Friday the Thirteenth

Tonight is the last night that I'll spend in my flat. I cannot believe it. I remember moving into the room and thinking it was such a long time, a month. Today I've succeeded in everything that I needed to, I think. My stuff's been mostly packed for days, I did the last minute shopping, and I've separated the things that I can leave here (either with people like shampoo, or in the trash like both pairs of shoes I brought - yes, I bought some new ones).

Earlier, Sophie and Teran left for the Isle of Skye. We got to meet Sophie's parents for lunch today! It was neat to meet them and it's nice that instead of taking a train or bus for their trip, they can take a rental car. Her Dad is pretty good at driving over here. I would have a rough time, especially with all of the roundabouts. And we thought that they were putting in a lot near school - hah! You have to go through about five to get into Stirling from campus.

Notice the tiny people.

Yesterday we went to the Whitelee Windfarm and it was amazing! The weather was beautiful and the sun was out while we were there. I really enjoyed getting to learn about them. Apparently there are weather detectors in the nacelle so that the turbine can situate itself depending on the direction the wind is blowing. All of the turbines (and some that are located in other parts of the country) are all managed by a single switchboard at the windfarm. If any manageable problems are detected, repairmen are sent to climb up the tower of the turbine. Can you imagine!? It takes them a good five minutes or so to climb the ladder straight up to the top, where the generator, gearbox, drive train (or "powertrain" - the engine and transmission), and brake assembly are located. The fastest that the turbines we saw turn are 16 revolutions per minute. If the windspeed gets past 53, they must be shut off because they are not made to withstand winds that strong. Turbines are fascinating.

Last night, we had a Farewell Party and a Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-lee"). I loved it. I haven't gotten to dance in a while, and I have really missed it. I wish I could dance like that every week. At many Scottish weddings, they have a ceilidh in addition to other festivities.. and I would definitely love to have one! If I could give people the opportunity to have as good a time as I did, I would be so happy. We learned a variety of dances, and had a wonderful time. What a great way to end an amazing trip!

Fun at the Ceilidh.

And now this is the part where I do a reflective thing, right?

I have thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was one of my dreams to study abroad.. and now I've done it. I am so thankful for this experience. It gave me a chance to be independent in a way that I have never been, and in a way that I never may be again. I have more confidence in myself and have more friends from all over! (Nope - no negatives so far..) Scotland was great, and I hope everyone has enjoyed hearing about some of my little adventures and observations. I could never have made it here without a lot of you, and I wish that you could have been here with me! Everyone would have had a great time. But, tomorrow a group of us leave at 6 in the morning to head to the airport in Edinburgh. That puts us there around 7something, and my flight leaves for Newark, NJ at 9:25. I'm nervous about the airport all over again, but if I can just make it past the check-bag weighing, then I'll be fine, haha! Wish me luck, and I'm excited to be coming home!

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!

July 4th in Scotland.. does that mean anything?

Well, I just did a quick search and the only thing that has significance to Scotland crossed with the 4th of July is Ronni Ancona, an actress from Scotland. ..But that hasn't stopped people from having fun today! Some people got barbeques and were grilling out on the pad earlier, all decked out in red, white, and blue. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was nice enough to be outside, thankfully. Oh - and some guys had a (an American) football and were playing toss. I had to go out there. It's been a while since I've thrown, and I've missed it. Kinda hard to keep ahold of the thing when it's grassy and wet, though. Guess it gives you grip practice.

Other than that, I've spent the majority of the day progressively hacking out my Scotland on the Screen essay. It's been a process. But what I find humorous about the whole thing is that I was writing about Scottish nationality on America's day of independence. Not ironic or anything, but still amusing.

But anyway, Happy Independence Day, everyone! And I hope you got a free burger out of it like me.

Top left: Kim. Top right: Teran.
Bottom left: Me. Bottom right: Sophie.

Hmm. What's happened since my last post..

Saturday: Walked to Bridge of Allan, the little town between the Uni (short for University) and the City of Stirling, with friends (Kim, Teran, and Sophie) for supper. We were going to go to The Westerton Arms: Traditional Bar & Restaurant, but when we got there, the wait was an hour and a half! Haha, no sir. So, instead, we walked a little ways more and ate at The Allanwater Café (where we got awesome desserts!).

