After the Manner of Happiness: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: The Adventure Continues

Oh dear. See, we didn't have internet for one night, and it set me off course. So I'll keep this as short as I can. Pictures have been updated here.

Tuesday
We loaded the bus early and made our way downtown to Cardiff Castle. Really cool history involved in this place, and it was inhabited all the way into the middle of the 1900s. Unfortunately, I'd left my camera at the house, so I spent the day jumping into other people's pictures and making Nick be mine and Lori's personal photographer. Of course it was raining, but it wasn't miserable. We all had a lot of fun, and I was even able to send a post card off to NY and found some cool Welsh ties for my soon-to-be-missionary brother and missionary best friend. After lunch, we went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for rehearsal and acted as guinea pigs while 6 graduate students conducted us. They were being evaluated, and it was very interesting to see such different directing techniques (let's just say I'm really thankful for Dr. Staheli...). Dinner was a bit of a fiasco. The people in charge of organizing hosting in that area had arranged for all 50 of us to cram into a tiny restaurant owned by some Arab guys and eat baked potatoes (again). Well, they weren't prepared to handle us. Food was coming out late and cold. And it wasn't very appetizing. We spent the entire hour making sure everyone got their dinner before rushing off to get changed. Craig, bless him, invited his lovely wife, Paula, and well as their best friends to come see the concert that night, so it was wonderful meeting them. The concert was fantastic, and people seemed genuinely pleased, despite the interesting acoustics (you can hear EVERYTHING in there)

Wednesday
This was our half-way point. I got a little nap on the bus on our way out of Wales. Apparently, Lori said I was making weird noises, which was weird because I NEVER make noise in my sleep. I've had roommates wake me up to make sure I'm still alive because I'm so still and quiet. I was embarrassed, but then later, I was told that Stephen in front of me was snoring, so it wasn't actually me. Thank goodness. :) We stopped in Cheddar for the afternoon, the birthplace of Cheddar cheese nearly a thousand years ago. We took a tour of one of the caves, but it was rather cheesy (lame pun intended), and apparently the really good one was closed from flooding. I stuck with the "food" group. We toured the factory where they hand-make cheese. Yes, with their hands. It was really cool, and we got to sample all sorts of cheese. Lori, Nick, and I bought a small wedge of cheese that was matured in the caves themselves along with a small baguette to eat it with. Yum! I love cheese! Then we walked around with Sis. Hall and found a small tea house away from the touristy parts that an old woman runs out of her home (her mending was sitting out and pictures of grandchildren were everywhere, and a cat was wandering through people's feet at the tables) for some real English scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream. Um....heaven. Just might have to serve those at my wedding someday. It was absolutely delightful. And then to burn off the calories, some of us ran up the 300+ steps of "Jacob's Ladder" to a lookout point. My calves are still sore from that one, plus I had a mini asthma attack in the process.

weird freaky head sending us on a quest to save the world...told you it was cheesy...

Evil dude at the end

and his dragon... Don't worry. We followed the wizard's instructions and saved the world.

Cheese!!! These have been maturing since February 2011.

We're fatties. To quote Sis. Hall: "Dr. Staheli says to live in the moment. And there are scones (pronounced SKAHNZ) in this moment!" :)

At the lookout point

Cheddar... We were wondering what the people who live there are called. :)

After a couple hours, it was back on the bus and into Exeter. When we got to the college, there was a really terrible wanna-be jazz band out playing ridiculous variations of American big-band music. The lead singer was a piece... Also, what is it with the English and That's why the Lady's a Tramp? The college itself was nice. The Queen had been there right before us as part of her Diamond (60th) Jubilee Tour, so they had beautiful flower arrangements everywhere. And, we got to use the same toilets as the Queen- brand-spankin' (another bad pun) - new because Her Highness's royal bottom cannot sit on anything that anyone else's hiney has. Special. Dinner was our best yet. We ate in the student dining hall, but it was more like a 5-star restaurant. Delicious meaty lasagna, salad, still and sparkling water, amazing garlic bread....and NO POTATOES! Hallelujah! The concert went well, but we were all exhausted. I got paired with Mariah again, and we went to the Prices' home. It was...interesting. We got in the car with Sis. Price and who I assumed to be her 2 daughters, roughly ages 14 and 8. Well, wasn't I in for a shock. Turns out Sis. Price has 4 grown children and a 7 year old daughter. The one I thought was 14 is 29 years old and has 7 kids OF HER OWN!!! Um. Her oldest is 9... and the girl in the car was her 8 year old 2nd child. And she just had twins last year. Apparently the family in the stake with 13 kids is her inspiration.... I think she's gonna beat them. I mean, I've always wanted a big family, but I'm not sure I could pop out 7 kids in 9 years all before I hit 30. Yeah, probably not going to happen. When we got to the house, we discovered our suitcases were not going to fit upstairs, so I just unpacked what I needed for the night and took it up. We were slightly surprised to see that we'd be sharing a bed. Luckily, we're both little-ish, and it was comfortable. I pulled out my little red pillow that I got for my 18th birthday and haven't slept a day without since, and put it on the bed, but I guess Mariah didn't notice because I turned around, and she had stuffed it under her own pillow to prop it up. I may have freaked out inside a little bit and stayed up til she was deep asleep so I could steal it back. Don't judge. ;)

Elisa has PKU (she can't eat any protein), so this was her first real meal since we've been here. The chef cooked her up a delicious stir-fry just for her, and as you can see, she was thrilled.

For some reason, my hair keeps ending up in a sloppy bun like this. I'm lazy. I've tried to branch out to at least braiding it the last couple days.

Thursday
This is getting long. I'll probably break it into 2 posts.
In the morning, we had a short interaction with the secondary school in Exeter. Most of the kids had never even heard a choir, and the boys don't think singing is cool. Sad. Then it was back on the bus to Oxford. We dragged our luggage through the streets to the Sheldonian theatre. The people in charge at the venue seemed kinda stressed. Then we went to the Great Hall at Christ's College for high tea (hot chocolate, small sandwiches, and scones with jam and clotted cream). Hogwarts was patterned after this Great Hall. Visitors have to pay 15 quid to just walk through the hall, but we were taken up to the high table and served for tea. Pretty cool. Then we went back to the venue to rehearse and get ready for the concert. The huge knot in my shoulder came back and was pinching a nerve and cutting off circulation in my fingers and giving me a headache, so Nick and Kristin teamed up during intermission to try and get it out. It hurt so wonderfully bad. but it seems to have worked...at least for now. Karen Embree and I went home with an American couple. The woman reminds me a lot of my friend, Markie's, mom, so that was funny. They have 2 grown children. She served us cookies and milk, did our laundry, and I had a hot shower and a queen bed all to myself. Oh, and they had a little dog. It was wonderful, and hopefully, I get to stay with them again when we go back to Oxford tomorrow.

Oxford

Nick and I in Hogwarts...sort of

Sheldonian Theatre

ceiling. Some of us laid on the floor and tried to figure out all the mythical and religious figures and symbols. Then a worker walked up and gave us a pamphlet, solving our problem.