Pooly

Well we got back from Italy on Monday and what can I say it was amazing! We certainly did a lot but it was an amazing 16 days. I'll try and keep the blog as brief as possible - but try will be the operative word in that sentence. And before I begin on the holiday, the week beforehand was amazing too! Had London pride which was incredible, so much fun but really that would be a whole other blog in itself, so what can I say it was amazing!

Now to the holiday -

Rome: We set off at about 5am for London Gatwick (mum has an obsession with early flights when going somewhere) so we got to the airport fine and soon enough landed in Rome airport. To get from there to the hotel you have to get a train which we thought would be fine, so you stand on the platform as this massive great thing of a train pulls in and this was when we quickly discovered there is no queuing system in Italy, it's literally every man for themselves, which when you have a 27kg suitcase, 3 steep steps (whoever put steps on Italian trains should be shot) and 20 people ramming up behind you makes for an interesting embarking to the train! And at this point I'm now going to confirm that the blog is going to be far from short - sorry! Having got on the train and squeezed our bags on it set off, Rome was very hot, and this train didn't have any air conditioning or any windows that opened, as soon as we arrived at the station in Rome it was a scramble for fresh and cool air.

Once we got to the station we had a short walk to our hotel which we managed to find without too much difficulty. As you go through the main doors and around to the left you see this wooden lift infront of you that looks like it belongs in the prop room of some horror movie, there was only just enough room for the two of us and our bags in it. You press the button you want and with a jerk this lift rockets off to your floor and lands with as much grace as a hippo trying ballet. But our room was nice and we were both glad to see a shower. Mum had the first one and seemed to find the temperature dial difficult by the screams and yelps coming from behind the door - then all of a sudden there was a knock on the door so I opened it and the receptionist was there saying that someone had pulled the disabled cord in the bathroom. Mum thinking that it was the heater had pulled it - oops!

That evening we walked down to the Colosseum, not to go in but just to prove to ourselves that we were actually in Rome.

The next day we set off for the Vatican. When you get there you have to queue up to go through a metal detector and x-ray machine, a lot like at an airport, so once you've queued up for about 40 minutes to get through that mum only then got told that she wasn't covering her shoulders and we'd have to leave again! So we went and found mum a scarf from a local shop, had some lunch and got back into the queue again. You pass quite a lot of the swiss guard in their very strange regalia of red, yellow and orange stripes adorned with massive berets. We started off with the Basilica, as you go in and look up the entrance ceiling is caked in gold, then once through the double doors into the main cathedral all you can see is marble and mosaics. It's stunning but in a sickening way, there is just so much wealth in this one place it's hard to imagine. All the paintings on the wall, or at least that's what they first look like turn out to be mosaics done with minute pieces.

From here we then went onto climb the dome, the climb is bizarre as you climb around the outside of the dome and upwards the walls are at an angle, which if you're of a shorter stature isn't too bad, for those of us above 5 foot 4 though struggle in the fact that we have to walk with half our bodies inclined at an unnatural angle. However the view from the top over Rome is just stunning and well worth the walk (even if just to get the refreshing breeze). From there we had a snooze and went and saw the Trevi Fountain which is tucked away and amazing when you stumble upon it.

The next day we went along to go round the Colosseum, the queue was phenomenal and went on and on, as we were making our way to the back however there was someone advertising an English tour to both the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill which would skip all the queues and was only a little bit more so mum and I went for it, which I think really was a good idea. The tour guides for each place were both very good and very funny and allowed you to understand a lot more what actually happened in each of the places and how, because unlike most museums and things there were no signs about telling you what anything was so without a guide the Palatine hill is just a load of ruined bricks... We then went and had a look at the Parthenon which is good to go and see.

That evening we met the rest of the group which was nice, our tour leader Chontelle, then the others - Caroline, Ilona, Alex, Ben, Aaron, Emma, Vanessa, Adam, and Rina. We then all went out for dinner and certain personalities in the group started to become clear on the first night.

