Guernsey- Week 2

It’s Sunday. I volunteered to work today so that I may take this Friday off  and possibly go to Herm, or maybe Salk, or one of the other islands. Ah, so many islands, so little time. During my afternoon break, I took the foot path the Petit Bot (pronounced ‘pettybow’, not petite boat), a small, beautiful little beach about 5 minutes from the sanctuary. It’s Sunday so the beach is crowded- meaning there are more than 10 people on it. People are kayaking, scuba diving, sunning, children and fathers playing ball on the sand… The seagulls remind me of the Jersey shore, but the white sandy beach and clear blue sky reminds me that I am on the coast of the English Channel. I think I see France in the distance.

After finishing up the remainder of my 3 oz, TSA approved tube of 30 SPF sunscreen- and still managing to get burned- I pack it in and head back. Its almost 4pm and the animals await. After work I make dinner in Martha’s kitchen, where I officially meet her new lodger, a dashing Englishman from Manchester. Hm. More about him later. I then turn in early and get ready for another lovely day at the animal farm 🙂

Weekend at Guernsey’s

So, today, Saturday, is my day off. I slept in late, which was very nice, then headed into town, found the internet cafe and talked to mom on skype. Mom, you’re so tech savvy. So, what shall I do for the rest of the day? Go to France? Go to one of the local islands? Well, the weather looks iffy and its a bit chilly so I decide to skip the island for today. Instead I take a guided tour through Victor Hugo’s house. I was the only one to show up for the English version of the tour, so I had my own personal guide! Brilliant! (they like to say brilliant a lot here). The house was gorgeous! (that’s another one they say a lot). 5 floors, overlooking the garden and the sea, with a perfect view of the surrounding islands and the Castle Cornet. On a good day, I was told, you could see the coast of France. I asked if I could take pictures and was told it was fine as long as there was no flash. Well, if you’ve been following, you’ll remember I didn’t know how to use my camera when I left. I still don’t. So, the flash went off and I got in trouble. No worries, though, my private tour guide fixed the settings on my camera and turned it off. So I took some great pictures that I will post very soon. Only problem is now, how to turn the flash back on?! On the way to the house, I got lost. Surprise! The entire island is tiny but of course I manage to get lost. So I stopped a nice lady walking down the street and asked her where Victor Hugo’s house was, and she not only told me where to go, she walked me there! See, that’s what I love about Guernsey. I also love that there is almost zero percent crime rate, the people never lock their doors at night, and they have veg hedges here. A veg hedge is a little box that people who grow their own veggies or fruits put out in front of their house, along with an ‘honesty box’, where people leave the money! Now, how long do you think that idea would last in NYC? Or anywhere, for that matter? Only in Guernsey…

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Today was a pretty easy day, though it began with a little bit of drama. I decided to be brave and feed the goats and Lamby all by myself.  As I was walking through the gates, the goats tried to jump me again to get to the food and as I was fighting them off, the lamb escaped! I didn’t know what to do so after I put the goats’ food down for them, I ran after Lamby, grabbed him by his oversized coat and tried to pull him back in. That didn’t go over so well. He was trying to eat the rabbits’ food which was left outside his pen and I was interrupting him! He gave me a look to kill and then assumed headbutting position. However, this time he missed. But that didn’t stop him from trying- now the lamb was chasing after me. At this point I began screaming for someone, anyone, to come help me please! Not a soul was in sight. Of course. Then, as I’m fighting off Lamby and screaming at the top of my lungs, the goats- who I guess finished eating- escaped as well! Now I had 3 loose animals. Finally, someone must have heard my screaming because right about then, Sue and one of the volunteers came walking- no, strolling- over to help. I thought Sue would be upset but apparently this sort of thing tends to happen with new volunteers? Sue got the animals safely back into their pens and I made a note to myself to stay away from the goats and the lamb. I should have known it was going to be one of those days. A bit later on, I was standing in front of the bird avery, waiting for the Macau to curse, and I brilliantly stuck my finger in the cage to pet him. He then bit into my finger actually breaking skin. This is the 2nd time this week I’ve been bitten by a bird after sticking my finger in its cage to pet it. A girl never learns. After the morning feedings were done, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the bunneries. Another glamourous job! Since it was Maria’s last night at the farm, we decided to hit the town one last time together to celebrate. We went and had the early bird Italian dinner special and 1 glass of wine each, and were both ready to pass out. So, after stopping by a cafe for cappuccinos that we hoped would wake us up (they didn’t), we called a cab and called it a night. Starting tomorrow, I was on my own.

