Wot, no cake Geraint?
Stu
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I know I do.
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My memory isnāt that good and Iām certainly not that organised that I take notes.
The first day was a bit of a dribble into action with people arriving at a slower pace than other years which seemed to help with the excitement and nerves, we got to know everyone in a more relaxed way rather than getting a bunch of strangers thrust at you in one go. Some certainly looked more anxious than others (naming no names). I think I mentioned at the time that Karen was going to be a hand full and it turned out that my judge of character was spot on again. 
As you all know, 7 of us had been before so I felt really comfortable with such a good mix of old and new. Meeting up with old friends is a massive pleasure for me, even the ones that I keep in touch with very often over Skype or whatsapp or whatever, seeing them in the flesh and getting a real life cwtch is wonderful. Meeting new friends, however, is a little stressful for me but this crowd made it very easy, the conversation soon became very easy.
Anyway, 13 bwtcampwyr at home, one short (by his standards) introduction speech by Aran, and weāre all speaking Welsh while tucking into the incredible inaugural feast created by Catrin. What a great start.
A bit of a genius move was, because of the almost equal mix of old and new, pairing us as āmentorsā and āmenteesā which seemed to work out pretty well I thought. A small challenge was then set to encourage us to have a 10 minute chat with everyone in the group before Aran and Catrin said their goodbyes and left us to it. We managed to have 4 of these one-on-one conversations on that first evening and everyone seemed to relax as we all got to know eachother helped by a little alcohol for some (again, naming no names 
).
Day one finished, 7 more to go.
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Iām all ears for more. Yes ears because although I donāt even know how your voice sounds it goes through my head like youād sit across me at the table and tell me a story.
I have a strong feeling youāre not so disorganized as you might think. 
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Excellent use of imagery - like your style 
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Te he he!!
Smiles are important!
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I just texted a friend in Welsh, before remembering he wouldnāt understand.
Bootcamp, what have you done to me? 
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Day 2, first full day, started with breakfast and watching everyone emerge in turn with a āwhat the heck was I thinkingā look on their faces before heading off to Pwllheli for the, now traditional, Taro Deg meet up with Aran for a drink and a snack. What a great cafe this this is and a must for anyone visiting this end of the world. Sitting here enjoying something from their brilliant choice of cakes and absorbing the Welsh language spoken by everyone around you is always a highlight for me.
We then walked to a quiet spot overlooking the harbour to find out the details of our first proper challenge. We were carefully sorted into groups of 4 (2 mentors and 2 mentees) and told that we had to set our own challenges, the mentors for the mentees and vice versa. I was paired with Jen along with our mentees, John and Karen. Anne also joined us as she was the lucky person not to be lumbered (for want of a better word) with a mentee for the week 
. We (Jenās brilliant idea) set them the task of asking people in the street for their favourite Welsh song and trying to get them to perform a little of it. John and Karen then retaliated by getting us to do a similar thing but for a favourite dance. I was lucky that the first person I asked went to Zumba class (no, neither did I) and was only too happy to explain what it was.
Anyway, 2pm we met at the van, Aran went home, and we all voted to go to the beach where half the crowd slept for best part of an hour in the scorching, tropical heat of North Wales. A brief visit to the archfarchnad before heading home to settle in for the evening around the huge table.
Please feel free to fill in the huge gaps Iāve left out.
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What did you have for breakfast?
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Thatās my favourite challengeā¦
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One day you might find out he/she started to learn Cymraeg because of that single simple text. - hehe
This sounds an interesting fun challenge however Iād (even if Iād be Cymraes) would be more challenged with performing then you with asking to do so. You actually put more challnege to the people then they did to you (at least at that first day).
Was nice to meet you Siaron!
X
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Thanks for writing these, itās nice to have the memory jogged!
By the way what night was āJengaā night?
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As youāll notice later, my memory isnāt what it once was. 
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Jen and I met up in Cardiff and we travelled together and got even more lost this year than last year! Failed by the Sat Nav completely and then given some dodgy directions in Welsh over the phone from Markā¦hahaha!!
āMarkā¦chwith neu dde???ā Mark: āUmmm, dilyn y arwydd i Aberā¦Aberā¦Aber.ā
However we did eventually arrive due to the excellent navigational skills from my co-pilot (cough-cough), and had a lovely welcome from all, old and new!