The day after was pretty much a free day so mum and I went to the Spanish Steps which were very disappointing. Then from there off to the Vatican again this time to look at the museum, although really the Sistine Chapel. The only thing about the museums are that to get to the chapel you have to go through absolutely every single room to get to it, which after a while gets very monotonous, and there are only so many painted rooms that you can view, no matter how amazing they are before they lose their charm. So by the time you get herded into the chapel and look up you've seen so many of the painted rooms before that you can't appreciate it.

Florence: That afternoon it was off to Florence which was a lot quainter than Rome. Whilst Rome has all the sites as an actual city it isn't amazingly nice, whereas Florence is just lovely, very sweet town with lovely buildings. We went out for dinner that evening and had the speciality of the region which were these massive steaks that you ordered by the 100g and had to share between two, but was very very nice! The view from the top of the hotel was magnificent overlooking the Dome.

The next day we had our orientation walk around Florence, starting off at the cathedral then down past where the statue of David used to stand, and over the Ponte Vecchio bridge. That evening we went back over the bridge and up to Plaza Michelangelo to watch the sunset which was spectacular.

The next morning we climbed up to the top of the Dome and got the amazing views from there!

Lucca: We arrived in the evening to this wonderful walled city, and got the taxi with the bags to our apartments. We shared with Alex and Caroline and after a little difficulty with the doors we found our way in. Whilst the apartments were wonderful they overheated quickly and ours seemed to be mosquito infested, in the space of two nights we counted over 70 bites on mum! We went out for what I thought was the best meal at a restaurant where all the staff were disabled in some way so was good to give something back to them.

The next day was the bike ride, we all got something for the picnic, our thing was wine from the region. Then off we went, once around the city walls (you could cycle on top) and off out into the country where we had an armed policeman take our photo for us (very surreal) then had our picnic which was fantastic! On our way back we stopped by a river where some of the others went for a dip fully clothed, can only think of the chaffing afterwards, mmm comfortable!

Pisa:  The day after we went to Pisa for a half day from Lucca, it's amazingly touristy with all the people doing the stereotypical poses for photos of holding the tower up. We went and booked our slot for climbing and then for the two hour wait went and sat in the shade having drinks which was nice. Climbing the leaning tower itself is a most bizarre sensation as depending how far round you are you're either walking at a tilt backwards, forwards, left or right which is odd trying to adjust your balance. The views from the top though were again stunning.

Cinque Terre -  Levanto: Next stop was the beach, which was very weird. After having done so many days of intense sightseeing to suddenly get to a beach seemed most bizarre really. Granted it was also raining when we got there!

Mum decided not to come with the rest of us the following day so had a nice lie in whilst the rest of us were out the door at 6:45am!! We went to the train station and got the train to further down the coast where we'd begin our walk. The first part of the walk was fine, nice proper path, light drizzle. We got to the end of the first part and were met with 392 steps! Oh joys! But we all got to the top okay if a little desperate for breakfast, unfortunately the only place that was open was one that sold coffee only, so alright for the coffee drinkers, the rest of us went on hungry. Eventually we arrived at this bar on the route and we all traipsed in, saw the sight of food and were quickly gorging ourselves on lemon pie, a healthy breakfast! The next part got a bit steeper and the path a lot narrower as well as the sun starting to raise its head up above the clouds. So we arrived in Vernazza about 12 o'clock and went and had a swim in the sea which was nice and warm and nice to refresh ourselves in. Soon enough we were heading onto the next section - and sodding hell was it warm and all uphill. Caroline and I went up ahead and every time we turned a corner and saw endless steps above us with the sun beating down there were a few expletives cried out. As we slowly and eventually made our way down I think we were both relieved and when we rounded a corner and saw the town ahead of us were very happy and had a well earned coke whilst waiting for the others.

