The end of a chapter

How I felt at the end of the trip and how I thought I would feel were not the same. Maybe it hasn't fully hit me that I may not see some of these people ever again and those I will see again, it won't be the same. I don't know if we'll really be friends when we get back or if we'll just nod at each other as the only form of acknowledging our time together. I haven't given it to much thought to be honest. Normally I would but I think that so many things in my life haven't gone as planned that I've stopped imagining how things will go. I'm tired of unnecessary pain that I inflict upon myself. I know this isn't what is expected as a wrap up for the trip but the group made the trip. Trying to imagine the trip without Evan or either of the Jakes is impossible. There are moments when the knowledge that I probably won't see Jake Hanley again is just another fact of life, like the grass is green and the sky is blue. But there are other moments when it's a horribly sad thought because he is so different from the world, and I am so much apart of it when I know I shouldn't be. This is the problem with being home and having nothing to do, I think too much. Maybe I should have done my wrap up while there with everyone still; maybe then I would be more focused on Scotland and her people.

I loved the land. The rolling hills, the green grass, the water were all amazing. I understand a little the pull the land had for Chris in Sunset song. It's the same Michigan has for me. On the drive home from the airport I was just happy to see all our trees again and the familiar landscape. I can't honestly imagine living anywhere except for Michigan. It's how she felt about Scotland and the mearns. I guess that's more in line with what's expected, but I so rarely do what's exactly expected of me that I just don't know if I can continue in that line of thinking. I love weird moods, they produce some of the most bizarre things.

There are still things that happened on the trip that I may never understand. Things happen for a reason I've been told many a times but I just wish I could know the reasons. Can a person you only know for 3.5 weeks change you? I don't know, and if they do, would you be able to trace the change back to them? Would you know they are the reason you aren't the same anymore? This is considerable out of line with what's excepted and I'm enjoying it a little. Cartrite may read this and think I'm on something but I'm not. The most interesting things come when we're sober and honest.

I'll end now because I don't know how much longer I can write vaguely without giving the whole thing away and maybe I have given it all away without knowing it. People are always surprising with what they notice. I enjoyed the trip, the land, and the people. I also plan to go back someday because it may be my favorite place I've visited over seas yet. Which means it beats Frace, Italy, and Spain. And thus the chapter of my trip ends.

EDIT:

I just thought of this while writing my paper. I would put into my paper but it doesn't fit. For Glasgow being the city in Scotland with the highest crime rate, no one spoke ill of the city. Multiple times people told us that we should have gone to Glasgow, it was a shame we weren't going there, and was worth the trip.

Black hawks 5 games to 2? What is he thinking?

5/17 Another free day in Edinburgh, needed or no? I’m in a weird mood so please bear with me. It may be because we leave tomorrow or because of family things, I’m not sure but this is where we are and it must be endured. At least Sunday was a nice day outside. It would have been sad if it had been another rainy gross day. I realize I sound juvenile when I write these type of things but so be it. I ate my normal breakfast of two pieces of toast with peanut butter, talked with Katelynd, figured out our shower didn‘t work, ate lunch at the Mall with Mara, Dave, Evan, Nicole, Jess, Jake R., and Courtney. I had over priced Chinese food, my favorite really. I love paying to much money for food, makes my day. Moving on, after finishing lunch Dave, Jake R., and I had to go look for Evan because he ran off. That was also a good time. Once we found him the boys went to the other mall for gummies and I headed back to the hostel to go on a walk with Katelynd around Edinburgh. Jake and Craig were in the room when I got there. Jake didn’t believe that the shower didn’t work so he had to see for himself before Katelynd and I went on our walk. He soon figured out that it was the shower, and not me that was messed up. Katelynd and I walked around the city for an hour or so. We talked about random thing. On our walk we went by the National Museum and by Parliament. Following our walk we sat in the room listening to Craig’s iPod until it was time to go to Mary King’s Cross. Mary Queen’s cross really cool, it’s a tour of the old city which was built on top of. There are old houses and streets preserved you can walk through. I think our tour guide liked us because we were just having fun with each other. At one point, he started to play with a squeaky mouse and Sam freaked out. I jumped a little but she like grabbed me and spun around so she was behind me. Then at another point we were listening to a story and I have Kyle next to me jumping, Katelynd holding my hand while she sits on my lap, and Emma on the other side holding my other hand while she leans her head on my side. I keep telling her she was safe and that Mountain Man (Jake) wouldn’t let anything happen because he was on her other side. After the tour was finished some of us went to the restaurant where we were having dinner. It was a nice little place. This was the time we were explaining to Cartrite why no one talked in class and how he is intimidating. At dinner the girls sat at a booth by themselves and ordered two booths of wine. I had two glasses of wine because our waitress accidentally brought us the wrong bottle and not many of the other girls liked red. Once we finished our wonderful meal, a group of us returned to the hostel to watch the wings game. A random guy said he thought the black hawks would take the red wings 5-2 games and Chris actually got really upset by this. I don’t know why, the wings won the game 4-2. After the game was a lot of weirdness I guess. I don’t know if Cartrite really wants to know, he already thinks I’m weird enough, he doesn’t need any reason to think I’m even more weird. I did have to take a shower in the boy’s room because our was broken. There is so much I would write if I didn’t know Cartrite was going to read this but there are still things I’ll keep amongst just the students, course I’ll include the things in the stories I tell my friends and that’s all that really matters. I did have a man in his 50s-60s call me gorgeous as he said good bye while I was talking with Jake. He was a cute little man looking for the bathroom in the hostel.

