birthdays, protests, and landscapes.

{melanie's birthday cupcakes}

some of my favorite times here in bangor have been celebrating birthdays with friends. a couple weeks ago i got to help a friend of mine celebrate her birthday. the celebration consisted of all international students, drinks, laughs, lots of singing (both in italian and english), and ended with a unique night of dancing at one of the local clubs. last friday night all of us fellow arcadia students helped melanie celebrate her birthday. we hopped in a crowded train to llandudno junction, home of the only theatre for miles. we pre-ordered our movie tickets for the opening night of twilight saga: new moon. got food and drinks at a great pub and then headed back to the theatre to get in line for the teen cult movie, practicing our screams and bursts of excitement to fit in with our surroundings along the way. i will willingly admit that i was very excited for this movie, i had only seen the first one a few months previous and have not read the books, and don't really have a preference for jacob of edward. but, i LOVE going to the movies, i love waiting in long lines for the excitement of finding a good seat, i love previews, i love sitting in a room full of people all experiencing varying emotions, and i love watching the credits until the last name rolls of the screen. and to do that all in wales is just...brilliant. of course the couple hours afterward were spent analyzing the stories faults, but ultimately we all thoroughly enjoyed every part of our experience. we then took an even more packed bus back to bangor around midnight after our train had been mysteriously canceled, and lastly surprised melanie with cupcakes and trick candles.
next adventure: where the wild things are...december 13th. {finally}

{musician performing at the anti-protest}

{a speaker during the celebration, and the djembes ready for the drum circle}

saturday morning i woke up early to catch a mini bus along with several other bangor students, all headed to wrexham. with us we brought signs reading "say no to racism" both in english and welsh. and a welsh flag with the words "this is not a symbol of hatred" written in magic marker. we set off on the hour and a half journey to help the community celebrate diversity, and show an opposing group of anti-islamic protesters that we wont stand for racist actions.

{fellow bangor students}

we arrived to the town without knowing what to expect. what we found were two empty carnival rides and few gathered under a tent near the towns center. we were the first to arrive with signs, and it seemed to begin the passionate yet small in size celebration of diversity and protest of anything conflicting with it. throughout the next few hours there would be poignant speeches from various community leaders, politicians, and other members of both wrexham's community and other surrounding towns in wales. consistently there was the presence of music be it live, through speakers, or through the all inclusive rhythmic drum circle. despite the challenging wind, rain and biting coldness there remained a steady flow of passion, hope, and joy, complete with both a conga line, some interpretive dance, and many exchanged smiles.

things heated up a bit as several attempted to head in the direction of the EDL (english defense league) anti-islamic protestors. after a brief rise of excitement, we were soon slowed down to a halt by surrounding police. after learning that there had already been a "confrontation" between the two groups resulting in some sort of riot, and reaching near to the time we needed to head back to bangor, we decided a peaceful ending would be the most satisfying. all in all it was quite a moving experience, different to any i've yet to have in britain, and was proud to be apart of it. my flatmate thom was chiefly in charge of organizing bangor's participation in the event, and will be writing a piece in our uni's local paper. i will be sharing that, as soon as it's made available.

on sunday i woke up yet again to catch a mini bus, but this time as part of the photography society. each month they sponsor a trip to give its members a chance to take pictures out in the field of the particular theme. this month's theme is landscape. our first destination was to the isle of anglesey. more specifically to newborough beach and forest along the south west coast of anglesey. the winds were tremendous in size, but the scenery was breathtaking. the beach consisted of both rock and sands, and ran along a forest of epically thin and tall trees.

{newborough beach}

{newborough forest}

we then began a brief journey through snowdonia national park, stopping at several ideal places along the way. snowdonia is going to be a place in which i will regret not getting to see more of. it's the one true place in which i can honestly say i've never seen anything like it before, in respects to landscape and scenery. it's some how both distinctly rugged and magically beautiful. it's amazing that it has somewhat still remained such a secret. after such a busy weekend, i'm due for some proper rest. i feel a cold sneaking it's way in. still, it was worth it.
until next time.
cheers.

{snowdonia national park}

{the huge slate quarries in snowdonia national park}

{for more photos go here}