Got back that evening quite exhausted but no rest for the wicked, quick jump in the shower, and then off to a Pesto Class. Deary me we must all have wreaked of garlic after that class. It was great fun, loads of freshly made pesto as we all tried everyone else's and there were 12 of us! Don't think any of us wanted any more pesto for a long while...

Portofino: The following day we get the train again and store our bags at the station and then go on a walk round the coast to Portofino which was a great little walk, where we passed a Redbull Cola car and each got a free Cola - if it comes to the UK, don't try it! Portofino itself is very nice and quaint, we didn't get too much time to have a look around but was a nice place to stop for a day.

Asti: Following Portofino we got back on the train to Asti which was a lovely little town. That evening a few of us wanted to go out for dinner and went to the most amazing restaurant. I had spiced rabbit for a starter, duck for a main, tried a bit of horse, and for pudding a lovely chocolate thing. Probably one of the best meals by far on the trip!

The next day the rest of the group were going wine tasting, and considering I don't drink I didn't want to sit there like a lemon so decided to have a day on my own around Asti. The lady at the hotel was amazingly helpful and gave me a map and highlighted a route for me to take around the town. So off I set and went and had a look at the different towers and the cathedral which in a place so small seemed so out of place but was stunning nonetheless.

Milan: None of us were very impressed with Milan and were glad to only be there for half a day. Going up onto the roof of the cathedral was fantastic though, all of the masonry was spectacular, so many statues all over the place and the views from the top were good. The inside of the cathedral was very dark and dreary though. Milan if you like expensive shopping though is a fantastic place to go with a massive Rinascente, Prada, Ferrari etc.

Italian Lakes: My favourite place, if not on the trip then possibly everywhere I've ever been. We got off the train and jumped on this bus. Now the driver I'm hoping does that route an awful lot because the speed he goes round corners was horrifying, much better to keep your eyes stuck to the view outside the sides rather than straight ahead.

Our hotel room had a view right over the lakes, so that lying in bed you could look down over your feet into the lakes and mountains beyond. I can't possibly describe in words how stunning the lakes are. If you find mountains stunning, and lakes stunning then combine the two together and it's just amazing. The mountains come directly out of the lakes so there isn't even a seem between the two.

The next day we had a ferry pass and went to three other villages dotted around the sides of Lake Como, and walked back from the nearest one. Whilst visiting one of the villages we went on a bit of a trek up this hill to a castle that overlooked the lakes with 360 degree views. Then in the evening we jumped back on the ferry and over the village opposite to grab a bite to eat and then the ferry back again. Really was such an amazing place.

Venice: You'll be glad to know this is the last stop! We got on the train again and had to change at Milan, which although there was a delay wasn't too bad really. We arrived in Venice and as soon as you get out of the station you are on the side of the Grand Canal, there is certainly no mistaking the fact that you're in Venice. This was probably the warmest day we'd had which is saying something! That evening we went on a gondola ride which was great, you can't really appreciate on foot quite how beautiful and extensive the canal system is because you don't see too much of it. So the gondola ride was fantastic and good fun.

After that we went to the main Plaza, which is covered in pigeons, with people feeding them and the pigeons jumping all over their arms and hair, really not my bag. On the way back we passed a massive outdoor bingo, it looked like the whole of Venice had descended upon this tiny little square.

The next day was a free day and mum and I were going to go to the dome but kind of got distracted by the tonnes of shops along the way so by the time we got there the queue was far too long to bother with. In the evening we went out for a group meal which was awful but after that was drinks which was hilarious. We went to an Irish pub (last night in Italy and we go to an Irish pub haha!) and this round of shots was ordered, mum decided to do one too, so here they all are with a shot of jagermister and a glass of redbull. So they all drop the jagermister into the redbull and down it in one go. Got a hilarious video of mum doing it and collapsing on Ben afterwards. Was a really great night although sorry to say goodbye to everyone especially Ilona and Caroline who'd made the holiday fantastic.

The final day mum and I went up the bell tower in the middle of Venice to get our final look and then headed off to the airport for our flight home.

