 

That brings me on to my next topic; FIRE'S! After hours of tedious grass cutting using machetes in fire service, we are now actually on to burning. We are creating a 'fire wall' of burnt grass in a ring around campus which is meant to slow the fire down, giving us extra time to fight it before it reaches campus. We have to wear jeans and a hoodie, as well as balaclavas, gloves and goggles whilst running to the fires, so it's pretty hot and hard work. We have these things called beaters which are basically a small metal sheet on the end of a bamboo rod, and we have to beat all the oxygen from the flames until they die out. The grass is still a little wet from monsoon season, so the fires are still pretty small, but we've had a couple of big ones. You get such a big buzz when you're there and someone is chanting and you're rhythmically beating away at the flames with the others around you. All of the fires so far have been started by fire service members, either during our sessions to create the fire wall or as a 'drill' to test our speed and ability under pressure. No matter what you're doing when the alarm goes off, you have to drop everything and run to the meeting point to grab goggles, gloves and beaters. You pair up with the next person who arrives and it becomes your responsibility to make sure you are always with them and always know where they are. Apparently, fires happen quite often when it's dark so you have to be alert as to where your partner is and if she/he is safe all the time. 

So, here's to many exhausting, exciting and exhilarating fires of the future! I'm really looking forward to diving headfirst into this experience. (not literally).

-Kate

Project Week and Exeat

We left MUWCI on Friday 19th October and travelled 90 minutes in a bus to Pune train station, where we caught a 27 hour long train to Delhi. We stopped there for a few hours to get subway and frozen yoghurt, before carrying on 5 hours in another train to Dehradun. Next, we caught a jeep for 5 hours into the mountains, passing some amazing views of peaks and lakes. We arrived at our 'base camp' where we met our guide and other people who would be walking with us and had some amazing food before setting up camp for the night. 

The hiking itself wasn't too hard, although as a group we walked very slowly. We walked 8km on the first day, 14km on the second, 8 on the third, 14 on the fourth and 8 again on our last day. At night, temperatures dropped below freezing and I woke up shivering a few times, but the sky was amazing - we saw so many shooting stars! The group bonded really nicely, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout the week, it was hilarious to see some people's reaction as they saw snow for the first time. I didn't shower for 10 days, but it was totally worth it and the food was phenomenally good!

We arrived home on the Sunday night, and on the Tuesday, my Mum and Chris arrived. It was so nice to see them and catch up on everything that's been going on! They absolutely loved campus (I think) although they were a bit overwhelmed at the amount of people they were meeting. They came with me to PCH (Paud Children's Home on the Wednesday) and really enjoyed themselves. On the friday, we left for Exeat (basically a long weekend) with Mum and Chris, and two of my friends Martina (half Malaysian) and Marija (Norwegian). We travelled on a sleeper bus to Aurangabad which is a city inland of Mumbai. We stayed in an amazing hotel called the lemon tree and went to see the largest handmade rock temples in the world, called Ellora caves. We also went to a mini Taj Mahal and we were meant to go paragliding too, but because of Diwali (a huge Indian festival), the sports centre was closed so we just chilled by the pool. We then flew to Mumbai and dropped Mum and Chris off at a very fancy hotel called the Taj, opposite the Gateway to India. However, my bag did not arrive as it had been put on a flight to Delhi by accident. The three of us then went on to our friend Shiv's house for our remaining two nights in Mumbai and we celebrated the eventual arrival of my bag, and my friend Elize's birthday. We went on Shiv's yacht for one day which was absolutely amazing and just chilled for the rest of our time there, of course fitting in time for a little shopping! 

However, the day I arrived back to campus, I got really sick. I couldn't keep any food down, had a fever of 104 degrees and I fainted. Because I couldn't eat, they put me on a drip for 6 hours to try and rehydrate me, which actually worked as I feel a lot better now! I'm still not out of the med centre, but I can actually eat food and drink water now. Today there is a 1st year vs 2nd year football match, a pool party and karaoke which I really want to go to, but doubt I will be allowed to!

