09 March 2009

AH playing catchup!

So I might be a little behind on updating...

27 Feb - 1 March: Homestay in Stirling. Stayed with a nice grandma. Went to see the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle. I bought a fake plastic sword, similar to the one I had in childhood hahaha. I gave my homestay mom some New Hampshire things; she already had some of the Stonewall Kitchen jam I gave her!! 

Monday, 2 March: Today was the rectorial drag. Every 3 years a rector is elected by the student body. It's an honorary position and John Cleese was one in the 1970s. He arrives in a strange way that no one else has done before (this year it was on a B. Janetta's ice cream cart), and then he is dragged in a carriage by students through the town and makes various stops at pubs along the way. At night was the torchlight procession from St Salvatore's Quad to the pier. Everyone wears their academic gown and carries torches down and walks up and down the pier. Mind you, this is in the dark, with the wind blowing, and part of the pier is above the rest and about 1.5 feet wide. Kind of nerve-wracking, but a cool thing to experience. 

6 - 8 March: Loch Lomond weekend! This was an outdoor weekend that involved all of the IFSA-Butler kids in Scotland, about 120 in all (mostly from Edinburgh and then St Andrews). Stirling and Glasgow School of Art only had 12 kids combined! So we all stayed in this hostel in Balloch, which is on the southernmost tip of Loch Lomond, which happens to be the biggest body of water in the UK, but it is not as deep as Loch Ness. We all stayed in this monster hostel that used to be a castle!! It was right on the banks of the loch. It was rainy all weekend, which made for an interesting Saturday. In the morning, my small group went rock climbing indoors, then we went outside to go abseiling (rapelling) down a 50 foot cliff!! We would have climbed it, then abseiled down, but we didn't have enough time. 

After lunch, we went GORGE WALKING. This activity should actually be entitled WATERFALL CLIMBING. You are literally walking in the middle of the waterfall at points, grabbing onto the wet rocks, climbing up logs in the middle of the waterfall. Did I mention that this is all without safety equipment, except for waterproof ponchos and pants, and a helmet? At times you have to grab onto a rope, and climb on part of the wall that overhangs the waterfall, in order to keep ascending. Every time Joe, our leader, brought us to a new challenge, I thought to myself, "You have got to be kidding me. There is no way in HELL I can climb that, even I if I was crazy enough to want to!!" And yet, each time, he should us how, and we did it, albeit sometimes we ended up slipping into the waterfall and becoming soaked all over. The experience made everyone feel pretty accomplished. 

This week has been pretty laid back... nothing too interesting except for the fact that I tried SUSHI last night!! Needless to say, I didn't like it. Big surprise there. It's not even the taste; it's the texture and just how the whole thing feeeeels... blech. But now that I've tried it, I can refuse it whenever I want and claim that I truly don't like it. 

Next week, I actually have work due... a paper outline on Monday, a normal presentation on Wednesday, and my first St Andrews paper on Friday!!!!! Yikessss. I'm glad I'm not one of the Butler kids who went to Dublin this weekend for St Paddy's Day; I would be screwed with a capital S. 

BUT... on Friday, I am going to Amsterdam for the weekend!! And then the week after that, it's Spring Break time wahooo! We get two weeks off, and with my 4 day weekends, it's almost like have 2.5 - 3 weeks off. I am completely booked for Prague on the 29th, and then I just booked my flights to Rome on 2 April, where I am going to meet up with Emily, who is studying in Venice! After that, I really want to go to Dublin for a few days. That leaves a couple days to relax in St Andrews on either end of my trip. 

Ah, Europe is just wonderful. 

3 comments:

  1. ur to much of a wus ta toke in amsertdam hahaha!!1 there's my short and asinine comment for you.

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  2. I don't think a response to that is necessary, or advisable. Just a thought.

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  3. thanks for FINALLY updating me on your life my friend!!!

    ReplyDelete