All the best photos are on facebook if you want to have a look...

Well this blog is long overdue, so you have my apologies, but that does also mean this might be a bit of a mammoth read, so again you have further apologies because there is rather a lot to update within a rather busy little month.

Amnesty: Well as some of you may know my term as a youth co-optee twice appointed came to a close on the AMSC, but I then applied to have full membership and was appointed again, so at the end of the last meeting the chair had said farewell to me, so was funny to be re-welcomed again. I don't really think the meeting went that well really, there are a lot of new members on the committee (we have about 12 members in total) which in itself is not a problem, but people haven't really got used to the way a committee such as this works, which means that there is a lot of confusion about when to speak etc which can cause a bit of agro. There was an interesting debate on the local groups review which had me thoroughly lost, and went to a split vote, a first I think for the AMSC, but it was passed 5:2 with 6 abstentions, showing that I wasn't the only one confused. Then we got onto portfolios, where there is a member of the committee who seems to be prone to standing on peoples' feet. I won't go into how because that's irrelevant really and not needed for the blog, but it got incredibly frustrating when someone is trying to argue a point when you're more experienced in that field and are telling them otherwise, yet they'll hold onto their argument to the death. Although I must admit it's very nice being recognised at being good at doing the AGM cycle and Regional Conference programme as the chair of the committee commented on that which was nice :).

The other day was the Amnesty Media Awards, which is a huge award ceremony up in London to celebrate Human Rights Journalism. This was the second year I went and quite frankly it's amazing! Truly truly outstanding. I took Lu to this one, mum went with me last year. It was in a different venue, and I'll be honest I preferred the place last year, but the Royal Horticultural Society Hall was still very elegantly done. And for anyone who knows me I'm a fussy eater, as in very, and they had very nice food!! Moira Stewart was hosting, it was quite funny as she was trying to be quite chummy which I wasn't really expecting. Kate Allen who's the director of Amnesty UK came over and chatted with us, which is very nice of her, I know Kate reasonably well, and in an office scenario I can chat easily with her, but at something so formal it's hard to know what to say really. Think they should do lessons in small talk. Although the venue was huge, there were about 500 people there, so it quickly warmed up and the seats were very small to the point of being intimate with the people next to you, luckily I already knew Colum and Lu or it could have been interesting. We were sitting on the second row, so had an amazing view and it truly was a fantastic evening. Some of the stories are amazingly harrowing. Ian Hislop presented one of the prizes, and said that even he was failing to find any sort of joke in the proceedings. All in all a brilliant night, and it was good to take Lu.

School: Well I suppose I really at this point should do an amendment to the last blog, because the day after I posted it saying about not getting any thanks for the Charity Committee Mr. Hoskins presented me with a Societies Tie (my third) and an almost eulogy in assembly. Does that mean he reads this? *looks worried*. But it's nice to be appreciated, so yes, a correction to the previous blog!

Exams have been ongoing for the last few weeks now, and I think they have gone well. My last one was today and it's sheer relief to have finished them. I hate exams and always muck up in them, I do well in lessons but always slip up in exams sadly. I can't really remember many of them because my brain I think tries to forget them as soon as they're done. After all there is no point in fretting over them because there's nothing I can do about them now is there. So yes it's nice to now feel free to have the summer ahead of me, although odd slightly to think that I'll never have to sit another lesson or exam at the RGS ever again. Time seems to have really flown. But I'm looking forward to university.

Mrs. Piwowar (Peeves) also left at half term, so it's not quite the same going in now anyway. What with the little woman now up in the library ugh. But we'll still stay in touch I'm sure which is good :).

Ringing: Really not very much to report here as I haven't been going to any practices during the exam period and there isn't much to say on Sunday ringing, so yes a quiet bit on ringing you'll be glad to know.

