UK - Day 8...still makes me smile

Today, it is raining steady and this makes our test cell experiments rather difficult! So, we cart a few of them inside the hostel and set up a final experiment using light bulbs as a heat source since the sun has decided to hide.
In the meantime, we have a presentation to put together! Today is our final working day, and tomorrow we will stand up in front of all the Idaho and CAT students to talk about what we've tried and learned and where we would go with it, if only we had more time...
The table is full of Macs and I struggle to use Photoshop on one of them. It's a bit different from the PC software I've used, but the group gives me tips and we work away. As lunchtime approaches, Fintan and Beca go to find food. They return with fresh potatoes, leeks, garlic, and bread and I take a break from the presentation to help chop, melt, mix, etc. We have a great conversation as we work, about family and religion and school and financial responsibility. Quite the range of subjects for new friends to cover! The soup and fresh garlic bread is heavenly! Seriously, the most perfect meal possible for a rainy day. And this time, those cheese rolls just sit in the middle of the table to be laughed at while we enjoy our own homecooked meal. We also have a drink called Elderflower. I really have no idea what it is, but it looks like water but tastes mildly sweet and is lightly carbonated.
This is our last night in Wales, and our hosts have arranged to celebrate just once more our time with them. A coach (charter bus) is called, and we head to "the lake". This is a manmade reservoir, but actually is beautiful and does look natural. We had talked about swimming, but in the rush to catch the coach after working on the project nobody was able to grab their suits! It is raining when we arrive, so we huddle into the nearby pub. And, lo and behold! It's a karoake pub! And, tonight is the birthday of two CAT students. So, a song is chosen and the birthday boys perform!
Somehow their act is infectious and karoake takes over the evening! But this isn't any ol' karoke...we get so into it, there is no need for microphones, although some people really feel the need to use them anyway.
We all sing at the tops of our lungs to every song that comes up on that screen - old, new, fast, slow, we don't care!
Sometime in the evening, a few sneak out to go swimming in the pitch dark. I guess that's the solution to forgotten swimwear! And, then we all gather in the middle of the pub floor for one last song which turns into two last songs and a strange little stomping dance.
And, yes...that poor coach driver had to listen to us sing allll the way home