Stirling Homestay

It's been busy here in Scotland.

Last week I actually made biscuits and gravy for my flatmates and academic dad. Even Maddie, who is from Connecticut had never had them before! Mostly they said, that looks mingin' no way am I eating it. And why is your gravy WHITE?! But then they did and loved it! Thanks for sending the mix, Mum!

Last weekend I went to stay with a Scottish couple in the town of Stirling named Pat and Mauree Dea. They were adorable, of course. I (in true southern fashion) was calling them Mr. and Ms. But Pat found this to be mean. It made him feel old (because he is in fact only 73) He'd say to me, "oh quit your mistering me lassie!" Robyn, Lauren, Bailey, and I were in one house. Three boys from our program stayed with another couple but we did all of our sightseeing together.

Can you guess the best part? The food!! We arrived to tomato soup, homemade roast mashed potatoes and peas, and ice cream/apple pie. The next morning we had toast and eggs and sausage. They packed us lunches and dropped us at a scottish history museum. I personally found the little kids section where you could dress up in renaissance clothing to be the best.. shocking. From there we walked to Stirling Castle. We didn't go in, because it costs gobs of money. Instead we just sat in front of it and ate our lunches. Everyone thought it was a bit strange that our sandwiches were ham and butter, but that's right up my alley! We also had some roast chicken flavored crisps and Irn Bru. Yes please. At this point Pat picked us up and drove us to the Wallace Monument. We climbed all 246 steps to the top and listened to someone dressed up as a foot soldier recount the life of William Wallace. Then we went shopping at the mall because St. Andrews is unfortunately small in that area. Best part of this day? Soup, steak pie chips and mushy peas, and cake! Then watching Strictly Come Dancing (the British form of Dancing with the Stars) I didn't know the celebrities, but I still loved it! We also got to listen to Ricky Green sing us some disco tunes in a local pub. We requested Build Me Up Buttercup! He had to explain his Scottish jokes though.. sigh. Some more shopping Sunday morning, home made pizza, and then time to come home.

Speaking of Scottish jokes, here's one for you:

Why is a soldier better than a fireman?

-Because you can't dip a fireman in your egg.

Sunday was also Meg's birthday, so we all went to a restaurant called The Grill House to celebrate. Monday was my flatmate Jaz's birthday and we had a celebration for her here in the flat. (You may have seen my rap on facebook...)

Missin' you at home and I send my love. xx

Hello Highlands!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up!

Two weekends ago, on 8 October I got on a bus at 7:45 am to experience the Scottish Highlands.

9:15 - Pick up Ross, our singing, storytelling, all around awesome tourguide and breakfast at a supermarket

9:45 - Waterfalls, Scottish style!

11:15 - Lunch in Pitlochry (Home made steak pies from the butcher!)

2:45 - Glenfinnan Viaduct where we watched a steam train cross the viaduct used in the Harry Potter films!!

5:30 - Check into Hostel in Inverness

After dinner (pizza) at the hostel we went exploring. Ended up watching Scotland play Czech Republic in a qualifying match. Unfortunately they lost but the Scots were in surprisingly good spirits. I was told they didn't actually expect them to win.. Then we wandered into a pub called the Hootenanny (REEBS!!!) for some folk music. (acordian, electric flute, and acoustic guitar) We danced and had a great time.

Day 2
9:00 - Culloden Battlefield where the Jacobites fought the last pitched battle on British soil. It was a very foggy morning, perfectly eerie for the sight at hand.

11:00 - Sheep dog display in Kingussie. This shepherd is one of only two left in the area. He has something like 10,000 sheep and 28 working sheep dogs. Each sheep dog learns the same verbal commands but also has their own set of whistle commands. This allows the shepherd to control each dog individually. It was fascinating. Then he brought out a bucket full of 7 day old puppies which we got to hold and play with! Unfortunately we got caught sneaking one on to the bus so no live souvenirs this time...

12:30 - Lunch in Aviemore. We got fish and chips and then explored the town a bit. Found a stone circle. Anyone read Outlander? Apparently someone touches a stone and is taken back in time to the Highlands. I touched them but I'm convinced I'm still in current times. Not to worry, perhaps it just takes time to catch up!
3:00 - GlenGrant Distillery Tour. We got two samples. I personally thought they were alright. Most of the group wasn't a huge fan of scotch.. who'da thunk? I befriended some Swedish Airforce pilots during our tour.
5:00 - Back in Inverness for dinner
Went out to explore the city a little more after relaxing in our rooms for a while. It was bigger than I expected, but really not much to report!