Birthday: Well I'm now 18! And have been for a month tomorrow. It hasn't really changed much I must admit haha, although it does mean I can now get my share of rounds in etc, although I'm not sure that is something I should be shouting too loudly. But haven't been out or anything since, people keep asking me to the local gay nights, so might go to one of those I suppose, even if just to see what it's like once, make sure I'm with mates I know and trust haha. My actual birthday was fantastic though (well the actual day was, I'm forgetting it was partly staged - don't ask!). I had a chemistry practical exam in them morning. Then got home and Jude was staying with us. Grandpa and Pat then came over in the evening, as did D and Lu. We then went to the Rumwong restaurant and had a really nice meal. Grandpa made a nice toast, and having told mum about a hundred times that I didn't want a cake in the restaurant or anything, what did she go and do? This massive cake, the whole restaurant singing etc, I was mortified. Very nice cake though that Jude had kindly organised and repaired as well. It really was a nice time and great to share it with those I love the most and thought loved me the most.

Katherine Jenkins: As part of my birthday present mum had organised for her and I to go and see Katherine Jenkins at Hampton Court Palace. We got there very/ridiculously early and had a nice picnic in the grounds. Then we had about an hour of people watching which at an event like that is incredibly funny. Then we made our way into the main courtyard where the event was taking place. We were on the third row in front of the stage and luckily the people in front hadn't turned up, so we had a direct view of her, she was only 20m away, it was amazing! She first came on stage in this tight white satin dress, she really is stunning. She was backed up by a male quartet called Blake, who were equally stunning. It was a fantastic evening!

Triathlon: D had organised to run in the Blenheim Triathlon the day after Katherine Jenkins. So up we got and drove over to his and Lu's. A little door trouble later and we were off to Oxford. We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around Oxford, which really is a picturesque city. Then for dinner we went to Jamie Oliver's new restaurant, and had (I'm running out of synonyms for great) a great meal, it was really good!! Nice atmosphere, friendly staff and the company was alright too haha.

The next day we set off for the triathlon. Blenheim Palace is breathtaking, I'm not sure which I preferred there or Hampton Court. D took his bike into the transition area which was in the main quad, and then we headed to the start of the swim where Lu's dad and brother joined us. D looking like a large condom with blue rubber swimming cap and wetsuit made his way into the water where they all looked like lemmings. It's quite impressive when the hooter goes and all these blue caps just turn into white horses of waves. We quickly made our way up to the next point and watched him cycle past three times, then run past twice. Rather him than me that's for sure. Yet again a really great time.

So that's the end of the blog! As you can see the majority has been really great bar exams and a few family problems in the last week, but I've ranted enough about that as it is.

Well a month has passed since the Amnesty AGM and quite a lot seems to have happened, but then when doesn't it really haha.

School -
This seems to be the busiest area, but then considering the current stage of life that would generally make sense! Exams are coming up, the first one being a week today which is Statistics woo haha. I can't believe the real A2 exams are so close, it hasn't sunk in at all. It's scary to think that the exams I'll be taking in just a week's time will be deciding my university placement and with that the next 4 years of my life. Will I be sad to say goodbye to the RGS? Not really, not anymore, I've outgrown it now, having been there for 5 years - which has flown by, it's still time for a change.

There isn't much that really really ticks me off, but recently there have been parts that have. I do a lot of things at school either because I enjoy them, or because I'm quite happy to do it as my duty. Things like running the school amnesty group, or being a library tech I get thanked for. But things like the Guildfordian or taking minutes on the charity committee for 5 years, now I never asked to do the second one, I did it because they needed someone, and I like to think I did a very good job. At the end of the last meeting I mentioned that they needed someone new to take the minutes, the deputy head just dismissed it, I didn't get so much as a verbal thank you for doing it for 5 years - to me that's just a rude kick in the teeth, it doesn't take much to say thank you, yet two words actually mean quite a lot - mini rant sorry!

