Jon and Lucy

Where did you meet?

Back in January 2004 Jon went out to Tanzania (East Africa) where he met Lucy who was on her gap year.  They both worked at the same school - Jon as a teacher for 2½ years and Lucy as a teaching assistant for 9 months.

They lived down the road from each other, and became firm friends as a result of much time spent together with friends lazing at the pool, watching films, going on trips and teaching at the school.  

Just friends eh?

Jon and Lucy became very good friends whilst living in Tanzania - especially after experiencing some long, adventurous and very ridiculous travelling episodes together around the country.  These included 36 hours spent on a hot, very dodgy train, 12 hours on a bus from Kilimanjaro which eventually crashed, and 48 hours together on holiday with only £2 to live on, having been cheated of all their money.  They both denied any romance at this stage, but rumours started spreading that maybe one day… something may happen…

What happened next?

In June 2004 Lucy went back to England to start University in October at York to
do History of Art.  Meanwhile Jon stayed in Tanzania for 2 more years.  They both kept in touch regularly by e-mail, and Jon came to visit Lucy in Somerset both Christmases.  Each visit it was surprising to them that they were just as good
friends as ever.  After Christmas 2005, when on a walk up a foggy muddy hill
near Cheddar, Jon asked Lucy out of the blue, “So, can you imagine us
getting married one day?” to which she unfazed, replied - “Its funny you should
say that, I was wondering the same thing”. 

How did you actually get together then?

One step ahead of the game Jon had already started applying to York to do a Masters - lucky for him there was a course in Governance and Development which was right up his street.  He got a place, came back from Tanzania that summer 2006 and was living a mile down the road from Lucy by 30^th September.  The next day he asked her out, and so they became girlfriend and boyfriend.

How did he propose?

During the Easter holidays 2007, Lucy and Jon went down to Cornwall for a few days holiday to stay at Lucy’s family’s cottage near Lands End where her brother and family are living.  The first afternoon they went for a walk down to the beach - they sat on the rocks, and with no-one else in sight, Jon took the opportunity to pull out a ring and pop the question. 

What are they both doing now?

Jon is currently working on a Masters in Conflict, Governance and Development at York University which will finish at the end of August.  He is writing a dissertation which questions how and if the local church should be used in community development in developing countries, focussing on the one he knows best, Tanzania.  He and Lucy went there for 3 weeks in June in order to do
some research for the project.

Lucy finished her degree in May and will be graduating in July.  Over the summer she will be staying in York and earning money by working as a care assistant for various care-homes around York.

What’s the plan post September?

After their honeymoon, Lucy and Jon hope to settle into their new home and new jobs somewhere in the UK but this depends on the success of Jon’s job hunting this summer.  Jon hopes to find a job with an NGO/charity, in the field of project management (if anyone knows of one going he would be very grateful for the tip-off!).  And with a degree under her belt, Lucy hopes to find a job of some sort (not sure what yet!), and in her spare time hopes to further her skills in music and art.