Meredith ap Robert

Tag: Cymru

  • The Welsh Learner’s Diary: Two Weeks in Aberystwyth

    The Welsh Learner’s Diary: Two Weeks in Aberystwyth

    I recently spent two weeks in Aberystwyth for intensive Welsh-language classes. Here’s a little diary of my time, mostly notes I wrote to myself as it happened to capture a bit of the experience.

  • This wasn’t entirely inevitable

    This wasn’t entirely inevitable

    Since last week’s local and devolved elections, I’ve heard a lot of the I-word floating around. How inevitable everything was. How voters were dissatisfied with the pace of change so it was inevitable that Labour would lose. I think Morgan had cards left to play—maybe Labour couldn’t have kept power, but she could’ve kept her…

  • What I’m thinking about on the day of the 2026 Senedd elections

    What I’m thinking about on the day of the 2026 Senedd elections

    Today, Scotland and Wales both have devolved parliamentary elections. So, here in Cymru, we’re deciding who will represent us in the Senedd in Cardiff, our capital. Unless the polls have been incredibly mistaken, Labour’s century-long hold on Cymru is over. The question is: what’s next? Will UK’s answer to MAGA, Reform, come away as the…

  • Saying Goodbye to America, and Finding Our Town in Cymru

    Saying Goodbye to America, and Finding Our Town in Cymru

    As a bi-national couple, our story has never been a simple one—but it’s always been good.  

  • Driving Out the Darkness, or Christmas 2025

    Driving Out the Darkness, or Christmas 2025

    It’s harder to drive out the darkness this year. And it doesn’t just come from the world outside. It bubbles up inside, too. The truth is, I doubt the decisions I’ve made and make every single day. I rage at my inability to do more, to go further, to be better. I try to see…

  • A week in Wales by train

    A week in Wales by train

    Wales is mostly rural, and best suited for adventurers (of any skill level) who enjoy the outdoors, want to get off the beaten path, and don’t mind a little rain. While it’s great to have a car, it’s also totally possible to get around by train and bus.

  • Diary of a dysgwr

    Diary of a dysgwr

    Lifelong learner.  A laudable philosophy. Looks nice on your LinkedIn. But in practice? As something more than a slogan? Exhausting.  In my 20s, fresh out of school, it felt like an invigorating mantra. A celebratory affirmation of the wonder of the universe. As I approach 40 and find myself nearing the likely halfway point of…

  • Twenty highlights from 2024, in twenty words or less 

    Twenty highlights from 2024, in twenty words or less 

    Taking a look back on some of the highlights from 2024, from my worst habit (go ahead and guess) to the mountaintop moments that have helped me start to believe in myself—at least a little bit.

  • Driving out the Dark; Or, Making My Peace with Christmas

    Driving out the Dark; Or, Making My Peace with Christmas

    My feelings on Christmas hit an all-time low when I lived in Indiana.  I took a job working for the Purdue Alumni Association. Not a great fit. Things went from bad to worse a few months into the job when we returned from Thanksgiving break to find the entire building covered in Christmas decorations. It…

  • Finding My Way Back

    Finding My Way Back

    When a friend from undergrad heard about my plans to pursue a master’s degree in Wales (Cymru), she told me, “It’s wonderful to hear you’ve found what brings you joy—and will send you to Wales, where you’ve always belonged.”  And it’s true. Call it a longing or a calling, but I’ve felt it for a…