The Whitworth Art Gallery was really nothing like I expected - it was much more of a modern installation museum than anything, when I was expecting more of paintings and things of that nature. The first room you walk into is full of displays of textiles, mainly all from the past 200 years, showcasing different styles from Britain, Asia, and America. The next room has an installation piece Tony Ourslef which mainly had paintings with a centerpiece of what I believe was supposed to be a talking lightbulb, although its artistic purpose was lost on me since I could barely understand what the voice was saying. Moving on from there we went upstairs, where in a large room off to the side there was another installation piece of two large projector screens of a lady filming herself walking on a highwire from one building to another; at least, that is what it supposed to be a video of; I stayed in the room for about 3 minutes and she just kept looking back and forth so I left. Back downstairs, there was another room whose dominating piece was a digital wallpaper by Valerie Sparks with images such as a mountain range in Iran, a Russian Orthodox temple, and a statue of a Hindu god. What I got out of this museum was mainly from the first room with the textiles; it had a lot of information about not only the fabrics but the meanings of the colors too, such as in Japan and China white is a mourning color, whereas most other places in the world it is a symbol of purity and goodness.
The next museum we visited was the Manchester Museum, located at the University of Manchester. The only thing I really knew about this museum is what Dr. Walker, or La'Lisa, had told us, and that is that there were live snakes there somewhere. I didn't expect there to be dead animals, though, and there were plenty of those; owls and bats and duck billed platypuses, which I expected to be a lot bigger than they were, not to mention countless insects mounted on pins. The museum was having some sort of event going on for children so there were many families there doing special family events. After looking at the first room on the floor there, I moved into the next room which was all Orient or Native American items, such as figurines, feather headdresses, and bows. From there, I moved upstairs and saw the Indian elephant skeleton, which was massive, and a child's bug and flower exhibit with cute little miniature environments for the bugs. Moving on was an Egyptian exhibit, which had a controversial opened mummy case. Mummy cases are supposed to be kept closed for the respect of the dead, but there were 2-3 open ones, and a propped up skeleton of another. I personally do not think that, save special occasions, mummies should be viewed since that is essentially the same as digging up a grave and staring at a corpse. After the Egyptian exhibit, which was going through some renovations, we went on to the next rooms which had many more stuffed animals, such as a polar bear, monkeys, and what looked like a starved lion. The rest of the exhibit was mainly stuffed birds, save the head of Ol' Billy, which is one of the longest living horses ever. There was also a skeleton of a sperm whale hanging from the ceiling. From there, we went to the vivarium, which is a "place where we keep and study live animals in conditions as close as possible to their natural environment." This, of course, is where the snakes are, as well as different frog and lizard specimens. I ended my visit there, and went back downstairs to see the T-Rex skeleton, which I had missed before. What I learned from this museum is that duck billed platypuses are much smaller than I thought, Mancunians apparently don't think it's offensive to show mummies or put sweaters on stuffed goats, and that they have quite an impressive collection for being a museum at a university. It was quite an interesting place to be, save all the screaming children who were there.
Saturday 6 August 2011
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Victoria Baths 25/07/2011
Place: Victoria Baths
Date: 25 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 hours
Today was supposed to be set up like the days we spent preparing for the Beach Days, working from 10 to 1, take an hour lunch break, then work again from 2-4. We met outside on the steps of Victoria Baths at 10, Cecilia, Paige, and myself all walking together, and Brandi and Lisa had already arrived. We waited a few minutes before Shaakira and Amber came, then headed downstairs for tea and coffee. After a few more minutes, Ashley and Katie showed up as well. We talked with Martin about going to Wales, and made plans for two groups to go, one this Sunday and one next Friday. We then trooped upstairs to the cafe to finish our coffee and tea, then headed to work on putting the sand back into bags. Once there, people split up to work; Amber, Brandi, and Paige worked on one corner, Ashley and Katie worked on the other, Shaakira and Cecilia took sort of the middle end, and I worked by myself in the middle close to the wall. After doing one bag by leaning over and scooping, I decided to sit down and work. We worked like so for a bit over an hour, I think, maybe an hour and a half, and Paige, Amber, and Brandi had nearly finished there little bit. We took about a 20-25 minute break, drinking water, tea, or coffee, and Neil gave us crisps to munch on. When we went back to work, Amber, Brandi, and Paige finished their little bit and went to go haul bricks up from the basement, while Shaakira, Cecilia, Katie, Ashley and I all worked on finishing the sand, which took probably another hour, about. After finishing that, Marting and Neil said we were working so diligently that we wouldn't have any need to come tomorrow as was planned. The ones who had still been working on sand went to go help with the bricks. Cecilia and I took the angled bricks into another room in the basement, wearing masks while doing so since the room had a "Warning: Asbestos" sign, even though Neil said that there was no real risk. After finishing that, we were done for the day, so we planned when to meet for dinner and whose flat, then went on our way.
