Forever Hibernating

Hello, unflattering photo of all of us.

It's all finished. I've completed 4 weeks of NCS. It's surreal. If I keep repeating these words would it become more real?

This week was certainly more bittersweet than others. We tried to get donations from the public to go towards 'Honeypots Children's charity', had our main event and had our last NCS day.

There are bees in the Market Square
For 2 days, we had set up a stall in the Market Square. We were relentless in our efforts to try to promote Honeypot Children's charity, advertise our event and gain donations from selling our homemade cakes, cookies and flapjacks.

Somebody in our group runs her own business selling cupcakes and other baked goods. We were all highly anticipating her bakes and let's say, they do not disappoint. The brownies that I ate had transported me to chocolate heaven and could be the definition of food porn.

It was really heartwarming when people were willing to donate a few pennies towards this great cause-  in this case, every little helps. When they donated, all I wanted to do was to give them a massive hug for being such kindhearted people but in reality, it would most likely be frowned upon to hug a complete stranger. So instead, I just gave them massive smiles and said our thanks.

We were out parading the streets from 10:00am-3:30pm and by the end of the day, whenever someone saw a person wearing a bright yellow top, they would swerve to go to the opposite side of the road. I found this fairly amusing because everybody could spot us from a mile away. I promise we don't sting.

We're a dedicated bunch
A normal NCS week goes from Monday to Thursday but due to our event being on Friday, we were granted a day off on Wednesday. However, instead of relishing the day off, we all decided to go into town to further advertise our event as well as receive the raffle donations from shops. We also visited the other team's stall in the market square to help support their event.

After having lunch in town, we trekked back up the hill to go back to school. Over the week we had multiple tiresome trips up and down the hill and every time, my thighs would burn from the ascent up. The bright side of that bothersome hill is that my flabby thighs will (hopefully) be toned.

Once we were all at school, we had a mission to accomplish. This mission was to choreograph and practice our routine for a flashmob where everybody has a 10 second solo each. If we accomplish this mission, we get to wax our leader's legs. I'm actually scared for him because the hair on his legs, no, I mean the carpet on his legs is going to be stripped off and it's going to be painful. Very painful.

Throw in some disastrous dad dancing, flailing arms and some uncoordinated jiggle and voila, our routine is done. Our dance routine is by no means flashy or remotely technical but we have a kick-ass chorus and we all had a laugh when we did it.

Family Fun Day or Family Rain Day? 
A few days before the big day, we received some bad news. The British weather was not in our favour, it was expected to rain and after hearing that, we all became dejected. Who would go to a BBQ in the rain? We all made the conclusion that we'll just go along with it and just be grateful for those who come.

Confession time-I'm not a massive fan of the taste burgers but the delicious smell of them sizzling on the BBQ could have converted me. As a group we had established that if we're having food, we are having good food. All the burgers and sausages were brought from the local butchers and they were bloody fantastic. Massive pat on the back to the girlies who braved the rain to provide us with the star of the show.
Last Day Blues
We tidied up the venue where we held our event. Forgotten balloons which was strewn over the floor had its last breath, left over sweets were eagerly taken and tables were eventually packed. We were finished. Despite the simple task of tidying up I felt heavy-hearted, maybe because we weren't going to see each other everyday or maybe because summer is nearly over or maybe because that it's probably the last time I would do something significant with friendship trio or a combination of all of the above.

Lastly, we all huddled together. Our team leaders gave a speech, although it wasn't the most artfully thought out speech of the century, it certainly held all the sincerity and emotions held in a century. I remember, I glanced around our little group and inwardly smiled. Who would have thought that the same awkward group who struggled to communicate to each other, would be the same group who was all huddled together in that moment.  It certainly was a picture worthy.

Saying yes to something scary and foreign has led to so many memories, new experiences and new friends this summer. I am so bloody proud of us, we've achieved so much and we've all grown as individuals as well as a group. I'm sure if Dean had a look at us now, his beard will fall off due to the shock.