Week 3

Hiya! (the Brits seem to love this greeting)

This past weekend was good. On Saturday, Ashley and I went into town to run some errands. I wanted to go to the phone shop because I felt like I was going through my pounds a lot quicker than I should be since I've been mostly texting and I'm supposed to have 300 texts with my plan. It turns out our plans were never activated. We had to do that ourselves but the guy that sold us the phones never told us that! The guy acted like I was a total idiot for not knowing I was supposed to do that myself but he did it for me and I topped up while I was there. We ran a few other errands and then headed back to Pollock. That afternoon we hung out with some people we had met in the dorms and met some new people as well. That night was chicken burger night in the dining hall. By far the best meal in the dining hall so far! Finally, not a weird mashup they claim to be casserole! Haha.

Sunday we spent most of the day at the library reading. Then for dinner, we decided to go out for a traditional dinner of haggis, neeps and tatties to celebrate Burns Night, the celebration of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. The University was hosting a dinner and dance for only 5 pounds but tickets sold out really quickly. We didn't realize there were only a limited number of spots so we couldn't get tickets. We decided to do dinner on our own and then try and see what other festivities were going on. The place we went had a Burns Night special where we got soup, haggis, neeps and tatties, and a measure of whiskey for 8.50. We were all pretty nervous to finally try haggis. It definitely doesn't sound like the most desirable of treats. Wikipedia describes it as "sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours." Doesn't sound very good right? But, when in Scotland, do as the Scottish do! Well, it wasn't as horrible as we imagined but it wasn't great either. Flavor wise, it was ok, but it had a real rough, grainy texture which was difficult for me to appreciate. The tatties (mashed potatoes) were really good though! We didn't really see to much happening around where we were so we decided to head over to Teviot, one of the student unions to see if we could get into the dance, or ceilidh. We got in, but there were so many people and they had already gone through the demonstrating of the dance so we decided to save it for another time and head home. Ever since we've gotten here, I feel like people have been talking about Burns Night, but it didn't really seem like a very big deal. Maybe we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh well.

Monday, I met with my ALG group for English and had Ethnology. After class, I met up with Ashley and we went to grab a bite at my favorite place I've found to eat here so far. It's a place right near campus called Elfalafel and it's delicious! As you can probably tell from the name, it's a falafel place where you can get a falafel sandwhich, chips (fries), and a drink for pretty cheap. After dinner, Ashley and I met up with our other friends and went to the Harry Potter Society's sorting ceremony in Teviot. I think I've mentioned this before but it has been rumored that JK Rowling based Hogwarts off of Teviot so the idea of getting sorted there seemed like a pretty cool idea. The thing was supposed to start at 6 and go until 8. When we got there, they weren't ready and ended up not letting people in until 6:30. Once we got in, they divided us into groups and we had to do different tasks. They scored us on them and depending on how we did they assigned us to a house. The tasks consisted of 2 truths and a lie, where you tell 2 true things about yourself and a lie and the other people in the group have to figure out which one is the lie. I wasn't the best liar but I was good at figuring out other people's lies. It might have helped that I knew half the people in the group though, haha. The next task was taken from The Sorcerer's Stone, or as they call it here, The Philosopher's Stone. There were seven bottles and we had to solve a riddle to determine which was wine and which was poison. I've never been very good at logic or word problems so needless to say, this was not my kind of task! I just guessed and I don't think I did very well (they never told us the answer). After that, they had us do a taste test where we had to close our eyes and they made us sniff things and then put a chili pepper in our mouths. I guess this was supposed to test our courage? I'm not going to lie, my face was quite tingly after that. I don't do too well with very spicy things, haha. The final task was a simulated quidditch match. They split us up into two teams. One person was blind folded and another person on the team had to lead them through a path of dementors to retrieve the golden snitch. The rest of the team members had to throw bean bags across to each other and try and hit the person of the opposing team. If my memory is correct, they call them bludgers? Anyways, I was the blind folded person for my team and we won. I guess all those blind folded trust walks at camp really came in handy! After everyone finished the tasks, we were subjected to the sorting hat and told our houses. I was a Hufflepuff along with probably have the other people there. Most of us were either Hufflepuff or Slytherin, not many Gryffindors or Ravenclaws. They weren't very organized so we had to wait around a lot which was kind of annoying. It was kind of dorky, but cool at the same time. How many other people can say they've actually been sorted? Haha.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both pretty boring. I spoke up in my English class on Tuesday in our discussion of Aphra Behn's Oroonoko. The lecturer said I made a good point so that was a nice boost in confidence. Wednesday, I spent the day reading. We're starting our first novel in English, Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders. I have to have it read by Monday to meet with my ALG group, so I have a lot of reading to do.

Today, after breakfast, Ashley and I sorted out our plans to travel to Glasgow this weekend! We made arrangements for a bus ride and hostel stay. Once we figured everything out, we got it all sorted out with our friends. We'll be leaving Edinburgh early Saturday morning. It's a little less than and 1.5 hour ride to Glasgow. We'll stay overnight in a hostel and head back Sunday night around 6:30, after the sights close. I made all the arrangements so I hope everything runs smoothly! I've heard good things about Glasgow. The city is supposed to be much more industrial and much more authentically Scottish. They're supposed to have a pretty cool art scene too. A lot of the sights seem interesting and even more importantly, free! It should be interesting to explore another part of Scotland and compare it to Edinburgh. I'm looking forward to it! I had my second history tutorial today. It turns out there is another guy in the group so it's nice not to be the only one. It's kind of frustrating because I feel like half of the people in class don't talk very much. For the second half of class, our tutorial leader divided us into 2 groups and I was the only one in my group that actually talked. It was frustrating, but I hope I'll score some points with the tutor! After class, I met up with some people at Potterow, another one of the student unions. They wanted to talk about figuring out some weekend trips but it was kind of difficult because people weren't totally sure of their plans and people's schedules didn't seem to totally match up. The conversation went to making plans for spring break. I was a little overwhelmed having to think that far in advance but we'll see. I'm just trying to keep my eyes and ears open for cool opportunities. We still have time so I don't want to commit myself to anything definite yet. We'll see what happens.

I need to read more of Moll Flanders but it's difficult to focus. I'm excited about the trip to Glasgow this weekend and it's been a long week of reading. I don't have class tomorrow so I've got all day to get some more reading done before the weekend.

Hope all is well with everyone!