Today was probably the most emotional, per say, working day we have done so far. Everything was fine until I sat down to do my work, when everyone except Lisa, Shaakira, and Cecilia (and Martin and Neil) got irritated with me. Amber looked over and I saw her and asked, "What?" and she said, "I can't even look at you, I'm just shaking my head." A few more annoyed glances later and Katie asked if I wanted her to hold my bag to make things easier if I stood up, and I just replied, "No, the bag's fine," to which she said in an exasperated tone, "Then why are you sitting down??" I replied, "So my back won't hurt in the morning," then went back to work, since that was the truth - the reason I sat down in the first place was because after doing only one bag's work, I could feel my back starting to ache. After that, it was just whispers and looks in my direction that showed their irritation as everyone was pretty silent working, save the music. It was my thought that they had no right to be irritated at me; for one, being my classmates, they have no authority over how I work, only Lisa does and when I first did it she commented how she would be doing it too had she been shoveling too. Also, we had all day until 4 today to finish and the next day until 4 as well, so I saw no reason to rush; I had nothing planned later, except to come wash clothes and work on my paper after dinner. If they had wanted to, everyone could have sat down and worked how I did, but people wanted to just get done with the work. I believe most of the other people on this trip do not seem to realize this isn't a pleasure visit; coming here to volunteer at the baths and at Forest Garden was one of the main things to do on this trip, as we were informed several times; in fact, it was in the description of the class yet all people do when we have to work is finish as fast as they can and complain about it even then, not appreciate that we are over in a foreign country having a learning experience. Anyways, so I was just annoyed that people felt that they had a right to be annoyed with me, which none of the people who were did. Later, after our breaktime, Shaakira was standing at the railing watching us, and Ashley asked, "What are you doing up there?" Shaakira answered she was just standing, and Ashley replied with a little laugh, "Well standing up there is getting about as much done as sitting down here is," which did highly annoy me since I had been working hard and for one person, had gotten a sizable chunk done. Later, Katie said she had been bringing bags down for me to use so I wouldn't have to get up and "waste time"; what she didn't get, though, is there was no point in doing that since I would have to get up each time after a bag was finished anyways to move it over to where the rest of the bags where, so I might as well go get a new bag each time. A few minutes after that, she said something again, at which point I replied that I wasn't wasting any more than 10 seconds and it wasn't a big deal. What happened next was not pretty; she started yelling at me, I don't remember what since I was disregarding it anyways, and I just retorted as it came to me. She was talking down to me as if I was a misbehaving child who had been instructed to do one thing and was completely ignoring the rules, but it was hardly so; no one with any authority had told me what I was doing was the wrong way, even after I asked. So, I just replied as necessary and went back to my business, sitting right where I had before. After another minute or two, she stormed off, and Lisa went to go talk to her. She came back after another few minutes, and got back to work, carefully avoiding where I was or turning her back if she was close. Honestly, I didn't much care either way; I don't really listen to her regardless since most of what she says is either excuses or complaints about something. I just finished what I was working on til nearly all the sand was gone, then went to work on the bricks with Cecilia. I could still feel the tension from the other girls who had already finished, even though when they had come back in they could clearly see how hard I had been working. Basically, if people had just focused on their own task instead of worrying about how I was doing, there would have been much less drama and tension caused, which people tend to carry over into our everyday lives. If I could wish one lesson people here learned on this trip is to worry about yourself, what you're supposed to be doing, and focus on that instead of trying to control other people's business.
Date: 25 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 hours
Today was supposed to be set up like the days we spent preparing for the Beach Days, working from 10 to 1, take an hour lunch break, then work again from 2-4. We met outside on the steps of Victoria Baths at 10, Cecilia, Paige, and myself all walking together, and Brandi and Lisa had already arrived. We waited a few minutes before Shaakira and Amber came, then headed downstairs for tea and coffee. After a few more minutes, Ashley and Katie showed up as well. We talked with Martin about going to Wales, and made plans for two groups to go, one this Sunday and one next Friday. We then trooped upstairs to the cafe to finish our coffee and tea, then headed to work on putting the sand back into bags. Once there, people split up to work; Amber, Brandi, and Paige worked on one corner, Ashley and Katie worked on the other, Shaakira and Cecilia took sort of the middle end, and I worked by myself in the middle close to the wall. After doing one bag by leaning over and scooping, I decided to sit down and work. We worked like so for a bit over an hour, I think, maybe an hour and a half, and Paige, Amber, and Brandi had nearly finished there little bit. We took about a 20-25 minute break, drinking water, tea, or coffee, and Neil gave us crisps to munch on. When we went back to work, Amber, Brandi, and Paige finished their little bit and went to go haul bricks up from the basement, while Shaakira, Cecilia, Katie, Ashley and I all worked on finishing the sand, which took probably another hour, about. After finishing that, Marting and Neil said we were working so diligently that we wouldn't have any need to come tomorrow as was planned. The ones who had still been working on sand went to go help with the bricks. Cecilia and I took the angled bricks into another room in the basement, wearing masks while doing so since the room had a "Warning: Asbestos" sign, even though Neil said that there was no real risk. After finishing that, we were done for the day, so we planned when to meet for dinner and whose flat, then went on our way.