Went to the Charity Gig last Friday and thought it was a brilliant success, well done to all those who took part and to Nick and George for organising it again. Certainly some weird people in our school with a semi-goth band. But the people in our year were very good, as were the third form band, thought they were excellent. All in all thought it was a fantastic night, bar getting locked in the old building part of the school with Jamie for a while because no one thought to check the courtyard before locking all the doors out of the place.

Ringing-
Well I haven't been going to any practices recently, and don't think I will till after exam periods. The only reason why is because my local practice drives me up the wall for reasons I've moaned about in previous blogs, although part of it goes along the same lines of the mini-rant above about not feeling appreciated. However, I haven't been to the cathedral in a while either, and the reason for that is because when there I need to learn a lot of new methods and at the moment until exams are over I need to put my energies into focusing on vital things rather than ringing things.

Got the peal next Saturday, and I haven't even started learning Norwich yet, I'll start tomorrow haha. We were meant to be ringing London, Norwich, Cambridge, Beverly, Surfleet, Wells and Ipswich, but I just can't learn 6 new methods, not at the mo, so changed it to 4 extents of Norwich and 3 of Cambridge.

I seem to be a week behind somewhere along the lines as I thought the peal wasn't for two weeks, and thought the striking competition was next week, but got a text today from Kathy asking if I was ready for Saturday, quick check in my diary and yep I'm ringing in a striking competition on Saturday haha.

As well as that this week I've had all sorts of hassle with trying to get something into the ringing world... Eleanor I'm blaming you for getting me into this mess :P

University-
Well really looking forward to going to Bath, should be fantastic. Still counts on grades of course haha. Buuuut I heard back from that scholarship form, and they are offering me £1000 in my first year which is fantastic and will help, so I'm thrilled with that. Apparently 300 people applied but I got awarded it so really chuffed. Dad decided to have his say and sent a few stroppy emails to me about it, but hey at the end of the day getting the scholarship is a good thing not a bad thing, and if he has a problem with it, then it's his problem alone and certainly not mine :).

Amnesty-
Nothing new to report here really as there haven't been any other meetings since the AGM. However, I'm going to do the school amnesty bit within this section. We had a good meeting the other week looking at the new water boarding video (www.unsubscribe-me.org) and having a discussion over that. Then at the end of the meeting Mrs. Goodman thanked me for running the group for the last few years and had a nice little applause. Alex is now going to be taking over from me and a few words of warning - good luck for a start, and really try and push Mrs. Goodman, she tends to go off on tracks for a start. Come to each meeting with something you want to get done, either a letter or something to debate, tends to work better that way :), and keep asking her to pass on the monthly mailings, oh and at March remind her to pay the fees, deary me, she alwwwwways forgets!! But good luck, you'll do a brilliant job, and Alex stay in touch!

Birthday-
I'm 18 in 12 days (20th May), that scares me!! The maturity difference between each year always strikes me as quite impressive, and 18 always has seemed in the past that big number where people suddenly start becoming serious (although think I sadly passed that line a while back). Don't get me wrong I'm really looking forward to it, it's that age when you truly take your life into your own hands. I do have a chemistry practical exam on my birthday, but that's not too bad. Then going out for dinner in the evening with friends and family, basically the 8 people I love the most in the world, so it'll be fantastic, even if I do know almost all the presents people are getting me haha, I'm impossible to buy for that's why.

Anyways long blog being drawn to a close now - if you do read this, and I know a lot of people actually do, please could you just write a short comment... thanks!

Well this really deserves a blog all to its own. Yet again it was a truly amazing weekend, and as jampacked as ever. My body clock is still not back to being 100% with it, but I think it's finally getting there. I have no idea what day it is, what meal I'm on, what time it is etc haha but it's all good fun.

