Only the blonde die young. . .

This is a lovely tale of what most likely not to do when traveling abroad. Really just my mishaps all hodge podged together showcased by pictures taken with a beat up (possibly broken) camera while traveling abroad in the UK. 

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Day 12

Thinking about day 12 makes the song "just another manic monday" come to mind. When you are me, however, that kind of sums up your everyday. 

So basically the work week has become routine as well so nothing overly exciting. The rain fall was absolutely spectacular. It was coming down in sheets at an unnatural looking angle. Quite enjoyed watching it all while helping the elderly pick out medications for their issues. 

To be continued.

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Roath park. . . Home of the amazing clock tower, magnificent lines,  and bold colors. 

Oh and my face was there. Selfie. . . It had to be done.

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Day 11

Day 11 the day was slightly deceptive. . . Started out gorgeous but then decided rain and rain and rain. Fortunately if you originate from the Pacific Northwest rain is a part of your soul. So when the floodgates open you just smile and carry on. It helps too when you remember the umbrella unlike the day of the disintegrating paper 5p bag. 

Anyways, due to it being the weekend we naturally went to the farmer's market. Even though this was only our second time we felt like it was rather routine. I discovered parsnipship and have since become an avid purchaser of the products. Parsnipship stuffed butternut squash will not be forgotten any time soon. Holy crap on a cracker that shiz is good. After the farmer's market we went to an actual grocery store where I was surprised to find I could actually read the ingredients on the food. In the US there's always added dye and all this other junk that's a mile long. If there is nothing added it's like double the price which I find rude. Here while I acknowledge there may or may not be as many laws regarding labeling it was simply nice to be able to pronounce all the ingredients. UK for the win yet again.

Day 11 was supposed to be a lazy day designed for catching up on this blog. That flatmate had other plans due to bright orb in the sky (aka the sun) returning. So instead of cozying on up to a delightful cup of coffee we went on a walk. At first I was a tad bitter until we reached our destination. . . Roath park. This park was beyond beautiful especially with a gorgeously angry sky as the backdrop. Of course hardly any pictures turned out due to the ever so lovely broken camera but that's what makes this the broken lens UK tour. Heaven forbid I get too many pictures and have to think of a new name for this blog. We wandered all through the park enjoying the sun, running from birds (mainly me. . . only me), and saying "awe puppy" like 200 times. Then we meandered back to the flat. Dinner, bed, the end. 

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Day 10

Another cheery day. . . This days highlights include Star Wars, Cardiff Carnival, an epic sweater, and a torrential down pour. 

The goal of the day was to enjoy Cardiff Carnival. I am going to use the term carnival loosely, however, because really it was a small parade with a few events. No rides, or special foods, or even special vendors were present for this so called "big event". It was a fun event but not quite what was expected. 

While wandering around we came across these lovely vespa scooters. They are at the same cafe every Saturday. One of them happened to be covered in Star Wars stickers and images. When I squealed with glee the owner told me I absolutely had to sit on it. I argued with him and finally caved. It was a good life choice. 

After this or maybe it was before this (my memory is fuzzy on the chronological order of things) we went to the Cardiff Story put on by the travel center. In it there were art displays. One artist did portraits using different media and I found it particularly fascinating and amusing in some cases. He painted a model using tanning lotion. I love the statement made.

Finally did some shopping. . . I am on the search for the perfect sweater. This was the day I came close to finding it. It was soft and giant. But for some reason I have decided that a sweater like that needs to be mustard and it was cream thus not perfect but oh so close. 

The shopping was designed to kill time for the parade. During the waiting some food was purchased and other things. All carried in a paper bag. Why does the bag matter you ask? Because it started to rain right before the parade. And I do not mean sprinkle. I mean fatty drops falling from the sky and an unnatural angle pouring down rain. The rain came down and of course I stood out in the middle of it with no umbrella with a giant smile on my face while snapping blurry photos with a broken camera. 

The smiles left though on the trip home. . . That paper bag disintegrated into mush. First the handles fell off then the sides caved in. It was a miracle the food made it back to the flat. Some of it was even still sort of dry.

This concludes a very wet rather eventful day.  