Today was probably the most emotional, per say, working day we have done so far. Everything was fine until I sat down to do my work, when everyone except Lisa, Shaakira, and Cecilia (and Martin and Neil) got irritated with me. Amber looked over and I saw her and asked, "What?" and she said, "I can't even look at you, I'm just shaking my head." A few more annoyed glances later and Katie asked if I wanted her to hold my bag to make things easier if I stood up, and I just replied, "No, the bag's fine," to which she said in an exasperated tone, "Then why are you sitting down??" I replied, "So my back won't hurt in the morning," then went back to work, since that was the truth - the reason I sat down in the first place was because after doing only one bag's work, I could feel my back starting to ache. After that, it was just whispers and looks in my direction that showed their irritation as everyone was pretty silent working, save the music. It was my thought that they had no right to be irritated at me; for one, being my classmates, they have no authority over how I work, only Lisa does and when I first did it she commented how she would be doing it too had she been shoveling too. Also, we had all day until 4 today to finish and the next day until 4 as well, so I saw no reason to rush; I had nothing planned later, except to come wash clothes and work on my paper after dinner. If they had wanted to, everyone could have sat down and worked how I did, but people wanted to just get done with the work. I believe most of the other people on this trip do not seem to realize this isn't a pleasure visit; coming here to volunteer at the baths and at Forest Garden was one of the main things to do on this trip, as we were informed several times; in fact, it was in the description of the class yet all people do when we have to work is finish as fast as they can and complain about it even then, not appreciate that we are over in a foreign country having a learning experience. Anyways, so I was just annoyed that people felt that they had a right to be annoyed with me, which none of the people who were did. Later, after our breaktime, Shaakira was standing at the railing watching us, and Ashley asked, "What are you doing up there?" Shaakira answered she was just standing, and Ashley replied with a little laugh, "Well standing up there is getting about as much done as sitting down here is," which did highly annoy me since I had been working hard and for one person, had gotten a sizable chunk done. Later, Katie said she had been bringing bags down for me to use so I wouldn't have to get up and "waste time"; what she didn't get, though, is there was no point in doing that since I would have to get up each time after a bag was finished anyways to move it over to where the rest of the bags where, so I might as well go get a new bag each time. A few minutes after that, she said something again, at which point I replied that I wasn't wasting any more than 10 seconds and it wasn't a big deal. What happened next was not pretty; she started yelling at me, I don't remember what since I was disregarding it anyways, and I just retorted as it came to me. She was talking down to me as if I was a misbehaving child who had been instructed to do one thing and was completely ignoring the rules, but it was hardly so; no one with any authority had told me what I was doing was the wrong way, even after I asked. So, I just replied as necessary and went back to my business, sitting right where I had before. After another minute or two, she stormed off, and Lisa went to go talk to her. She came back after another few minutes, and got back to work, carefully avoiding where I was or turning her back if she was close. Honestly, I didn't much care either way; I don't really listen to her regardless since most of what she says is either excuses or complaints about something. I just finished what I was working on til nearly all the sand was gone, then went to work on the bricks with Cecilia. I could still feel the tension from the other girls who had already finished, even though when they had come back in they could clearly see how hard I had been working. Basically, if people had just focused on their own task instead of worrying about how I was doing, there would have been much less drama and tension caused, which people tend to carry over into our everyday lives. If I could wish one lesson people here learned on this trip is to worry about yourself, what you're supposed to be doing, and focus on that instead of trying to control other people's business.
Sunday 24 July 2011
Forest Gardens 24/07/2011
Place: Forest Gardens
Date: 24 July 2011
Hours Worked: 2 1/2 hours
Today, we met outside Victoria Hall at 12:40 to walk down to the Forest Gardens together. Amber and Shaakira didn't come today since their allergies were acting up so much last time, and instead worked on a project to present to us later. We waited a few minutes longer for Ashley and Katie, who came around the corner 5 minutes later saying they thought we weren't meeting until 12:45. They still had to go back up to their room, though, so we left without them and said we'd see them there. We got there a minute or two after 1, and Brandi and I went with Barry to go fetch compost while Paige went with Gil to get the tools, and Professor Walker and Cecilia stayed behind to start on weeding. The walk to where the compost is was about 10 minutes long, and then Barry showed us through to where his own little patch was and told us what he was growing. Then he borrowed a friend's wheelbarrow and went back to where the compost is and where Paige and Gil were waiting to help bring back compost. We filled up the wheelbarrows and brought them back, then set to work on the weeding to be done. Katie and Ashley had gotten there in sometime that we had been gone, and were working alongside Dr. Walker and Cecilia. I sat down next to Brandi, who had gone ahead of us with the first wheelbarrow and Barry, and set to working as well. After about 10 minutes though, I heard a buzzing bee quite close to me, so I jumped up and moved away since I am allergic to them. I sat apart for about 6 or 7 minutes until Dr. Walker came back and passed out candy, signaling break time. Gil had brought apple juice and Barry had peanuts for all of us to share, so we sat and talked for about 15 minutes until most of us went back to work. I went back to my spot where I had been weeding before when I noticed that a red rash was spreading on my arms. I thought it was just sunburn, but Cecilia noticed it and said it was definitely some sort of reaction, and Ashley who was nearby, took a look and agreed. I went over and asked Dr. Walker what I should do, and she said to ask if there was anything that needed to be done that didn't include being close to the plants. It was decided I should go use the long shears and work on the edging with Paige and Brandi, so that is what we did until it was time to go.
