First Update from Wales-- June 20

So sorry we haven't checked in until now. We've had a terrible time getting connected to the internet. We've had a lovely time so far--lots to update. Here's the first information dump:

From Emily: Friday, June 20:
TODAY WE WENT TO THE WELSH SCHOOL WHERE WE ARE STARTING ON WEDNESDAY.NEXT WE HAD A PICNIC AND AFTER THAT,WE WENT ON A HIKE.AFTER THAT WE GOT A TOUR OF THE CHURCH WE ARE GOING TO TOMARROW.AFTER THAT WE HAD DINNER ON THE PORCH.THEN WE FED THE FISH.BUT WE SAW THAT THE FISH WERE TANGLED UP IN THE NET.SO MOM GOT KNIFE AND CAREFULLY CUT IT LOOSE.
EMILY

From Margaret: Friday, June 20, 2008
Since our Internet wasn’t working that well, we had to miss a few days. Sorry about the wait…
Today we had an interview with the principal of St. Mary’s School. We will be starting school this Wednesday and we have uniforms at the ready! There are a variety of uniforms at the school, actually. Some kids have dresses like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, while others have dark navy blue trousers. We are hoping to get a sweat-shirt from the school with their crest on it. We will be going to school on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for a few weeks.
We also toured St. Mary’s Church today. It is basically your normal, Victorian church. It’s definitely bigger than All Saints, our other church; so big that they have a microphone on the Altar! It has a graveyard in the back (large) and it has lots of grass (also large). After touring the beautiful church we went to a library, not far away from where we live. We got our own library cards, which will be a very nice souvenir. It’s very nice and quiet, and we enjoyed every minute. I am discovering that England has a variety of different books than America!
When we came home we saw lots of kids playing around! We made a new friend, Katie, who just turned 6. She has a little brother, Aled, who is almost 4. She lives right across the street and Emily will have a friend even before school starts. We saw a couple of girls who look my age and I hope I’ll get to meet them soon.
Bye! Margaret

From Susan
I’ve been trying to get a sense of “home” here in Moss, and it’s not been that hard. My body-clock adjusted right away by getting me up at 6 a.m. each morning. The first morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. There are some nice panoramic views of the valleys in several directions. Our road, and house, are called “Bryn” which means Hill in Welsh, and we really are on a relatively high spot. The house itself is over 100 years old, with ceilings at least 9 feet high. We’re getting used to the British types of showers (not so great), electric appliances (very fast, probably due to the higher voltage) and supermarkets (it’s interesting what sorts of things are like, and unlike, ours. And pretty much everything costs more).
Thursday we met our first group of parishioners, at the smaller All Saints congregation which has an 11 a.m. service each Thurs. followed by soup lunch. This was a very warm group who clearly enjoyed each other’s company, and made us feel right at home. Thursday evening, Eric and I were treated to a fundraising event at Eaton Park Hall, owned by the Duke of Westminster (not in attendance). Wow, what a place! We Americans are used to seeing manor houses on PBS; but here was the real thing, family portraits and all. The event (benefitting Alzheimer’s Disease programs) included music by two groups of high-school age musicians who were really excellent. Wish Margaret had been along.
What strikes me most is the sense of history, a building of generation upon generation that is mostly lacking in the USA. (We just haven’t been around long enough!) We climbed the bell tower of St. Giles’ Church in Wrexham, where Elihu Yale is buried; the tower was complete in 1525 and parts of the church are from the 1100’s. About 900 years of faithful Christians, gathering and giving and working for the building up of Christ’s Body; keeping a beautiful structure intact so that a fellow beneficiary of Yale’s generosity could come from America to be among the visitors.
Gratefully, Mother Susan