Day 2 and 3: That is NOT queso

Good evening and welcome back. Day 3 is coming to an end here in Oxford, England. Heres a quick recap of the past two days while I let the British ice cream settle:

Day 2-
Classes started. The atmosphere is quite relaxed, although the class does take place in an actual "classroom". Just like a regular summer class, it can get a bit rough after about 2 hours of constant teaching, and so the teachers have mercy on us and usually give us a break. A panini and sandwich place called "On the Hoof" was raided by a few buds and myself during lunch after being told many times of how great it is. The Global Apprentice orientation started during the afternoon with the professors splitting us up into 3 groups of 4. I was placed into the "Oxfam" project section, as opposed to A.C. Nielsen. Our knowledge of the non-profits was very small and would be expanded the next day as we were scheduled to visit Oxfam's headquarters in downtown Oxford. Later on in the day, a group of us went to Port Meadows, a massive expanse of land with horses and part of the Thames river running through. It was absolutley beautiful. Because of all the exploring and walking, once my roommates and I laid our heads down, we all crashed until the alarm woke us rudely the next morning.

Day 3-
At 8:30 in business attire, the Oxfam part of the group headed for the main office. From 9-12, we were in meetings with different directors and coordinaters. What we experienced was:
-Orientation on what we are to be accomplishing while we are here. (Improve communication between shop managers. Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites have been used, but since Oxfams main volunteer works are women at age 65+, it has yet to gain popularity. Considering a MyACU portal for Oxfam?)
-Humanitarian work done in Pakistan and Mali. Use of buckets with spouts that can be used during the day for water, washing clothes and showers. all with only 1 bucket of water!
-Oxfam's involvement in emergency disasters.

Oxfam is an incredible association that is making an impact in over 70 countries. In order for this to continue, internally, we must improve communication. Our hands on experience will begin this next Thursday.

Upcoming events:
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- Leave for France. Go under the Chunnel to Paris for 2 days and then Bayeux for 2 days. Get to experience Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and other sites while on the Fat Tire Bike Tours. Also getting to see the beaches of Normandy.

On a side note, I went to a burrito place like Sharkys called "The Mission". As I went through picking and choosing my items, I saw something that looked like queso. I asked for a bunch of it. My clue that this was a bad idea should of been when the lady looked at me like I was crazy. After one bite, my mouth was literally on fire. I quickly ditched the shop, ran down the street to my american roots to KFC and stuffed my mouth with a sandwich, followed by mint ice cream. Lesson learned.

And so hobey ho, and off we go
-Shay