Abertawe
Now that I’ve been here a couple of weeks and gotten where I can find my way around, life couldn’t be better – well, with the exception of downtown Abertawe which I think will be torn up for road work for at least the next millennia…
You ask people: “How do I get there from the Tescos parking lot?” The centre of the universe, Tescos.
They answer: “Drive out of Tescos and turn right into the mess. Negotiate the mind-boggling array of traffic cones, sit through 37 signals and an hour later when you’ve gone two blocks and see the Domino’s pizza shop on the corner, turn left.”
Reit.
And then try and park.
I think that if Swansea truly wants to do something to improve the desirability of the city for visitors and residents alike, they will make more parking available. Widen the streets? No need! Just build another parking garage. Then people won’t have to park on the side of the too narrow roads, double-park on the too narrow roads, triple park on the too narrow roads…well, you get the idea.
But the biggest coup for me, besides the joy of sitting in Welsh courses listening to teachers speaking entirely in Welsh (and I do mean that – it was lovely), was finding the downtown market. It has absolutely everything!
The entire thing is indoors and reminds me a lot of Shasta Mall. Shop after shop, specialty stores, department stores, food, shoes, accessories, more shoes, food, toilets, lots more shoes. How fun was that?
And I also want to say that with the exception of the man who got mad at me when I cut him off in the roundabout coming back from Fforestfach (good thing I had the automatic transmission car then or he’d have been REALLY angry) and followed me down the road so he could honk at me AGAIN when I turned off, everyone has just been wonderful. I’ve made friends in my classes and in my flat complex and the manager of the bank always says hello and speaks with me in Welsh.
I’m finally tackling the last task I’ve set myself to acclimate and that’s driving a stick shift car on the ‘other’ side of the road. Driving on the other side doesn’t bother me any more – never did really, only when you come to an intersection and no one else is there. The temptation is to turn onto the side you’re used to driving on. But shifting with my left hand and the angle of the shifter in relation to the gears has been a challenge. Somehow I made it home from the car rental place yesterday, but I’m not sure which gear I was in when I did it. And find first? Gads, didn’t happen. I must have killed the poor car 500 times at one signal. The guy in the BMW behind me wasn’t all that happy, I can tell you – especially as it was rush hour and everyone wanted to get home.
Now, if I could just find the freeway so I can go someplace other than the centre of the universe on weekends, I’ll be one very happy camper.