Amazing Charitable Project

Here's a story about England that will warm your heart...
A couple of months ago a friend of mine told me about this project he'd heard about in Africa. The goal was to bring water to African villages. The solution was to build children's merry-go-rounds which doubled as water pumps. I may have mentioned it to some of you.

I was drinking a bottle of water I got from a gas station a couple of days ago and happened to read the label. The product is called 'One.' And to quote the label:

"A Message In A Bottle:
We think One will leave a better taste in your mouth than other waters. Drink it and you won't go thirsty. Simple. So is what we do. All our profits go to building unique roundabout powered wells in Africa. As kids spin on the roundabouts water is pumped out of the ground, providing free, clean water to people who desperately need it. Love it!"

http://www.onewater.org.uk/index.html

http://www.playpumps.org/

Check out the links. The first tells about the guys who came up with the idea to make money for charity by selling water. The second tells about the pump itself and has a cool video telling about the pump and showing one in action.

Grocery Shopping

Happily, grocery shopping is much the same, with a few interesting differences.

We found a couple of really nice stores that are major chains here, Sainsbury and Morrison. A lot of similarities, both brightly lit and very clean with good selection.

They sell beer, wine and hard liquor in the store.
Eggs are not refrigerated and they are separated by "free range" and "barn", they are all brown, and the packages are mixed in size. No 'extra large' or 'small' like the states.

Cheese seems much more popular here, there is very little of what we call 'packaged' cheese (Eg. pre-sliced) but entire aisles of cheeses, many I've never heard of and I used to work in a cheese shop. It's really fresh and good too, Shirleen put some in a salad the other day and it was fantastic.

Fish is also big and the variety is amazing. An entire aisle of just fresh fish.

We are always encountering things we've never heard of. Tonight's candidate is "rumbledethumps" which (according to the package) is a Scottish dish containing potato, cabbage and cheese. It looks like sort of a casarole. (nope, didn't buy it)

Lots of lamb on the meat aisle, obviously the English raise sheep.

Indian food is very popular. Indian restaurants are very common, also referred to as 'Curry houses.' You see a bunch of packaged Indian food in the grocery store. But you also see Mexican, Italian, and Oriental, just like in the US.

The cashiers all have chairs, they do not stand. And you bag the groceries yourself. I'm still not used to that, it starts to pile up and then I realize, "oh yeah, I'm the bag boy!"

Road Show Video #1 - Ballet

The Ward talent show (aka Road Show) demonstrated that some of our new ward friends have great senses of humor. This is a very funny bit done by one of Amanda's Young Women leaders and another sister. One serious ballerina, one much less serious. Enjoy!

Family Milestone - September 30 2007

John Jr was able to excercise his newly received priesthood by passing the sacrament Sunday. His parents were very proud!

Road Show Video #2 - Evolution of Dance

This is performance from our Road Show, one well worth your time. It's a dance routine choreographed and performed by three adult non-professionals demonstrating a variety of dance steps they called, "The Evolution of Dance." Enjoy!

British Word Quiz

The first section is the British word, the second section is the American equivilant. See how many you can guess. We'll add as we discover more wonderful 'Brit-isms'.

1. Dressing gown
2. Lounge suit
3. Boots
4. Vest
5. Anorak
6. Trainers
7. Jumper
8. Purse
9. Windcheater
10. Bum bag
11. Snog
12. Quid
13. Shilling
14. Knackered
15. Hoovering
16. Jacket
17. Biscuits
18. Fairy Cakes
19. Chips
20. Crushed potatos
21. Gammon
22. Jelly
23. Lollie
24. Crisps
25. Cupboard
26. Lift
27. Ex-directory
28. Dual carriageway
29. Bonnet
30. Car park
31. Boot
32. Caravan
33. Plaster
34. Till
35. Current Account
36. Paying in slip
37. Ironmonger
38. Chemist
39. Deposit Account
40. Post Code
41. Mobile
42. Bespoke
43. Torch
44. Public School
45. State School
46. Loo

1. Bathrobe
2. Business suit
3. Cleats, like for football or baseball
4. Men's undershirt
5. Parka
6. What we call tennis or gym shoes
7. Sweater
8. Wallet
9. Windbreaker
10. Fanny pack
11. Passionate kiss (we first heard it in Harry Potter)
12. Slang for a pound currency
13. Before 1971 12 pense, after 1971 5 pense, now no longer used
14. Tired
15. Vacuuming
16. Baked potato
17. Cookies
18. Cupcakes
19. French fries
20. Mashed potatos
21. Ham
22. Jello
23. Popsicle
24. Potato chips
25. Closet
26. Elevator
27. Unlisted phone number
28. Divided highway
29. Hood of your car
30. Parking lot
31. Trunk of your car
32. Camper trailer that you tow behind your car
33. Band Aid
34. Cashier
35. Checking Account
36. Deposit slip for your bank account
37. Hardware store
38. Pharmacy
39. Savings account
40. Zip Code - but more precise, indicates a small area maybe 8-10 residences
41. Cell phone
42. Custom made items
43. Flashlight
44. Private School
45. Public School
46. Bathroom

As you see, sometimes just speaking "English" is not enough. And other times the word is identical but the British pronunciation is so different, it is initially unrecognizable. The other day my boss said "guacamole" and I had no idea what he said. It came out something like "goo-CAH-mole." But after a moment's pause and consideration of the context, I knew what he meant.

If you got them all right, please come live with us and translate. I'll buy the crisps and biscuits.

September 2, 2007 - The Warm Up Race

Christina and I crossing the finish line together at the Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon. 2 hours, 24 minutes, 8 seconds.

Full marathon coming up in November in Raleigh.