A Wale Tale- Up there with Shamu and Free Willie.

Best production I've seen yet: Twelfth Night. I'm going to give a little credit to the movie "She's the Man", I enjoyed the play more because that movie gave me an understanding of Shakespeare's really complicated plot. The play was really well done, of course, and though I had a partly obstructed view and it was blazing hot for some odd reason, I really loved it. It actually felt more like an actual old-fashioned production at the Globe. It seems like those people had some miserable conditions. Speaking of the Globe, I walk past it all the time. It's like, "oh, there's the globe. No big deal."



Six hours later (aka 5 a.m.) we departed for Wales. .The land of the Welsh! The bus ride was magical, there is something about the English countryside. It is so green, and there are the MOST adorable country cottages scattered everywhere I was so tired, but I couldn't shut my eyes because I didn't want to miss a thing. Once there was a rainbow over a green hill and a field of sheep, it was so amazing. There were hills and forests of trees, it was so nice.



Our first stop was Tintern Abbey. What is that, you say? Well I'll tell you. It's an old ruin of an abbey, and we visited it because we had been reading poetry by William Wordsworth. He used to go there and write, and now I see why. It was INCREDIBLE. It was massive. The floors are now all grass, and it surrounded by hills of trees. I wandered around for an hour till they forced us to leave. I took more pictures at Tintern than anywhere else. And believe me, the pictures don't do it any justice at all. One of the most beautiful places I've been in my life.




Next we had quite a change of scene, we went to Big Pit, which is the big mine in Wales. It was another one of those eye opening experiences where you just don't realise what life is really like for some people until you go get a taste of it. To me, it seemed like the most miserable job. It was so dark, and it would've been noisy and muggy. The tour guides were all miners and they said they LOVE the work and they miss working in mines. I guess it's all in you're head right? They were all the funniest men. The coolest part about being in the mine was realizing that this was REAL life. We've been visiting countless castles and palaces which is obviously incredible, but this was the life our ancestors, and of the common men back in the day.
Next stop: The Welsh history museum. I know I know, it sounds boring- but it was really cool ok? The Welsh are awesome! They are all small people. And they are all SO proud of their Welshness. Like, everyone everywhere is like "I"M WELSH!". They love being Welsh.The museum was sweet because they actually moved real Welsh houses and stores from many years back and put them all together in a little village outside. It's an outdoor museum. There were Welsh's in all the houses tending to the fire, and I would just sit with them and talk to them. It was fun. And there was an old Welsh manor house, and the gardens were super cool, and since I LOOOOVE castle gardens, I took lots of pictures and ran through the bush-maze.
Something that has surprised me about being in London at this time of year: I was kinda bummed that I would be here during rain season, and that the gardens wouldn't be in bloom and the trees would be dead, but honestly it has REALLY grown on me. The dead gardens are just as cool as the alive ones! Even though I cant WAIT till the flowers come out, I love the cloudy skies and the sleepy gardens. There's nothing less beautiful about them. That's also a little bit because everything is still reeeally green here, even when the gardens aren't in bloom. The rain keeps it alive. Anyways, I'm loving the rain season.
While we were trying to find the manor house, we accidentally went on some private property and found the LARGEST pig eVeR. It was so big, and it just walked around all the mud and snorted it looking for food. Honestly people, it was huge. I laughed hard at it.
That night I got to be in a hotel room, with only ONE other person. I had my own giant bed, and a bathroom with a mirror where there weren't always people everywhere bumping into me. And when I slept, there were NO noises and NO lamps on, and I just loved my life. But the next day, I felt like hugging all my normal roomates, because honestly, I missed them. Why does it matter if people always bump into me while I'm getting ready anyways? (ok, bad example. I never get ready. ha) They're really cool, and even though they leave their lamps on and make noises at night, I would be sad if we weren't roomates. While I'm uselessly ranting about nothing, I will tell you something even more useless. I ordered steak at dinner! It's been a lifetime goal of mine to learn to like steak, because I wanna be a tough person- and I did it. It maaay have been in the form of a salad, but hey we all have to start somewhere right? I'm so tough. Steak. Psh.
The next morning came to soon, but it came and I was (of course) the first one down to breakfast. After my 6 bowls of cereal and some pastries, we headed off to Caerphilly Castle. This is a reeeeally old castle that was so thick and inpeniterable that it never could be invaded. It looked like a giant brick, and the walls were like, 10 feet thick when you walked through doors. I love castles. It's wierd to be in a castle and try to remember that it was really used for battles and royalty, when it is now surrounded by stores and restaurants. That's the thing about seeing sights and museums over here, you always have to keep in mind the REAL situations. It makes everything a lot cooler. (For lack of a better word)
The rest of the day was spent on a sweet church history tour! Since I came here with BYU, the religion course is to be taken quite seriously- and I'm SO glad. I never even knew that the history of the church in the UK was so inflential to what our church is today. The apostles all came over here and had SUCH trials, it is insane to be learning about this, and realize that none of us Utahns even know what went on over here! The church was spreading immensely over here during the last few years of Joseph Smith's life, and it was a HUGE part of the deciples and Joseph's callings.
We first went to the Benbow's farm, which is where Wilford Woodruff stayed when he first went to Wales (from Liverpool) and got the work started over there. We stood by their pond, which is where most of the first members were baptized. Cool.


Then we went to a cute little Norman church where the Baptists allowed them to preach.











Then we went to a place called the Herefordshire Beacon, which is a hill that has a splendid view of the whole valley. Wilford Woodruff would climb to the top and write poetry and just have time to himself. After learning what he was going through- I'm sure it was much needed. Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Brigham Young had meeings up there and made important decisions up there.
Last stop: the meeting house. The mormons finally aquired a meeting house where they could fit a hundred people or so, and then cram the rest out the doors. At times the mob would gather outside and curse them or throw things at them. The baptists would send people over to spy on them or try to make the constable arrest the preachers- but almost everytime the spies would get converted and baptised. haha. The members really enured so much, and most of them ended up immigrated to the states so they could make the journey to Utah. We closed our tour by singing "The spirit of God", and it was a really special feeling to be in the very room where such corageous members used to gather. Everyone cried, (except for me- my eyes just don't make tears or something I guess.) and we all left feeling very grateful.
Wales was so fun, that I bought a patch. Who knew?
Today I went to a study session about international politics, and then to Borough market, where I had inCREDIBLE Malaysian Curry, and some cinnamon chocolate almonds. That's all you really need in this life.
I can't really remember what I spent the rest of the day doing.... probably because I just keep daydreaming about Moab. I have a problem. A serious one. I just stare and things and think about Moab. This daydreaming is getting out of control. I mean, did I seriously just post a picture of me in Whites rapid? This blog is about ENGLAND, not Moab. It'll never happen again I swear.

P.S.
Making fun of my blog post title is definitely not allowed.