Another field trip!

Week two of my 5 months here is already picking up the pace over last week. When time starts passing even faster, before I know it I will be back in NC. I know this will happen anyways, but I seriously cannot imagine how time is going to fly once I have a real class schedule and begin taking weekend trips (and my 3-week Spring Break – I doubt that anything will be a bore!)

This past Saturday I went on an all-day field trip with my Politics and Culture class. First we stopped at St. Fagan’s, Wales’ National History Museum. It was sort of a mix between Colonial Williamsburg and the Hezekiah Alexander House or Latta Plantation in Charlotte.  The museum was largely an outdoor village, complete with castle, fancy gardens, barns, building where an employee dyes and spins wool (from the sheep at the museum) into both knitted and weaved cloth, eco-education, little old-fashioned shops and post office, and homes from a wide range of eras in the Welsh and British history.  The only thing significantly different from Colonial Williamsburg is that the employees who were around to tell you about the history of the home or building they were stationed in did not play roles of people in times past. One cool thing one of the information employees told me, though, is that he was required to be fluent in Welsh before being hired. Welsh is a very interesting and confusing language – I will devote a post to it at some point, but for now, here is a fun picture I took at the museum to give you a clue as to how different this language is.

The only thing I have learned so far is that "dd" represents a sound similar to our "f"

A home built on top of 15th century castle ruins

After St. Fagan’s we went to Big Pit, Wales’ National Coal Museum.  The museum consists of a lengthy tour of one of the old coal mines that used to help Wales supply the world market with a vast amount of coal in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Each person in the group donned a waist belt with an air mask-type thing, that would typically give workers an extra hr of time to find safety in the event of an accident, and a powerful headlamp and helmet.  We crammed into a lift and descended down into the dreary, cold mine where many Welsh people spent entire careers in darkness. Upon receiving a full-out tour, I learned that many horses spent YEARS down in the mines without seeing daylight but for a week each year.  And while this is sad, apparently the government had far stricter regulations on treatment the horses could not receive than on the welfare of the human beings working in the same terrible conditions. Children used to spend 12 hrs at a time working in the mines. I am so blessed to have never experienced such a thing. The tour was fascinating and informative, although I hence decided that my idea of the most miserable job on the planet would be, without a doubt, working down in a mine like this one.  There is no light, no fresh air, most passageways are too short for grown folks to stand upright, the work is gruesome and back-breaking.  I do not know how these people did it, and admire the people who trudged through it all and thus shaped the history of South Wales significantly.  I know these things happen all over the world, America included, but I have never been to a museum like this one before or learned much about mining.

About to enter the mine!

In addition to coal mining, Wales’ primary industries since the Industrial Revolution were slate and copper mining.  I learned in class today that hillsides of this area were apparently so destroyed by these industries that they were black and covered with slag (waste produced from mining).  Thankfully the British government and environmental agencies have stepped in and put a lot of effort into repairing this countryside.  I must say that from what scenery I have seen in Wales thus far, the efforts seem to be working well.

No, I did not take this photo (I do not have my sister's photography skills) but I have seen many views like this here!

All of this made for a very eventful Saturday. This coming Saturday is my last field trip with this class – we are going to the town of Bath in England.

On Sunday I went to church with several other American girls I have become friends with since being here. We found a church in walking distance from where we live (the Hendrefoelan Student Village – basically a living community of all Freshmen students) and made it just in time for their later service. Afterwards we found out, to our pleasant surprise, all of the University-aged students are invited to the home of one of the church’s couples to dine on a fantastic home-cooked meal. The house was packed with at least thirty people. They were all so friendly and fun and the food was delicious. I think the lunch took about 3 hours, from appetizers to main course to dessert to coffee/tea. What a lovely afternoon. Afterwards we walked back to the Village. I love walking here and choose walking over taking the bus every chance I get.

The remainder of the week has been filled with class, grocery shopping, and exploring. Tonight one of  my housemates is having a Scottish night where he is cooking us Scottish food (haggis) and we are having the traditional Whiskey and apparently someone is reading poetry from a famous Scotsman. Should be loads of fun, I enjoy my group of housemates very much. Anyways, the festivities are about to start so I must run. Cheers!