Castle and University of Edinburgh

Yesterday was our first full day of touring around and getting used to using our flat, our keys and navigating Scottish streets. I think we did pretty well! We found our way to the Castle of Edinburgh and down the streets through the Royal Mile which is where the original town sprouted up down the hill alongside the "driveway" to the castle. There are tons of tourist shops and little tours to take and all. It's all very busy and crowded but strangely I kind of felt a little more at home there because I knew everyone else was probably a tourist too. Especially because it is in the middle of the Fringe Festival. The Fringe Festival, for those who don't know ( I didn't until yesterday!) is a huge week long festival of theatre, dance, musical and pretty much any other performance you could imagine put on by anyone and everyone. But the sweet thing is that there are a ton of legit plays and question-answer things to go to! Some are comedy, some are drama, others...well use your imagination. When you walk down the street everyone is dressed in costumes and sometimes performing in the street and sidewalks and courtyards. Everyone is trying their hardest to get you to come to their performance and to pay their entrance fee or even just to get their name and face out there that you get bombarded by pamphlets and people with really weird face paint and costumes. There was even a guy with bat/dracula-like wing walking around on stilts and a guy dressed up in a wizard's clothes singing a song he dedicated to "Sabrina the Teenage Witch". His CDs were selling for £2, and people were buying them. 

And before all this my roommates and I and a few other girls went up to the Edinburgh Castle. It was huge! I think I was still a little out of it from traveling because I kind of felt removed from the experience but I still enjoyed it immensely. There was a gorgeous view from the top in which there was also this shear-ish sort of drop. My favorite parts were visiting the dungeons and seeing the prisoner of war parts of the castle. It was so neat! It was dank and dark, but clean because of all the tourists who pass through daily. Admission was £13. They also had the crown jewels on display as well as the crown and a ceremonial sward and a TON of massive shiny objects we commonly call "diamonds and other precious stones". In the gift shop they had these little bookmark things of all the different Scottish clans and their family crest along with a plaid pattern. Reminded me of Brigadoon :) But of course it would...because I'm in Scotland!

Today, we had two short classes in a room at the University of Edinburgh. One on travel writing, which is not at all what I thought it was. It's more of learning to write articles on how to get around places, what to do in certain cities if you want to make the best of your stay, or where the good places are to visit or even exploring local shops and culture. I thought it was just a fancy way of saying we'd have essays and papers to write on the trip. PSH. We have those due too, as well as journals about our experiences. 

The other class was on some of the reading we had to finish by today. Mainly history of Scotland and some works of John Knox and an article out of Christianity Today about protestants making pilgrimages of sorts. I really liked that one, it was interesting because the author pointed out that we can find something spiritual about everywhere we go and learn and grow from every trip. There was more to it but that was the general gist.  

More to come! Thanks for reading!

I'M HERE!!!!!

I made it safely and soundly through about 8 1/2 hours of flights, two airports and two plane meals (which were quite good actually) and now I am sitting in an internet café with like eight other people listening to live music via a singer and a bass player. The funny thing is that the singer just said that he wrote a song for a very famous stand up comedian in the US...I've never heard of him. 

After leaving Minneapolis we arrived at the Amsterdam airport around 11:00. I got a few minutes of sleep here and there but it's hard staying in one position for 7 hours. There were in-flight movies in front of each person built into the seat back. I didn't watch anything because I was really tired to begin with and then I decided to take a Dramamine so I could maybe get some sleep to set my body's clock closer to the time it should be. I didn't do much other than listen to my iPod (thank you Ryan for the earbuds!!) and sleep. 

The flight attendants came around with a chicken dinner and potatoes, a bread roll with butter, crackers and cheese, and a brownie. All normal drinks were free...it was fun and the food was really good. They closed the sliding things on the windows to block the sunlight so we could sleep. And then in the morning we got some sort of egg and cheese McMuffin thing. Then we had a layover at Amsterdam and had an hour flight to Edinburgh. 

We got picked up from the airport by someone and taken to our campus flats that we're staying in for 3 days or so. We each have our own rooms for the most part or share with one other person in each little apartment. We even have a kitchen and dining room! And my room has two little corner windows that open at the top...no blankets though that I've seen yet...maybe I'll find some later. 

We all had about an hour and a half to grab dinner and get back for a short meeting with the leaders of the trip and everyone else. Me and five other girls wondered around a little bit until we found a pub of sorts that had cheapish food (mine was £6). I ordered "Highland Chicken" which was a chicken breast stuffed with haggis and mashed potatoes on the side with this weird salty, light-colored gravy. It was really good! I'm surprised at how haggis tasted. I don't think I'd order it again but I liked it enough of each about 2/3 of it.

After our meeting we all agreed to check out this wireless café that we'd seen while searching for dinner. And that's where I am now! But I have to let someone else use the laptop now...Pictures and more blogging later! 

Thanks for reading!

Á Travers L'étang

Roughly translated: "across the pond".

So in two days I will be on a plane traveling abroad to study on location in England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and hopefully Italy. I am studying literature, drama, and writing as we travel Western Europe. I don't know when I'll be able to blog when abroad, but my goal is to update whoever reads this thing as often as I have time, an internet connection, and whenever I have something interesting or witty to report. Perhaps I'll meet and become best friends with some international celebrity. That, I will dutifully report. But since travel such as this is all new to me, you may also get the occasional "I accidentally walked into the wrong bathroom!" story or the "Got mugged again. Bummer of a day" too. Read at your own risk.

I'm kinda nervous to fly and to travel in places where I don't know what's going on. I mean, I don't even use public transportation here where I live! But hopefully I will find a travel buddy who knows what they're doing and is not afraid of me tagging along looking like a lost puppy. BUT WAIT! What if I get over there and suddenly have this revelation and I just KNOW what I'm doing and how to navigate the trains? Though highly unlikely in all probability, I'm hoping for the best possible statistical outcome between the two methods of getting from Point A to Point B. 

One thing I am not nervous about is being away from my family. Though I have never been away as long as a semester, (10 days is the longest) I think I tend to do alright on the homesickness scale. I miss people, but only those who I talk to everyday and really depend on for support and friendship. Which may or may not include my family depending on the day. Only kidding. But I think the thing I'm looking forward to the most is just learning to rely on myself and seeing what I can accomplish outside of my home or house. Home=university, house=where I live during summers :)

In conclusion, finally, to sum up, and altogether, I hope that I will be okay and fine on this trip, including growing in my faith and ability to navigate public transport. Also perhaps packing a suitcase. I will try to update as much as possible, but not bore you with the typical stories you hear from travelers like "the airline lost my luggage" and "so apparently it's the rainy season and I don't have a jacket". Also, if you find anything I write interesting or commentable, please let me know by dropping a comment in the box located through the "comments" link at the end of each post. I love to hear from you mysterious few readers! Until next time, au revoir et...

 Merci pour lirez!