Nap Time

I couldn't give up my habit of doing two journal entries at once. It's such a common practice I had to do it at least once before I left.
5/15 Our free day in Edinburgh was a crappy crappy day. It was rainy, windy, and gloomy looking. I also felt like crap so that really helped. We're all getting sick and I LOVE it. Ugg. The biggest thing I did was to travel to the Royal Mile again and got into some of the little shops with Mara, Jessica, Katelynd, and Dave. I didn't buy anything nor have the need to buy anything. After about an hour or so we went to the Princess Mall and I got Subway. The man in front of my took my sub by mistake. I got meatball and he got tuna, but I like tuna so it could have been a lot worse to say the least. Following lunch Mara, and I went upstairs and took a nap. That lasted until about 5:30ish. Once Katelynd went back we went to a little convince store and got some sandwiches. On the way I think I momentarily found a kindred spirit. There was a girl working in a store that was closing with her nose pressed against the glass watching people pass in the rain. We made eye contact and I smiled so she smiled back. After dinner we just hung around the hostel in different room and at the bar.
5/16 Yesterday had more going on to be honest, ok jk. Theoretically we did more but really we rode on a bus between England and Scotland. Most the the stops we made seemed to be in England, which is odd since we're taking a class about Scotland. Anyway, on the train ride there I finished my Jane Austen book, and will probably start the other one today. I also read most of the article for the day. On the bus ride we had a sweet, little elderly Englishman as our tour guide for about half of the trip. It's not really a good combo for me staying awake to have an elderly man talking while I'm riding on a bus after a night of less than a normal amount of sleep. Just saying. We stopped at a place for lunch but didn't stay. It was in England. It was amazing how different it was from Scotland. I got soup with a roll and on the butter I was informed it was 'Scottish Butter.' What? Is there a point to putting that on the wrapper? Does it matter? After lunch back on the bus. It had started to rain on our way out. Later we stopped in a little town, in Scotland I think, for a stretching break and a pint because that's what we do. Mara, Danny and I walked around for a little bit. I was sick of sitting and didn't feel like drinking. Our last stop was at a battle field in England. There was just a stone cross erected there but the surrounding area was beautiful. The clouds rolling in looking a little gloomy and forelorn was really nice. After our 'busy' tour back on the train we went. The ride wasn't bad as usual. I don't think I've had really a bad train ride before to be honest. We got off the train at 7:30ish and had to find some dinner. After a 1/2 hour of checking with different places if they could hold us, we ended up at Pizza Hut for our last meal with Ken. Part way through Ken had to leave to catch his train home. It was sad watching Ken leave and knowing I wasn't going to see him tomorrow. I may never see him again really and I liked him. It made me think how hard the goodbyes at the airport maybe. Following dinner, Mara, Katelynd, Nicole, Jake R., and I took the long way back to the hostel to take some night shots. My camera is not really made for night shots at all. Then the bar, smoking a Cuban, and a night club followed that. The cuban wasn't that bad but I didn't like the taste in mouth after I was done. That will probably be the one and only thing I smoke in my life but I can say I did it so hey. The bar and club were fun until about 2 when I was just tired of being pushed up on by strangers. After a while I just don't want to be touched. It didn't help that some guy in plaid kissed my cheeck and then sorta tried to drag me off. I just don't like other people really. But a Scottish club is a lot like what I imagine an American one would be like. Mara and I left at about 2:30 and went back to the hostel. I haven't showered yet so I'll go do that now but I had a weird dream last night, but this probably isnt' the place to talk of that.

Royal Mile

The first activity of the day was suppose to be visiting the Castle in Edinburgh but it was postponed while we waited for Cartrite. He was running late because the kids are both a little sick. At the castle we saw the Stone of Scone or the Stone of Destiny and the Royal Jewels. That was probably the highlight of the castle. The way they set up the museum where the jewels are housed was really cool. Unfortunately you couldn't take pictures of the exhibits, which always makes me a little sad. Mara and I also saw the prisons of war. After the castle we had to hurry back to the hostel to get changed for our trip to Parliament and then head back to the Royal Mile to view the museum. I wore the new dress I bought at H&M. It's a pretty dress but ya get a bit cold if you have no jacket to wear with it. The museum was really cool. They had little discovery zones through out where they have period dress that you could try out that matched the time period of the surrounding exhibit. There was also a room full of interactive exhibit like the driving game. I am not good at driving games at all, just to say. I realize that the entries may be including less details of what we're doing but I don't really care so much anymore. At 2 most of the class meet at the balcony to have lecture. I didn't put any sunblock on so I sat in the shade where I had goose bumps for most of the time. Sometimes you have to make choices and I chose to be cold for a little while over being sun burnt for weeks.

Once lecture was over and we were inside again I did cling to some people to use them for their body heat. We didn't talk much during lecture as usual. We soon left for Parliament to meet with John Swinney and to watch a session of Parliament. We had to go through security but that didn't take very long, not as long as we had thought anyway. At 4 we entered the gallery to watch a debate in Parliament. I was really geeked when we entered I'm not even going to lie. I just thought it was so cool. The room isn't what you would expect it to look like. It was a bit to modern for me, I feel like the room should have been done in a dark mahogany or something. We spent an hour listening to the debate. I didn't understand the point of some of the speeches but there was one member who I liked. She was the voice of reason it seemed, and she was very clear with what she was saying. She didn't have any flowery language which I appreciated. After an hour we met with John Swinney, the finance minister. We had a q&a with him for about a half hour and then he showed us around the building. It's a beautiful building but still a little to modern for what I think a Parliament building should be. Dinner soon followed. Not taking my fleece was not a good idea last night, even if it doesn't go with the dress at all. I had to sit on this bench at a raised table. It was not that comfortable when I had to lean forward to eat my meal and the fact I had to slide across the bench in a dress. I got a chicken and mushroom pasta dish that was good. I also sat across from Jake and Ken's wife. It was nice to get to talk to her. She seemed like a very nice woman.

