Alba

So, the reason it has taken me so golly- gosh darn long to write is because two weeks ago I went to the Highlands, and Oh my gosh take me back. However as I say that, I've been trying to write down how amazing it was and how utterly life changing, but every time I sat down to write it all out I felt like this:

NOTHING. Nothing washed upon the shores of the blank page in front of me, I'm allowed to be a Prima Donna ONCE in a while (if you ask my brothers they'll say it's more than once in a while but they are wrong). The short of the story is I went to the Highlands through this tour service called Highland Experience, and honestly if you want a really good time, book with these people. Literally the most wonderful weekend I have had yet. So I piled into a wee bus with 18 other travelers (a family from Delhi, three middle aged bros, an overly affectionate couple from Spain, a less publicly affectionate couple from England, a girl and her aunt from I have no idea, a guy round about my age, and then there was me with a couple of friends). Our tour guide's name was James, originally from the Isle of Skye (where some of my people are from) but he now lives in Glasgow. NOT TO MENTION he was just a wee bit of a thing and he wore a kilt for the entire weekend. Yeah, I was in heaven. Before being a tour guide he worked in forestry so in the middle of a sentence James would break off and go "... and if you look to your right you'll see the Caledonian Pine..." Needless to say (but you know I'm going to say it) it was magical. Along with his magical descriptions and knowledge of the nature whizzing by us, James came up with these gems (accompanied by representations of my reactions):

"about as useful as a chocolate teapot"

"then there were these people... called the Victorians. And they were all on opium"

"This bridge we're crossing is actively crumbling, but don't worry, it's got a couple of months left in it"

"first week on the job the first aid kit fell and hit me on the back of the head. <laughs> That's just my life, concussed by a first aid kit"

"while you were away eating lunch I was having a confrontation with a parking attendant... I can be quite aggressive when provoked"

".. that is a strathgarry, and a strath is a glen... <thirty seconds of silence> which is a valley"

"a toast to the little man in the velvet suit... in other words a toast to a mole"

"eventually all of the Highlanders were replaced by sheep, because they were less rebellious"

"this color has become synonymous with Scotland. The trees are ginger. The land is ginger. Our women are ginger, we have ginger squirrels. We have red traffic lights. Basically everything is ginger"

".. by the by, if anyone collects fungus..."

"hurling, it's like hockey for psychopaths. Look- over there you can see some young hooligans playing it... oh wait... it looks like they are just running around... my mistake"

So yeah, we stopped and spent the night on the shores of Loch Ness, and I had some really good haggis. Like mind blowingly good. And I hear you ask: how can haggis be good, and to that I reply HOW CAN IT NOT BE?! I honestly can't express in words how beautiful the Highlands are, but I will say that on the drive back into Edinburgh my face looked something like this:

If you want the long version of the trip, please ask and I will go on for hours, I'm so glad I went! Life kept whizzing by after the trip and classes are continuing to escalate, one thing I have noticed about the university system here is that professors, as brilliant as they may be, are often closed against new ideas that contradict their own. This is frustrating but NO MATTER, I refuse a couple of close-minded profs to prevent me from having a grand old time while I am here.

In scone news I have yet to find a better scone than that of Kilimanjaro's.

Until the next post,


xxoo

E 

Completely Unrelated to Anything Scottish

So, unless you have been living under some sort of heavy object, or like Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder (look him up, it's totally worth it) you will know about Miley's latest single 'Wrecking Ball' and how it literally made the internet explode with every emotion possible. I'll admit, at first I was shocked  disappointed and didn't really know what to do with myself after watching the music video (yes I watched it). But I the lyrics are really well done, and I think have been lost due to the over sexualization of  the music video and the current media surrounding Miss Miley. SO in order to show you guys how really beautiful this song is, I have posted the best (in my opinion, which let's face it, is the only opinion that really counts on this matter) covers and mashups to come out of the Wrecking Ball media frenzy. 

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact I am procrastinating writing an essay for my Celtic Literature course.

Okay, maybe it does.... but these are just so cool!

So have a listen to these covers (in no particular order) done by some really talented artists, and know that my next (actual) blog post is just around the corner!

1. 

Eli Lieb

2. 

Miley Cyrus & Mumford & Sons - Little Wrecking Ball

3. 

James Arthur

4. 

@chestersee

5. 

Corey Gray & Jake Coco

6. 