Today, when we started the day I felt quite refreshed, having had a good nights sleep and waking on my own for once, and having a good, filling lunch so I was quite ready to work. I was slightly irritated at Katie and Ashley being late, because it is not the first nor I'm sure will be the last time that they are late to a group activity; it is the fact that they not only arrive late but tend to leave early as well, like they did today. However, the walk there helped since Paige, Cecilia and I were talking nearly the whole way there. Once we got there, I went to go with Brandi and Barry to get compost, and seeing their community plots was really neat since I had never seen something like that before (and I didn't know we had them in Charlotte either until Dr. Walker mentioned them during our discussion later that day). During the time we were working, I got quite hot since it was probably about 80 degrees Fahrenheit today and I am not used to that temperature anymore, after it being so chilly here for so long. I also felt worried for a bit when I started getting that rash on my arms, and also when the bee was so close to me since I didn't have any allergy medicine with here, there or at the flat. Also, again I felt irritated that Katie and Ashley left before all of us but were still 15 minutes late to our group meeting; I just think it shows lack of respect that they aren't thinking of the group as a whole and taking their time when others are at least trying to make sure there are there about on time.
I think the strongest sense of community I've seen since coming to Manchester I witnessed today, and that was the communal plots Barry showed us today. Barry knew everyone we saw there, said hello and asked how they were, and they responded warmly. The people who rent out these plots seem to have much in common; they must take pride in growing their own food, and in some cases chickens as well, as well as having a love of preserving the earth and treating it well. These people have common ideals, and it showed by their dedication to the patches they rented. Some had taken it upon themselves to even build separate growing troughs and trellises to decorate their bit of space, while others looked much more like the forest garden, wild but with an observable order to it. I do think since it's so tucked away, in order to even know about these communal plots, you would need to be involved in the community, whether it be the Forest Gardens work or another way to find out about them. I believe this allows this communal plot to be not exactly exclusive, but reserved in a way for those who really care enough to keep up with it and use it to a good purpose, and therefore building those who use it's sense of community by having them work alongside each other for its upkeep.
Date: 24 July 2011
Hours Worked: 2 1/2 hours
Today, we met outside Victoria Hall at 12:40 to walk down to the Forest Gardens together. Amber and Shaakira didn't come today since their allergies were acting up so much last time, and instead worked on a project to present to us later. We waited a few minutes longer for Ashley and Katie, who came around the corner 5 minutes later saying they thought we weren't meeting until 12:45. They still had to go back up to their room, though, so we left without them and said we'd see them there. We got there a minute or two after 1, and Brandi and I went with Barry to go fetch compost while Paige went with Gil to get the tools, and Professor Walker and Cecilia stayed behind to start on weeding. The walk to where the compost is was about 10 minutes long, and then Barry showed us through to where his own little patch was and told us what he was growing. Then he borrowed a friend's wheelbarrow and went back to where the compost is and where Paige and Gil were waiting to help bring back compost. We filled up the wheelbarrows and brought them back, then set to work on the weeding to be done. Katie and Ashley had gotten there in sometime that we had been gone, and were working alongside Dr. Walker and Cecilia. I sat down next to Brandi, who had gone ahead of us with the first wheelbarrow and Barry, and set to working as well. After about 10 minutes though, I heard a buzzing bee quite close to me, so I jumped up and moved away since I am allergic to them. I sat apart for about 6 or 7 minutes until Dr. Walker came back and passed out candy, signaling break time. Gil had brought apple juice and Barry had peanuts for all of us to share, so we sat and talked for about 15 minutes until most of us went back to work. I went back to my spot where I had been weeding before when I noticed that a red rash was spreading on my arms. I thought it was just sunburn, but Cecilia noticed it and said it was definitely some sort of reaction, and Ashley who was nearby, took a look and agreed. I went over and asked Dr. Walker what I should do, and she said to ask if there was anything that needed to be done that didn't include being close to the plants. It was decided I should go use the long shears and work on the edging with Paige and Brandi, so that is what we did until it was time to go.
Today, when we started the day I felt quite refreshed, having had a good nights sleep and waking on my own for once, and having a good, filling lunch so I was quite ready to work. I was slightly irritated at Katie and Ashley being late, because it is not the first nor I'm sure will be the last time that they are late to a group activity; it is the fact that they not only arrive late but tend to leave early as well, like they did today. However, the walk there helped since Paige, Cecilia and I were talking nearly the whole way there. Once we got there, I went to go with Brandi and Barry to get compost, and seeing their community plots was really neat since I had never seen something like that before (and I didn't know we had them in Charlotte either until Dr. Walker mentioned them during our discussion later that day). During the time we were working, I got quite hot since it was probably about 80 degrees Fahrenheit today and I am not used to that temperature anymore, after it being so chilly here for so long. I also felt worried for a bit when I started getting that rash on my arms, and also when the bee was so close to me since I didn't have any allergy medicine with here, there or at the flat. Also, again I felt irritated that Katie and Ashley left before all of us but were still 15 minutes late to our group meeting; I just think it shows lack of respect that they aren't thinking of the group as a whole and taking their time when others are at least trying to make sure there are there about on time.
