No matter where in Britain you visit, Manchester has a reputation for being rough and tough and often incomprehensible. On Friday I arrived in this big city to meet my fellow Vincentian Volunteers. We are staying in a house on the West End of Greater Manchester, and I can't complain much, although the city does live up to its reputation. While Glasgow has been voted "Britain's Friendliest City", Manchester is slightly less accommodating.
As we boarded the bus to go into city center, I very politely asked, “How much for a return ticket?”
The grisly driver scowled at me and asked, “Return to where?” Well, the bus ends in Piccadilly – it doesn’t go any further than that. And we were in Eccles. It seemed like a simple question, really. But, being in a good mood, I simply smiled and added the necessary details. “£4.10” was his only reply.
“Why, thank you sir, you are very kind.” And I handed over the exact change and skipped away merrily to my seat.
“Grab your ticket! Oi! GRAB YOUR TICKET!” the driver yelled back at me. I mean, really, whatever happened to common courtesy? (It’s not like I am biased towards Glasgow or anything of course…)
Manchester city center was not as impressive as I’d hoped, especially after the long bus ride surrounded by suspicious-looking passengers and my loving friend of a driver. The other volunteers and I made our way through Chinatown, which was really only 2 blocks of “International Buffets.” Piccadilly Gardens was charming, but again very small. It was more like a plaza with a fountain you can run through. I can do that in Mike’s back garden if I really wanted to.
My favorite part of city center was the western side, by the canal. There is a nice area next to the ruins of an old Roman fort where a very modern-looking suspension bridge stretches across the waterfalls of the canal. Narrow canal boats dot the water, and in the warm sun many owners were lying on the small boat decks (or roofs), taking in the sun.
By 5:00, though, I was beat and ready to crash at the house. Luckily, so were all the other volunteers. We returned and made dinner (for the record, that is twice I’ve cooked a real dinner from scratch here! Look out world!).
On Saturday night one of the volunteers, Dana, who is also from Georgia, introduced us all to the game Mafia. With the language barriers (many of the volunteers are from Indonesia) and cultural differences, this game was intense and absolutely hysterical. The killers could never keep a straight face, and I think we giggled throughout the entire game. But we have been having a fantastic time, and we have all really bonded. This year’s Vincentian Volunteers are top notch, and I am very excited to grow more as the year progresses.
Tomorrow we leave for Liverpool to begin our official induction and training. As you can see, I still don’t have my battery charger for my camera, so there are no pictures in this post. However, I will leave you this pic of a funny poster I found online of a kitten being chased by angry-looking brownies. No copyright infringement intended. Now, if you will excuse me, Patrick has brought out his guitar and spontaneous karaoke has erupted downstairs. Dana and I have promised to give our rendition of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, and I’d hate to let anyone down.
Mafia is an awesome game!!
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