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Day 9

You'd think day 9 would be like any other of the days but no this one is special. For day 9 is the day of complete and total bus success. Navigation pro (at least on my route) status for me. With all this excitement you know something has to go wrong and wrong it goes.

Let's rewind to day 2 real quick. . . So in order to communicate in the UK you need a sim card that works in the UK. US and UK are not compatible. So upon arrival you either need a phone or a to bring a phone that you can switch out the sims in. Of course the phone you bring is not able to be unlocked so you must buy an entirely new phone. After a day of searching you and your flatmate agree on a company called Lebara. You agree on it because as long as you are in the UK you can communicate unlimited for FREE with other Lebara users. And minutes to the US are the cheapest around. Let's fast forward to day 9. For the last week I have been texting and using the phone in an unlimited fashion and BAM on the perfectly navigated bus I am told that I am out of minutes.

Arrive back at the flat FURIOUS. Flatmate discovers they have been charging her. She gets on the phone cause she still has minutes, they charge her 11p (translation: pence sort of like the US cent) to call customer service, and then put her on hold. Finally after a long drawn out conversation they agree that the charges were in error and refund us back all our money. 

After this fiasco is sorted out it's time to shower and throw self together cause it's the night. THE NIGHT. The first night out on the town in Cardiff. Cardiff night life is HILARIOUS and AMAZING fyi. 

Adventure highlights are as follows: 1) Lead someone who has been here for weeks straight to the bar he needed to go to. As a result get round one free.  2) Talk to said persons friends. . . First quote of the night from a random conversation I some how got in to regarding the horrors of child birth (cause I know how to have a good time/life of the party)  "never have two children. one is fine. two is a logistical nightmare."  3) Finally go get food at random fish n chips shop. . . Pass a person being arrested for drunkeness.  4) Get to sit down in said random fish shop and enjoy a truly amazing fish n chips and then run into the Irish boys 5) Irish boys + random fiesty girl rile up a crazy man. Crazy man looses his shit and ends up threatening to kill everyone with his plastic fork (look in his eyes says this guy really thinks he can do that as a thing) 6) Leave with Irish boys and chick and go on a grand adventure. . . Loose Greg (one of the Irish) . . . Next quote of the night from one of the Irish boys named Colin "I can do an american accent cause I grew up in saudia arabia". If you're wondering, no he cannot do an American accent unless "yee haw" counts which it doesn't. 7) Spend the next hour going all over downtown Cardiff helping strangers find their drunk friend Greg. Get asked for numbers by said Irish boys. . . Decline cause bitch please Irish fiance back home. Way ahead of you boys. 

8) Walk home with flatmates and get the Cardiff version of a Mcflurry which is called a "dubbly bubbly" here. The end

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Day 8

Day 8 more bus success from start to finish. Finally getting used to the routine and work flow within the pharmacy. Also, getting used to the products offered. Learned more about the process of becoming a pharmacist in the UK. Was very sad about the difficulty of becoming a pharmacist in the UK when you are not from here. 

If you are a foreigner you must take a course for a year, pass an exam, do what's called a pre-reg for a year and pass another exam. After two years of work a job is not for sure because you are a foreigner and jobs go to in country job searchers first. I am going to keep this in mind for the future however. Cause OMG this country is amazing. Pharmacists get to be used at the top of their license. Everyone is used at the top of their license. No one is fighting for the right like in the US because it's just already their natural right. 

Anyways, after getting home and having dinner finally get to know one our the flatmates a tad better. Thought he was uber strange at first cause he was dead silent then on the 8th day he opened up. I renamed him Gus cause it's easier to pronounce. He's from Oman. I also learned that Oman is a country. Yes, I'm sheltered and clueless hence the traveling to Wales. Learned that they drive on the same side of the road as the US. Learned they don't have pets as things unless you count a camel which I don't. Taught him how to not destroy anti-stick pans and some other things as well. The sharing of knowledge is a beautiful thing. Never thought I'd experience so much learning in a kitchen in a university flat in Cardiff. 

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Day 7

Wake up determined to catch bus correctly and by miracle of all miracles do. Flatmate tells bus driver you are from America and what stop you need to be dropped off at cause at 23 you are unable to take charge of your own life. Bus driver actually remembers your stop and you get to pharmacy 20 minutes early. . . YAY! 