The rest of the night was spent in bars. One was the bar on the ground floor of our hostel and the other was a karaoke bar that we found. There were two grease songs sung, which Kyle did not like at all. The girls sang You're so Vain, dedicated to Danny. I don't know what it was but people liked touching my hair last night at it was kinda weird to say the least. I'm debating if I want to braid my hair again on this trip for fear of being told again my hair feels fun. At midnight we returned to the hostle to watch the wings game. After the first period Mara and I went to bed.

Monty Python

Might as well keep going since I love this SO much. During our first day in Edinburgh, we traveled to Stirling. The train ride there was spent reading about the William Wallace monument. It was not that fun of a read but oh well, it happens. That was followed by traveling to a castle. I don't remember the name but I liked it more than some of the others. There wasn't a ton to look at, so an hour sufficed to say the least. The museum about one regiment was really interesting. It shows how their uniforms and weapons have changed over time. Following the castle we trekked up a hill to the William Wallace monument. There was a free shuttle service but that would be to simple, we would miss the "experience" of walking up the hill. I was the first girl to reach the top and while I was stretching to make my calves feel better I got made fun of for it. My legs just were not happy. Once everyone had reached the top of the hill we all walked up the 246 stairs to the top of the monument. In my opinion, it wasn't worth the trip up. The view was similar to the one at the top of the hill and it was so windy, I couldn't stand it much. On the way down I stopped in all the exhibits off to the side of the staircase. One was really creepy with a talking William Wallace hologram. I did not like it. Once everyone was down from climbing the stairs we had class outside. The wind wasn't as bad as it was at the top of the monument but it was a solid second. Danny and I had been assigned to talk about chap. 7 but class was cut short so we could fit everything in. On the way down the hill I followed the boys in jogging down side paths, while on the somewhat steep main road Danny thought he would help me down by giving me a little push. As usual, I yelled a little. Boys are fun.
In order to visit the castle of Doune (the castle in Monty Python) we had to take a long bus ride out into the country. I felt bad for the people originally on the bus because our group takes over everything. We can't help it very much but I still feel a little sorry for them. The castle was very small and didn't have a lot of rooms to look at but we did get some coconuts and reenact some of the movie. When we were ready to leave we realized we had lost Evan. It turned out he thought we had left him and he just went to the bus stop where we eventually found him. I am amazed at other people but nothing bad happened, which is what matters. Before the next bus we had about a 1/2 hour to kill. Nothing special was completed. The bus ride was followed by a train ride back to Edinburgh. On the ride I read some more of my book, I'm almost done that I think I might finish it tomorrow if I can get my way. All the girls had dinner at Pizza Hut. We are just that cool, I promise. The food wasn't bad and we were all so hungry we ate our food in like 15 minutes. Yay being an American. The rest of the night was spent at the hostel doing random things. Craig slept on our extra bed because he couldn't sleep in his room. That's about it for now.

I love 7:50 flights

Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day. I woke at the wonderful hour of 6 because I love the morning so much! Right. The most eventful part of flying was that I tried to take a little thing of jelly on the plane. It wasn't above the limit but it wasn't in a plastic bag so the security guy just placed the jelly in a bad for me. On the flight I got to sit next to Jake R. so that was nice. He's a fun guy to be around, I'm not going to lie. We landed at around 9 and then hopped on a bus into town. The ticket lady wasn't so particularly nice. I was like the 3rd person from our group to go up to her, I handed her my money expecting her to put the fact we all had backpacks together with the fact I would want the same thing as everyone else, but no. She held it for a few moments and then asked what I wanted. I don't function early in the morning, I don't know if other people fully grasp this point. Whatever, if they want to take their own lives in their own hands so be it. Departing the bus we walked to the hostel where Ken abandoned us to our own devices. Checking into our rooms was quickly followed by nap time. I do enjoy nap time very much. After a wonderful nap, Craig, Mara, Dave, Lee, Jessica, and I walked around town. We went through two malls. On our way back to the hostel Mara, Lee, Jessica, and I stopped at H & M. After trying on some WONDERFUL outfits, I bought a dress and sunglasses while Jessica bought a jacket I talked her into, and a skirt. When a girl is trying a piece of clothing on and her face lights up when she sees it, then she should buy it, it's simple.
Once the other part of our group arrived from Kirkwall, I went out to dinner with Danny, Kyle, Courtney, Jake. R, and Jeff to the Black Rose, a little goth pub. The food was good and even though I was in a pink shirt and we stuck out horribly, no one stared so that was nice. It was kinda nice actually, I'd never eatten with Kyle or Danny and it wasn't bad which is surprising. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, I guess. I don't really remember and I didn't drink so it must not have been really important. I remember doing some reading and talking with Danny about the chapter we were suppose to discuss today that we never did. We had a lot of boys express a desire to sleep in our room because it doesn't smell or have someone that snores, but that's about it.

How many shades of red can Andrea get?