Liza Anne feat. Tim Kampen

7. 

@ceejofficial

8. 

Charity Vance

I hope you enjoy them, I know I did.

XXOO

E

I Think I'm Living in Camelot

Right, so before you read this update click HERE.

Yeah, so as you can probably figure out for yourself between the title of this post and the video of the ever majestic Mr. Burton, the weather here has been amazing, beyond that even! Everyday has greeted me with a blue sky and mild temperatures, towards the late afternoon when I am safe in my flat, the sky goes grey with clouds and the wind picks up. Then it rains during the night, to end before I open my curtains the next morning. I literally don't understand, I was expecting rain, fog, cold sweater weather and I have been greeted with better weather than I would have found back in New England. Yeah- this country is beautiful, this I could get used to.

BUT SERIOUSLY...

I have also found that I have developed a system to rank the many coffee houses, and several bars I have visited over my time here. for coffee houses I've hit up the Elephant House, mostly known for its close association with Harry Potter and it's writer J.K Rowling. Did I say writer? Oh that's funny I meant prolific writer that defined a generation and gave children the tools to dream. Just saying. Anyway, I entered and was wowed by the sheer number of elephants littered around the entire shop.. literally everywhere. So I cued up and ordered a latte and a scone. Firstly the entire thing was overpriced, so this counted as a strike one. THEN they proceeded to give me a plain scone- without jam or butter, this is not the way to my heart.

I ended up grabbing a couple of diner-jams and pre packaged butter, and sat myself down to a mediocre tea. Overall I was kind of, not to be whiny but disappointed in the Elephant House, and I don't think I will be going back any time soon.  The best of all the bests is a little shop called Kilimanjaro Coffee, I literally have dreams about this place. Not to mention that right next door is a little used book shop, and I have developed a habit of stopping into the book store on my way to grab a cup of coffee or tea. Every time I tell myself that I won't buy a book- but then I see it and I HAVE TO BUY IT. HAVE TO.

The scones are the size of an infants head, and they serve it with a jar of clotted creme ( £0.40 extra, but even still you're paying £2.30 for a huge scone and jam AND CLOTTED CREME). For those who do not fully understand the beauty of clotted creme ya'll need to click on THIS read it, and

BUY THE CLOTTED CREME. It may be the least healthy thing ever, but I love it. ESPECIALLY when it comes with a scone. I could literally go on for hours about this, but I won't bore you... But seriously if you ever want to talk scones just shoot me an email or a text and I will go on until the sun rises. I have a problem.

How I rate the many bars in Edinburgh is how they make their gin and tonic (the key here is loads and loads of lime) and whether or not they know how to make a dark and stormy (see picture below).

So far my top three are Frankensteins, The Doctor's and Malone's. Frankensteins offers a weird out of body experience with an antiquated architecture and set up, but modern lighting and music. The two big draws as I see it to this place is that above the bar, there are three big monitors playing old black and white movies and then the second is that at midnight Frankenstein descends from the ceiling. The Doctors is a little more mature and low key, gilded with a taste of the good ole days, this is a popular place for a quiet drink and a good chat with a couple of friends. And then there is Malone's, this is the perfect University student bar, they offer a discount card on several popular drinks, so that's nice. Its a good place to meet new people, however if you are looking for something on the smaller scale Malone's is not the bar for you- its massive with an opening area sitting room, a dance floor on the ground floor with booth seating and an upper tier seating level. Malone's is a good place to watch a game of football if you want the cheers and chants to go along with it. But if you wanted a quiet and casual night of drinks you might get there and feel like this:

This weekend I have a grand adventure up off into the Highlands and I am buzzin. It's a two day grand adventure to all of these places:

I think the place I am most excited to go to is Glen Coe... no wait it's Loch Ness... No wait Iverness... No wait, ALL OF THEM!!! Gah, I thought I had gotten pass my ermergerdertscrtlnd  phase but clearly I am not, ah well hopefully this trip will tide me over for a wee while. Hopefully.

A couple of quick facts:

1. Don't freak out when you're at the self checkout and the darn thing-a-ma-giggy wont scan. Just bat your eyelashes, slap on a smile and ask for help.

2. Bring your own shopping bags, if not to save the environment to save your arms and fingers.

3. Split your grocery shopping up into two different days during the week. Fresh products and breads expire really quickly in Scotland, so this way you'll have a variety of foods and won't have to waste any of them!