You work your shift. Another day of surprises and learning about UK pharmacy. The process of how people get their prescriptions is truly fascinating. Refills do not exist. The surgery (translation: doctors office) writes a script, sends it to pharmacy and it is either good for 1 month or at most 2, and pharmacy fills it. Filling process is easy because every script is barcoded and only needs to be scanned. Also packages are for 28 or 56 so no room for counting errors in general. Patient picks it up or it is delivered to their home free of charge. The only way for the patient to get more is for the doctor to review the chart each month (at most two months) and renew or decide that the patient needs an appointment. This means patients do not fall through the cracks. What a concept. Dear US, get your shit together.

After you finish your shift, you get on a bus and head home. You do not communicate with driver due to paralyzing fear and unfounded panic. Then sit and sit and sit. All other passengers have gotten off at this point. You, of course, have no idea if you've passed your stop or not. And suddenly your bus driver stops and pops his head out to start at you randomly then pops his head back into his little driving area. You take this as your cue to squeak out your stop. Five minutes later you are dropped off in an area you do not even remotely recognize. Rather than keep calm and collected you completely panic start walking about with your map (like you can read a map). Finally a kind Welsh soul guides you to a street you recognize and you make it home. And now you officially know how to navigate via the bus from your flat to the pharmacy using the correct stops. Cheers!

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The BNF. . .aka the UK pharmacy bible. 

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Day 6

When starting you official first day of "observation" at a pharmacy in a foreign country you should always leave late, miss your bus, and get on the next bus and hope for the best outcome. Hope is really what gets you places. Then pull out the handy dandy business card cause people will point you in the right direction. Or they will simply point you to where they think the pharmacy is thus resulting in getting you more lost than before. Then you get so lost in Rhiwbina for so long that the pharmacy gives up on you making it and sends their driver to fetch you. And so begins day one of your rotation. 

While at the pharmacy your mind is blown by the differences between UK and US pharmacy. To summarize UK is better in like every way. Patient yells at you in the US considered the norm. Patient yells at you in the UK they can be banned from the pharmacy. Patient in US forced to go to doctor for fungal infections, sore muscles, pain, and general sickness. Patients in the UK are strongly encouraged to go to the pharmacy for such things because many anti inflammatories, antibiotics, and antifungals are over the counter so pharmacists can play a huge roll in patients healthcare. Patients in the US often go without needed medications. Patients in the UK (Wales specifically not the whole UK) get prescriptions for free. Pharmacists in the US don't get paid for reviewing a patients medications. Pharmacists in the UK are required to do an annual review of each patient's chart. . . . To summarize again. The UK is better in every way when it comes to pharmacy. 

After a day of mind blowing revelations you are picked up and dropped back off at your flat. You are given a bottle of wine. Naturally you show your flatmates how to make spring rolls and have a lovely evening of wine and tofu spring rolls. And so concludes day 6. 

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Booze can be delivered . . . Naturally this add is above more useful info for students. City Center Cardiff followed by pharmacy building stuff and more farmers market pics. 

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Day 5

Wake up quite groggy due to lack of sleep cause well nerves. That's ok though coffee happened next. Gather life together once vaguely alert and head out the door to meet up with the pharmacy director person here in Cardiff. Arrive with minimal delays due to navigation issues and "pop in" (translation: arrive) just before the rain comes. Wait for a long while then finally go on a tour of the building. . . Get our ID cards and then talked for a long time with pharmacy people. Even were given the BNF (translation: UK pharmacy bible) for free which is amazing since it's regularly over 100 pounds (translation: >$200). Then it was off to our pharmacies.

First real experience being driven around the streets of Cardiff. . . To describe you might say drivers are a bit daft. It is terrifying. Every intersection an accident almost occurs. Normally things described by me are blown out of proportion a tad for humor sake but the Cardiff driving holy crap. Fortunately we made it to our pharmacies all in one piece. 

We were dropped off back downtown where I bought my beautiful bridesmaids a fantastically unique gift at the farmers market of sorts. Also bought some more Welsh cakes cause Welsh cake. Enjoyed the sun, ate at a nice little cafe and walked home.