So Friday morning came and my alarm buzzed at half 6 telling me to get up, which was all well and good until I found out that the boiler had gone on one of its funny turns and decided to switch itself off during the night, so I had to have a freezing shower, which wasn't fun at all. I went and got the bus into town as mum was working. Bumped into a mate of mine on the way to the station and it was good to catch up with him. Then as I continued walking to the station I bumped into another friend who was walking to the his office next to the station so walked with him. The journey up to Nottingham was okay, nothing special, had to get the train to Waterloo, then underground to Warren Street, then to St. Pancras - which by the way is the most amazingly stunning station!! Then from there the train to Nottingham.

Arrived with plenty of time, and went to the youth briefing. This is a talk for all the youth delegates to get a chance to meet the other youth delegates, and to run through how the AGM works etc. Ciarnan was doing a lot of the talk, and was great to see him, bless the nutter :P. The briefing went well, and then it was off to dinner (considering I'm a fussy eater I think I must lose a lot of weight at these events haha but oh well). After that was the New Delegates Talk which I was running with Katie Boothby. Considering it was a reasonably obscure place I didn't think we would get many people. In the end the room was full to bursting with people standing along the corridor trying to listen - most bizarre! The talk went well though I think, we finished early which was good. The only unfortunate bit was the last two slides are some rather complicated tree diagrams going through the governance structures, and as the room was so full most people couldn't see them, which made my life a bit more difficult.

Then there were workshops, and as I had been to them before, and the fact my head was in a funny place I just wanted to sit quietly on my own for a couple of hours. So I found somewhere quiet (or so I thought) to sit down. Within seconds the Standing Orders Committee (people who make sure the rules of the AGM are upheld) walked past and saw me, so came and sat next to me. In hindsight this was probably a good thing, but deary me they are all trade unionists, so all drink rather heavily, and were all moaning that the bar wouldn't open till 9, bless them!. They were good fun, and mad, we ran through some of the motions that were in my working party and any problems we could foresee.

After that was the youth and student fringe meeting, a bit like the youth briefing but for all youth and students at the AGM to meet each other and get to know each other. Was good fun as per normal, with a wacky map icebreaker where we all had to run to our part of England.

Then was the evening reception, which is basically drinks. It's a chance for you to meet up with people you haven't seen for basically a year. It was amazing walking round and seeing people I hadn't seen in ages and wanted to catch up with. It was good seeing Ruth again and catching up with her (more on that later). Great seeing Caroline, the other AMSC members, Anastasia, Chris, and the list could go on and on.

At eleven I though I should really head off to bed as I knew I was running the working party on the Saturday, as the halls of residence wasn't too close I had told Sheila (member of standing orders) that I would come find her and walk her home, aww bless. So went and found her, she was still finishing off her wine, which was fine, sat down and had a good conversation with Alan (one of the other working party chairmen). She then said did I mind if she got another round in, I was shattered but being me couldn't say no, so she did. A little later on she then asked if she could get another so I pointed out I really was tired, she looked at her watch and was like "it's only 10:20", until I pointed out it was "11:55" and that her watch had stopped. So we did indeed leave, and hobbled our way back to the halls.

Slept well, and got up at 7, completely exhausted, and went to jump into the shower which is my normal way of waking up, until I found out that the dial wouldn't budge either way. So instead I had to water board myself into the sink. Went down to breakfast which was nice, and then walked over to the main opening and plenary with Caroline. The opening ceremony was good, and Tom Hedley (chair of the board), Kate Allan (Director), and the treasurer all gave their reports which were very good.

Then there was break, closely followed by... drum roll... the working parties! Due to the number of resolutions the AGM has to go through we split them into working parties. This just makes the debate much easier and quicker (in theory) as instead of 600 delegates all debating and amending each motion you have about 100. I was given working party B which was the campaigns motions. Arrived and sat down with the working party secretary Ruth, and the Standing Orders Member John. The number of people in the working party turned out to 250-300 delegates. The order of debate is quite strict and it was my job to ensure that it was stuck to. The way it goes is:

• Proposer speaks for 5 minutes
• Board has a right of reply for 3 minutes
• Initial show of hands
• Amendments taken
• General debate
• Vote on Amendments
• Right of reply of proposer
• Overall vote

