here comes the sun

---> All dressed up and looking "smart" for the cocktail evening. From left to right: Wendy, from Australia (studying in Aberyswyth), Emily, from Australia (studying in Cardiff), Andrea, from Germany (studying in Cardiff), Jan and Gareth Cheesman, me, and Claire, my kiwi friend.


---> Friday night was the "fancy dress" night. It was nautically themed so Claire and I figured that blue and white stripes were the way to go.. Turned out we looked more like inmates!


---> I thought I would throw in a picture of some of the friends I'm making here. On the left side of the booth, in the middle (the other blonde) is Lindsay, the Iowan I met taking my presessional course in London. The rest of the group are British students we've met at our university. We were out celebrating Lindsay's birthday one night last week at a local pub! The reddish colored drinks on the table are a new favorite of mine... Cider with blackcurrent juice. It's very sweet!


---> This picture is from my day in Rhossili. The formation you can see is called "Worm's head." If you look hard, you can kind of tell why... it looks like a snake popping it head out of the water! This picture is also taken in a Southwestward direction-- towards Iowa! It was such a clear day I thought I could almost make you guys out over there on the other side of the ocean... just kidding!


---> My day was not all hiking and exploring... I had to take some time to relax and soak in some rays.. The beach in this photo and the next are one and the same. It was so quiet and almost like an oven with the sun not only shining down but reflecting up off the sand as well!













---> The bay I hiked down to. It was actually quite the journey down! And back up out of it! The small path you see ahead winded around and through and down... Then you can kind of see it but the beach was surrounded by rocks.. The rock climbing course I took at UNI finally paid off!











---> Lastly, a picture of me sitting where I can overlook Rhossili Bay. I did hike down to that beach as well.. but not before getting a cup of ice cream from a little cafe in the village. You can kind of make out the village (it was very small) in the background as well.

when life gives you lemons... eat welsh cakes!

So I let my personal oath to blog once a week slightly get away from me. Once every two weeks might end up being a little more reasonable. Either way... don't let the lack of blogging lead you to believe in any way that the last ten days have been less eventful!

I have been in the UK for over 6 weeks now.. Can anyone believe it? I can't! How time flies... I have definitely missed home and my friends and family many times since I've been here, but last week was the first week I can say I was truly homesick. My living accommodations here aren't exactly what I expected. I had opted to live in one of the university housing complexes because of the simplicity of having it pre-arranged for me. What I didn't expect was to be living in a house with 9 first-year undergrads. I have to say that it has been entertaining at times, and there is always activity, not to mention I do have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in... but after being here a couple weeks I am realizing that while communal living like this is definitely something everyone should experience, my two years in the dorms at UNI in Cedar Falls had already satisfied that rite of passage for me, and I am ready to be around people who are becoming more career focused, who value sleep and cleanliness. Needless to say, my housing situation fueled an already homesick fragile state and led to a couple of pretty rough days. I have since applied for a change in housing.

Welsh cakes are the answer. Not really, but they are great. I discovered them initially at my sponsor club's dinner-- they were served for dessert. It was love at first sight. They are somewhere between a scone, a pancake and a cookie and typically have a few raisins in them. I told my host family, the Murrays, how much I enjoyed them and they informed me that there was a lady who had a stand in the Swansea market (which is open every day from 9-5 with all sorts of fresh fruits and veg and fish and meat, not to mention unique knick-knacky things too- its pretty cool), and made them fresh and sold them still warm! You can get 10 for only 2 pounds!! I made my way to the market Tuesday and have been addicted ever since! Anyway...

There were several bright spots in my week (in addition to my Welsh cake discovery). Sunday roast at the Murrays was awesome. I don't know if it's a human thing, an American thing or just a me (or my family) thing, but great food always seems to lift my spirits :) Due to the 12 million sheep that inhabit the country of Wales, lamb is as plentiful and as common of meal as pork in Iowa! Helen made lamb, which was served with a mint sauce, along with lots of yummy veggies and finished off with some custard. MMmmmm.

