Thursday 22 July 2010

Week 13 (Day 87-89) A night out with Bjorn

On the Thursday, I went to hang out at this cafe where I knew a Welsh learners group met every week.  The group was small that week but it was nice to have a good conversation in Welsh and meet some new people.

I met this Irish girl, Madison, who had grown up in Plwmp.  Her Welsh was amazing.  And I think she may be Boudica re-incarnated.  Tall, deep flaming red hair, punk ear things, blue arm tatoos, scars from old piercings.  After the tea, her and I took a short walk and continued our conversation in Welsh.  That was pretty cool.  She's looking for a job in Aber so might run into again later in the fall.

Week 13 (Day 83-86) The Cwps Folk Session

I went to the Cwps at some point this week.  Maybe the Tuesday?  Anyway, I had heard about an "open mic night" and I wanted to check it out.

Turned into an epic night.  Truly epic...

Before heading to the session upstairs, I made some new friends on the lower level.  Bjorn and Ifor.  Bjorn is from Norway but also speaks Welsh and English.  Typical Norwegian, he's probably 6''5' or so, blonde and blue eyed.  And Ifor is a typical Welsh boy, short stocky and dark hair, Welsh speaker, who works up at the National library.  They were a good laugh and we drank a bit before I convinced them to visit the session.

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Week 12 (day 81, 82) - Harriet and Gwilym

I met Harriet for some tea and tunes.  We've been exchanging ideas.  She taught me some Irish tunes and I showed her a couple of Welsh tunes that I knew.  I also taught her my new tune 'Aderyn Du Aberdâr'.  Her version of it was fantastic!  Almost like a fantasy.  She's very quick, picks up and expands on things extremely well.  She's got incredible technique, very fast and fluid, with lots of ornaments.

She's also very generous.   Somehow, she found the time to get me a pile of little presents for my birthday.  That was really touching!

Week 12 (Day 80) My birthday

There I am on my birthday.
I didn't do anything really.  I'm not much for celebrating birthdays these days.

I got loads of messages on facebook which surprised me.  I didn't expect that at all.  It was comforting to know people back home were thinking of me.

Sille sent me a great version of Winnie the Pooh in Russian.  I laughed so much, it's brilliant!  Much better than the disney version by strides.

Week 12 (Day 78, 79) - Cei Newydd

Another random photo, near Llangranog...

I went straight to Cei Newydd, harp on my back, to met up with Aunty susan.  I had some trouble with the bus.  That is to say, I missed my first bus out of Ystalyfera.  Had a nice chat with Sille though and she played me some hurdy gurdy.  Once I got going, it must have been about a 5 hour ride.

On one part of the journey, I met this woman named Marionne.  She offered to give me a lift with her husband from Caerfyrddin to Cei Newydd.

Week 11 (Day 75-77) - Ystalyfera, Llandeilo, Carn Coch

Shamefully, I didn't bring my camera.  Which was too bad, there was lots to see.  So here's a random picture instead.  It reminds me of that saying, "Red at night, sailor's delight.  Red in the morning, sailor's warning."

Anyway, I caught the bus to Swansea once again.  It was ridiculously crowded and hot.  Barely got the harp to fit in.  I met this fellow named Mike from Nigeria.

He was studying philosophy at Llanbedr.  He told me how much he missed both the music and food from his home.  He often traveled to Abertawe to get Nigerian food.  Mike was eager to talk philosophy with me.  He was enjoyable to chat with though I had to disagree with some of his reasoning.