The Centauri Summer Arts Camp tour to England offered me more than I could have hoped for. When my parents and I first discussed the tour, I was so excited. England has always been somewhere I wanted to visit, and Centauri was a community I loved, filled with people that I never failed to get along with. From the very beginning, Julie, Craig, and
Katie were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and accessible. This made my parents feel safe to send me on the trip, and with each answer to every question, I got more and more excited for August.
Actually going to England was a mind blowing experience that I still think about every day. I was surrounded by intelligent and passionate people, and we all shared a love for everything around us. Julie and Katie’s expertise about the places we visited heightened every aspect of the trip. Despite arriving from a foreign country and not having the same accent as everyone around us, we weren’t tourists. We felt like travellers returning to a long-forgotten home and relearning every nook and cranny.
Staying in the youth hostel in Whitby, right beside Whitby Abbey, was an amazing experience. Julie read passages from Bram Stoker’s Dracula while we sat on the actual bench where Dracula first encounters Mina – that was phenomenal. All of us felt the presence of the count in the semi darkness, with the ruins of Whitby Abbey close by and the town and sea far below. We had only known each other for a day at that point, but already we felt like a community. In fact, the bonds formed on this trip began the moment we met at the airport, and they still exist. When you experience a new culture and adventures with a group of people, you know you will always stay friends.
International travel is an adventure, and this trip was no exception. On our first hike, the new walking boots that I had bought decided to break! This could have been a bad experience, but thanks to my new friends, and Julie and Katie’s quick thinking, and patience, it turned into a great story of resilience, instead. We were walking on a path along the cliffs, between towns, when it happened. Julie took me down into a holiday camp where a kind gentleman wrapped my shoes in tape so they would stay together long enough for me to get back to the town. Everyone in the group was patient and understanding, and after our fantastic hike, Katie took me into Whitby to buy new boots. I learned so much about myself and the kindness of others on this trip. I am so lucky to have had the chance to be a part of such an amazing group, and the things I learned will stay with me for the rest of my life.
This trip also gave me amazing opportunities that I did not think I would get to experience in my lifetime. In Haworth, I got to transcribe a part of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, a project that will involve hundreds of people and live on as a permanent exhibition in the museum there. In the British Library in London, I had a chance to see the original scores of Chopin and Beethoven, first editions of Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays, original maps from centuries ago, and so much more. In Oxfordshire, I sat in the spot where St. George supposedly slew the dragon. In a meadow at Charlecote Hall, I watched deer that, had it been the late 1500s, could have been poached by Shakespeare. And, of course, everywhere we went, I got to meet incredibly adorable, friendly English dogs whose owners were only too happy to let me pet them.
Given the chance, I would have gone on a Centauri tour long ago. I learned to hike beautiful trails and keep going even when my legs felt they might give out. I learned to have a place in my heart for both the countryside and city, and to appreciate it all. I learned that I can be happy with speaking to my parents once a day, letting joy radiate through the phone as I recalled every detail of what I had experienced. Most of all, I grew and I watched my friends grow with me. At the end of every experience, all of us stood a little taller. None of us will forget this amazing experience, and the Centauri tour will forever have a place in our hearts.
Ariel O.
Tour participant 2017.