Saturday 29 January 2011

Week 39 - The pilgrimage to Bethlehem

Bethlehem... right.  Before you get all excited, I'm referring to Bethlehem, Wales which is a tiny little village near Caerfyrddin.

I caught a bus into Caerfyrddin but then missed my connection.  Jay was kind enough to pick me up so I wouldn't have to wait in the cold.

We went through Llandeilo along the way.  It's a great little town.  I was surprised.  The shops seemed very hip and quaint all at once and it felt like a place that I'd be happy enough to live in.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Week 38 - The Gower Allstars in Caerdydd

I taught in Dolgellau again.  Not too much to report there, except that the kids are extremely amusing.

It snowed close to the weekend.  Bronwen happened to be at the bus stop.  None of the buses were running, which was so funny for the amount of snow there was.  There was a massive line up for the bus so I decided to go buy some tea instead and maybe catch a later one.  But the bus still hadn't left when I returned so I hopped on.

Saturday 22 January 2011

Week 37 - Dolgellau session and Corelw

I went to another Welsh class.  Alice really keeps us moving forward.  She's utterly fluent so I'm glad she's there to pull us along.

I met again with Elsa.  I think we went to see a movie... ah, yes.  Harry Potter.  I like Harry but the movie was a bit, well, boring.  The cinema in Aber is really sweet though.  There's a concession stand right down by the screen.  How cool is that?!  I had a lovely time with Elsa as she always tells these crazy stories about all her adventures.  She's traveled around the world quite a lot, which shouldn't have surprised me, but it did anyway.

Friday 21 January 2011

Week 36 - A Welsh-Samoan Wedding

I got back from Llydaw (Brittany) on Monday.  I went to the regular Aber dance that night.  It was great to see Elsa and Gwilym again.  If I'm remembering right, Elsa later came in for tea.

I ran into Bethan (from Edmonton) quite randomly on the street but haven't heard from her since.  I also happened to run into Gwil on Tuesday.  Later Elsa came over the same day.  I made some lunch, which I think was spinach-watercress soup and then we went for another long walk up into the cliffs.  I may have shown her where the secret stone circle is.  That was also the day we went to the Aberystwyth museum.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Week 35 - part 2 - Llydaw

A quick digression...
The French government still hasn't recognized Breton as a language.  Shame on you Frenchies!  I was talking to Bernez about it.  He believed that during the 70s, there were maybe a million people speaking Breton.  That number's now dropped to around 300,000 but most of those are in their seventies.  He was sure that in the next ten years, the number of speakers would drop to around 40,000.  Frightening, isn't it?!  There are some Breton language schools now, but only 1% of the children attend them.  Perhaps, it is too late for the Breton language.

It's a shame because it is a living treasure.

Anyway, the trip in Brittany continues...

The next day after breakfast, we rehearsed for a couple of hours.  I forgot that in France, everyone smokes all the time.  Literally, ALL the time.  The wine was already out at the rehearsal as well.

Week 35 - part 1 - Llydaw

Well, I got a gig in Brittany, mostly through plain old luck.  Tomos "trumpet" was supposed to go there with Julie for this gig but his wife decided to have a baby that week.  Well, not so much decided but you know what I mean...

Anyway, I was happy to sub in.  Julie drove (as I can't drive standard unless it's an emergency) and we left in the late afternoon to catch the over-night ferry from Portsmith.