Scotland

Yo yo yo!

This is my last blog for my spring semester abroad 2011!  I'm finally finishing it! Thank you for reading whatever you read!  Here it goes: Scotland.

The plan was to go to Switzerland.  Brynn and I tried to make it happen, but we ended up spending all our days together in Italy, which I feel was a good choice, because Switzerland is just too darn expensive for just a few days!  BUT, I did get there, in a way. Brynn and I left each other in Rome; she went to Uganda for three weeks, and I had a layover in...Switzerland! For a few hours. Haha. So I walked around the Geneva airport and outside it in a random forest--got to smell clear air and see mountains in the distance. And yes, everything was expensive. I lost my boarding passes for about 10 minutes, but thank the Lord, I found them.  That woulda been a disaster. 

I met up with my friend Max, a Californian whom I met in Spain at the same college.  We couch surfed with a couple, Judy and Tavis, in the suburbs of Edinburgh.  Now this place is COOL. Towering, grey, gothic-style buildings crowd steeply-stacked streets.  The Royal Mile is yes, a mile-long, wide street of shops, restaurants, street duos and trios, pubs, coffee shops, and everything.  I remember the weather being pretty chilly and grey, but it was still awesome, and it made the grass look especially green.

Judy and Tavis were awesome.  They met at a haunted hostel where they scared people walking by and dressed up in costumes.  I think that explains them pretty well.  And they like pirates a lot.  They were just so quirky and funny, and we really enjoyed our time with them.  Tavis is a giant.  He reminds me of a slimmer, handsome Hagrid, but with some dreadage going on instead of a long beard.  We went to a Chinese buffet with them haha--random!  And walking around the city, to a pub, and we took pictures with the Scottish guards standing outside a famous castle (Apparently you're a true Scottsman if you were nothing under your kilt!). We stayed with J&T for two nights on their surprisingly comfy floor.

We JUST BARELY (running like mad) made it to the bus on time the next morning to Inverness, the heart city of the Highlands.  We stayed in a cute, fun hostel that I automatically felt comfortable in, because of the people.  That same day we took a taxi to the Loch Ness, where, I tell ya, I was on cloud nine.  I needed this escape to absolutely beautiful water, pebbley shore, fields and fields of GREEN, yellow buttercups, and woods on a plateau overlooking the water.  Magnificent.  The sun was so strong, as was the wind, that made it pretty chilly! Max and I explored the woods, walked through an abandoned house, saw a castle-like hotel, and hitch-hiked with a bus driver, David, of a huge, nice bus back to our place.  That night we ate haggis. Yup, sounds nasty. But it is the most popular delicacy there, and it was pretty good (sheep guts wrapped in sheep stomach, on mashed potatoes), until I was finished and it hit me that I had just eaten that.  We stayed at this pub to watch a bag-pipe and accordion duo perform a rip n' roarin' set, and we danced on the floor!

The next day we ventured out to Ben Wyvus, a mountain we hiked up.  And boy was it strenuous--just straight up!  And never-ending! Fortunately, it was really chilly and sunny.  We spent hours up there and met many different people, but mostly Scottish, to our surprise. Then, to meet our bus on time to go back, we tried running for about three-four miles (bad planning) and got there just in time, to find that the bus was already full. "Can we sit on the floor?" I ask. Nope.  He wouldn't have it! Haha so we hitched a ride with two super nice, old men. Thank God.  That night, we hung out with the people in the hostel; we played Egyptian Ratscrew with Amile, one of the coolest guys ever.  Probably fifty-something, was born in Scotland, but is half Spanish, half Indian. WOW.  He was just so fun to talk to, and we still keep in touch!  I taught "Heart and Soul" to a drunk Scottish guy on the hostel's piano, played piano for a bunch of them haha, and spoke Spanish with Juan and his friend.  It was a good, eclectic night.

Then we were off, back on the bus to Edinburgh the next morning, to stay with Harry Giles for two nights.  He lives in a part of the city called Leath, which has the longest gradually declining hill you could imagine.  We couch surfed with Harry and his 6 roommates, who all live communally (money pot for food, etc.).  Harry likes acting and is really involved in the community.  That night, Max and I went to the Jazz Bar, which is well-known and classy.  We happened to go on the perfect night, when five of Scotland's best jazz musicians performed (and had never rehearsed before).  Amazing.  The next day we walked around and hiked up Arthur's Seat, which enabled us to see a great view of the whole city.  Later we sat in a coffee shop/restaurant/recording studio/massage place/hair salon/venue/worship hall/art gallery (I'm not even kidding you; this place was awesome) called the Forest, where Harry works.  Super cool.  On our walk to the Meadow, we spotted a marching, drumming-through-the-city protest, promoting Scotland's independence from Great Britain.  Then we met up with Harry, some of his roomies, and friends for a game of ultimate frisbee.  The best possible way to end our time in Scotland.  I couldn't help but say, "Wow. I never thought I'd be playing ultimate with strangers in Scotland." Incredible. And so much fun.  Afterwards, we tagged along with a few of them to watch their friend's band play a set in a FREE venue, and we really enjoyed their music. 

And that was Scotland!  Such a cool, cool place, from what we saw.  The people and their accent made it awesome, especially.  I am so happy I went there and that I had a friend to experience it with me. 

I am also extremely happy with how smoothly things went...the next morning I flew to London for a layover and then to Sevilla to spend one last night with Guille, my host mom.  She fixed up some salmorejo for me (super nice of her), and we had a lovely convo.  Gosh, she was good to me.  The next day, I gathered my big, red suitcases, lugged them to the airport bus stop, and said goodbye to Sevilla. The flight home was long but enjoyable, as I wrote some jokes, met some really nice people, and had flight-long conversations with some of them.  And I DID it! I was nervous about the flight home, but it couldn't have been smoother.  I thank God for that.

And I thank God for it all.  I will always remember this spectacular semester abroad. :)