It was a peaceful day other than the heart failure and near death experiences brought on by the drive through Cardiff. Finally met a flatmate too. We'll call him Sir S. Within minutes he finds me to be too negative and becomes determined to change that. The negativity was brought on by long drawn out issues with electronics not giving me a bus pass. Every electronic malfunctioning at once, theoretically preventing you from getting on the bus, is quite obnoxious by any one's standards in my opinion but whatevs. His entrance into our lives has been quite nice. All in all day 5 was rather pleasant. 

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Cardiff Natural History Museum. 

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Top pic cause well coffee #1. Then the middle ones are walking through Bute park to get to the farmers market. Also, a bit of campus there at the end. Cheers.

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Wales: land of dragons. Cardiff Castle and it's dragon. Also some glorious graffiti. . .

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Day 3 and Day 4

Honestly, day 3 and 4 were very much alike.The flat was left early in the morning. Walked successfully to City Center both days. . . Got lost in City Center both days. Explored the arcade (translation: mall) for a bit while it poured rain. Had locals attempt to help us home while we were struggling with the map. . . .By the end of the two days the feetsies had walked over 25 miles and the brain (translation: flatmate) had made a plan of attack for the next weeks of activities.

Day 3 highlights are as follows:

1) Welsh cake. This was a grand discovery. OMG is it a biscuit? Is it a scone? Yes. It is heaven. Day 4 was spent searching for more Welsh cakes.

2) Cheese truckles. We got multiple free cheese samples with offers of discounts on more why? Because we're American. Americans are pitied for that lack of delicious quality to die for cheese. 

3) Cardiff Castle. This is a castle yes castle in the middle of the city. Just sitting there waiting to be toured. Which it will be most likely next weekend. Also, behind the castle in Bute park is a dragon made of dirt. Wales has a dragon theme for those of you who don't know these things. Wales: land of dragons.

4) Y streets. Left apartment confidently and made it to the super market perfectly. Got 100% lost on the way back. Not even the locals had any idea how to help us home. One lady even admitted she was on a stroll with her elderly dad and didn't have the heart to tell him they were lost. All in all we got home after an extensive detour and then Day 4 realized we went to the left of the y street instead of the right. 

Day 4 highlights are as follows:

1) Build a bottle. A do it yourself liquour store where you pick your drink whether it be scotch, beer, malt, or a cocktail and then pick your own bottle. Bottles vary from hearts to sheep to squares all shapes and sizes. Then you fill, pay and leave.

2) Toffee waffles. Again this was a grand discovery. OMG. The waffle (translation: wafer) sits over a cup of steaming coffee or tea and the hard toffee melts slowly becoming chewy warm mmmmmm in your mouth. *mouth watering*

3) Spring roll wrappers. You will not believe how hard those little buggers are to find over here. Also discovery of day 6 and 7 very few locals have any idea what a fresh spring roll is. They understand the deep fried ones but not the fresh ones. Random fyi bit of curiosity.

4) National Museum. Museums are free. Why? Education should be for everyone not just the privileged. Monet, Van Gough, contemporary artist to random sea creature exhibits. It was a glorious day. 

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Day 2 Part 2: To the flat and beyond

As you could guess the train was another nightmare. I'll skip most of the boring details. Enters hot guy into the chaotic picture, hot guy carries your bag for a block, and leads you to the student union where you naturally collapse into tears because no one knows where Cartwright court flats are located. Yes, the flats are University housing. Yes, it's a Welsh thing to not know your own community. . . . But all in all they are the nicest people on the planet so the lack of street names makes it worth it. 

Long story short tears lead to university paying for your cab that drops you off at the flats FINALLY. You get your key 40 minutes before the office closes. . . And then your flatmate from your class back in the US comes down and offers to take you to coffee. Heaven shines down on you of this you are sure. After over 24 hours of travel you finally are exactly where you belong safe and sound. Walk to coffee shop and get an amazing butternut squash, ginger, and lime soup with a hearty roll of bread. Your life feels complete. Go home but do not sleep so you can fight the jet lag. Finally get ready for bed and realize you forgot to pack the bedding so will now until Monday have just the airplane blanket to sleep on. And so ends the horrors of travel day 2.