Also, this last weekend was the my Rotary host district, 1150, annual conference, and they invited the scholars to attend. There were 5 of us- Claire and I from Swansea, two girls from Cardiff, and one from Aberyswyth (I think thats how you spell it). Gwenda, Claire's host counselor drove us two Swansea girls there, and Gareth and Jan Cheesman looked out for and "chaperoned" the Ambassadorial Scholar group for the weekend. It was held in Torquay, England, and really fun. Friday night was a "fancy dress" nautical themed dinner and dance. Saturday morning we listened to talks from several inspiring, funny, and informative speakers, and then in the afternoon we were free to explore Torquay. I chose to walk along the bay... Don't be jealous Iowans (I heard in snowed there last weekend...), but it was warm enough for me to go for my walk in capri's and a t-shirt! Saturday evening was a cocktail party, dinner and dance to a big band. Sunday, not only were there more talks, but we scholars got to present the district with our home club banners. I have to add this story because we discussed it in the moment: on the drive home, Gwenda's car got a flat tire on the motorway (they call them motorways, it looked like a highway to me..). We stood on the side of the road for approx 45 minutes waiting for the UK's equivalent of AAA to come and help us out, and the thing is... no one ever stopped to see if we were ok! Maybe I am a bit niave. I have never had a flat on the highway at home, but I would like to think that someone at home would have stopped to at least make sure I had a cell to call for help. Gwenda assured me that the Welsh were kind people, stopping for people on the side of the road was just not something they do. At least in Iowa we look out for each other, right?

My last highlight I'd like to mention was my day trip to Rhossili. I don't have lectures on Mondays... so when I woke Monday to sunshine I immediately knew what I had to do. Everyone has been talking about how beautiful the Gower peninsula is and I just had to see it. A quick and easy 30-minute bus ride and I made my way to Rhossili, a quaint coast town on the westernmost point of the Gower. It was breathtaking. Of course I'll post pictures! Again, not to rub my sunshine in your snowy faces, but I have to mention that I had the perfect day. It was so filling to my soul to get to soak up sun and hike and explore and listen to the ocean, especially after the crummy homesick week I had had before. Not to be overly poetic, but it really was like a lullaby for my soul. It was even nice enough I stuck my toes in the Atlantic.

This week has been great so far. My day trip to Rhossili, yesterday I had lectures, football practice, and went to a pub quiz with Edward and his friends (Edward is the son of my host counselor who is close to my age and has been kind enough to share his friends with me. I have to say, it makes me feel pretty cool to have local friends and get to experience local things...). Today, although the biggest highlight was getting my laundry done, it was still beautiful and warm! Tomorrow will be good too. I can already tell.

Sorry this one was so long, I had a lot to catch you up on!

Swansea local

This will be a short one. Promise. I just had to tell everyone about how I felt like I had a very "local Swansea" day yesterday. Claire and I decided to head to Mumbles, ate fish and chips at Yallops sitting on a bench by the pier looking at the bay, had Joe's ice cream for dessert, and then ate a Cadbury chocolate on the bus home.

I love Mumbles. Its one of the villages on the SW part of the bay and has a quaint, lovable feel to it. Lots of boutiques and bed and breakfasts. Yallops is supposed to be the best fish and chips in Swansea. Mmmm fresh cod! Joe's ice cream is also a local treasure-- and its awesome. Lastly, I had to put a little plug in for the Cadbury chocolate. Although we can get Cadbury chocolate in the States, it did begin in Birmingham, England so I feel like I may be having it in its most natural form here. All the more reason to eat more of it, right?

Of course I forgot my camera on this impromtu adventure, but I will try to steal a picture or two from Claire and post them when I can!

Leicester, pronounced "Lest-er", in pictures

<-- My kiwi friend, Claire, and I in the Leicester city hall courtroom. The particular seats we chose to sit in were in the middle of the room and encased by bars... We found out a bit later that that was the seating for the criminals being prosecuted. Some of the bars were bent from where the handcuffs had been attached-- apparently these seats were not the ones most people wanted to be in!

<-- Dancing with the Morris Men... this was definitely an experience for the memory books.








<-- After the Lord Mayor had shown us the courtroom he hosted our group for tea and cakes. We took this opportunity to get a picture with him and the lady mayoress. Also in this picture is Claire, Asca, a scholar from Japan, and Mike, another scholar from the States. The tea cakes we had here were the best that I've had since I've been in the UK!

<--- Before our host families had to take us back to the Rotary conference, they took the time to show us some of the sights around Leicester. Here, my host mum, Isabelle, and the other scholar staying with us, Noriko from Japan, and I are standing next to the locks at Foxton. We got to see how the barges go up and down the hills using the lock system.