It was nice to see I had a room of my own, until I realised I had just been quarantined there! Due to my bad cold and incessant snoring! A little harsh but probably fair! 
As Geraint is doing such a lovely job running through the itinerary of the days, I wonāt bore you with the same old info.
This was my second bootcamp and it felt a lot different to the first. I didnāt feel so nervous and for some reason, I was even seen as a mentor and not a mentee, so someone obviously had confidence in me.
I had had a very stressful year and wasnāt even sure if I should come to this yearās bootcamp, so, diolch a waelod calon to Aran for his unending encouragement and support! 
I found the week went sooooo fast! It felt to me like a long weekend. Thatās not to say that Iām not absolutely shattered and exhausted. Possibly because the week was packed with trips, challenges, music and laughter. I havenāt even got a proper highlightā¦there was the obvious and totally awesome and amazing visit by Manon Steffan Ros!! Waaaaa!!! An evening I will never, EVER forget!!
However, everything about this bootcamp was a highlight, even down to popping to the shops for some last minute shopping with Mark and Jen and getting a phone call from Catrin diverting us to her house, playing on the trampoline with little Beuno before returning to Gadlas with Aran.
As youāll hear from Geraint, there were trips to beaches, there were quizzes, challenges, Sunday lunch at Nant Gwrtheyrn, chasing sunsets, climbing the huge Treār Ceiri, visiting a museum in Llanbedrog, a pub crawl in Caernarfon, more antics with a chocolate fountain and two sisters ;-), and a choir practice in Catrinās church! I have experienced so much in such a short amount of time, its mind blowing, met fantastic people and seen some, like Cath and Rob go from timid little mice to confident (and loud) Welsh speakers!! Iāve had every single emotion imaginable: cried; laughed, and even laughed so much I cried. I was part of something so special, that I have never felt more honoured and privileged in my life; to being in a position to encourage and support othersā¦and to act the fool, a lot!!..and to tease Karen and Deb!! An experience that I needed more than I even knewā¦
So, thanks to you ALL for making this week so absolutely amazingly unforgettable!!
Diolch o waelod calon i chi gyd!!!
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Sunday, day 3, up at stupid oāclock, so kept myself busy until others deffroed before getting my breakfast (the same as every other day Kim, Iām a creature of habit) of porridge with honey and cinnamon, a glass of orange juice and a small square of 85% dark chocolate. 
Sunday, bootcamp, this can only mean one thing ā¦ Sunday dinner. This year, after convincing Aran that we knew the way, we piled in the van and enjoyed a wonderfully scenic drive along the northern coast towards Llithfaen and over the top into a death defying drive down to Nant Gwtheyrn. The views, as many of you already know, are breathtaking and certainly live up to that overused clichĆ©. Aran, Catrin, Angharad and Beuno were fashionably late but we were joined by Catrinās mother and father who kept us all in conversation in such a confident manner. Listening to Catrinās mother speak itās easy to hear where Catrinās lovely accent and mastery of the language comes from.
Seated inside this great restaurant with 270 deg views for a superb dinner, the jokes, laughs, and breadcrumbs flowed easily for over an hour before we paid and went out to explore for a while.
Quite a few headed down towards the beach to wrestle with snakes while Vaughan, Karen and I had a look in the shop, bumped into one of the tutors that Karen knew and had a chat with a lady serving in the shop with the most clear and crisp voice, using brilliant, learner friendly Welsh. Eventually we all met up again and left the Joneses once more, headed through Pwllheli on our way home to spend more time as a family over the table until Catrin arrived in the early evening to take us to choir practice ā¦ TBC
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waves
Thanks almost entirely to the loveliness of you lot
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Just sums it up so well. Every single person there made a positive contribution to the group. We all supported each other, learnt so much from each other and successfully banished nervousness (or blind panic, helloā¦ :-o ) with lots of laughs - jokes yn Cymraeg, deliberate mispronunciations, old stories, new stories, stories from just that afternoon and general daftness.
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and the music helped make it special too - The guitars, the drums, the songs, the singing that just happened impromptu.
From Ti Mewn Cae Tatws (that I sing to myself every time I need to be cheered up) , to TĆ¢n yn Llyn (which just makes me want to cryā¦)
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Yep!! Here here! I agree with all that, āyou took the words right out of my mouth.āā¦
Oh na, is that the cue for a song?
Sori - Eto!
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āNabod fi, nabod tiā is still my favouriteā¦
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