(no subject)
things are still going well here in Swansea. It has been raining incessantly, but I really don’t mind it. Perhaps that is because I am from Western Washington, which as we all know has enough rain to satisfy anyone. Anyone seeking wet weather that is.
The biggest new news is that I will be spending March 23rd-April 20th or so in Spain this spring. I’m going to do a missions trip through the International Mission Board, which I was set up with through Northwest Collegiate Ministries, which I am involved with at WSU. For most of the time I will be living in Badajoz Spain. It’s really close to Portugal (Western Spain) and from what I can gather from written sources, it’s a really cool place with lots of history and a wonderful climate. Mostly I will be helping the local missionary with various things, meeting students there, making new friends, and doing lots of praying. There’s also a possibility to travel with a drama team for a couple weeks during that time. I’m really excited about this opportunity to serve God, not that this isn’t something I try to do everyday, but this is something I really wanted to do over my spring break, so I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity and excited to do it! It will definitely be a culture shock though seeing as I’ve never been to a Spanish speaking country, let alone lived there for a month! I don’t mean to impress any of my personal beliefs onto anyone; I just want to convey how excited I am for my lengthy spring break and explain how I’ll be spending it.
Last weekend I took a trip to Stonehenge. This ancient monument was very cool to see! It looked exactly like the photographs. The only downside was that we weren’t permitted to be within 10 ft of the stones at Stonehenge. I also went to Avebury that same day. Avebury is a small English town that also has circles of HUGE (one of them is estimated to weigh as much as delivery truck!) stones. The Avebury site is much larger than Stonehenge, but I think the reason it is not as well-known is because the stones at Avebury are not sculpted into any shape, nor are they stacked on top of each other. The druids highly value this site (Avebury) and hold festivals at it several times throughout the year. However, from what I understood from the tour, the Celtic religion arrived in Britain after these stones would have been erected, so no one can be exactly sure why the stones were put there. I thought it was extremely fascinating and I enjoyed listening to all the different theories and seeing these famous stones myself.
This weekend I am taking a trip up the Gower here on the Welsh coast to enjoy the lush hillsides and wonderful view. The water is still extremely cold, much like Washington, so I’ll be avoiding that. The Welsh countryside is also certainly beautiful. In my history class here I’ve gotten to learn a lot about the industrialism of Wales and also the relatively recent removal of the coal tips in the Valleys and the closures of many mines, which is great if (I can’t stress the ‘if’ enough) you are a tourist because then one can look out and see acres of green hills, sheep, and quaint towns.
It is a great opportunity to do all this travelling while I’m here and I am so thankful for my new British and International friends. I like the food, my classes, and I am staring to look the right when I cross the street! My handbook tells me this is the ‘honeymoon’ stage of culture shock.
The biggest new news is that I will be spending March 23rd-April 20th or so in Spain this spring. I’m going to do a missions trip through the International Mission Board, which I was set up with through Northwest Collegiate Ministries, which I am involved with at WSU. For most of the time I will be living in Badajoz Spain. It’s really close to Portugal (Western Spain) and from what I can gather from written sources, it’s a really cool place with lots of history and a wonderful climate. Mostly I will be helping the local missionary with various things, meeting students there, making new friends, and doing lots of praying. There’s also a possibility to travel with a drama team for a couple weeks during that time. I’m really excited about this opportunity to serve God, not that this isn’t something I try to do everyday, but this is something I really wanted to do over my spring break, so I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity and excited to do it! It will definitely be a culture shock though seeing as I’ve never been to a Spanish speaking country, let alone lived there for a month! I don’t mean to impress any of my personal beliefs onto anyone; I just want to convey how excited I am for my lengthy spring break and explain how I’ll be spending it.
Last weekend I took a trip to Stonehenge. This ancient monument was very cool to see! It looked exactly like the photographs. The only downside was that we weren’t permitted to be within 10 ft of the stones at Stonehenge. I also went to Avebury that same day. Avebury is a small English town that also has circles of HUGE (one of them is estimated to weigh as much as delivery truck!) stones. The Avebury site is much larger than Stonehenge, but I think the reason it is not as well-known is because the stones at Avebury are not sculpted into any shape, nor are they stacked on top of each other. The druids highly value this site (Avebury) and hold festivals at it several times throughout the year. However, from what I understood from the tour, the Celtic religion arrived in Britain after these stones would have been erected, so no one can be exactly sure why the stones were put there. I thought it was extremely fascinating and I enjoyed listening to all the different theories and seeing these famous stones myself.
This weekend I am taking a trip up the Gower here on the Welsh coast to enjoy the lush hillsides and wonderful view. The water is still extremely cold, much like Washington, so I’ll be avoiding that. The Welsh countryside is also certainly beautiful. In my history class here I’ve gotten to learn a lot about the industrialism of Wales and also the relatively recent removal of the coal tips in the Valleys and the closures of many mines, which is great if (I can’t stress the ‘if’ enough) you are a tourist because then one can look out and see acres of green hills, sheep, and quaint towns.
It is a great opportunity to do all this travelling while I’m here and I am so thankful for my new British and International friends. I like the food, my classes, and I am staring to look the right when I cross the street! My handbook tells me this is the ‘honeymoon’ stage of culture shock.