4. When you're learning your way around the city know which shortcuts to take and WHEN to take them, like don't cross the Meadows at night... ever.

5. There is a lot you can do for free and have a blast- it might take a little digging, but with a little faith, trust and pixie dust you'll find them (my personal favorites are the National Museum, Arthur's Seat and Greyfriar's)

6. Say yes to most things, not everything, but this way you'll continue to push yourself out of your comfort zone which is a good thing. Mostly.

7. Live like your a student. Now having said this, don't deprive yourself of experiences or memories because it might be a little pricey- you are studying abroad, and there is more to life than studying. So when you're caught in a situation where you're going:

Indulge, treat yourself to that trip or to that book, just find a balance between living like a student and living abroad.

Well, that's all I have for now, until my next post!

xxoo

E

Making Belle Jealous One Book at a Time

One of the most mind blowingly awesome things about being in Scotland is how at home I feel, I have on several occasions been asked how long I have lived in the city to which I reply  laughing "it seems like forever, but in conventional terms only three weeks." It is amazing how quickly days become ritualistic, like every morning I pour a bowl of Cheerios and blueberry yogurt to compliment my cup of instant coffee.

I leave my flat pretty much t the same time every day listening to my walking music playlist titled "you got this," and strut my stuff the fifteen minute walk to class. The other day I ignored my pre-made playlist and put my entire library one music on shuffle (a version of Russian roulette except the bullets were music and the luck portion was attributed to a random algorithm produced by my iPod. I digress.) It was a cold, drizzly day and Toccata and Fuge in D Minor began to play just as I stepped outside of my flat. It was perfect. Classes seem to be settling down as well, my unsolicited advice to all those studying abroad at any point in the UK is that the first couple of classes will seem scary HOWEVER don't let that deter you from taking the course. My priorities are health- studies- traveling, and I know that this is not the most popular approach to,studying abroad, yet as I have to remind myself on the daily I am studying abroad, not taking the semester off to travel,Europe. Having said all of this I have begun to make plans to travel the British Isles and Ireland, and hopefully make it to Paris and Normandy in December. 

On the subject of studying, I have spent a good portion of each day here (save Saturday and Friday of last week) working and reading in the Main Library of the University. In part because my courses require me to check out books and print off articles, but mostly because this library would rival that of the Beast's in Beauty and the Beast. 

Aesthetically, it looks like part of the set from the origonal Star Trek. A set that has over 3.5 million books. I literally don't have enough time in the year, let alone day to read as many of these as I would like to. This library has allowed me to touch and read a rare manuscript as well as access cutting edge theories on the Welsh kingdoms in the 11th centuries.  I am in nerd heaven.

Total books,checked out and read thus far: 20

Articles read: 35

If I am completely honest... It's going to be really difficult to look at my home university's library the same way ever again. The one way the library at home is better is the printing. While both sport wireless and cloud printing, at home the printing is free, and here it costs £0.05 per page.

 I am so not about this life. So as a direct result I have been learning how to read articles without destroying them with my annotations. I know, first world problems. 

The leaves on the trees here have yet to begin their firework display of colours, however I think it may start soon! Also be warned pumpkin and apple flavour lovers: SCOTLAND DOES NOT DO SEASONAL FLAVOURS. NOTHING IS FLAVOURED PUMPKIN IN HONOUR OF OCTOBER, THERE ARE NO PUMPKIN COFFEES. NOTHING. Its been rough. 

In summary, I am loving living here in every capacity possible. 

Until next time, 

Xxoo

E

Thistle Do

Two weeks into my awe inspiring semester and and I have only had one proper day of rain and grey, hence the sparsity of posts. So here I am, sitting with a cup of tea to finally write. My Journey started off on the 6th of September in Logan Airport where I said goodbye to my family and crossed through the first of like, 14 different security checks. As I was removing my shoes and placing my belongings in the grey security tubs I started to cry, but just a little. It was enough for the security guards to keep shooting me glances of concern out of the corner of their eyes but not enough to alarm the other travelers around me. After waiting in Logan, I boarded the plane and waved my beautiful USA goodbye.