View atop the Wallace Monument.

Sunday: Busybusybusy. Walked with Kim to the Wallace Monument (about 15 minutes to the Welcome Center, 10 minutes up the hill, and 264 steps to the top!) and back before lunchtime. Afterwards, I immediately went with some buddies into town to eat lunch. Now, just so you know, I barely scraped this in - I was walking out to the bus stop when Teran yelled at me to hurry. If I hadn't have come out of the building when I did, I wouldn't have made it on the bus. Whew. But let me tell you: the Kilted Kangaroo, outback-style bar and grill, is really something! There's a real safari jeep inside the restaurant and a life-size cut out of Steve Irwin on the back wall, right beside a W.C. marked "Sheilas". Talk about sticking with the theme! Haha.

Cautious, haggis-trying face.

But, more importantly.. I did it. I really tried haggis.

And it wasn't that bad. Surprisingly. They served it with a cheesy sauce on top, and it was fried, which helped mask the texture (the only thing that really threw me off). Now, if I wouldn't have known what it was, I may have been able to eat more.. but just thinking about it made me stop.

So.. for those of you who have no fear of or qualms with things like that, I do recommend it.

Never thought I'd be saying that..

Architecture at Stirling Castle.

Anyway, after my debut with a stereotypical Scottish dish, a few of us walked up to Stirling Castle. We'd been up to the esplanade (an open, level space separating a fortress from a town) before, but never inside for a tour. It was so interesting! We learned so much history about the castle, but I didn't have my notebook with me. Typical. I do remember, however, that the Battle of Stirling Bridge was fought on September 11, 1297 and that the last time that Stirling Castle was taken by force was in 1651. (Oliver Cromwell lay siege to the castle in his conquest to invade Scotland.) Our tour guide was very informative, and we were given maps so that we could maneuver after being set loose. There were plenty of museums and gift shops on site to keep us occupied for about another hour or so.

Now, after walking back down to the city centre, we went to Tesco again and found our way back to campus via the still-formitable-yet-manageable bus system. What a packed day. There was so much to see, and even my camera expired from exhaustion.

Monday & Tuesday: School again. Just trying to work on essays and succeeding in getting distracted.

Tomorrow we go to Edinburgh! This will be the last All-ISS Student trip that we take. And I can't believe that tomorrow we will be in the single-digits for the 'Going Home Countdown'. Yikes!

Settling In

I am so glad that our group that flew into Edinburgh last Thursday got to move in a day early. It saved us the chaos of the big group that came on Saturday morning. That night, we were expected to come to Airthrey Castle (for picture, please see previous post) for a 'Welcome Reception.' Well, when I heard that, I thought it would be some sort of room where we would sit and listen to someone talk about the school and why we were there...you know, the usual thing.

Au contraire, Pierre.

We were heralded into the castle by a piper (playing "Scotland the Brave," no less), and found ourselves in a large room with ornate carvings on the side panels and a fancy looking fire place. All of the students were milling around, talking to their new acquaintances (except for our little group, because we had somehow managed to find one another again). And then, everyone appeared to form a jumbled line, while still maintaining the same level of talking - it's been at least 15 minutes we've stood around talking, mind you - and we start to creep toward where the line is headed. When we reached the front of the line, there was a table with an extensive assortment of wines, juices, and other drinks. Then, we were to place our order and to present our IDs if we were under 25, to make sure that we passed the age requirement (18 here). I got apple juice. Kept it simple, and besides, I didn't know the names of anything except for the juices!

Blurry picture of the Welcome Reception.

Then, we proceeded to talk for 15 more minutes until Stirling's Summer School Manager, Sterling Yates (yes, it's like the "Meredith from Meredith" thing at my college), called for our attention. He talked about five minutes about safety and the Head of the School talked about five minutes about Scotland and Stirling, and then they were done. We were encouraged to "enjoy a good drink and a good chat" until we wanted to leave at the end of the hour. Very different from what I was expecting, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

View of city from Stirling Castle.

