Perrydise: aka America Part I

   So Sam and I have been in America for about a week now. I tried to write this post a couple of days ago but, unfortunately, the draft didn't save on my blogspot and my 35minutes worth of writing went down the drain. Because of this, I wanted to wait until I had a computer before I attempted to post anything again so that I could use trusty Microsoft Word (I know, not a phrase you hear very often,) to write and edit everything then simply cutting and pasting in the end. Now, due to the time-scale of things, I am going to write two posts in a small timeframe but share them spaced out still (hopefully) so it's easy to keep track of and read but also so I am not spamming you all -I hope somebody finds the method to my madness helpful. 

   So looking back to when we arrived, it seems so much has happened since then. Sam and I are very VERY happy to be back in the homes and arms of our dear friends in Perry as well as in a country we have grown so attached to over the years. As usual, the thought of going home is shunned almost immediately after it comes into anybody's minds, but the fact we're only a week in means this practice is not necessarily a bad one at this point in time; live in the moment and enjoy what you have and whatnot. 

   From this post, I wanted to include a daily activity log so it's easier to picture the timescale of everything, but also because when it comes to rereading these posts myself on account of remembering good times, my job becomes a lot more straightforward. So, if you’re still reading this and want to know what we’ve been up to so far, please keep on reading. If you are just here to see the pictures though, just scroll down a bit until you reach them. Thanks!

Friday 20^th July (Day 1): We started our travels by taking a bus and two trains in order to get to the airport. Our flight preparation and service was A LOT simpler this time round as we flew Icelandair for both of our flights and once we had checked in our bags in Manchester we did not have to collect them again until we arrived in Cleveland so that was a relief (considering last time we stopped at JFK, had a short layover and still had to collect and recheck-in our luggage even after Sam’s case was the very last one to come back – I know right, typical aye?!).

   The flights were also a lot better in other ways as we got personal TVs for both the flights – even the short haul! Unfortunately Sams TV didn’t work on the first flight, but we spend those 3 hours sharing my screen which actually turned out to be quite nice as we watched a film together and got to laugh and talk with each other about what was happening. Considering we wasn’t even expecting any in-flight entertainment on the short-haul, we felt we’d still had it pretty good and didn’t complain. Basically what I’m saying is, even with a few metaphorical bumps in the road, flying Icelandair was wayyyyy more worth it than our flights with Virgin/Delta - even though the flights we got before were double the price of the ones we took this time - in my opinion.

   Flying into Iceland was also so so SO beautiful. Sam and I have fantasising of going to Iceland for the last 4 years so cannot wait until we finally get the money and can go to stay there; this taster of what’s to come has intensified the dream all the more. Also, when we arrived, the changeover to our second fight was amazingly smooth – again to reiterate the point that I completely recommend Icelandair.

   Our second flight was calm and as comfortable as could be. The food I got was actually really good too. It was made up of sweet potato, veggie and salad wraps with a side of falafel and red pesto – surprisingly a vegan option that actually looked tastier than anything else on the menu and also lived up to expectation – and the portion size was so big I had to eat the meal in two halves with a rest of like an hour and a half between. 
   This second fight was delayed a little due to it waiting for a group of people who were going to miss the flight because of delays to their first plane, we finally arrived in Cleveland and was greeted by a rather large welcome party of some of our closest friends. [SIDE NOTE: All of you who were there - you know who you are - we really appreciated your effort, we’re really sorry about all the delays and also we love you lots; thank you for being there when we arrived as it meant so much to us.] The only part of our trip that wasn’t smooth that day was when we arrived in Cleveland unfortunately. We waited 15 minutes or so for our cases, only for them to be taken from us in the next room again for them to redo security (apparently this is a thing they do to all luggage from relatively new flights). The conveyer belt did not work in this room and it took nearly 2 hours for us to finally get our bags after passing through customs and airport security again too. Finally, at like 9.30pm, we left for Cleveland centre to go for our first meal with everyone who had come to see us. We ate GREAT Mexican food (thanks again Evan for picking out the place) and some of us got huge speciality margaritas  (not me surprisingly, I was way too tired to drink) before eventually reaching Perry at near-on midnight. Our BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING host family had also stayed awake to greet us and we had all our hugs and welcomes briefly before basically passing out on the bed they had prepared for us. [SIDENOTE: the bed was in a room they had built for us to stay in – yeah ik we was built a bedroom how insanely amazing is that?! (I told you they were amazing!) ]

[SECOND SIDENOTE (I am aware this structure is getting old the more I use it but I’m going to keep it up anyway, sorry guys): Thank you SO SO MUCH to all the Sears for their kindness and love; we’re really sorry when we arrived we were almost appearing rude for only our brief greetings, we really appreciate you staying up however we had been awake over 24 hours and was kind of dying a little. LOVE YOU!!)

