Jenny

After experiencing some big city life in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the BISP team headed from the lowlands of Scotland into the beautiful, but considerably rainy, Wales. We soon discovered upon entering the country the amazing pride that the Welsh have in their heritage – all of the signs in every Welsh town are in both English and Welsh and the Welsh language is commonly spoken amongst the people. But Wales certainly had more to offer us than heritage – it provided us with some much needed R and R! We stayed in the seaside town of Aberystwyth and were kindly welcomed by the congregation of St. Paul's Methodist church. They took us on a beautiful hike along Cardigan Bay and to a hilltop where we took in a gorgeous view of the town and the coast – a sight for eyes that had only seen high-rises and cityscapes for a while! Later in the week, one of St. Paul's preachers named Chris took us into the hills outside of Aberystwyth to see what's called Devil's Bridge, a spot in the forest with three stone bridges (one dating back to the 11th century!) sitting over a waterfall. Chris then took a few of us on a hike through the Rheidol Valley which wound through lush farmland, ancient forests, quiet neighborhoods, and delicious blackberries! The natural beauty of Wales is incredible – everything is so green, aided of course by its daily spurts of rainfall. Our stay in Aberystwyth also came with a trip to the National Library which has an amazing collection of Welsh documents and artifacts preserved with the specific purpose of, well, preserving the Welsh culture!

I am continually blessed by the hospitality of congregations in Britain, and Wales is no exception. We joined St. Paul's on Sunday and participated in the service with scripture readings and a short skit called "Hands." The people there were so welcoming and received us like old friends. Being in Wales, and Aberystwyth especially, has been delightful and has given me and the rest of the group an opportunity to experience a culture that is entirely unique yet intricately tied to Great Britain.