The first interesting thing of our day yesterday was having lunch with the SMP for Orkney. I was a few seats away from him but I didn't really talk with him much. I enjoy politics I guess but this was a wonderful opportunity for the pol. sci majors like Chris and Nicole. I feel like Chris got a lot from the experience, which is wonderful. I listened to some of their conversation, but he was such a soft spoken man it was hard to always hear him with everyone at one long table. I also got distracted by Luke and some of the guys at the end of the table nearest to me. Luke is an interesting little boy with quiet the imagination to say the least. I felt a little bit bad for him because he was across from Jake and Jake can ask some interesting questions. The ones he was asking Luke probably weren't as bad as the ones he asked Ken. I felt horrible for Ken but he's a grown man and not an 8 yr old boy. Following lunch we visited the Orkney museum. It was set up very oddly. It's set up in an old house so after a few of the exhibits you hit a dead end and have to turn around. The lay out was just annoying really. Some of the stuff was really interesting but there was a lot to say the least. They had an exhibit about the 20th century and had the trashy looking Barbie I have seen in a long time. Probably the most interesting thing in the museum was the old game pieces made out of animal bones.

Next of the agenda was having lecture in the lounge bar again over stone voices. The discussion was lead mostly by Evan. Most of the talking was done by Cartrite but I think that's because most of us don't know what to say or what is expected of us. It's hard to apply what we've read to the current situation we're surrounded by because the book is focused mostly on the devolution in 97'. I had a hard time staying awake during the lecture to be fully honest. But I was just really tired I guess because after lecture, Mara and I went up to our room. I quickly fell asleep while watching the weakest link. Some of the Scottish accents are so hard to understand, it sounds like they are just mumbling. I can't pick out a word what so ever. I did wake up just in time for dinner which was good. Dinner was a very good meal and would have pasted as a very uneventful meal if Jake and Craig hadn't decided that staring at me would be really fun. I tried to ignore them but I wasn't completely successful since I could see them out of the corner of my eye. I turned so red it was awful. I mean it was like I had spent hours on end in the sun without any sunblock while wearing complete black. This continued for like 20 minutes until dinner was done. I just didn't understand why they were staring but they enjoyed themselves to no end, I can tell you that much. Once things quieted down, the rest of the night was spent talking in the room and packing. I can pack most of my stuff up in about 10-15 minutes when needed.

Nothing is open on Sunday? Oh shot.

Only getting about 6-7 hours of sleep is getting to me, I like sleeping and usually like to get about 8-9 hours. So yesterday morning was the same as usual, got up for breakfast at about 8, ate breakfast at 8:30. Following breakfast Dave, Mara, Jessica, Jake, Craig, and I went to the bishop's house near the cathedral in Kirkwall. The lady working there was really excited to see so many people on a Sunday morning visiting the site. It was nice but after a while ruins start to just look all the same with the same rooms. Before going to service at the cathedral with Ken and Jessica, the 6 of us just walked around Kirkwall for a little while. The cathedral was a Presbyterian cathedral. Odd I know but it's also named after a viking so they don't really play by the rule book I would say. It was a fairly normal service and I was really glad that I went but by the end I had to go to the bathroom so bad, I couldn't focus very well. After service Jessica and I walked back to our hotel. It was so cold outside, I had goosebumps all over my body and I was shivering. It was not good. Mara, Jake, Craig and I were hanging out in the other girls' room when some of the boys can down asking if we want to go to another island to go hiking. Unfortunately, as we soon found out, ferries and buses don't run on Sunday on Orkney. So we would have had to walk to the port and then swim to the island to go hiking. As fun as that sounds, we decided to go to the highland park distiller instead. The walk took like 15 minutes maybe. It was a nice tour and our guide wasn't bad looking. Mara said that I looked like i was a puppy following him, but I say everyone else was just horribly slow. I walk fast and I can't help it. It didn't help that he was probably like 6'8" or something equally ridiculous. I bought two little bottle of whiskey. On the way back to the hotel a group of us stopped for some fish and chips. I wansn't in the mood for chips so I just had fish. It wasn't bad. The night was spent talking with my mommy and playing cards in some of the guys' room. It ended with my taking three shots of vodka. Following that Mara and I talked and then we went to bed. So no good drunk stories I'm sorry, I'm just not that kind of girl really.

Always behind, never on time

So I'm two days behind again but that means I'm doing what I'm suppose to be doing and having a life. Sometimes it's exhausting to have a life. Here we go: 5/8 was our day of travel. A bus ride then a ferry ride, and then, you guessed it, another bus ride. On the first bus ride I slept for a while. We stopped for lunch in a little town. I stayed on the bus with the Cartrite family, Ken, Mara, Katelynd, Jake, Chris, Craig, Lee and Nicole. We tried to explain Greek life to Ken but I don't think he understands still. On the ferry I played Euchre with Jake against Mara and Dave. Jake and I won but I just love when my partner doesn't trust me at all or the calls I make. At least wait until the end of the hand to question what I was thinking when I called trump, not during in the middle of a trick please. I got us the point and that's all that matters. After that FUN game, Mara and I went up to the top of the ferry and stayed there for the rest of the ride. It was really windy but really cool to watch the different islands go past. Our second bus ride was shorter and then we arrived at the Shore, our hotel. Mara and I are sharing a room; it's really nice. They people at the hotel are so considerate they even labeled the bathroom for us ;) It's amazing how quickly our stuff seems to have exploded everywhere in the room. For dinner Nicole, Mara, Katelynd, and I shared a pizza while Sam had a burger at this really Americanized joint. Of course we would find the most American place on the island. Mara and I walked around with some of the others but we called it an early night and went to bed about midnight.