I think the strongest sense of community I've seen since coming to Manchester I witnessed today, and that was the communal plots Barry showed us today. Barry knew everyone we saw there, said hello and asked how they were, and they responded warmly. The people who rent out these plots seem to have much in common; they must take pride in growing their own food, and in some cases chickens as well, as well as having a love of preserving the earth and treating it well. These people have common ideals, and it showed by their dedication to the patches they rented. Some had taken it upon themselves to even build separate growing troughs and trellises to decorate their bit of space, while others looked much more like the forest garden, wild but with an observable order to it. I do think since it's so tucked away, in order to even know about these communal plots, you would need to be involved in the community, whether it be the Forest Gardens work or another way to find out about them. I believe this allows this communal plot to be not exactly exclusive, but reserved in a way for those who really care enough to keep up with it and use it to a good purpose, and therefore building those who use it's sense of community by having them work alongside each other for its upkeep.
Victoria Baths 17/7/11
Place: Victoria Baths
Date: 17 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 1/2 hours
Today was essentially almost exactly like yesterday. We met in the morning at 11:30, half an hour before the Beach day was due to start, and went to pretty much the same positions we had at the beginning last time, with Cecilia and I starting our day sitting on the steps again. The first family arrived 15 minutes before it was due to start, so Neil went ahead and just let the little girl in the pool. More kids came as the hour progressed, but not as many as the day before, and more smaller children today. After Cecilia and I's turn was over, we went again into the craft room to work on finishing the mural. In this time, I also colored a seahorse. Today, I had eaten beforehand and brought a snack but it was still not enough, so Cecilia and I went back to our flat at 3 p.m. to grab a quick bite to eat, and came back at 3:30. We were there for another hour, finishing up the last bit of the mural and generally cleaning up a bit. We left around 4:30 after having a brief meeting with Dr. Walker about what would be due after us coming back from our break we had.
Today was nearly exactly like yesterday in the sense that we did the same thing for about the same amount of time. The only difference was that today, I was so hungry that I took a break to go back and get food instead of sucking it up like I had before. Other than that, I was chilly but entertained again while watching the children play, and content while working on the arts and crafts.
I was surprised that there weren't more kids; the amount that showed up today was probably about 15-20 kids less than the day before, which meant also less parents so it just seemed a lot less crowded. I think a contributing factor to that was the weather, which was extremely gloomy and chilly that day so possibly the people who live here, even though they are used to the weather, didn't think it a good idea to go swimming, or rather playing, in cold water with that kind of weather as well. Perhaps a bigger factor of it was that it was Sunday and for many people here, it truly is their resting day. The culture here dictates that in the morning you either go to church or relax, and in the evening you have the biggest meal of the week, so you must have time to prepare it. So, in between taking their relaxing day or making the large dinner, the parents didn't have time or didn't want to use the effort to take their kids out that day. I noticed that opposed to the day before, although there were still plenty of minority families, there was a noticeable increase in the white families there, so many that goes further to the culture and speaks that perhaps the British families were more inclined to still go out on a Sunday than the others who had a whole different culture they have come from.
Date: 17 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 1/2 hours
Today was essentially almost exactly like yesterday. We met in the morning at 11:30, half an hour before the Beach day was due to start, and went to pretty much the same positions we had at the beginning last time, with Cecilia and I starting our day sitting on the steps again. The first family arrived 15 minutes before it was due to start, so Neil went ahead and just let the little girl in the pool. More kids came as the hour progressed, but not as many as the day before, and more smaller children today. After Cecilia and I's turn was over, we went again into the craft room to work on finishing the mural. In this time, I also colored a seahorse. Today, I had eaten beforehand and brought a snack but it was still not enough, so Cecilia and I went back to our flat at 3 p.m. to grab a quick bite to eat, and came back at 3:30. We were there for another hour, finishing up the last bit of the mural and generally cleaning up a bit. We left around 4:30 after having a brief meeting with Dr. Walker about what would be due after us coming back from our break we had.
Today was nearly exactly like yesterday in the sense that we did the same thing for about the same amount of time. The only difference was that today, I was so hungry that I took a break to go back and get food instead of sucking it up like I had before. Other than that, I was chilly but entertained again while watching the children play, and content while working on the arts and crafts.
I was surprised that there weren't more kids; the amount that showed up today was probably about 15-20 kids less than the day before, which meant also less parents so it just seemed a lot less crowded. I think a contributing factor to that was the weather, which was extremely gloomy and chilly that day so possibly the people who live here, even though they are used to the weather, didn't think it a good idea to go swimming, or rather playing, in cold water with that kind of weather as well. Perhaps a bigger factor of it was that it was Sunday and for many people here, it truly is their resting day. The culture here dictates that in the morning you either go to church or relax, and in the evening you have the biggest meal of the week, so you must have time to prepare it. So, in between taking their relaxing day or making the large dinner, the parents didn't have time or didn't want to use the effort to take their kids out that day. I noticed that opposed to the day before, although there were still plenty of minority families, there was a noticeable increase in the white families there, so many that goes further to the culture and speaks that perhaps the British families were more inclined to still go out on a Sunday than the others who had a whole different culture they have come from.
