Sunburn

SUNBURN has never felt so good, nor been so welcome. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.

I woke up, went to class (ok, well it would have been perfect if I hadn't had class) then picnicked for 5 hours in the Meadows with my friends (and newly made friends!). We drank wine, which was accompanied with bread, cheese, prosciutto and salami. Makes a tasty sandwich, for sure. We chatted, I wrote postcards, we enjoyed the sun. It was really only meant to last two hours or so, and for some of my friends, that's all it was. But Kevin, Jordan and I were troopers and decided to stay out for as long as we could. (Hardly a challenge to stay outside.) They went off to buy beers and in search of a Nerf football while I chatted with Ranga, my Australian friend, and all of his UK friends. The boys and I played frisbee (where I successfully nailed an innocent bystander in the face) and then catch with a tennis ball. We contemplated eating dinner and coming back to the field, but by 6 o'clock the sun had worn me down and I realized I should probably start some of my homework. Some of us DO actually have papers to write. I pushed my paper writing back though, because a beautiful day such as today is apparently few and far between for this time of year so I wanted to soak it in.

Picture this: LITERALLY thousands of students (or young adults) all in one giant field, enjoying the sun. Hanging out with their friends, drinking, doing work, playing games- whatever they pleased. There were guitars, there were BBQs, there was everything. It looked like a giant festival- all because the weather had blessed us with 70 degree weather. Sure, I've seen Haverford's main green covered with a giant portion of Haverford, but that doesn't compare to what today was. Haverford's population could have fit in the sliver of grass I was sitting in and then duplicated time after time again. It was an incredible sight. THE COOLEST. And I was part of it! But then again, who wouldn't be? The sun is awesome.

[Sadly, my pictures couldn't capture just how spectacular the day was. I only took pictures when we first arrived, but as the day went on, it continued to fill.]

But anyway, after we parted ways, Kevin and I remarked how we both hadn't ran today and were bummed about it. Solution? We decided that we'd meet up in an hour and go running! Who cares that it would be 8? It was still light out! So Kevin and I set out on a run in uncharted territory which wound up being a run from Holyrood Park, to somewhere behind Calton Hill and past Princes Street until we wound up back at my place. Definitely a great way to end the day. 

Now I need to start working on my papers. So I'll bid you adieu. 

T-Shirt Weather!

SPRING! ITS ACTUALLY HERE! But apparently only for this week. So everyone is going crazy and enjoying it.

FRIDAY- A friend and I went to the FreshAir Festival, a student-run music festival of local bands (ranging from jazz bands to DJ club music to indie/folk). It was definitely one of the coolest things I've done in such a long time.  My friend and I hung out in the indie room most of the night, where we were joined by a few of my local friends. We chatted for a few hours and they left to go check out another room. Shortly after, we too changed rooms. We checked out the jazz room, which had a swing band playing when we entered. What fun music! Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was thrilled to hear the music live. Live music in general is just awesome. But the music festival really was such a cool experience. It was one of those times I reflected on how happy I am that I chose to come to Edinburgh for my study abroad experience. That the school I chose sponsors events like these.

KAIHO

 SATURDAY- Jordan had a friend visiting from Galway, so my posse got together to cook dinner and show her a nice night out. Our chicken vegetable stirfry was delicious and our night was (debatably) awesome as well. We club-hopped that night, starting at a free bar/club that was somewhat bizarre and then a 10 pound club where we only made it to the door and decided it wasn't worth the money. Our night was then spent wandering around the desserted shopping district of Edinburgh in the intense fog and finally stopping at McDonald's. Classy, I know. While our night didn't really go anywhere, it was a lot of fun, in my opinion.

[Side note- Yes, I'm wearing glasses. No, they aren't prescription.]

