Drip, Drip, Drop

I've been trying to be productive today. So far, I've done my laundry (and yes, it's already hanging up all around my room), gone over all of my receipts, organized my pictures, and "packed" my things. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to see how all of my stuff was going to fit in the bag before Friday.. and it's looking pretty good. I had been dreading trying to pack everything because I didn't know if I'd go over my weight limit or not. We still have to see about the weight, but there is definitely enough space, thank heavens! As for a scale, I had been looking around for luggage scales last week and went into the Chemist (Pharmacy) on campus, and they said that they could let me use the (human) scale if I needed to weigh anything. That was a relief. But the only problem is.. the walk is about 10-15 minutes without the bag, so with it, I don't know how easy it is going to be, especially considering I will be lugging it right back to my flat. Haha, oh well - I guess it builds character.

Since July 4th, a lot has happened, but the most amazing is that I'm done with class! Yesterday, I turned in my last graded assignment. I'm so excited! And tomorrow, we are going to the Whitelee Wind Farm near Glasgow! Apparently we get to take a bus tour of the place and it's supposedly pretty big. Turbines are so neat! Hopefully it won't be too rainy so I can get some pictures.

Family outside of
The Three Broomsticks!

One of the saddest things is that last Sunday, the Stirling Games got cancelled. Because of wetness?! I was really looking forward to them. But I got to spend some time with friends instead. And when I get home, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for me to go to some there. They are so great!

Another thing that I'm kinda bummed about is that my family is in Florida on vacation right now. It's too bad that Time Share opportunities can't be moved. Especially considering that they've gotten to go to Harry Potter World! I can't wait until I get to go sometime. And my friend Teran went to London to take the Studio Tour of the sets and everything too! Harry Potter everywhere. She said it was amazing and brought us back some Fizzing Whizbees to try! They're so innovative - chocolate with some poprocks to make the magic.

The Edinburgh clocktower.
So foggy!

Last Thursday we went to visit Edinburgh. The construction workers have made so much progress on the tram system they've been working on! But let me tell you. I was in the same city as the Queen and Will and Kate. Talk about 'hard to take in.' There was a parade and some people got really neat pictures when they were approaching Holyrood Palace down the Royal Mile.

So, as you can see, there have been some pretty exciting things going on. And last night was no exception.. totally incomparable, though. There is a traditional walk that the ISS program does every year. It is called the  Darn Walk (funny, right?). Well, in sending out information about it, they said that they would provide us all with free ice cream from the Allanwater Café in Bridge of Allan. I have a feeling that the words "free ice cream" were the only ones that a lot of people saw, so there was a decent turnout. The walk left at 6, and since that's when my Green Politics class ends, we met up with the group on their way off campus. It is already raining at this point, but we set out with umbrellas and high expectations.

We walked on a trail in the woods that ran parallel to the road that leads into Bridge of Allan. To the right, there were houses and fields with horses and to the left, there was a drop toward the riverbed. It was beautiful.

Until you looked down.

There are no words.

We trekked through (sometimes 5 inch deep) mud for about 2.4 miles through the rain. I really enjoyed it, but my shoes were definitely not prepared. I had planned on throwing them away at the end of the trip, but I would have preferred they last just a few more days, haha. BUT, we made it. And we got our delicious ice cream. My only issue was that I would get trench foot or something. No worries though; I was informed that it would take months of that treatment for that to happen.. supposedly. Until that happens, however, I can say that I survived the walk unscathed (although I did fall down once - I didn't wipe out, but with mud in, on, and under your shoes, there is very little traction).

As for tonight, I am going to a place in Stirling called The Tolbooth to hear Alan Bissett and some of the ISS students read their short stories. Exciting!