Goodbye Lampeter and those that I have met along the way <3

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This will be my last travel blog post from Wales: (Written last night) NEXT STOP: SCOTLAND!!! I cannot lie...at the moment my heart is very heavy. Life is a crazy little thing, it takes you through so many little twists of fate. I am so grateful for having had such a blessed opportunity to experience the great wealth of things that such a little town in Wales had to offer to me. There are so many emotions that I do not have words for. I was able to accomplish so much and still managed to leave some of the more important things too late to serve justice to. I will never forget the form of person that I came to Wales as...but more importantly I could not appreciate any more than in this very moment the kind of Woman that I have become. So many lives have touched mine, so many kind words, walks, sunsets, late night drinks, cultural differences, playful puppies and silly little children have crossed my path and each and every moment that occupied my time was so precious. It is incredible to understand what such little place can offer you and it is even more difficult to comprehend how much an individual can start to identify themselves with a place. In fact I may never see Wales again, and this is why it is such a crazy emotional topic for me to write about. Yet, as with all good things this study abroad has come to an end.
I have learned so much about myself and this is a piece of the experience that will never leave me. That piece is the purely emotional attachment that has left an imprint in every tree and in every hill that I have passed, and thusly every tree and every hill lives within me. That is why God created such beautiful things for man to accompany. I am awe-struck by God’s great hand that has led me to do such amazing things. I am so blessed to have traveled these beautiful Isles. As I sit in my room listening to the birds and merry people as they pass by my window, I come to the slow and painful acknowledgment that very soon this room will hold another and the little pieces of me will be erased so that only those very close to me will remember why I came to live here and what I have accomplished. I suppose that is the embodiment of life; all life starts to fade in order to create a space for new dwellers. When I leave Lampeter another exchange student will take my place and I am very confident that they will be accepted and will love this little sleepy town as much as I do.
It is Christmas time now, and at night all of the lights in the town are on, images of Santa, silver bells, and angels paint the ancient village with a very simple but beautiful light. It is not the Christmas lights that I will be missing; I will have plenty of those at home. It is the feel of being the only one on the street that I will miss. It is the beauty of a calm being broken on a busy day by children running free and by dogs barking as their leashes tie them until their owners can collect them after doing their grocery shopping that I will miss. These are simple things, and that is why I love Lampeter. Silence is such a great thing when the only thing that breaks it is laughter and church bells, caroling and dogs barking. I have never lived in any other town that feels so much like home to its strangers. I will miss passing the Khaki-Clad warrior, as he stands in stone beside the park, ready to defend his homeland at any cost. It is not the soldier at guard after a victory who made the war great, but the one who stood at the ready. I will regret leaving that Tommy’s side for the last time, because so many tears and memories are locked within his eyes; the Farmer’s rocks that surround him guard so much beautiful history. Remembrance day is not just a day that marks the calendar, to me whether I am in my own country or not…it will be and has always been each and every day instead.
Lampeter is everywhere surrounded by rolling green hills, places marked with druid circles, miniature stonehenges; wonders of the world unknown. It holds houses, and farms, churches, graves, little lambs and happy rabbits. It is home to ancient trees and fallen limbs, brilliant boulders and tiny little pebbles that cringe as the walker treads. Birds sing, sheep flee, horses gaze longingly, cows graze and people walk hand in hand along the paths. Sometimes a hiker climbs out of the woods from a path that he created because he was bored with the ones he already knew. In reality though, he never knew every path because there are far too many to travel. I regret that I know very few routes, yet the ones that I know I can travel by heart.
My closing paragraphs will now consist of writing about three people who changed my life in Lampeter. I will not say names, but those whom I am speaking of should know who they are, and I hope that this bit of words does them all justice. First, there is a girl who seems to have stood by me through all of the drama and adventure, whom despite her own adjustment to Uni life, has helped me see myself for who I really am. She has accepted me immediately despite our differences. She is a great girl with a fiery spirit, she takes a lot upon herself and I am very grateful that I call her my soul sister. She has given up much of her life to help her family and friends, and I hope that she takes life by force. She should not be afraid of letting people in or of making choices that seem like risks because at the end of the day she has a great head on her shoulders that she should never fail to trust.
Next, I met a genius here in Lampeter. He is a guy who knows everything and wants nothing more than to teach everyone about the events of the past. Sometimes he is a bit loud, sometimes he has more energy than everyone else….but honestly there is nothing wrong with a person being too happy, and just by being around this guy I always feel a lot happier. He helped me have an awesome birthday in the English spirit, and I will never forget how loyal he is both to people he adores and to people he just simply knows deserve good friends. There are people in this world who seem to have overlooked this quality, but in all honesty loyalty is the divine spark of the human spirit, and to this person I hope he never changes who he is or how he reacts to situations because his personality is something very rare that should be present more in this little world.
Finally, there is this fellow adventurer. From the moment that I met him at a Lampeter house party I had always found him very interesting and very attractive. I was stuck in an old grade school crush, but this time I was an adult. In fact I was an adult just passing through a piece of land that I would never see again. So naturally, I never said a word about my feelings. (Until this week) Yet regardless every adventure that I had in Lampeter was led by this man. He took me on my first walk through the woods in Wales and ever since that day I have had a better perspective about the part of the world that I chose to call home for a semester. I suppose all good things come with time and that it is always better late than never. It is strange how two people can find themselves so far away from home only to connect with someone from the same country. I suppose that this puts the idea into perspective that the world is great and it is small. So, just as with every other week in Lampeter this person and I decided to seek out many adventures within this little town. I may never see the hills here again, and I don’t know when he and I will cross paths again. I hope that both he and Wales remain wild and serene, beautiful and mysterious because those are the things about both that I respect the most. I doubt this guy will stay in one place for very long, wherever he ends up…I hope you continue to live life the way that you do, because it is absolutely brilliant. Also...Asheville (just saying) CRWYDRO.
So finally: Goodbye Lampeter. It has been a real slice

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Comments

[Home and Away]

A couple applicable thoughts...
never say never, you can return to Wales, but it won't be the same. With regards to the statue "They also serve who only watch and wait." This brings to mind a story that two old ladies who ran the Old Post House B&B in Kent told me about the beginnings of WWII. The Germans were patrolling the English Channel coastline, but the coastal watchers, who had been employed to raise a warning since Napoleon's time, were not raising the alarm. When questioned, they responded "We were hired to look out for the French." As for the three friends who made such an impact on your life, they are to be treasured forever...keep in touch as your paths will cross, and contrary to places, it will be like old times.

[KjtotheUK]

Very true indeed!
Those are beautiful sentiments that I must keep in mind as I leave. I do hope to return one day to Wales. It was such a great place, I would love for my family to one day be able to experience it. Thank you for following my blog thus far, I love your advice, it is very encouraging to me :)