Class today was a little bit different. Usually we have class from 9:30-12:30, break for lunch for about an hour, and then we meet somewhere and take a tour until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. This morning however, was a little bit different. We were told to meet at St. David's Church at 10:30, and then we would have normal class in the afternoon. Since we weren't meeting until 10:30, we all got to sleep in for an hour! And let me tell you, that extra hour was tremendously appreciated by all.
It was the usual routine for me when i got up. My hair was nice and wavy that morning, so that was fun. It looked like another warm sunny day, so I donned one of my favorite t-shirts. After I was dressed and ready, I made a quick egg sandwich and walked over to the address we had been given with a few other girls.
Well, we were on our way there anyway when we ran into a horrifyingly familiar face. You remember our all-too friendly Indian neighbor? Well, Connor had heard us talking about him and not only knew exactly who we were talking about, but advised us to keep our distance. Connor, the guy who didn't seem the tiniest bit concerned about a park full of drunk men. Weird.
Me, Miya, Katy, Courtney, and Calysta hadn't gone more than a few steps out of our door when we saw him wheeling the little girl in a stroller towards us. As soon as he saw us, he sped up. Which was okay, because so did we. Lucky for him, he moved to the side of the walk for us to get by, but not before he stuck his arm out to me, waved excitedly with the other hand, and shouted "Sexy lady! Hello lovely sexy lady! Hello! Hello lovely lady!" (seriously? He'd pick me out of a whole ruddy group? *grr grumble grumble*...) We walked past. It was kind of funny watching all the other girls stiffen too, and then embarrassing when they all looked over at me. Like the situation couldn't have gotten weirder, as we passed him by, he hurried back around the little girls stroller and I thought I could hear him pushing it along behind us. "No way" I thought, "that would be too weird. I'm making that up for sure." Well, that thought was cut short when Miya gave my backpack a jab. "Walk faster!" she whispered. Haha, I complied, but not without finally letting out a big laugh at how ridiculously stupid this whole thing was. Oh
It didn't take us long to find the church, we walked right to it by following the address we had. The hilarious bit, though, was that it was literally right across the road from where our church building was at. We had walked right past this church every time we took the other route home from church, but had never stopped to consider what it was.
It was a stoic dark-stoned building with warm-colored wood doors and a tall black steeple. The whole thing looked very gothic and quite beautiful. The doors were locked when we arrived, so we met Lowrie out by the main entrance and chatted while we waited. After about ten minutes, we heard a loud chorus of church bells ringing just overhead. We all stopped to look up at the great steeple and listen to the great sound. As we were all staring up, we heard another noise; the thick wooden door was unlocked and swung inwards. A sweet woman with a very kind smile welcomed us inside and closed the doors behind her.
We stepped inside the massive chapel. Greeters handed us programs and a flyer about the historic church. But they were only speaking Welsh. Now, we've been working hard for the last week and a half at our Welsh, but since they weren't asking what we liked, where we lived, what we had, or if we were running, swimming, or reading, I wasn't able to say much back. I got in a few solid 'bore da!'s (good morning), a 'shamae' (hey) here and there, and an ample supply of 'diolch's (thank you).
By this time, I had figured it out. We weren't just taking a tour of another church, we were attending a service. All in Welsh...Awesome!!
We sat down sheepishly in the very back pews, looking up the chapel at the sacrament altar that a big imposing priest was standing behind. There were two sections of pews that were very close to this altar that were perpendicular to it. A group of maybe thirty adults were sitting in the pews to the left of the altar, while the pews on the right were completely empty.
We weren't in our distant pews long before we were ushered by the greeters and the happy woman up to the the empty pews right by the altar. The priest seemed to get bigger and taller as we got closer. I don't understand why these priests and ministers don't ever smile. Is there some unwritten rule that in order to be in a ranking position in the Catholic, Anglican (and yes, occasionally the LDS) church, you give up the ability to give a small but warm smile? Now, I'm not saying that prancing around like Nimbly the Happy Elf is a good alternative (Ever... okay, unless I'm home and you get me talking about Sherlock or I've had too many Capri Suns), but I believe that God has a sense of humor and that one of the most wonderful traits a person could have is being quick to smile, warmly and sincerely. There are certainly many times when the greatest sign of reverence and respect is stoicism, and I so appreciated the level of reverence that this priest showed during the prayers and sacrament, it was very beautiful actually, but a warm smile of welcome, appreciation of song, and departure brings an additional spirit, or so I think anyway. And you were warned long ago about how this blog works, so don't be too aghast, gentle reader. :)
It was so great to be able to hear so much Welsh, spoken so fluidly and without hesitation. I know I've said it before, but it really is one of the most gorgeous languages I've ever heard. And I'm not the only one who thinks so: JRR Tolkien adapted the entire elvish language from a Welsh dialect. No, Welsh people do not speak elvish, but elves speak a type of Welsh. So there.
There are many times in Anglican services where the congregation says half of the prayers with the priest. It has been interesting doing this during evensong, but it was a whole new ballgame trying to say it fluidly with all the locals. A few of my vowels are still killing me, but I was able to to read all the 'll's, 'w's, 'ff's, and 'dd's without any problems in the words. Which is good, because those are kind of obvious mistakes. Okay, so are the vowels, but I veto that discussion as president of this blog.
