I have finally made it to Wales! Today was my second day here and it is amazing. The country is so beautiful. Everything is so lush and green and the buildings are all old and have so much character. The people here are extremely friendly! Everyone has been willing to go out of their way to answer our quesions and they have welcomed us with open arms. The staff here at Cardiff University has worked so hard to make our two weeks here the best possible, and that can most definitely be seen. Cardiff is a very neat city. It's urban and diverse, yet still has a lot of charm. Cardiff University is absolutely beautiful. The buildings are so grand and have so much history behind them. It's been neat to soak up the culture here in Wales. I love the accent that everyone has here and I've even learned a few Welsh words. When I arrived yesterday, I jumped right into things. We had a tour of the Civic Centre, followed by lunch at Pen & Wig (a pub close to our dorms), and then class. Our professor is really great. His name is Bill and he's so passionate about what he does. It should be great to learn from him. After class, we went on a panoramic tour of Cardiff, which was breath-taking. The city is located on a bay, so there were beautiful water views. Today we had an inaugural event at the Senedd, which is a huge center right on the bay. A Welsh men's choir was there to perform and we got to meet the directors of our programs from Bangor and Aberystwyth as well. We even got to meet Wales' first minister! (the equivalent to our president). We then had a short Fulbright orientation and then went to a castle and a cathedral, which were both really neat to see. I tried Indian food for the first time tonight and it was suprisingly delicious! This group is really pushing me to try a lot of new things. We all mesh very well and everyone is so nice. We all come from such different backgrounds and we're all so different, but we have a really great time together. The accommadations here are very nice. They're quite small, but we have our own room and bathroom. One of our program coordinators, Rhys, says that all Welsh dorms are single residences, so they never have roommates. I must admit I really enjoy having my own space. Everything is going great so far and I can't wait to see what the next 6 weeks have in store for me!
Some of our group in the mini-bus on the way to the castle
A building on Cardiff University's campus
Our group with Bill (our professor) overlooking the bay
My bed in my room
My teeny little bathroom
On the drawbridge in front of the castle
The cathedral
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