5/9 Part of me is getting tired of writing journal entries, I don't think I ever stuck to a diary or journal this long when I was younger. But I need to stick to is so, it's alright. The majority of the day was spend on a tour around Orkney looking at things from about 5,000 yrs ago. The first was an ancient tomb. It is amazing how Persis everything was cut and made in the stone age. It's mind blowing really. Our 2nd thing was called Skara Brae and Skaill house. It's described at a 5,000 yr old village from the Stone age and the home of the man who discovered Skara Brae. It was interesting but it rained while we were looking at the village. We had lunch in between looking at the village and the house. Normally I'm not much for tomato soup but I was so cold I ate the whole bowl and drank two glasses of tea. After lunch we looked at the house. It was not what I expected, I just expected more I guess. After that we went to a farm museum. There was a cat there so I was content. It was interesting to see how they use to farm considering how harsh the conditions on the islands are, and to see the house with the beds where 4 kids would have slept together. The tour guide made an interesting comment that we didn't want to go to Edinburgh because it was a rough city. Our last stop was this pretty little Italian chapel built by Italian POWs. It was amazing that they painted everything in the chapel. On the way back I tried to sleep but our bus driver didn't agree that I should. He just kept talking and probably half of the bus was sleeping or trying to.

For dinner Nicole, Katelynd, Mara and I met up with Sam, Jessica, and the Cartrite family at the Golden Dragon. I had chicken fried rice for dinner. Oh how I miss Chinese food, I cannot express. Ok, I don't miss it that much. The man working there or who owned it, I'm not sure, didn't like us very much but that's alright. I don't know if I would have liked us either. After dinner the girls walked to the grocery store for some ice cream, Mara and I shared. It was good ice cream. At about 10 we went to the bar where everyone else was meeting up. That was a good time to say the least. There was a group of people dressed up for a birthday party. The theme was the sea so there were people dressed as sailors, seaweed, and the birthday girl was a lighthouse. We spent an hour or two talking with some of the birthday guests. They were fun people. One of the best pictures of the night is me holding onto my Guinness that Kyle bought me :) and with the Asian hat on. I wasn't drunk, I only had two pints but I'm sure people thought I was. Little do they realize I did theater in high school which really explains everything if I do say so myself. While talking with people there were two interesting comments made that Inverness is the armpit of Scotland, and that you don't want to go to the 'real' Scotland, you'll only find a-holes. That last comment was made by a guy in a tight sailor suit who was originally from Stirling and now lives in Orkney. After the bar closed I went back to the hotel, we were all invited to a house party but I didn't think that was such a good idea. I had a little to drink but not enough to forget the fact I'm directionally challenged like no other. Bad things may have occurred.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention at one of our stops there is a circle of standing stones. The legend is if a female walks the circle counter-clockwise she'll become pregnant. To test this Mara, Sam, and I walked the circle counter-clockwise. Part way through our professor asked if our ovaries were tingling. It was pretty fun. So, if I become pregnant sometime soon, we all now know why.

Lost in the woods

A full free day at the castle may not have been a good idea. It leaves a lot of idle time in an area where there is very little to do. The only planned thing was a lecture after breakfast. It was fine. Ken talked about Highland River, followed by Katelynd and Jake R. discussing what they liked and didn't like about the book. Then we talked about Stone Voices, which I forgot to read the chapters, oops. Oh well, I still talked during the discussion and that's all that matters. Other than that I read (surprise), ate left over spaghetti, played a game of table tennis (and lost), played a game of euchre( and lost with Sam as my partner), and typed up journal entries. Katelynd, Mara, and I went for a walk on the trails. I'm admitting now though I don't think the other will, we got lost, kinda badly to be honest. We did make it back before dinner. It was beautiful and a lot of fun to wonder but I was worried. In line for dinner I got in a slight fight with Jeff. He said it would be funny to hit me in the face with his tray and I replied ya since I'd beat you with mine, Then he told me he could outrun me and I laughed. I know Cartrite is probably going to fully read this but I don't actually care anymore. I need a neutral vent that doens't intensify my feelings. I don't like being angry, but I'm either happy, content, angry, or I've shut down/in the middle of shutting donw. Anger is natural to me unfortunately and it can be strong. After dinner we tried to listen to Ken read some of his poems but we weren't in the 'right' mood. I hope we didn't hurt his feelings but we were a little giddy. I have decided I don't like sitting between the Jakes. Not fun at all really because they just joke with each other. Random things followed ending with me packing and going to bed by midnight. I once gain wasn't in the greatest mood. I did wake up at about 1 to Courtney talking with Sam about her getting sick. I wasn't mad though, it's hard to be mad at the fairy queen.

Closest I'm going to get to being a disney princess.

