Days 13-15 (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday)

Saturday:
On Saturday, we went to Swansea. Swansea appeared to be a lot like Cardiff, except it was more icy and has a different name. The train ride was about an hour long, so I got some reading done on the way there.

The first place we went to was a restaurant that was apparently featured in the most recent episode of Dr. Who. I personally don't watch the show, but one of the other study-abroaders loves it, so it was pretty fun. I really like eating at restaurants here because the food is way better than what I make in my flat.

After the restaurant, we went to a big market place and got some Welsh Cakes. I can't really describe them. If I had to, I would say that they are a cross between a tiny pancake and something else with raisins in them, but that is a terrible description. Anyway, I don't really like raisins in stuff because once when I was little I ate a oatmeal raisin cookie and then I threw up, so now it makes me sick. But luckily they had raisin-less Welsh Cakes with jam in them and I ate one of those and it was delicious.

After the market, we set off to find the Dylan Thomas museum. We went to some cool places on the way. We stopped at a place where you could see the bay, and there was also a statue of Dylan Thomas sitting on a chair. We also found a really cute art gallery. Then we went to the Swansea Museum and saw a mummy.

We finally made it to the Dylan Thomas museum, and I listened to him read a couple of his poems. It was really cool to hear "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" read by him because a) I had to write a villanelle once, and I found it really hard, so I think that particular poem is outstanding and b) it was featured in a Five Iron Frenzy song.

Unfortunately, I started to feel really awful, so I decided to leave early and headed back to Cardiff. The rest of the night was pretty boring, so I won't write all about it.

Sunday:
On Sunday I successfully made it to church! It was really exciting, and so far I really like the church I went to. After church I met up with Maggie and Christine, and we went to the Cardiff Museum.

There was a really cool exhibit featuring Lauren Child, who is an extremely talented children's book author and illustrator. We also looked at some old Welsh plates, and we saw a platter with an adorable cow on it. In the plate room, we met a nice guy on museum staff, and we talked to him for about 45 minutes about cool places to go in and around Cardiff and what to feed birds.

After the museum, I came back to my flat and had dinner, and then I headed back out to meet up with someone I met at church. On the way back from that, some guy on the bus asked me if I rode motorbikes. Apparently the way I was tapping my feet (I had my headphones in) reminded him on driving a motorbike with a clutch or something. I felt really cool.

Monday:
Today I woke up and got ready for the day. Then I had an awkward elevator encounter, which is when you get on the elevator and there is someone else on it already and you didn't expect that so you don't talk the whole ride and then when you are trying to get out of the building you pull instead of push the door and the other person looks at you like you are not all that bright and holds the door open for you.

After finally successfully making it to the Cathays campus (where all my classes are), I had my second Gothic Fiction class. The most exciting part was when the girl sitting behind me asked me for paper. Other than that, we just talked about a lot of books I've never read before.

After class, I took the free bus back up to UniHall. Guess who I got to ride the elevator with? My morning elevator buddy! And guess what else? He remembered what floor I was on and pressed the button for me! I felt like we really bonded despite the fact that he probably thinks I'm an idiot due to the door incident.

I then ate some lunch and headed back into the city centre, where I met up with Maggie and Christine. We went to see Sherlock Holmes at the movie theatre. It was actually really good and got me excited to read the Sherlock Holmes book I have to read for Thursday (which I have not even started because this book for War & Memory is taking me FOREVER). Then I did some light grocery shopping and came back to the flat.

Oh! Today, I also met another flat mate of mine who i had never met before... she invited me to her birthday party on Friday. I am really excited. We are getting pizza.