Saturday 21^st July (Day 2 – this one is not as long I promise): Due to our delayed arrival, I planned on trying to sleep in this day. Unfortunately, I suffered from bad jet lag this year and therefore was awake before 8am Ohio time, (because that would be 1pm England time,) after having only 5 hours sleep. I spent the morning speaking to all of our beautiful host family though; asking and answering questions for a whopping 5 hours (I’d like to say that’s a record for our conversations but funnily enough it doesn’t even come close). Afterwards, Sam and I went with our host mum and our youngest host sister and brother to a nice grocery store to get some dairy-free food. There was surprisingly lots and lots of choice as far as dairy-free options were concerned and we left there with cheesecake, pizza and 2 tubs of ice-cream to name but a few of the incredible items we discovered that day. This store was also cool/strange/weird/posh as we had to collect a number and place these hangers on the shopping cart/trolley and on the car and then drive up to a part of the store to wait for somebody to load the car up with our shopping as they don’t allow you to take the cart to your car; an experience that Sam and I found funny after it ended up taking us double the amount of time to get the numbers and drive the car around the one way system maze the store has set up in order for you to get to the drive-through packing station part.

   Also on this day we had our first Chipotle of the trip. Anyone who knows me well will know how long I have waited for that day where I ate that beautiful goodness again. Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. So that I don’t go off on a tangent talking Chipotle details for 3000words, I’m going to swiftly finish this days account by saying we spent that evening with our host family, experiencing their beautiful church and eating some great food (featuring trying the fresh perch for the first time – I really don’t know why we didn’t try it last time but ah well it was great all the same!)

Sunday 22^nd July (Day 3): This third day Sam and I went to go and see Antman and the Wasp at the movie theatre/cinema. This was our first American movie theatre experience and, I have to say, their chairs put ours to shame; a room full of soft, electric-powered recliners and a larger screen (take note Britain – you need to up your game!)

   We had great food again this day (can you spot a theme?) and we also met up with two of our friends that couldn’t make it to Cleveland Friday on top of going round to Sam’s host family from our last visit – the home of our other American Parents. We share stories and laughs and caught up in the time we had together. A day filled with great food and great people yet again; **SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HADN'T GUESSED ALREADY** this seems to be a running theme throughout this trip. This day was wound up by learning to play a table-top game called Catan with our host family. At this point, Sam and I did not realise how much our host family loves this game nor how much we were going to fall in love with it too. [SIDENOTE: anyone who comes to our house to stay within the next decade at least, be prepared to be taught how to play this as I swear it is my new addiction]

Monday 23^rd July (Day 4): We spent this day mainly with our host sisters; going to the mall, eating Chipotle again (yum) and buying lots of cool stuff (not going to lie, mostly from Bath and Body). When we arrived back from the mall we all had face masks (with the addition of my best friend/host brother Ryan). We did take pictures during this time but little did we realise how wrong they looked as we smile with our pure black charcoal face masks on, so I won’t be uploading any of those shots (however you can picture the sight and laugh at how naïve we were if you want to because, to be honest, it was rather funny). I spent the rest of the evening with my host sisters doing makeovers and having the youngest do my makeup, (which looked amazing by the way – love you Rachel!) followed by the eldest of my host sisters showing me her INCREDIBLE artwork (Kate hunni you’re honestly so talented you bring me to tears – love you too!)

Tuesday 24^th July (Day 5): This account will be rather short as we relaxed most of Day 5. My jet lag was still pretty bad and we had planned to go to Toledo this Tuesday but had changed our minds last minute and decided to go a day later (see following blog post for more details on that). Baisically we went to the store on Tuesday, bought ingredients to bake, did a blind taste test of two cake batches using an American cake recipe (with the sugar replaced in one of the batches for a type of sugar called “Caster Sugar” which we usually use in the UK – we brought it in our suitcase for the soul purpose of seeing if there was a difference in taste). The bake did not go well. I will put the pictures below. However, at least we had fun doing this exercise. We also found time this day to play Catan again as a family with a slightly different line-up of members this time.

   Originally, I wanted this post to be 6 Days long. I wanted to include the travel to Chicago and Toledo and whatnot, however I didn’t realise how long this post would be already. I will post some pictures below and round this up prettily quickly I the hopes I don’t bore what little of you who remain and it this far. I hope you’re enjoying the blog and, if you want to hear about the road trips we’ve taken, including the fact we travelled to 5 states in 24 hours [**audience gasps** “ooooooooo” – ikr ;) ] then look out for my next post. It should be up in a couple of days - at the very very most a week but I ideally want it done before then as I’ll have a third one to write after that. To everyone who follows this blog and sends me love from all corners of the world, as usual, thank you so much and I love you and I hope you’re enjoying your summer!

 Until next time folks!

-Alice xx

The Fam

Great dairy-free pizza (even good vegan cheese - I know, shocking right?)

our very kind and beautiful gifts made by our host parents (and Sam, bless him)

the reality of the failed batch

the beauty of the good batch

Me, Rach and Ryan <3 (ft the makeup Rach did on me)

love you bestie <3

P.S. IF YOU GET THIS FAR (I'M PUTTING THIS IN CAPS IN CASE YOU DON'T SEE IT) I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THERE WILL BE MANY MORE PICTURES IN THE OTHER POSTS; WE JUST SPENT OUR FIRST DAYS ENJOYING OUR TIME TOGETHER RATHER THAN TAKING LOTS OF PICTURES. 

P.P.S. all rights remain to Abby for thinking of the name Perrydise. I do not claim to have come up with that beauty.