Day 32 - Sioe Flynyddol a Mabolgampau

Today I truly experienced Wales. In the morning, my kind hosts drove me all around the Llandovery area and showed me many historic sites there. They also answered all of my many questions about Wales.

Around noon, we went to the Sioe Flynyddol a Mabolgampau (Annual Show and Sports). It wasn't like anything I've ever been to before. They had a dog show, pony show, old engine exhibit, and best of all, sheep dog trials. The sheep dogs were awesome! The dogs had to gather sheep from about 1/4 mile away, lead them through an obsticle course, split the group of sheep in half, and lead them into a pen. It was a competition, as it was all timed. I was amazed at the intelligence of the dogs and obedience of the sheep.

The event was very Welsh. Most of the people there spoke Welsh as their native language. Most of them probably owned sheep themselves - the Welsh are known for sheep (which outnumber people in Wales), and they really seem to love their sheep.

While there, I was introduced to a very well-known Welsh-American author/theologian/broadcaster who now lives in my home state of California. After that, we went down to Llandeilo and saw a very old castle and abbey ruins. In this blog I can't even begin to cover all of the history of that area. It was truly amazing. The scenery was spectacular as well.

My hosts invited me back to Llandovery later this year, and I definitely plan to go back. I also was given another very exciting offer -- to have my Ph.D. dissertation (when it's finished) added to the National Library of Wales!!


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posted by Matt @ 10:22 PM