Wales of Fun

Ah, yes, finally a computer.

I arrived in Wales last Tuesday, after a hell of a time in London. Thank you Patrick for putting up with my tourist tendencies and taking me out for a night of british pints.

Wales is absolutely green. Lots and lots and lots of green, and it wonderful. I am volunteering for the Camarthan County Council. There were 5 other volunteers that arrived on Tuesday as well, and one more that arrived today. Along with the 4 leaders that makes 10 of total, and I am the only one that speaks English as my first language. Its pretty amazing really. The countries that are all represented are Canada, Austria, Germany, Wales, SOuth Korea, Georgia (the country), France, Slovenia and Uganda.

As far as work goes, Ive spent 2 of the last 6 days laying turf in some of the parks (keeping Wales green), but the rest of the time we have spent visiting all the nearby beaches, laying in the sun and walking around castles and hiking through the country side. And can I tell you that I love sheep! There are sheep everywhere and you can just walk through the pastures with them.

And I dont know what anyone was talking about when they said it was going to be rainy and gross in wales, because it has yet to rain. Its been absolultely gorgeous and I am getting a nice little tan.

So, I have to run now because the only internet access we have is at the library in town, so I have limited time to use the computers and I still have to figure out where i am going next on my trip. Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy early birthday to Kristin!

London Bridge isn't falling anytime soon.

Ah, London. How I do love thee.

I arrived in London with no problems on Friday and immediately I was in love with the city for no other reason than they speak English. I immediately felt so much more at ease and relaxed because I knew i could ask questions, get directions, and easily navigate my way through the city.

After a short catching up with Patrick, whom I am staying with, I rushed off to the Royal Opera House's production of Sleeping Beauty. My seats were absoluetly horrible (basically looking straight down on the stage from the furtherest seat on the side and only a partial view of the actual stage) but seeing the ballet and being in the Royal Opera House was probably the highlight of my trip so far. I sat like a little kid, leaning forward resting my head on the ledge of the balcony staring down at the performance. I still can't really believe that I was there.

So, with the English speaking and the Royal Opera House on it's side, London is rating pretty high. And as I have spent the last two days exploring practically every major tourist area of London, I have decided that I really love London. It's a modern city packed with history and tradition. And there is so much art and culture to take in. I am so glad that I have 3 full days to explore, but really you could live here for a year and still not do everything there is to do in London.

The last two days have I have conquered Notting Hill (and reenacting scences from the movie as I walked by the key gardens, the travel book shop, etc... ), Portabello Market, Kensington Garden, Buckinham Palace, Westminister Abbey, Parliment and Big Ben, London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Southbank, Picadilly Circus, Regents Street and SoHo.

Today I head to the National Gallery to take in some art and then hopefully to Regents Park for a picnic, and maybe a tour of tower bridge if time permits. (last night was a pretty late night with many pints consumed, so we'll see how long i last).

See you all from Wales on Tuesday.

Au Revoir France

Well, my time in France has come to an end. Tomorrow morning I leave for London.

After all the excitement in Switzerland it was nice to just come back to Beuvry and spend my last week here just hanging around the town. I spent an afternoon in Arras, took in some French Cinema, went to the Bric Brac market, discovered a great little teahouse/bar called the Quiltie Quiltie (pronounced kitty kitty), and had my first european McDonalds experience (hopefully to be my last). Oh, and I can also add cow tongue to the list of weird things I have eaten.

It is bittersweet to be leaving Beuvry and my new host family. I have truely enjoyed my time in France and being a part of the Sevette family. And although the teaching portion of things didn't go quite as had hoped, I still learned a lot from the experience.

Eric, Martine, David, William, Robin and Lea: Thank you for welcoming me into you home and into your family. There is an amazing spirit and energy in your family that I am so happy to have been a part of, even if only for a short period of time. I will miss Robin's smile, Lea's sass, William's sarcasim, David's constant questions, Martine's cooking and Eric's patience. I won't miss that song (your know which one) playing on repeat for hours! :) I will see you all in June before I head back to the States.

And so know the second part of my journey begins - 4 days in London and then off to Wales for two weeks.

Bonne niut. (good night)

When in Switzerland, yodel.

And, it's a boy and two girls.....

So, this is going to be like two posts in one because there is alot to talk about.

Part 1: Switzerland

After a train ride from hell (which included a suicide committed in front of my train which delayed my train an hour, causing me to miss my connecting train), and 10 hours of travel I made it Interlaken Switzerland Tuesday night and suddenly none of the travel mess mattered because the Swiss Alps are breathtaking.

Coming into Interlaken by train was absolutely gorgeous. The train snakes around the mountains like a rollercoaster, and the occasional sheep or cow right outside your window reminds you that people and things actually live here.

Eva arrived in Interlaken about an hour after me and we kept the night pretty calm with some dinner and a drink at our hostel. Wednesday was spent hiking all day. We took a train from Interlaken to Lauterburren and then hiked to Stechelberg, where we took the cable car up to Murren and then hiked to Gimmelwald and back. It is hard to explain the veiws that we saw, but I have neer seen anything like it - Lake Tahoe has nothing on the Swiss Alps. At one point we just stood and watched one avalanche after another fall from high up in the mountains.

Wednesday night we went for cheese fondu. We kept the tradition alive by eating at a place where we are obviously the minority. Who knew the asians loved fondu so much? Then we hit some of the local bars for a couple drinks. With the price of one drink being 10 swiss franks, the drinks were kept to a minimal. Quick fun fact: Did you know that the minimum wage in Switzerland is 20 Swiss Franks an hour?! (the frank is almost equivalent to the american doller).

Okay, so I know you are all dying to know what extreme adeventure Eva and I chose to do while in Switzerland. Well.... dunt duh da duh....

PARAGLIDING!

Canyoning was actually our sport of choice but there was too much rain lately and the canyons had too much water in them, so the trip was cancelled. So, paragliding it was. And it was beautiful. You are basically flying amongst the moutians - it is sky diving without the freefall (and the $600 price tag).

After our morning view of the moutains from the air we decided to rent motor scooters and ride around Lake Brientz. It was a beautiful day and the lake absolutely sparkled.

This is Eva on her scooter going up into the mountains.

And this was the view in my rearview mirror.

Part 2: Kittens!

So, I think I mentioned before that the family I am living with has two cats. Well, the day after I arrived they found out one of the cats, was pregnant. Since then, everyday I tell the cat to have her babies, and on Thursday night she did! So, there are 3 two-day old kittens here that I get to play with. They are so tiny. They cant even walk yet.

Anybody want a French kitten?!