SUNDAY- The first warm day of spring! It was close to 70 degrees here (~67 I think) so Sonia and I decided to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather instead of working on our final paper. We checked out Calton Hill because Sonia had never been there and I hadn't photographed it when Matt was here. We hung out there for an hour or so, just enjoyed the heat, sunshine and beautiful scenery. We watched dogs play with each other, groups of students picnicking, etc. We then walked around Holyrood Park, my favorite place in all of Edinburgh (as you'd know if you've read my previous blog posts). We hung out by one of the bodies of water at the backside of the park for a while, with me lying in the grass. It was awesome. I still can't believe how beautiful it was out. It was tshirt weather- tank top weather even! At certain points of the day, if you were in the sun. It was SUCH a lovely day.

MONDAY- 67 DEGREE WEATHER AGAIN?! Jennie and I decided to get some work done in the little park inside George Square (our central campus). We were joined by several hundred other students also enjoying the day. I've been so happy and so in love with the sun that I think within a half hour of doing work outside, I did more work than I had in the last two days.

 I left Jennie, though, for something even more epic. Jordan, Kevin and I decided to go to the beach today. Not too far from the city center is Portobello, a beach town. The weather was just as nice, so it seemed fitting to go to some body of water. Also, we collectively have been realizing that our time here is starting to come to a close. We're attempting to see as much of our surroundings as possible. So Portobello it was! We spent a lovely few hours lounging at the beach, walking along the shore and playing (after buying) a frisbee. We played frisbee in a nearby park in Portobello where little boys played soccer. They noticed our presence and eventually realized we were American, which led to some pretty funny but inappropriate taunts. I was told I sucked at frisbee, which is the truth. No secret there. They told us to go back to America to President Obama and eat our cheeseburgers. Ouch, what a zinger... For some reason they really decided to pick on Kevin and told him to do some inappropriate things to "his missus" which we're still unsure who that meant. Possibly me? Probably since I was either called "missus" or "blondie". They eventually left us along, and we carried on to play on a deserted playground before catching a bus back home. 

 Now here I sit, typing this and thinking about 1. the paper I'm attempting to write 2. the picnic we're planning on having tomorrow. I am SO EXCITED. I think I may even be sunburnt. What a great day. And what a great day tomorrow will be. Sun and good friends.

Hope your day is as lovely as mine!

Alright, time to confess. You, not me. Which one of you was it? I received a package in the mail today (see below) that consisted of my name and address and that's it.  No letter saying who its from, no nothing. Just the contents of the package, which happens to be a very interesting dress. I love it! A strange dress from an unknown donor. Oh the intrigue! Please, if you can guess who sent me this, let me know. Reveal yourself! I want to thank you for the awesome surprise. 

Secondly, Kevin's surprise party for his 21st! It was a shocking success. Dinner was fabulous, the company was fabulous, and even the 'surprise' part of the party went well. He had no idea this was happening!

Side dish that went with dinner. SO AMAZING.

And would you look at that, its finally Spring! And starting to feel like it! (As in, its about 50-60 degrees F!) I don't have the proper attire for it just yet, though. My jacket is a tad too warm, but its no tshirt weather either. I need to find a nice somewhat thick sweater. Shopping spree?...

 

Our version of Founders Green

(I have to admit though, most of these photos were taken by my good friend Becca. I didn't bring my camera with me.)

Hope your spring is off to a great start!

St. Patrick's Day

A certain friend of mine complained about my lack of recent blog post. I told him nothing special has really happened to comment on, but nevertheless,  here one is.

Since my last post, the only event of consequence that has happened was St. Patrick's Day. I wound up celebrating the "Irish holiday" with 3 other Americans, 2 girls from the Czech Republic, a girl from Switzerland, a girl from France and a guy from India. Go figure. Who goes to Scotland to hang out with people from the UK/Ireland? The night was nevertheless pretty.... memorable. We had a nice night hanging out in Sonia's living room, but as the night progressed a few of us decided to press our luck at bars. If memory serves me right, we went to this local brewery Brew Dog and my friend who had just turned 21 at the stroke of midnight bought himself a 41% proof beer. We later wound up in this club that also was pretty happening, but that was to be expected. We danced a little, got hit on a lot, someone confessed their love to me, you know, a typical night. All in all, it was a really nice night. I wasn't in too great shape come Sunday, but I'd say it was worth it. Never have I ever been able to say I actually celebrated St. Patrick's Day until now.

