Soggy Baps and spuds

Darryn here; Ok, so I'm not the best at this blog stuff, but Rachel, Andy and Adi have been pressurising me into this (and there's me thinking youth workers were supposed to discourage peer pressure). 

Anyway, we arrived in Strasbourg on Sunday evening after quite a long journey but to be honest the journey wasn't so bad (except for the hassle of trailing our luggage the full length of the train and practically assaulting people as we passed by with out suitcases, which was rather embarrassing and funny at the same time).  Upon arrival we had the chance to introduce ourselves to the group as Andy and I are new to this project and everyone was very welcoming and kind.

Anyway let's fast forward a little to the first day of the program...

We had an early start (well early for me) at 8.30am for breakfast and I can assure you I am not a morning person by any means, and shortly after we got to work.  We got a snap shot of the work carried out by the Council of Europe and we had time to have some fun inbetween.  To be honest I wasn't really sure what to expect from the group and from the sessions but I have found many of the discussions and debates helpful as they have helped me understand other conflicts, and the various contexts YMCA works in and it has helped me step back and reflect on my own perceptions and opinions.

One thing I will say has been a bit strange, surreal even, is the food although you probably already guessed that by the title of this blog.  So please, let me explain...at dinner time on Monday one was quite hungry so rocked on up to get my dinner and to my surprise I noticed we were getting burgers, yes burgers.  So I'm thinking this is awesome, burgers and mashed potatoes (aka spuds) I will definitely be having some of that, so the burger and spuds are on the plate, I'm think YES DELIGHTFUL, then the chef says "sauce?" and naturally I made the assumption 'he means gravy' I mean what is better that mashed potato and a burger, well that's simple it's mashed potato with gravy and a burger so naturally I said 'oui' and this my friends where it all goes horribly wrong.  The chef reached for the ladle, he dipped it in the sauce, and then proceeded to pour the sauce (which at this point I realised was not gravy) all over the top of my burger.  "Then here's me, WHO DOES THAT?" inside I cried 'nooooo, it's ruined' but on the outside I just smiled and took my plate. 

You see Monday 2nd December 2013 was the day I had 'soggy Baps and Mash potatoes' for dinner.

Notes to readers:

Soggy Baps = Soggy Burger Bun

Then Here's Me = and I said