The Flight itself was uneventful, and thank goodness for that. I sat next to a BBC executive, and we chatted for a good couple hours about religion and theological paradoxes which as you may well know works up quite an appetite. So we dined in relative silence on what I can only describe as really good food. Yeah I know. Good airline food. I know what you're thinking, this can't have possibly happened. It did, I knooow riiiiight?!!  Once I had landed in the good ole' UK I had to go through I think four thousand high tech security checks, and every time I cleared one I did something like this:

Then after four hours of sleeping and waiting we boarded the plane headed for Scotland. My arrival into Scotland was breathtaking, as we descended in the plane I had to pry my face from the window.I had finally arrived. By this time my jet lag had set in and all I wanted was orange juice, it was my holy quest, my mission- without orange juice I wouldn't survive. Luckily I was traveling with angels, so while I curled up in a corner of Heathrow they bought be a bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice and brought it to me. Nothing has ever tasted so glorious. Nothing.

The first couple of days were a blur, I was running around the city getting bedding, a mirror, shampoo etc. By the end of the first day I kinda felt like

But I wasn't chain smoking..... I have asthma.....

However, I did do it.

I spent most of my Freshers week being a tourist, I climbed Arthur's Seat, visited the Castle and St Margaret's Chapel (which was honestly a hugely spiritual moment for me).

Me and St. Margaret's window

I have walked Princes St and the Royal Mile, etc. When I finally stopped my jet lag caught up to me and I had a proper low day. Then the Scottish sun set on my Freshers week and slowly rose over the first week of me being a fully matriculated student at the University of Edinburgh. Oh. My. Lanta.

There have been some moments where all I wanted was a hug from home, to curl up in my bed and close my eyes. Being as close to my family, and this being the furthest I've ever been away on my own has been scary and overwhelming.

Not going to lie... a great amount of chocolate has been consumed. 

However having said that... I am so beyond elated to be able to study in Scotland, the land of my ancestors. I have completely fallen in love with this city and the people, and now that I've been here for almost two full weeks I feel like I know my way around the city and University. I have this cute little Turkish tea shop I frequent, my flatmates are more then I could have asked for, and I am settling into my classes with relative ease. I can't wait to see what these next couple of months have to offer.

Until next time,

xxoo

E

Time to Fill My Boots

Ohmygawd ohmygawd ohmygawd it's finally happening! So what have I been doing with my last 24 hours in good ole 'Murica? Well honestly, I've been working on my mope. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy and jazzed to finally be fulfilling a lifelong dream (I know I'm only twenty, however I stand by my statement). I have been dreaming of going to Scotland, the land of my family, and now it is a dream finally becoming reality. ERMERGERD. Holy smokes. It's happening. Dear God. Wait. This is real.

Unlike Mr. Bilbo Baggins, I will not forget important items such as cloaks and pocket handkerchiefs 

Much like the adorable hobbit above, I am indeed going on an adventure. My bags are fully packed, My ticket has been printed and I am ready. However just because I am ready doesn't mean I am devoid of the feels... I've discovered that when I transition between locations (now when I say locations I don't mean like, supermarket or hair salon, I'm talking about transitions to and from places where I am going to be spending a significant amount of time) really sucks. I feel like I am split between where I am and where I'm going. Ugh it just makes me go:

And then a little bit like:

I digress.


But now that I am less than 24 hours out, it's getting better and I think I'm less mopey... I think. Anyway, I have filled a journal with all of the places I want to go and the things I want to do and see. I have also (in my infinite wisdom) have compiled a list of really important bits of information and wisdom to share with whomever is silly enough to take it.

1. Figure out financial stuff earlier rather than later. I was lucky enough to have parental help on this one, but if I had been on my own I would have been totally screwed. It all worked out in the end, but applying for debit and credit cards that would work for me and wouldn't rack up huge charges while over in the UK was more complicated than I had thought it was going to be. So lesson learned, financial hoop jumping is a pain and if left to the last minute may make you want to:

2. Buy a burner phone once you're over there. If your phone is unlocked then you are one luck son of a nutcracker. However if you are in my boat, get textPlus. This is the bombdiggity, it allows you to text and call other textPlus users for free where ever you are in the world, it also has super low rates for phone calls with people not using textPlus. It's free and paired with a pay as you go burner phone this is a winning deal in my opinion.

3. Pack the Basics. You are going abroad, there will be places for you to shop and accrue clothes, so don't freak out. A good bit of wisdom passed on to me was that I should be able to carry my suitcase by myself. I'm decently strong, but I'm no Bruce Banner, so keeping my luggage light(ish) was and is important. By packing the basics you can layer and make dozens of outfits. Also packing less clothes leaves room for more shoes. You will be fabulous.