It's a bit more complicated than that, but for the blog I'll keep it at that. So the first motion was on Burma, the proposer spoke, as did the board. The initial show of hands showed that all were in favour except 3 people, so I thought hey this will be a quick motion - WRONG - the proposer then amended his own motion, then the country co-ordinator for Burma stood up and wanted an amendment but didn't know the wording (not good form in a working party), so I ended up calling for the second motion and we would go back to it. The second motion went okay, although still a lot of amendments but in the end was passed unopposed. I then went back to Burma which with more delay, and more amendments was eventually amended and passed overwhelmingly. Then was the third motion which went smoothly. The fourth motion was proposed by the Guildford group on China, I called for amendments and about 10 hands shot up, my heart sank. There were a ridiculous number of amendments, each one putting points in which Amnesty was already doing, so in the end I called on the board member to come and put the record straight, which quickly saw the end of any more amendments. By the time we came to the end of that motion the time for lunch had already come and we were still one more motion to go.

Due to the way the working parties work, lunch or no lunch we still had to continue. The only trouble was this final motion appeared like it was going to be the most controversial as it was on prostitution and asking for Amnesty to support its legalisation, something amnesty has no expertise in at all. So the proposer came up and started talking, his talk started with "I'm a sex worker and have been for ten years", very brave in my opinion to admit that. There were a few amendments, and the board put one forward that completely changed his whole motion, when I said to him I assume that's unfriendly, he said "no friendly", so I waited till Ruth put it up on the board, asked him again, and he said "ohh no unfriendly" haha. In the end it was defeated.

Considering I'm the youngest person ever to chair a working party it was very much a baptism of fire, but one I thoroughly enjoyed the nonetheless. Ruth and John were both fantastic. We then had to go to a special room over the remainder of lunch to run through all the motions and how they had gone etc.

After that it was back to plenary session where Sam Roddick was the keynote speaker. I had heard her talk before at her mum's memorial, and she's a very good public speaker, even if she does have some very... radical views.

After this was the motions in plenary. Basically all the motions done in working party have to be done again in plenary for the formal vote. Due to the working parties this runs a lot quicker and all is over with quite quickly thank goodness.

(I told you it was an exhausting event when I've written so much and only about half way through)

We then had our campaign action, this is basically our demonstration, to show we are in solidarity with people, and this year we were showing our support for the mothers who had children die in the Tianamen Square massacre. To do this every delegate was given a red rose and we went and laid it on a patch of grass in the centre of a pond that was linked by a bridge. Meanwhile a chinese singer was singing in the background and a film crew was recording it so that it can be sent off to the mothers to show our support, as ever it was incredibly moving and very powerful.

Then it was dinner to be followed by a panel discussion on the changing face of activism using the internet as a resource, which was interesting.

After that was the evening entertainment, this year was a disco and some professional dancers. The professional dancers turned up late, and the DJ was like 50 with a flat cap but it was still great. When the dancers did arrive they were fantastic, very quick, and very good, even if we all saw perhaps a tad too much of the female dancer. They then called any body up onto the dance floor who wanted to and taught us a basic salsa, which was great. For the rest of the evening it was just catching up and chatting to people, until finally going to bed at 1am. Having said my shower wasn't working, the guy then went and "fixed" it, to the point it spent the whole night dripping, so I went from water boarding myself to a form of water torture, yay!

Up the next morning as bright as possible, and went down to breakfast where I sat with the director, which was fine, we know each other, she asked how I was so I answer in a really croaky voice "good thank" evidently shouting over the disco the night before had not done my voice any good haha. The final day was good, there was a panel discussion with members of amnesty from other countries, including Hong Kong which was really interesting. We also went through the abortion motions and any motions we hadn't done the day before. It was a nice end to the conference. Got the train home again which was a complete and utter nightmare but I won't go into that as this blog is long enough. All in all it was an amazing weekend, inspiring, shattering, and well worth going!