Victoria Baths 16/7/11
Place: Victoria Baths
Date: 16 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 1/2 hours
Today was Day 1 our of 2 'Beach Days,' which started at noon and ended at 4. We met up outside the baths at 11:30 a.m., and went inside to figure out who would be doing which tasks, and when we would switch, etc. Cecilia and I took 'lifeguard duty' first, which was really just each of us sitting at the top of the tall stairs at the end of the pool and making sure the kids did not climb up them, and also to be ready to jump in if need be. The others did the other jobs, like running the cash register, playing in the sand with the kids, and doing art projects. After an hour of being lifeguards, Cecilia and I were replaced by Brandi and Paige, and we moved onto the arts and crafts. We worked on a wall mural by gluing bits of colored paper onto the cardboard pieces, making the scene of a neighborhood with an amusement park visible in the distance. Eventually, I moved onto coloring a jellyfish, then resumed work on the mural. Around 3:30 p.m., I went back into the pool area and helped Neil clean up the scattered sand from where it had been tracked all over the pool by essentially squee-geeing it up to where the rest of the sand was. After I had done my fair bit of that, it was time to go so we went on our way with the crafts we had made that day.
Working today was a lot unlike the other days; we weren't dong much, if any physical labor, mainly just watching or helping the children who came and making sure they were having fun and not getting into trouble. The hour I spent watching the kids passed fairly quickly, and was quite entertaining as well. We didn't have to jump in at all, but there were two older, bigger boys who I think may have caused a bit of trouble later with not listening to the no running rule, but other than that they were entertaining to watch. It was especially funny to watch as new children came and tested out the water; only one little girl said it wasn't freezing or jump back. So for this little bit, I was mainly entertained but a bit cold too, since there was a bit of a draft in there. After we moved to the arts room, the main thing I felt was hunger; I hadn't had time to eat that morning and forgot to bring a snack with me, so I bought a bag of chips and had that hold me over until we left. When I went to go help Neil, at first it was a lot of fun to do but then I got a bit exasperated as it seemed I was doing the same spots over and over, which I was since some kids were still playing and spreading the sand I had just cleaned up. By the time I left, though, I was too hungry to care about the sand being perfectly cleaned up, and Neil and Martin said that was fine since we'd have to do it again tomorrow anyways.
Today, I think, I saw the sense of community the most that I have so far. I don't know how many people I had been expecting to come, but I was surprised by the amount of people that came. When I was helping Neil clean the floor, I remarked that there had been a lot of people who had come today. "Wait until tomorrow," he replied with a smile. "There should be a lot more." I also did notice that it didn't seem like very affluent people who came, and also noticed that it was mainly non-white families; there were mainly a mix of Indians, Oriental, Black, and a few Middle Eastern families. Also, I did notice that even though the children mixed and played with each other, none of their parents seemed to know each other, so I wonder if they were all from the same neighborhood or from scattered about, even though the Beach days are supposed to be for local families. It was interesting though, nonetheless, because in America, at an event like this usually the parents would start conversing and sharing stories of their children, maybe if their kids are interacting well setting up a playdate for them in the near future. Here, though, they simply kept to themselves, only talking to whomever they came with or their children, and sometimes Martin or Neil. They (the parents) seemed not quite protective of their children, but as if they were sheltering them from getting too friendly with the others. I don't know if this is common here in England, but it just seemed odd to me that they did not want their kids to be too friendly with the others. It may be that since there is such diversity among the people who came, and most of them were directly from India or Africa, etc., that they are uncomfortable with emerging themselves into a different culture. For example, most of them still spoke their native tongue and barely any English when one of us would try to talk to them, and their kids weren't much better at it since they weren't growing up in an English speaking environment.
Date: 16 July 2011
Hours Worked: 4 1/2 hours
Today was Day 1 our of 2 'Beach Days,' which started at noon and ended at 4. We met up outside the baths at 11:30 a.m., and went inside to figure out who would be doing which tasks, and when we would switch, etc. Cecilia and I took 'lifeguard duty' first, which was really just each of us sitting at the top of the tall stairs at the end of the pool and making sure the kids did not climb up them, and also to be ready to jump in if need be. The others did the other jobs, like running the cash register, playing in the sand with the kids, and doing art projects. After an hour of being lifeguards, Cecilia and I were replaced by Brandi and Paige, and we moved onto the arts and crafts. We worked on a wall mural by gluing bits of colored paper onto the cardboard pieces, making the scene of a neighborhood with an amusement park visible in the distance. Eventually, I moved onto coloring a jellyfish, then resumed work on the mural. Around 3:30 p.m., I went back into the pool area and helped Neil clean up the scattered sand from where it had been tracked all over the pool by essentially squee-geeing it up to where the rest of the sand was. After I had done my fair bit of that, it was time to go so we went on our way with the crafts we had made that day.
