That’s “welcome to Wales” in Welsh. I spent my weekend in Swansea, Wales. I stayed with a host-family, or rather, a host-mom, born and bred in Swansea. Arcadia arranges home-stay weekends for their study-abroad students through another program, so one of my friends and I ended up going to Wales at the same time and were roomies for the weekend! Our host-mom was a cheerful, easy-going woman, who put us up in our own cute little room, with comfy beds. Her house was small, but that doesn’t hinder her from putting up students all the time (nine years in total!). She had a very cute cat as well, whom I be-friended because I’ll befriend anything on four legs that’s furry apparently.

Swansea is a coastal city, with a population of around 228,000. Its Welsh name is Abertawe, or “mouth of the Tawe”.  Although Wales has its own language, not a lot of people in Swansea speak Welsh these days. All the same, there were signs in both English and Welsh.

Among other things Swansea is famous for its beautiful beaches, the Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula, where Catherine Zeta Jones owns a home. We went to the Mumbles on Saturday and wandered around the beach while the tide was out. We explored the little tide pools, and had some yummy ice cream while looking out at some gorgeous views. The Mumbles used to be a Victorian seaside resort, and you have to be pretty rich in order to buy a home there now as well. My host-mom said that the Mumbles is the place people talk about when they imagine where they’re going to buy a home if they win the lottery. The place clearly has dream status. And with the views we saw, I can understand why.

We also went to the Swansea market where pretty much everything is sold: freshly baked goods, meat, fresh seafood, baby clothes, jewelry, make-up, Welsh flags, flowers and much more. Prices have gone up though in recent times, something my host-mom pointed out as we looked around. But I think it’s still a good place for people to run into each other and discuss the goings-on in the city…my host-mom bumped into a few people she didn’t usually see there.

The train-ride back to Edinburgh took a total of eight hours, so I’m pretty exhausted now to say the least. Edinburgh University has spring break now…so I am off to visit my parents in Morocco in a couple of days! More from there!