The next day, Sunday, we had a full day of information sessions and tours of both the campus and the city of Stirling. It was really neat and I learned a lot of history. We toured through places like Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Bannockburn, and Doune. We ended at the Stirling Castle esplanade where we had a beautiful view of the city.

Robert the Bruce with an ominous cloud.

We finished the exhaustive day by going for a quick shop in Thistle Center, the mall in Stirling's city center. There wasn't much time to look around, because most stores close by 5 or 6 here. Then we headed over to Tesco for some food shopping. Now, Tesco is like our Walmart. They are everywhere and carry similar things. There is even a Tesco Express on the outskirts of town that we can easily walk to from school. But I'm positive that we made someone's day when we trekked back to where the bus had parked. We trudged down the streets and between houses, encumbered with our grocery bags, in a two-by-two procession. We must have looked hilarious! But, we made it, much to everyone's relief.

Then, yesterday, classes started. I have two classses: Scotland on the Screen (Mon. 9-10, Tues. 11-1) and Green Politics: Theory and Practice (Tues. 3-6). My first class wasn't that bad. I had to find some books in the library to read, but the only reason it took me a while is because it takes me forever to take notes. I don't know how the Green Politics class will go today, however. But I can look forward to the fact that I only have class two days a week! Classes only run Monday through Wednesday. Thursdays are left open for optional, pre-planned excursions for all International Summer School (ISS) students (we're going to St. Andrews this Thursday). And Fridays are for class-specific excursions (my Scotland on the Screen excursion is this Friday - we're vising Doune Castle, where they filmed part of Monty Python, haha).

And although it is raining right now, it was beautiful yesterday! It got up to about 60, and we could wear t-shirts outside. I know a couple of people who would hang their heads in shame at all the picture-taking that I missed (sorry!). Also - for future reference, I signed up for a tour this Saturday through Timberbush Tours. It's the first one (Scottish Highlands: Lochs, Mountains, Castles and History). I'm excited!

Stirling: Gateway to the Highlands

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are filled with orientative exercises, but we actually got to move into our flats (apartment/dorm style housing) yesterday!

All settled in my room: flat 45, room 2.

Our flat is comprised of about five or six bedrooms that come off of a single hallway, two W.C.s (bathrooms), two shower rooms, and a big common room at the end with a fully equipped kitchen. And yes, there is plaid on the duvet cover (comforter-esque) on my bed. The colors are almost like those in the Weir Tartan.

The Weir Tartan.

My Nana's maiden name is Weir, and I looked up some information about them today: Weir Clan Crest, Motto, and History. I really like the motto: Vero Nihil Verius ("Nothing truer than truth" or "Truth, nothing but the truth"). If you want some more information, this guy seems to have done a lot of research as well: Bill Weir.

But aside from that, today, our only scheduled event is a Welcome Reception for all of the International Summer School (ISS) Students at the University of Stirling from 5:00-6:00 this evening.

This is Airthrey Castle where we will have the reception later.
Yes, it's on campus.

The University of Stirling is really nice. There is a giant loch (lake) in the middle of campus that you must walk across a bridge to get over, and a lot of the community comes to the Macrobert Arts Centre to spend time together or to see the performances. Actually, there was one last night when we went to visit. A bunch of men in Highland dress (traditional Scottish attire) and some girls in pumps (dance shoes) came out from around the back of the theatre (yes, I suppose I must spell it that way, haha), so there must have been something exciting going on.

This is a map of campus. The X's in the top right are where I'm living.

We walked to the edge of town (it took about 30 minutes, leisurely walking) for supper last night and like I said previously, it doesn't get dark until nighttime here! Here is some proof:

A clock on the way back from supper.

As you can see, the clock says about 9:00, and it's still light out! Wouldn't that be nice at home?

And, to close, the weather looks to be nice today. We haven't gotten any rain yet this morning, but it has been very windy. I think it's supposed to be about like this all weekend, which is fine with me! However, I may have to invest in some more long-sleeved shirts or some of those wooly socks. Goodness knows we saw enough sheep yesterday on the bus ride over to make thousands of pairs!