5/5 Yesterday seems so far away. We haven’t constantly been on the go but the days are starting to become 1. I work up at 7:30 because I thought we were still meeting at 9, but I guess it was a joke. I took the news that we weren’t leaving until 10 better than Katelynd. I got some journal entries done so yay on that one. The train ride wasn’t bad. I sat next to Evan and across from Katelynd and Jake, before he moved back to work on magic, at a table. I read a little of my Jane Austen book, Sense and Sensibility, and got to see a few tricks that Jake was working on. I love that we’re all so easily entertained but he doesn’t do tricks as often as we would like. I mean I always liked magic as a kid and am easily entertained. Carbisdale castle, where we’re staying is amazing. It is fantastic. I think I appreciate it even more because of the previous hostel. Unfortunately is surrounded by nothing and is really cold. Since the big thing of yesterday was traveling, it gave me lots of time to finish Highland River, which I read the last chapter today. Dinner was nice. There was at one point where Luke thought if I watched Bible Man I wouldn’t believe in God anymore. When I heard that, I laughed. If that was all it took, I would have stopped believing a long time ago. After dinner we had a discussion in the drawing room. I should always be in a seat where I can easily see Ken because if I’m not, I look at everyone else and their body language. It brings me joy. I also can’t sit next to Cartrite because he can hear me chuckle to myself, never good I say. What I laugh at is only for me really, I do have random thoughts. Following that the girls had fun in the ballroom by sliding and twirling. Yes, we are college girls but it’s still fun. Some of us played spoons. No one was seriously damaged but we did break three plastic spoons. It wasn’t all me I swear though Jake probably thinks it was. Once the game ended some of us who had played joined into a little group discussion about if someone had the right to shot an intruder who broke into their home. No overall answer was agreed upon. Before bed Ken told us a ’scary’ story. Maybe because we’re Americans we need a clear ending because when he reached the ending no one was sure or knew what to do. Then we went to bed. We did go to sleep with the lights on because Courtney and some of the other girls were afraid of the ghosts coming in the night. Supposedly in room 210, which use to be the nursery, you can hear the creaking of a rocking chair caused by the ghost of an old nanny. You can also hear the laughter of children in that room.
5/6 As usual I am a day behind . C’est la vie mes amies. Yesterday had a little more going on than the day before, but not by much. We visited the Neil Gunn museum in Dunbeath. It was a little place but had some really cool things. On the floor was a painting that told the story of Highland River. Part of me things it’d be really cool to have a wooden floor like that in your house. After the museum we ate lunch, and then went on a trail along the river that Highland River is based on. It was a pretty little trail; the river seemed small though. In some areas it didn’t seem more than a little creek. Unfortunately, while we were on the pretty little trail it started to rain. We only made it for about a mile I guess (though I have NO sense of distance so I wouldn’t take my word for it) before turing back. I was in a bad mood on the way back with my little blue umbrella, and it wasn’t just the rain that put me in that mood. Yes, I can be a stupid, silly little girl but I can’t help it always. I try though. Following the walk, Mara, Katelynd, Jessica, Courtney, Jake R., Dave, Ken and I went to visit the statue of Ken, the main character in Highland River, and the salmon he catches in the first chapter. It wasn’t really worth it but doing it while most of the boys wussed out was worth it. On our way back to the castle on the charter bus we took, we stopped at a little co-op grocery store to pick up food for dinner and the next day’s lunch. Mara, Katelynd, and I ended up buying spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and some strongbow. We returned to the castle and had dinner, which was very good might I add. After that we all hung out in the castle. I learned how to play Kempt from Courtney. Mara and I won our first game against Courtney and Jessica, but lost our second game against Courtney and Danny. Maybe it was because we both had a strongbow and some Jack Daniels, not sure though. I read some more Jane Austen and had a big swig of Jack like I said. Mara and I actually got to talk to Nsync which was nice. They seem like sun cool guys but they just never seemingly travel alone is all. At about midnight, while Sam was taking her skive run after losing a bet to Danny dealing with ping pong, I waited alone for her outside with her comforter. There was an Australian and a Spaniard outside smoking who I talked a little with. Eventually Long Brad of the mill, or just Brad if you prefer, joined me outside once he figured out I was there by myself because the other boys left, and I thought someone should be waiting outside for Sam when she returned. It was really sweet of him to come outside and I actually got to have a conversation with him; I think he’s just kinda shy, but he’s cool. Same came back from her run and after talking for a bit we went to bed, with the lights on again :)

Last day in Inverness

The morning began with a short bus ride to Calloden. No one got sick I am happy to report. Calloden was a really cool battle site museum, I guess you would call it. The visitor center was really cool because they tell the English side on one wall and the Jacobite side on the other side. I liked it better than some of our American battle sites where you have a CD in your car telling you what you are seeing while you drive around. It helps a person imagine how the battle looked and what actually happened. We had lunch at the visitor center, which was nice. I always like not having to pay for my own food. After Calloden, Katelynd, Mara, and I visited a view shops, I finished shopping for my family which is exciting, but I don't have a ton of room anymore so packing was fun this morning. Last night we had dinner at a Thai place. Since Thai is so close to Chinese I was content with life. Most of the group came back to the hostel and played some euchre. Jake and I lost to Jake R. and Evan. Not badly mind you but it was a little sad since Evan was not in the game, but maybe that helps him not over think his playing. After the game I played Jake R. in speed. I beat him twice and lost once. Since he had had about three drinks by that point I'm a little sad I didn't beat him worse. He did beat all the other girls so I don't feel so bad. Most of us went out to a karaoke bar. The group was everyone but Katelynd I believe. It was a fun little place since we seemed to take over the whole place. I had a shot in a test tube that was grape flavored. That was my only drink at the bar last night. A group of us sang Bohemian Rhapsody, and we killed that song. It was so bad. Near the end this man in his 40's started rapping about out group from Michigan. Of course at one point he zeroed in on me and got in my face while rapping about me. I love when men over the age of like 35 get in my face smelling strongly of booze who have a spitting problem. It always makes my day. After that Mara and I left and returned to the hostel. I felt done for the night.

Hail?

