Pardon me, i just dropped a clanger! (translation: excuse me for just putting my foot in my mouth.)

Today me and hannah decided to educate ourselves on the world of brittish slang, as we are growing weary of looking at people as if staring them down will somehow magically interpret what they just said. Today we learned that when you say excuse me in england, it means that you deffinately either just belched or passed gas. It's sure a good thing that I have been quite loudly saying 'excuse me' every time i need to brush past someone, or even just walk past them briskly on the road. lol. The locals must think I have quite the digestive issue. I will now be saying 'pardon me' from now on.

For the past two days we have been staying in the village of Oundle (OW-ndle) in Northamptonshire. It's incredibe, I feel like I'm walking around in a Jane Austen novel. Hannah and I have been going through quite a bit of culture shock. Oundle is a tiny town surrounded by a lot of pasture land and other even tinier towns, so it's pretty much just locals around here and we stick out like a sore-thumb. It's been interesting. lol. However, today we turned a corner in our lives and have decided to embrace the status of being the untrusted outsider, and smile back at those who are leering at us. haha. We decided this as we were having dinner at the speckled hen this evening, and we are better women for it!!!

We are staying with a family that is friends with Hannah's aunt and uncle, and they have been such a blessing!! It's been a really nice oportunity to recouperate...GET SLEEP (10 hours last night...something i am 'chuffed to bit's about!' -very pleased-), and enjoy the english counrtyside. Now that we have gotten over and embraced the fact that we are total outsiders...lol. Oundle also houses a 450 year old boarding school, so there are high schoolers everywhere. it adds an interesting air to the village.

Anyways, tonight Darby was kind enough to take me and Hannah on a drive through the counrtyside, so that we could see some of the surrounding villages, and take some of the public foot paths. (side note: apparently england is full of these trails, they have been here since way back in the day, and no matter what development occurs around them, they are not able to be blocked, it's illegal. so now, these foot paths take you through pasturland, past rivers, and through gardens...) I feel quite jammy (lucky) to have been able to have a tour guide through all of this. :) As me and Hannah are finding out, it's quite difficult to just kind of meander around these little places. the locals don't seem to be big fans of tourists, so it's been great to have the Cate's here. ( a completely nice family, i'm really glad we got a chance to stay with them and meet them. Also, it's been nice to be around a family. I miss the feeling of community more than i thought i would.)

So, the remaining hours of daylight this evening were spent strolling through the rolling hills of Northhamptonshire and learning the fine art of chasing sheep from joel and jordan. (darby and dougs two younger sons...13 and 10?? i think??) Well, i think i have said enough, so i'll just upload some pictures now. :)

(and btw...i really like getting comments. if you read this, you better be commenting!!!!! mom and dad...i'm talking to you! and also, any and all urraco girls who are keeping silent...actually, anybody perusing this. lol)