Pretending I have a mustache/Showing off the mustache glass from when Matt visited

Seeing as my friend who turned 21 didn't have a real celebration to commemorate his birth, a group of my friends and I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. Shush, its happening tonight! It should be pretty spectacular. We have so much planned for him (dinner, dessert, decorations, gifts, etc) so he should be pretty excited.

Honestly, that's about it. I've been working decently hard on school the past week and this current week. The end of March/early April seems the time where the university has all of its major assignments due, so I've been trying to get everything done efficiently. Most of you probably don't know but the teaching part of the term actually ends April 6th, so we don't have much school left. That's why everything is due now. Personally, I only have 7 days of class left, since I have off on Fridays and my spring break trip actually starts on the 4th. Crazy, right? I'm almost done all of my classes in Scotland. Where did the semester go? (Just kidding, we still have two months here- just a long spring break and an even longer exam period).

Ok well that's about it. Stay classy.

Inverness & Loch Ness

A week's gone by and I've neglected to post anything about my trip to Loch Ness and Inverness, so I figured that I should probably get around to it now. Might as well, right? I'm procrastinating reading a paper so at least I seem somewhat productive. 

Inverness is the "capital of the Highlands" and about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Edinburgh. It was a rather spur the moment trip that was organized by my friend Jordan. He not only booked my friends Kevin, Britney and I tickets on the bus (that were only 21 pounds round trip!) and the hostel we'd be staying at. We arrived in Inverness around noon on Saturday, explored the city for about two hours, ate lunch and then hopped on a bus tour to go visit Nessie on Loch Ness. The tour consisted of a bus ride to the loch, a ferry ride on the loch and concluded with our visit to Urquhart Castle. It was definitely worth every penny. The Highlands are incredibly beautiful and while I didn't spot Nessie, I can't say I was in any way disappointed. 

The gang.

That night we experienced Inverness nightlife. We went to this awesome pub, Hootanany's, that was 3 stories of pure awesomeness. Unfortunately, half of Inverness agreed with us so the place was packed. We wound up hanging out on the third floor where there was room. The first floor had the most incredible live music. They were playing what I would assume was traditional Scottish music and with the little room available, there were drunk women dancing. As entertaining as that sounds, we went looking for more standing room upstairs on the second floor, to which we found a live local rock band. They were surprisingly good, but not to the taste of some of my friends so after about 20 minutes of that, we found ourselves upstairs on the third floor. We left to go check out a "recommended" nightclub by one of the cashiers we talked to. The club was called "Miami"- go figure. We went to the Scottish Highlands to go to a Miami nightclub. Unfortuntaly, the cover was 6 pound and I wasn't having that so we left. 

Sunday, as it turned out, was indeed a day of rest for those in Inverness. Basically everything was shut down. So the four of us went exploring. We walked until we found (what we think was) the ocean and, as our tour guide from the previous day suggested, went dolphin/seal/sea otter watching. That consisted of us eating bagels at a picnic table at the peak of where the ocean met the river Ness. Unbelievably we did see a seal, but our attention was actually drawn to the entertaining duck we found in the harbor. Later that day, we also decided to explore "the Ness islands" which are just small islands connected by walking bridges. There was a marathon going on that day so we wound up walking around the course cheering people on. Once we realized we had around 5 hours until our bus departed but nowhere else to go, we found ourselves in the Inverness mall and casually perusing stores but mainly just sitting in the food court. 

The ocean! (in the distance)

The river Ness

Walking along the Ness islands 

Overall I'd say it was an incredibly amazing trip. Spontaneity really pays off.

Oh and while I'm blogging. I made THE MOST DELICIOUS MEAL EVER. Pesto chicken pasta with broccoli, peppers and topped with mozzarella cheese. I am awesome.