The first and only alarm (though another was set) went off at 7 this morning. I just rolled over. I did get up at about 7:30 though so ya me since I went to bed at about 12:30. I love not getting that much sleep, just kidding, but it's my choice so I can't really complain (darn it.) Our only planned activity for the day was traveling to Lochness and seeing Urqhait Castle. We were at the bus station at about 9:30 and may I just add all of the girls were ready before the boys. It was really windy and cold on the boat but the area surrounding the lake was beautiful. Unfortunatly my camera died so I will be stealing shots from other people on facebook because I got none of the castle at all. The Castle was once again in ruins and honestly not as cool as the first one. Maybe because it was the second set of ruins we have seen in less than a week, I don't know. There was a gift shop and I got some good stuff for my mom and sister. At the gift shop you could also watch an 8 minute video about the history of the castle. The video was informative and interesting. On the way back I fell asleep on the bus. It wasn't a long ride but long enough for me to fall asleep with my mouth open. At least I was sitting with Mara and she didn't take any photos of me. I did wake up for our Professers son throwing up on the bus. Katelynd, Mara, and I after we got off the bus got some bread, cheese, and chicken for lunch. It's the cheapest thing to do and it's not a bad meal. We came back and caught up on homework and journals, which is why there are three posts added today :) It hailed while I was on my computer talking to my mom. I took another nap today for about an hour. That was really nice but my feet were cold. For dinner I went with Courtney, Mara, Katelynd, Chris, and Lee for dinner at a pub called Smith and Jones. It was probably one of the cheapest places in town and it was really good food, I enjoyed it. After dinner we walked to a large grocery store where I got a pint of milk. It was so very cute, but I didn't get a picture of it. Once we returned to the hostle I sat watching while Mara, Cartrite, Jake, and Lee played Eurcher. Jake and Lee won pretty bad against Mara and Cartrite. Now here we are. Another day of not doing a whole ton but I can't just go go go everyday, I need little breaks every once and a while. At least I can have a break in a pretty city.

Trains, and walking (I tried for something clever but failed)

A two hour train ride is always the best way to start anyday. Mara and I wrote our journals for the previous two days and then talked with Craige and the girl next to him. Her name was Toshia. We talked about many different things but the thing that I found most interesting was that when we mentioned that we went to bars in Stonehaven she said it was a bad place because there were bad people in stonehaven. Or at least that was what she had heard. The bias toward other sections of the country is interesting to me. I talked with the three yr old boy in front of me with a Ben 10 hat on. He was a little cutie. After the train ride we went to the hostel we are staying at. Not the greatest place ever but I keep reminding myself of girl scout camp with the bambis. Yay cleaning outhouses. After we had everything in our room we walked around Inverness. It's a pretty city, I like it better than Aberdeen. For dinner Mara, Nicole, Katelynd, and I ate with the Cartrites at an Indian restaurant. It was really good but it was a long meal. It's weird coming to other countries and actually spending time eating a meal. After that we came back to the hostel and spent the rest of the night here. I couldn't get ahold of my family at all! ( I feel that an angry emoticon doesn't ever do me justice so just imagine please) I did get to talk with Chelsea on Skype for a little over an hour and that was fun. Danny asked if she was single but I saved her from him. I finally got to see Jake perform a magic trick, it was pretty good. Yesterday was a pretty slow day but it was nice after a few nights out to spend a night in.

End of Stonehaven

I'm currently on the train to Inverness. The last two days have been filled with lots of different things. On 4/30 the day started with breakfast as usual and then hanging out in the laundry room so the cleaning lady could quickly clean out room. I felt bad because some of the boys were still sleeping and she didn't want to walk in if they were possibly indisposed. It was funny though. At about 1 we hiked up to Dunottar castle. It was a little steep of a walk so that wasn't fun but the castle was really cool because it was in ruins. It was really cool to wander around, it reminds me of the Prince Caspin. The funniest thing was walking to a building and just seeing Jake Hanley peering out of one of the windows. Then he would disappear into the building. We had class in the one finished room in the castle. It was alright but it was so cold you could see your breath. We talked about the first 1/2 of Sunset Song. No one really talked, poor Ken. Katelynd, Mara, Nicole, and I took a different route back to Stonehaven than we took to the castle. The four of us stopped at the little italin ice cream place in Stone haven. I had the honeycomb ince cream, it was so amazingly good, I loved it. Then K, M, and I stopped at the library. We headed back to the Ship's Inn to do some reading but Dave and Jeff stopped in out room and started talking to us. We had stopped earlier for dinner and bought some bread, chicken, and shredded cheese. It was good but really messy.

Later whiler we were actually reading Evan asked if we wanted to go to the bar. Mara and I decided to go with him and then outside the ship's inn we picked up Jake R. and Dave. The 5 of us went to the Hook and Eye. After a little while some other's showed up. Nsync, Chris, Courtney, Jess, and Jake showed up. The girls did shots and Evan and Kyle had a chugging contest. After that the orginal 5 went to the beach and listened to Evan's life sotry. I enjoyed it. That night ended at about 1.

5/1 We traveled to Aberdeen to have a tour of the university. On the train ride there Jessica, Courtney, Mara, Katelynd, and I talked with Ken about the differences in higher education between Scotland and America. The tour of the University was nice. Our group was made of Nichole, Mara, Katelynd, Nsync, Jake, and me. The tour guide was a 21 yr old girl. It was nice to be around a scottish girl our age instead of a 50 some yr old man. After the tour we had lunch and then had a class disscusion. More poeple talked but more people also fell asleep during it. The room was dark and warm, and we had just eatten. Good idea on that one. Once we were done Chris, Courtney, Jessica, Mara, Katelynd, Jake R., Dave, Jeff, Lee, and I went to the Aberdeen football stadium. An employee gave us a tour of the stadium. It was so cool to see the locker room and the to out to the field. After that was dinner at this modern pub called revoultion. I had a Strawberry Woo Hoo. I love the name of the drink. After dinner we headed back to Stonehaven and to the ship's inn. Emma, Nicole, and Sam hung out in our room for a little while and then were replaced with both Jakes, Craig, Dave, Jeff and Evan. It seemed like our room was the party room. It was a lot of fun because we hadn't really hung out before with Jake and Craige. After a while at about 11 we went to the Royal Bar, everyone but Katelynd. It was nice but about about 12:30ish Mara, Craig, Jeff, and I went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Day 2?