Working today was a lot unlike the other days; we weren't dong much, if any physical labor, mainly just watching or helping the children who came and making sure they were having fun and not getting into trouble. The hour I spent watching the kids passed fairly quickly, and was quite entertaining as well. We didn't have to jump in at all, but there were two older, bigger boys who I think may have caused a bit of trouble later with not listening to the no running rule, but other than that they were entertaining to watch. It was especially funny to watch as new children came and tested out the water; only one little girl said it wasn't freezing or jump back. So for this little bit, I was mainly entertained but a bit cold too, since there was a bit of a draft in there. After we moved to the arts room, the main thing I felt was hunger; I hadn't had time to eat that morning and forgot to bring a snack with me, so I bought a bag of chips and had that hold me over until we left. When I went to go help Neil, at first it was a lot of fun to do but then I got a bit exasperated as it seemed I was doing the same spots over and over, which I was since some kids were still playing and spreading the sand I had just cleaned up. By the time I left, though, I was too hungry to care about the sand being perfectly cleaned up, and Neil and Martin said that was fine since we'd have to do it again tomorrow anyways.
Today, I think, I saw the sense of community the most that I have so far. I don't know how many people I had been expecting to come, but I was surprised by the amount of people that came. When I was helping Neil clean the floor, I remarked that there had been a lot of people who had come today. "Wait until tomorrow," he replied with a smile. "There should be a lot more." I also did notice that it didn't seem like very affluent people who came, and also noticed that it was mainly non-white families; there were mainly a mix of Indians, Oriental, Black, and a few Middle Eastern families. Also, I did notice that even though the children mixed and played with each other, none of their parents seemed to know each other, so I wonder if they were all from the same neighborhood or from scattered about, even though the Beach days are supposed to be for local families. It was interesting though, nonetheless, because in America, at an event like this usually the parents would start conversing and sharing stories of their children, maybe if their kids are interacting well setting up a playdate for them in the near future. Here, though, they simply kept to themselves, only talking to whomever they came with or their children, and sometimes Martin or Neil. They (the parents) seemed not quite protective of their children, but as if they were sheltering them from getting too friendly with the others. I don't know if this is common here in England, but it just seemed odd to me that they did not want their kids to be too friendly with the others. It may be that since there is such diversity among the people who came, and most of them were directly from India or Africa, etc., that they are uncomfortable with emerging themselves into a different culture. For example, most of them still spoke their native tongue and barely any English when one of us would try to talk to them, and their kids weren't much better at it since they weren't growing up in an English speaking environment.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Victoria Baths 13/7/11
Place: Victoria Baths
Date: 13 July 2011
Hours Worked: 5 hours
We arrived again at 10 a.m. and today, Neil let us in instead of Martin. We again had coffee and tea in the cafe before we started while Neil explained to us what we would be doing that day; before lunch, hauling in the sand from outside and spreading it in the female pool, and after lunch we would do something fun like make decorations for the pool area. We then got up and got to work; Amber and I took shovels and the others along with Kofi and Sia got wheelbarrows and helped haul the sand into the pool area. We switched out several times with the other girls, Brandi and Paige mainly coming down and doing the shoveling. After all the sand was in, we spread it out a bit, then put toys in it. We finished earlier than yesterday, by about 12:30 instead of 1, so we got an hour and a half lunch break. When we returned, none of us had much to do but 3 had to mop upstairs again and Cecilia worked on buffing the floor again so Amber and I brought her buckets of hot water. After that, we just lounged about until Martin got back with the other Ashley and Katie came with the fabrics and other materials to make kites with. We set about to that, each of us making one kite for the day then heading out about 4:30.
My feelings today were, I would say, pretty similar to yesterday. I arrived there very much tired and had the tea to wake me up, and another clementine during a self taken break, but it took a lot of energy to keep up until lunch. When I took my turn on the wheelbarrow, I was pretty apprehensive because I know I am not very strong to begin with and since I was so tired I just wasn't sure if I could do it. However, I pulled through and managed to do about 4-5 wheelbarrow loads, and even though it exhausted me, I was quite proud of myself.
Date: 13 July 2011
Hours Worked: 5 hours
We arrived again at 10 a.m. and today, Neil let us in instead of Martin. We again had coffee and tea in the cafe before we started while Neil explained to us what we would be doing that day; before lunch, hauling in the sand from outside and spreading it in the female pool, and after lunch we would do something fun like make decorations for the pool area. We then got up and got to work; Amber and I took shovels and the others along with Kofi and Sia got wheelbarrows and helped haul the sand into the pool area. We switched out several times with the other girls, Brandi and Paige mainly coming down and doing the shoveling. After all the sand was in, we spread it out a bit, then put toys in it. We finished earlier than yesterday, by about 12:30 instead of 1, so we got an hour and a half lunch break. When we returned, none of us had much to do but 3 had to mop upstairs again and Cecilia worked on buffing the floor again so Amber and I brought her buckets of hot water. After that, we just lounged about until Martin got back with the other Ashley and Katie came with the fabrics and other materials to make kites with. We set about to that, each of us making one kite for the day then heading out about 4:30.
My feelings today were, I would say, pretty similar to yesterday. I arrived there very much tired and had the tea to wake me up, and another clementine during a self taken break, but it took a lot of energy to keep up until lunch. When I took my turn on the wheelbarrow, I was pretty apprehensive because I know I am not very strong to begin with and since I was so tired I just wasn't sure if I could do it. However, I pulled through and managed to do about 4-5 wheelbarrow loads, and even though it exhausted me, I was quite proud of myself.