Day 3

9:00 - Cruise on Loch Ness. Dierdra tried hard to convince us that Nessie is in fact, a boy and in love with the monster in Loch Linny. Take your right hand, bend your hand down as if trying to touch your forearm. Do the same with the left. Sea monsters!! Now touch your elbows together. It's love!!

10:30 - Our cruise drops us off at Urquhart Castle (or what's left of it)

12:00 - Lunch in Fort Augustus

2:00 - Photo stop in Glencoe, a beautiful valley! Some claim it's the prettiest part of Scotland.

6:30 - Arrive home

It was a long trip! Saw a lot of things, especially the country side out the bus window. I'm in love.

While on the tour Ross sang us two songs. Here are links so you can listen to them yourselves!

Flower of Scotland (the unofficial national anthem) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPaJhlIIYjM

Massacre of Glencoe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cPitxtk4m0

you don't have to go to class when it's raining... right?

Wednesday evening, I got to dance!! Joining the dance club here means you get to take as many dance classes as you want. So I went to advanced jazz and advanced ballet. The classes were a little crowded for my taste, but it was still wonderful to move. They were both taught by 4th year students at the university. It's wonderful to see how someone else's dance club functions. (Speaking of, someone owes me an update about Terpsichore!!!!!) I also took a "contemporary" class on Friday night which was smaller because.. well it's Friday night. Contemporary here is actually what we call modern in the states. I had a great time. And I'm STILL sore. Probably more an indication of the fact that I'm outta shape instead of how great the class was buuuut that's another matter entirely.

On Thursday, I went swimming in the North Sea and this time I got documentation! I think it should show at the bottom of the blog, but if not here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXr-hmGDOWg

(Also, youtube just emailed me to congratulate me for uploading my first video. THANKS YOUTUBE!! I'm SO glad you work outside of the US!)

After swimming, I tried to join the Harry Potter Society. Yes this actually exists here! It's three pounds to join, you get sorted into a house, and then you all hang out. But I showed up too late and so I have to go sometime this week to be sorted. (I know you're jealous.) 

Friday morning I was woken up at 6 in the morning to a fire drill. I was so disoriented it took Sophie telling me to put shoes on before I even realized that I needed to go outside. (I'm also thankful for Soph because she bakes things...glorious chocolate things.) Then began raining while I was sitting in German class, so I got drenched on my way home. Rough morning. Perhaps you think I should invest in an umbrella? NOPE UMBRELLAS ARE FOR SISSYS. And practical people. We met our neighbors finally during the fire drill... although 6 am is not the best time to meet people. So they came over later in the evening with cookies. Hooray for new friends and stuff.

Yesterday (Saturday) I walked all the way to Morrison's. It's a much bigger grocery store in the Southern part of town. I bought groceries so now my only excuse for living on Frosted Flakes is laziness. I ran out yesterday though so I suppose tomorrow I'll try my hand at cooking. I don't have any mac and cheese (yet) so it may prove disastrous. At Morrison's we bought things to make stir-fry and all cooked together in Robyn's apartment. After that I went star gazing on the beach. There's a snail and a hedgehog that live in the sky here as well.

Today was a productive today... as long as you count exploration as productivity. I do, so let's run with it!

Elliott and I took a bus to a nearby town named Anstruther. One of the women running orientation in Edinburgh told us that you can get the best fish and chips in Scotland here. (Food? Yes, count me in!) We weren't hungry enough when we first got there so we looked at a map, picked a place called St. Fillan's cave, and took off in the general direction. We got distracted by the pier and a few cemeteries on the way but made it eventually. We had to pick up the key at the Cocoa Tree (a chocolate shop) and then walk on down to the cave. It was big enough to walk around in and they had the story of St. Fillan lit up inside. Then of course when we returned the key, we had to get chocolate. I got some that had rose flavoring in it. It was super. Elliott got one that had Scotch in it. The lady who made them warned him not to bite into it. He didn't but I had the camera ready for when the whiskey finally came through. Priceless. It was sunny on the walk back to the fish bar. Hills and sheep farms on the left + harbour then sea on the right = a beautiful and picturesque Scotland. The fish and chips were in fact the best I've ever had.  

I'll put pictures up on facebook. Missin you!