Broadband! = Pictures!

Farewells...

Bittersweet arrival...

The KinderCafe... (no broadband at home :( )

First grocery store visit...

Our home...

(Our backyard, or lack thereof)

(Yes, we cleaned up)

Sun sets at 4...

The uni...

Around town...

(yes, they have Baskin Robbins)

(E must have Welsh heritage... everyone comments on her last name)

(Mama Drury, they've got it - 85% and all)

(Not D's smartest moment)

(First formal dinner)

("Muddy Fox" E's bike)

("Silver Fox" D's bike)

(Our sweet house mate cleaned too)

(Grocery shopping at it's finest)

- e

Day 5... & still no broadband

Ello Mates!
for those of you concerned from our last post.. we got some toilet paper! (;

It's another rainy/cloudy/sunny/warmish/coldish day here in Swansea.
The weather here is just about as moody as a girl during "that time of the month"
It will be pouring rain for about 5 seconds and then sunny as can be.

But we aren't complaining, we actually smiled as we walked home from the Uni' (as the locals call it) from a huge (all night long) rain/wind storm.

Here we are again, at an internet cafe overstaying our welcome as we use the free wifi.
By tuesday, cross your fingers, our "broadband" at home will be set up.

For the time being we wanted to share some "instead of phrases" we've found the British use

 Instead of:

-internet they say broadband
-Walmart there is Tesco (an amazing find on our part)
-Starbucks there is Costa (E's new home away from home)
-bumps there is humps
-right there is left (choose the left; CTL)
 this one require some explaining: so most people know that the British drive on the opposite side of               the road but little did you know how difficult it would be to get used to looking left first when crossing the road. We have had quite a few near death experiences... but we are catching on quick. They also drive on the opposite side of the car and we have to keep reminding of selves of this when we look into the cars for the driver & are convinced there is no one driving the car.
-instead of saying "is he playing soccer" they would say "playing soccer, is he?" (in every sentence form)
-instead of goodbye there is tada, cheers or chao 
-cell phone there is mobile phone
-friends there is mates
-rain boots there is wellies
- 4:00 pm there is 16:00
-paper/plastic bags there are 5p/10p bags (the grocery bags aren't free!!)
-grocery carts there are hand baskets with wheels (pictures to come) .. you have to pay for a real    grocery carts here
- the expression; tedious there is faff
-dollars there is pounds
-cents there is pence

.... to be continued!

(pictures to come when broadband begins working!)
just keep waiting on the edge of your seats.

The Sara's.

- e

we survived!!

3 plane rides, 1 bus ride & 2 train rides later... WE MADE IT!!!
It was an adventure to say the least.

We tried to stay awake through the entire 24 hour trip & ended up only sleeping for about an hour on our 8 hour flight from Detroit to Amsterdam.

Our backpacks caused a lot of commotion on the plane rides because they wouldn't fit in the overhead compartments. We were probably considered stupid American's to most people.
One British flight attendant yelled at us as we attempted to stuff D's backpack into an overhead compartment. We laughed which probably wasn't appropriate...

The flight's went the smoothly. They were on time & we didn't have any trouble with Customs. So we were definitely lucky on that part.
It was after the plane rides that things got interesting.

We took a bus that was supposed to drop us off at the train station, however he ended up not going to the train station & not understanding where we needed to go. He dropped us off on a random corner and one lady on the bus told us we need to go back down the road & turn right to get to the train station. (it was dark at this time, mind you) So off we went with our HUGE suitcases and backpacks. Our wheels could barely make it through the snow. But finally getting outside in the neighborhoods made us realize we were actually here & that we actually made it to the UK. It made us super excited!

It was snowing the entire evening & everyone was super concerned about it. We thought it was nothing because it was only a couple inches of snow and we are used to way worse.

Once we made it to the train station things went a little better. We caught our first train to Brigend & our second train took us to Swansea. We seemed to always be in the way however. On our second train was full of college age males going to watch the soccer game at the pubs in Swansea. One gentlemen told us to "clear the way girls" as we were standing by the door waiting for the train to stop. Then they told D her "wellies" were nice.. though they said in a tone that made us think they were making fun of her. After they asked where we were & seemed to be a little more kind. Everyone has a strong accent and talks very fast & we both have to really pay attention to understand what they are say.

Our cute landlord picked us up from the train station and took us to our new HOME! It is adorable and we each have our own room.
In the end it was all fun and full of adventure; we were both glad we had each other though!

Well now we are off to find some toilet paper as we are in desperate need at our house! 

- e

2 1/2 Weeks and Still Homeless

We finally got accepted to Swansea University.. in Wales for those of you who thought we meant Nevada ;) 

19 days away from departure, and the Sara's spent most of this Thursday evening surfing the internet for somewhere to live... We're homeless!! 

Any suggestions?? No Brit's know what it means when kindly asked to "reply promptly" to our emails... Just sayin'.

- d & e