Catching Up

We've been so busy that none of us has had time to update the blog, so here is a glimpse of a few of the activities we've been enjoying since March 27th.

Sunday, after breakfast on the waterfront, and lunch at the Arundel Rotary Club president's home, we were taken to an ancient Roman Villa that dates back to 230 AD. It's hard to imagine the degree of Roman culture and architecture that was common all over southern England during this time. We also took a walk along the old roman road at the top of the Downs.

Monday I visited a secondary school. I'm still trying to figure out the educational system here. Public schools are really private, colleges are often for age 16 and up, grammar schools are nearly gone, prep schools are for the younger kids, academies are schools which haven't made the grade and have been re-named and re-tooled, and then there are $20,000 per year boarding schools. All these are driven by a national curriculum, although public (private) schools have more flexibility in how the day-to-day things are done.

We were handed off to the Chichester Harbor Rotary Club for the next few days Monday afternoon, toured some of the area, and relaxed with our host families. I stayed with Sue & Malcom Danks. Sue will lead the District 1250 GSE team that will be coming to our district at the end of April.

Tuesday, I visited Aldingbourne Farm, a facility that assists developmentally challenged adults by helping them run various enterprises. They grow and sell plants, refurbish furniture, sell crafts, recycle wood, and other activities. The place deals with around 90 clients, and has a volunteer staff of 40 part-time people helping out. After lunch at yet another PUB (they are the common place to have drinks and a meal), we were taken for a walking tour of downtown Chichester, which included the marvelous Chichester Cathedral and St, Mary's Hospital (which is really a boarding place now). That evening we gave our presentation to the Rotary Club of Chichester (our hosts that day). About 90 people were in attendance.