There is a fascinating story about a group of Welsh settlers that left Britain in the late 19th century and settled in the small town of Trevelin - the Welsh word means “Mill town”. I presume they left to escape the tentacles of the British Empire and maintain their language and culture. Welsh is a Celtic language. Many of the inhabitants of this small town still speak Welsh and are now fluent in Spanish as well, some of the more affluent people went back to Britain for their schooling and speak English in addition to the Welsh / Spanish. We drove around this beautiful little town and had a traditional Welsh tea with scones and tarts. Out of approximately 150,000 people living in the province of Chubut (the province where the Welsh areas of Patagonia are located) there are approximately 20,000 of whom are descendants of the Welsh. Many of them speak Welsh naturally, and many more are able to speak Welsh to differing levels. The latter are people and children who either have received some amount of Welsh at home, or have learned Welsh as a second language in the classroom. Approximately 600-700 children and people of all ages are learning Welsh as a second language annually.
It looks like rural Argentina is a place where anyone with money and/or skills can settle and make a good life relatively undisturbed by the authorities. This is probably the reason why many Nazi’s also fled to South America and settled here after the Second World war to escape persecution in Europe. Daar is n wonderlikke dorpie (Suid van Esquel) met die naam van Trevelin “Waar die koring gemaal is” waar die meeste mense van Walliese oorsprong is. Hulle het in die laat 19de Eeu soontoe getrek van Engeland om hulle kultuur en taal te behou. Daar is tans omtrent 20 000 afstammelinge van hierdie oorspronklikke groep en baie van hulle praat nog die oorspronlikke Walliese taal en Spaans natuurlik. Ons het hier n tradisionele koppie Walliese tee gedrink en koekies geeet. Daarna het ons ook in die museum rondgeloop om meer van hierdie gemeenskap te leer.
It looks like rural Argentina is a place where anyone with money and/or skills can settle and make a good life relatively undisturbed by the authorities. This is probably the reason why many Nazi’s also fled to South America and settled here after the Second World war to escape persecution in Europe. Daar is n wonderlikke dorpie (Suid van Esquel) met die naam van Trevelin “Waar die koring gemaal is” waar die meeste mense van Walliese oorsprong is. Hulle het in die laat 19de Eeu soontoe getrek van Engeland om hulle kultuur en taal te behou. Daar is tans omtrent 20 000 afstammelinge van hierdie oorspronklikke groep en baie van hulle praat nog die oorspronlikke Walliese taal en Spaans natuurlik. Ons het hier n tradisionele koppie Walliese tee gedrink en koekies geeet. Daarna het ons ook in die museum rondgeloop om meer van hierdie gemeenskap te leer.