Victoria Baths 12/7/11
Place: Victoria Baths
Date: 12 July 2011
Hours worked: 5 hours
We arrived at the Baths and were let in by Martin, who is our sort of supervisor. He led us into the cafe and explained to us what we would be doing that day while serving us coffee, tea, or water. After finishing our drinks, he led us into the female pool area and showed us the different areas that needed cleaning. We then went down to the basement and geared up, donning white body suits, gloves, and some put face masks on as well. We started by mopping the floor in the changing stalls and the area around the pool, took a short ten minute break, then proceeded to scrubbing the walls. After that, we got an hour long lunch break and some went to a restaurant and some went back to their flats to eat. At two, we all gathered together back at the baths and continued our work. Cecilia, Paige, and myself mopped the upstairs of the men's 2nd class pool, about 3 times then we each took a turn at the power floor mop. After that, we were finished for the day.
I started the day feeling nothing but tired. We had stayed up late talking the night before and I had not got much sleep, nor had I slept well, so waking up that early was quite difficult. The tea with sugar and milk helped wake me up and give me a bit of energy, as well as when we took the quick break and I ate a clementine. I did get a bit irriated when I saw some people not really doing any real work at all while we were working really hard, but then sucked it up because I realized that would reflect on them and I did not need to worry about it. I was starving by the time our lunch break came around, so when we got back to our flat I rummaged through the fridge and just ate until I was satisfied. When we got back, I was a little bored while working simply because in the men's 2nd class, we could not hear the music that Martin was playing so it was just quiet in there. When we finished with that, I would say that I was in a playful, maybe a bit hyper mood because by then I had a lot of pent up energy from not really doing much, so I tried to help Cecilia with the floor mop but I couldn't quite do it right. By the time we left, I was content to simply go home and work on my journal and relax a little bit. I did acquire some new knowledge, however; I had never scrubbed at tiles before or really mopped either, my sister always did that and I would do the polish afterwards. The mopping really didn't seem to do much since it looked almost exactly the same afterwards as it did beforehand, but the dirty water proved otherwise. Also, I had never used the power mop before even though i had always wanted to, but proved I was no good at it.
I would say that the behavoir of cooperation was applied during this time volunteering because even though I'm sure none of us were too keen on actually doing the physical labor aspect, we did it anyways because it counts for our class grade and I think after a bit, we discovered that helping clean was very self-gratifying; it felt good to know we were helping out so much even though it did not seem like we were doing much, Martin and Neil and the others seemed to be very happy with our work. Also, I believe we really felt the sense of community that Victoria Baths wants to show their surrounding area by all coming together to work.
Date: 12 July 2011
Hours worked: 5 hours
We arrived at the Baths and were let in by Martin, who is our sort of supervisor. He led us into the cafe and explained to us what we would be doing that day while serving us coffee, tea, or water. After finishing our drinks, he led us into the female pool area and showed us the different areas that needed cleaning. We then went down to the basement and geared up, donning white body suits, gloves, and some put face masks on as well. We started by mopping the floor in the changing stalls and the area around the pool, took a short ten minute break, then proceeded to scrubbing the walls. After that, we got an hour long lunch break and some went to a restaurant and some went back to their flats to eat. At two, we all gathered together back at the baths and continued our work. Cecilia, Paige, and myself mopped the upstairs of the men's 2nd class pool, about 3 times then we each took a turn at the power floor mop. After that, we were finished for the day.
I started the day feeling nothing but tired. We had stayed up late talking the night before and I had not got much sleep, nor had I slept well, so waking up that early was quite difficult. The tea with sugar and milk helped wake me up and give me a bit of energy, as well as when we took the quick break and I ate a clementine. I did get a bit irriated when I saw some people not really doing any real work at all while we were working really hard, but then sucked it up because I realized that would reflect on them and I did not need to worry about it. I was starving by the time our lunch break came around, so when we got back to our flat I rummaged through the fridge and just ate until I was satisfied. When we got back, I was a little bored while working simply because in the men's 2nd class, we could not hear the music that Martin was playing so it was just quiet in there. When we finished with that, I would say that I was in a playful, maybe a bit hyper mood because by then I had a lot of pent up energy from not really doing much, so I tried to help Cecilia with the floor mop but I couldn't quite do it right. By the time we left, I was content to simply go home and work on my journal and relax a little bit. I did acquire some new knowledge, however; I had never scrubbed at tiles before or really mopped either, my sister always did that and I would do the polish afterwards. The mopping really didn't seem to do much since it looked almost exactly the same afterwards as it did beforehand, but the dirty water proved otherwise. Also, I had never used the power mop before even though i had always wanted to, but proved I was no good at it.
I would say that the behavoir of cooperation was applied during this time volunteering because even though I'm sure none of us were too keen on actually doing the physical labor aspect, we did it anyways because it counts for our class grade and I think after a bit, we discovered that helping clean was very self-gratifying; it felt good to know we were helping out so much even though it did not seem like we were doing much, Martin and Neil and the others seemed to be very happy with our work. Also, I believe we really felt the sense of community that Victoria Baths wants to show their surrounding area by all coming together to work.
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