I really loved singing the hymns in Welsh. It was quite the task trying to sightread the music while also reading the Welsh verses at the bottom of the page, but it turned out a lot better once I had the tune down a bit. Sometimes when we were reciting the prayers and responses, I could even look over at the next page and read the english translations. Apparently the main topic of today's service was focused on the transfiguration of Christ. I was so thrilled when we recited the Lords Prayer together in Welsh. In Welsh!! Oh, it was truly beautiful.
When the service ended, probably a half hour later, the whole congregation from the other side of the room got up and came over to us. They each gave us a huge welcome and shook our hands many times. They were very kind to let us use up all the small talk questions we could ask them in Welsh before switching over to English for us. They then invited us into the back room for tea and coffee. So we shrugged our shoulders and went in. We each politely declined the hot drinks. A couple of ladies who were running the supply of tea and coffee would not settle for us going without a drink though, so they brought us each a cup and saucer of water. I thought it was adorable. :)
We split up between the two tables, each with a large platter of cookies and biscuits (where I had REAL jammy dodgers and shortbread). Lowrie joined Josie, Theresa, and i at our table, as well as a few nice ladies, and eventually the priest. He had changed out of his robes and was now in nice Sunday clothes. Haha, he still never once smiled, but he was definitely the most fun to talk with. He talked about his wife and kids a little bit, explained how he was new to the city life, and often just missed working with farm animals instead of a desk job.
He then told us that the super old man who had given the first reading today was 99 years old! I glanced over at the other table. He was sitting next to Abbey, Calysta, and Miya, and loving the attention. And the girls thought he was a hoot. I learned later that, sure enough, he was being a total creeper, but they thought it was hilarious more than anything.
After we had been there a while (and far too many biscuits were consumed), we handed in our dishes and excused ourselves. Lowrie told us we had an hour and a half for lunch break and we would meet at the classroom.
We were close to the Hays, so since that's the place to be, we decided to go to our favorite fruit stand there to finish up lunch. We got a flat of strawberries for a pound to split. While we were walking through the familiar arcades, we noticed a new giant italian boot that was set up in the middle of the walkway. We went over to check out what was there, and found huge tables of super high quality Italian sweets, meats, cheese, and bread. The stuff there was pretty pricey, and this weird old man behind the counter kept trying to flatter me into buying some meat. Believe it or not, gentle reader, but I'm not THAT blonde. I didn't buy any of the sandwich fixings, but I did go around to where another guy was working at the licorice table. And I fell in love. NOT with the dude (they were all really sketchy. Seriously, it really looked like they had used their prison photos for their food handler's permits), but with the fantastic homemade licorice! They had a ton of different flavors, and each cord was like two feet long, and they were only a pound each! So I got a couple and then left.
After that, we walked back to class, where we learned the rules of using 'to go,' the past tense of 'went', present tense of 'doing/making', past tense of 'did/made,' and how to reconstruct all of those statements into questions for ourselves and all forms of others. So, 'es i i'r eglwys Dewi Sant yn y bore yn yr siop ar cinio' would be 'I went to the church of St. David this morning and to a shop for lunch.' (Lowrie told us that we have to start using the things we learn in our journals).
After class ended around 4, we walked back home. We all changed into some comfy clothes and journaled for a while, where I got almost two full days written.
Abbey went upstairs and watched the parts of Sherlock 1 and 2 that she had missed so that she was completely caught up with the group by the time Connor came by. We all ordered pizzas and cooked the three frozen ones we had bought at the beginning of the trip, and had everyone at our house (minus Tom and Katie who were still in London), Connor, and a few people from the other house over for the grand third episode of Sherlock and pizza. It was a lot of fun! There's something super amazing that happens when you combine fun company, good food, and an exceptionally great movie. Especially when a few people who have EXCELLENT big reactions see the first-season cliff hanger of Sherlock for the first time. Oh, joyous! :)
Man, I love that show. There are few things as refreshing as quick wit. And it goes beyond word choice (though it is key); getting a tone of voice and an awesome face makes a string of connected words become alive, and it's invigorating when it's done just right! I know a few people who are like this, and its so awesome to just sit and hear them turn phrase after phrase. Fortunately, it's more convenient to just pop in a Sherlock and get almost the exact same experience. I don't know who writes the scripts for these, but I emphatically congratulate them on extending the potential of the spoken word. Oh, so many brilliant one liners! Haha, my very favorite one, though, is the one Gretchen and I say to each other all the time. I think of her every single time Moriarty makes that incredible entrance with a massive flirt. That, and when Sherlock in the Jeremy Brett version leans over and 'baa's at Watson. That's how she and I tell one another we love each other. :)
After the movie, we all chatted for a bit. I headed up a little early so I could get a little more writing done and pray so I wasn't falling asleep through it. i think I may have watched an NCIS before I went to sleep (it was a strange moment for me, to be sure. I'm sure my parents just gave each other a hi-five as they read that). After it ended, it was scriptures, and sleep time for me.
Rachel, out.
No comments:
Post a Comment