There’s No Place Like Guernsey

Well, today was our first official day of work at the sanctuary. Up and out at 8:30am to feed the pigs, bunnies, deer, goats (one of which headbutted me after I brought him his food.. I think he was telling me to get lost). One of the little dogs jumped up on me and scratched me, giving me a little scar on my left arm that will match the one on my right arm from Greta Garbo (the drag cat that I had for one month last summer). One of the goats jumped up on me (not the one that headbutted me, the other one), and left a little scratch on my chest. One of the birds bit my finger, but at least it didn’t tell me to F off (see previous post). Other than that, I made it through my first day pretty much in one piece. My favorite part of the day though was scooping up the horse poo- how’s that for the glamourous life! Maria and I had a little break in between our shifts and went for a walk down to the coast- how beautiful! Along the way, we met a nice Scottish fellow who informed us of all the happenin night spots in Guernsey (didn’t know there were any), so we added that to our agenda for the week. Later, when we got back to the farm for the afternoon feeding (of the animals, not us), Sue, the sanctuary owner, informed us we had a phone call. Who would be calling us?? It was some lad looking for the two American girls. Huh? Turns out it was the Scottish fellow- guess he saw us going into the sanctuary, looked it up, and gave us a rang, to let us know that he will be working at the Sylvan Futbol Club that evening if we want to stop by. Ok, a little creepy. Or maybe stalking is normal in Guernsey? Who knows. Yes, I did see the movie ‘Taken’, and yes, we are being very careful and not telling anyone where we are staying. Didn’t know the lad would follow us! Honestly, I think the people here are just so friendly, and the thought of hurting anyone would never cross their minds. That might sound naive, but you just have to be here. There’s just something about Guernsey. They do things a little differently here. I love it.

Guernsey, Channel Islands

I woke up the next morning forgetting where I was. ‘Oh, that’s right’, I recall.  ‘I’m in England!’  I sleep until noon, have a lovely English breakfast and miss my ferry to Guernsey! The next one wasn’t until the following day. But no worries, I could just hop on the next flight out. And I did- on a little plane….with little propellers right outside my window…with no Ambien.. and I wasn’t scared. Maybe I am getting over my fear of flying? So I arrived in Guernsey, a quaint little sleepy island on the English Channel, between England and France, where the maximum speed limit is 35mph and the people greet you with hugs. My friend Maria met me at the airport and we did some food shopping and then we finally arrived at the animal sanctuary. By the time we arrived it was late and most of the animals had already gone to bed, but I got to meet several of the house pets- a big fluffy beautiful cat named Marmite, and a great dog named Maisy. And the birds. Oh, there is a Macau here that curses. They don’t curse at the sanctuary but apparently his previous owners must have, as the bird’s favorite thing to say is, ‘ F off’… with a British accent of course. The little farmhouse where I’m staying looks more like a little English cottage- or what you would imagine a little Engish cottage to look like. Its absolutely adorable. Maria is staying in the guest house next door, so we decided to cook dinner in her kitchen. By the time we ate, it was still light out, but we realized it was close to 9:30pm! I learned it doesn’t get dark until 10pm or so here. So, after dinner we chatted for a while, catching each other up on our adventures thus far. We then called it a night and agreed to meet outside at 7am the following morning for a run. We’ll see.