Mamma mia rehearsals are going well, its a lot of fun and I get along really well with the other cast members! My wrist is a lot better now too, although I still feel pain if I put too much pressure on it. 

Again, sorry for the disjointedness of this post - as you can tell I'm not the best writer about!

Kate

10th October 2013

So, whats my news?

Well I found out recently that I am part of Mamma Mia - I'm playing Ali (Sophie's best friend). I sang Valerie in my audition, it went pretty well and I got in with a bunch of other great people! We're going to perform in February which should be really nice, I'm looking forward to when rehearsals begin and we can start learning everything.

The workload is slowly but surely increasing! It seemed like we had absolutely nothing to do, then in the space of 2 days I was given about 5 assessments. I've managed knuckle down to get through most of it though - I now have a week to complete my global politics and english assessments which is easily do-able! 

I've messed up my wrist pretty badly. I've strained/tore some of the ligaments down the outwards side of my left hand wrist playing rugby the other day! So, I'm in a splint for 2 weeks, and if it's still bad after that I have to go see an orthopaedic consultant. It's project week a week today so I'm off to the Himalayas to do some hiking, so I hope it's recovered before that. 

Just after I return, my Mum's coming to visit! 1 week after I am back from project week, I'm leaving campus again for exeat (4 day long break when you can leave campus with your friends to go to wherever you want to). I think I may travel with my Mum and Chris for the first 3 days, then go to Mumbai for 1 night with my mates, but I'm not sure yet.

I'm still part of fire service - today we took machetes and hacked away at the grass in order to make a kind of fire wall around campus. I was pretty useless seeing as I couldn't really swing the machete with my wrist but I was there for moral support! We're gonna burn away a 3m wide circle all around in a (hopefully!) controlled manner so that when the actual fire season starts, the fires will not actually make it to campus. 

I've changed my off-campus triveni because Manavya didn't fit in very well into my schedule. Now I do Paud Children's Home which is good fun. The kids are all really sweet and we had our first session the other day - I taught the kids the hokey cokey and we did a dance/some other games. I think we may be teaching them some maths next week which should be fun. 

Sorry if this post is long overdue and seems really disjointed/random, but I haven't had much time to write recently

Love from India!

18th September

I have finalised by subject choices which are a bit different from before (I'm now doing Hindi, Global Politics, Maths, English&Performance, Biology and Chemistry) and my triveni choices (Gender and Sexuality, Hockey, Fitness, Fire Service and Manavya). 

In fire service, we are trained to beat down the fires manually so that campus doesn't burn down in the hottest months of summer. About a week ago, we had out first session which was basically just fitness. It was pretty hard work but so much fun at the same time - we then played rugby in the middle of a thunderstorm too which was cool. 

Manavya is an off-campus triveni - a group of us visit a home for children who are HIV positive and we spend an hour or so playing, singing, dancing, or just chatting with them. It's really nice to spend a bit of time off campus with some local children, and its a lot of fun. Our last couple of sessions have been cancelled/cut short due to various difficulties however next week should be good.

Because I'm going on the project week to the himalayas, the faculty members leading our trip want to get us exercising and practice hiking, so last weekend we hiked up the mountain near the college called Mount Wilkinson. We left at around 8 and got back at 11 in time for brunch, and it was really nice to spend some time with others in the group. The hike itself was pretty easy and we saw some amazing views.

I still have not seen any snakes, although there was one caught in college meeting the other day. Don't worry, if you find a snake, all you have to do is put it in the snake box, that's all. 

This week has been full of Ganesh celebrations. Ganesh is a festival for a God where people throw red powder paint at each other and parade down to the river in order to immerse the Ganesh statue. It was really good fun although my clothes are still stained with red powder!

Time is going pretty quickly here - I've been here a month today, and I'm already a quarter of the way through my first term! I'm starting to settle into a routine, but a lack of sleep over the past few days means I'm in the medical centre, feeling pretty congested and just generally achey. 

If you want to see photos of things I've been up to, you can here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uwcmahindracollege and there is also a mash up video of the performances from the first and second year talent shows here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zYZCcwgA1X4). 

- Kate