Werk those layers.

4. Print duplicates of EVERYTHING. Just common sense here, you never know what might happen, you might not have your wallet due to a series of unfortunate events. Just copy plane tickets, deeds to accommodation, bank statements, passports, credit/debit cards etc. HOPEFULLY and God willing you won't ever need the copies but there you are... Make sure you keep the copies separate from the actual documents and the like, basically copies are a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

Although, I can't say that a photocopy of your rear will do much for you with border security.

5. Take in as MUCH as you possibly CAN, then take in more. I found out so so much in the whole application and gathering process. I can't even imagine how much I'm going to learn once I'm actually there, not just reading about it late at night. I plan on keeping my eyes wide open for all of the opportunities.

6. Feel ALL of the feels. This one I believe is self explanatory, feel happy, sad, confused, anxious, adventurous, excited, terrified, lonely, smothered, bored whatever you feel roll with it. 

This is an okay feeling:

so is this:

and this:

And FINALLY, here are my top six Study Abroad Apps:

1. Skype
2. textPlus
3. Sleep Time
4. Postagram
5. MyFitnessPal
6. Google Translate

The next time I will be posting from Scotland!

Until then

xxoo

E

Launching in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

So, a whole lot has happened since I first posted those many months ago, so grab a cup of tea and we'll catch up!

Well, where to begin? When last I posted, I had just barely committed to studying abroad, and it hadn't really hit me fully that I would be setting out into the great big world guns ablaze (not really though...). First I had no idea how much paperwork I was going to have to actually do, for some reason I thought that once I had been accepted to the program everything would magically fall into place, ohhhh how wrong I was. Thankfully my parental units were totally magnanimous and helped me make sure that I was meeting all deadlines and x-ing where I should x- you know crossing my i's and dotting my t's. One of the biggest things I've had to prepare for is obtaining my Tier 4 Visa. This is a really important document, and if I were studying abroad for an entire year I would have had to fill out a lot more, HOWEVER since I am studying abroad for less than 6 months, I will be getting my Visa at the mothertrucking border. It shouldn't be a big deal, however that hasn't prevented me from having stress dreams of me standing in customs and the security officer going "nope. Sorry we don't want you here."

(no- wait- LET ME IN!)

 So there's that lovely, yet completely ridiculous thought for you.

Another major element in my abroad preparedness has been the acquisition  of a credit card/ debit card that wouldn't charge me a transaction fee, or rob me blind... yeah, still working on that perfect package however DISCLAIMER, again my Mum was instrumental in helping... hell doing the entire process for me. Basically lesson learned, you are never too old not to ask and accept help from your parents. Thanks Mum!


Packing has been the most stressful and horrific part, mostly because for some reason I really hate the transition between two places (this includes transitioning between my camp job, moving to and from College etc). So anyway the first step I took towards readying myself was placing a ban on the word 'packing' in my house and instead have called the process 'gathering.' It's gotten to the point where I will yell "GATHERING"  if someone starts to say a work that starts with a 'p'.... I may or may not be out of control...

(however sometimes I forget my own ban and say the p- word and scare myself)

So, I started by GATHERING (not packing.....) and with most of my stuff it looked kinda like this, one horrible, stress inducing mess. However, Mum to the rescue again (I'm sensing a theme...) With the power of two we were able to pack all of this

into two suitcases. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! The suitcases are under in weight and dimension for the airline I'm taking- BOOYAH!!! There is also this super handy packing trick where you take your clothes, roll them up, place them in a huge ziplock bag, and then suck the air out with a straw. I know, sounds a little funny but it is magic for muggles. Because of that very trick I was able to fit ALL of my clothes into one suitcase, and that has never happened to me before... like ever. So I'm pretty psyched about the whole gathering thing. So now it's to the point where I'm doing the final round up, and most of my things are packed. However, my dog Maggie has picked up on the fact that one of her humans is leaving her, so she made her official declaration of protest by stalking my every move (she figured out it was me) and has systematically made every pile of my stuff on the floor her personal bed

(underneath her in this photo are my sneakers, computer charger and I think a couple pairs of socks)

And while my dog may not be very excited that I'm leaving her, I am so totally excited to make the jump over the pond to Scotland. 

Until the next post

(which I promise will be sooner than this one was)

xxoo

E