I'm not sure of what day it is, if we count Sunday or not. I guess we should so that means that this is really day 3. I'm at the library in Stonehaven unsure how long I'm allowed to stay on so this won't be a super long post. For the day's I'm unable to post I'm writing my journal entry in my liberal arts math notebook, I didn't take a lot of notes for that class, so there's lots of paper still. I'll probably go through later and type those entries out at some point, maybe when I have wifi or at the latest when I get home from Scotland. I love Scotland, it's a simple fact. The land is beautiful and the towns are homey feeling. I ate lunch at a delicontessa with Mara and Katelynd. The woman who was there was very nice and helpful. I love that they say bye bye. Americans have to say everything as quickly as possible and make every word as short as possible. I also enjoyed listening to the music playing over head while we ate there. It was cool. I know it's not just 'Scottish' music playing but I liked the feel of it and the variety I was able to listen to as well.

Since it's only day 3 there are no real issues yet. I like everyone so far. I didn't think I would like the fact that the girls are in the minority but it's nice. The guys are amusing to be around and I know as the trip gets more under way, they won't get catty or cause drama. That is always a wonderful plus. Since I know Cartrite is going to at least look over this is not fully read it, I'll keep some of my thoughts on this topic to myself :)

EDIT:

After we walked back to the hotel, we saw a few of the guys from our trip talking to a Scotsman named Davey Jaimeson. We talked with him for about 1.5- 2 hours. He was very amusing to talk with and to listen to. He told me I was very pale, suprise on that one, and I had beautiful blue eyes. He was really surprised we all have such 'beautiful' teeth. Davey loved commenting on our teeth. The boys were giving him a hard time at points but he always threw it right back. He was a good enough guy, I enjoyed him.

At dinner we ate at the heugh hotel, which looks like a castle. It is an amazing looking place. After dinner, we listened to a presentation about photography presented by Ken's friend Andi Hall. His photos were fantastic, and I wanted to buy some of them to hang on my wall, but not a whole book. The questions following the presentation were really good and the answers were very insightful considering he's only done photography for a portion of his life, but I really had to go to the bathroom, not pleasant at all having to sit there and listen.

Following dinner afew of us went to the Market Bar. Eventually all 19 of us ended up at the bar together. When we first got there, Sam, Katelynd, and I talked with a man from Glasgow. Even he said the Aberdonins were people not to be messed with as have all the people we've talked with in Stonehaven about the Aberdonins. He was pleasant to chat with, but we didn't catch his name. He was in Stonehaven on business and would so be traveling to London on business as well. It was nice to talk and have fun as a group with everyone there. I think we all had a really good time getting to know eachother more. We also watched a man balance a coster with two forks holding on the coster on his pint of beer and then he drank from it. It was quite impressive to say the least. At about 11:30 Mara, Katelynd, Jeff, and I headed back for our hotel while some others decided to go to another bar. My two drinks were enough for me.

I just need to leave this country

I just made my blog for my Scotland trip and I didn't want my blog to look sad with no posts so voila, my first post ever on this blog. I leave in a few days and am excited about it, though I hope I don't have to sit next to the kid afraid of flying; I feel like I wouldn't get to sleep on the plane like I normally do.

EDIT:

Since I have no where else to put it, I guess I'll put day one here. Without further adieu I'll start. I like to tell my days from the start. So this story of my trip to Scotland must start with flying. None of it was as bad as I thought it might be. Evan did fine on the 1st flight, the only one I sat nearest to him on. Irene, the woman I sat next to on the 2nd flight was sweet enough. She was funny because when I first found my sit she was in it, so I sat in the aisle seat. After a few minutes she realized that she had paid for a aisle seat and asked me to switch with her. I didn't really mind so I did. She was traveling to Europe to see her family. Her father was a highlander and that is who she was flying to visit. I explained the purpose of our trip to her and she the first thing she said was that the Scottish people view themselves very independently. We continued to talk of the new Parliament and things of that nature for a little while. I didn't sleep on that plane as much as I would have like but I made it through the following day alright enough. On the 3rd flight I sat next to Jake Hanley, who talked with the polish man sitting next to him attending school in Edinburgh. I love how things connect and appear only at certain times in your life.

After we got to our cute little hotel (the bus ride there wasn't very important, I slept on it) Mara, Katelynd, and I walked around Stonehaven for about 1.5-2 hours. I loved the beach though it was windy and cold. There is something beautiful about the pain it seems to be expressing. I like Stonehaven and it helped me figure out why I don't like Highland River at all. i don't want someone to describe the nature surrounding them and hor it makes them feel, but I want to experience it for myself. I love nature and I understand the pull it has on people.

After dinner the three of us walked back with Ken. I like KenHe's a soft spoken, sweet man. He's the ying to Cartrite's yang (weird but what I thought.) They complement each other. It was interesting to listen to him and talk about Scotland and the "gloominess" of Stonehaven. I didn't see the gloominess the first day, I just thought it was adorable with all the yards so filled with colorful floweers. Minus being up at 6:30 today and only like an hour nap, it was a good day to start the trip with. I hope the following weeks will be somewhat similar in their pleasant nature.