ok...so i've been lax and i'm sorry....but now it is time to detail my spring break as it has happened so far. This may be a long one, as i'll be attempting to tell you all everything that happened in Italy.
So i arrived at 1 am on Good Friday morning. First of all, the cab ride was insane. Should you at any time in your life wish to have a near death experience in a car, may i recommend taking a cab in Rome? It's a good plan really. I met up with Mads and was fortunate enough to get to stay with Mads, Claire and Caitlin. Anyway, so not much happened the first day. i saw the Parthenon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Over the course of the first few days, i saw a number of cool sights, but the most important things were Holy Week festivities in which i took part. On Saturday night, i went to Santa Susanna in order to participate in the Easter Vigil there. While you all know that i'm not Catholic, this was easily one of the most moving and spiritual experiences of my life. It was just absolutely a beautiful service.
i also was fortunate enough to get to have a seat at the Pope's Easter mass. To be honest, i was somewhat disappointed. The service wasn't as emotionally connecting as the Easter Vigil had been. It was almost as if i was at a rock concert and the Pope was the headlining band. i was however, blessed by the Pope...something i will brag about for pretty much the rest of my life...i have to say, however, that Easter Sunday was probably one of the best days i had in Rome. It was just a fun time with the group.
Oh, also in Rome, i made it my goal to try every single gelato flavour i could find. i succeeded in my goal...except i didn't have hazelnut and that's really only cause i can't stand hazelnuts...therefore, i declare victory.
So then my friends left and my mom arrived. The first day we saw the Colosseum, Mussolini's Palace, the Forum and the Palatine. The saddest thing we noticed is just how dirty everything was. All around the Colosseum there was garbage and people had actually left graffiti on the walls of these ancient monuments. It was just depressing to see just how little people cared about these pieces of history. Maybe it's only because i'm a history dork, but these mean so much to me and i couldn't even conceive of wanting to defile them.
While we were in Rome, we also went to the Vatican, the Parthenon, the Piazza del Popolo, and some completely random castle, which i still don't know what it was but we accidentally happened upon it while trying to find the Vatican from our hotel. The line to get into Saint Peter's Basilica was ridiculously long, but moved so quickly that we were easily in within 15 minutes. It was most assuredly worth it. The views were spectacular and Michelangelo's Pieta was just breathtaking. Should you get the chance to go to there, i highly recommend it. The Vatican Museum was a little bit more disappointing, in that the line took 2 and 1/2 hours and the crowd was so thick that you were rushed past everything. Some of the most beautiful works of art which i would have loved to stop and study for a bit i was shoved past. i'm sure it's not always like that, but it was rather disappointing.
From Rome, we moved on to Siena. It was a bit of a pain in the butt trying to figure out how to get there, but it was worth it. The city (although they all maintain it's just a little town) was small and relatively easy to navigate. The most spectacular thing about Siena is the random gorgeous view you'll stumble across. Walking along a street, you can peer down an alleyway and be struck by the most beautiful sight of the hills in the distance or an old church.
One of the coolest things we did while we were in Siena was visit Saint Catherine's shrine. In the Saint Dominic Basilica in Siena, you can see Catherine's head and finger. It was a gorgeous church, with stunning pictures, but the head and the finger were easily the coolest things in there. It was easily one of the coolest things on the trip. In the Duomo in Siena, there are even more saints' relics. Should you find body parts as cool as my mom and i did, i recommend these two places.
We also visited the main Piazza in Siena, where the Palio is held twice every year. For those of you who have seen or read Under the Tuscan Sun, this is where the flag throwing thing takes place. The Palio is a bareback horse race. Really very cool.
Siena also had one of the two fantastic restaurants in which my mom and i ate. i can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it was good. We started out with bruschetta with tomatoes and pecorino cheese. i have to say, pecorino is my new favourite cheese. It's made from sheep's milk and aged until it's crumbly like parmesan. You can also have fresh pecorino, but i didn't get the chance to try that while we were there. Next was the primo piatti. i had spaghetti with bolognese and my mom had spinach ravioli with a pumpkin sage stuffing. Both of them were absolutely fantastic. For the secondo piatti, both of us got steak in different forms. Excellent. All in all a wonderful meal.
Florence was also very beautiful. The Duomo there is breathtaking, and there is a very cool exhibit in its basement regarding the different levels on which it was built over various points in history. Some kind of building on that site dates back to pre-Roman times! We got to see David, which was simply fantastic. It is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of art work. The detail and precision was just astounding. The Uffizi gallery was also stunning. i got to see up close some of my favourite works of art every created. Botticelli's The Birth Of Venus has been my favourite painting since i first saw it and now i had the opportunity to stand a mere 5 feet in front of it. It was just such a personally fulfilling moment.
Our last day there was probably the coolest one. It was apparently the first day of the Tuscan New Year, so we were treated to stumbling upon parades of men dressed in tights twirling flags (and they're straight!), old men playing instruments while they were running and people dressed in colourful old time dress. So cool! We also went to the Pitti Piazza and saw the bridge on which there are a ton of jewelry shops. We had been prepared for the day to be rather boring and relaxing because it was a Sunday, but it turned out to be very cool!
Florence was also the home of the second restaurant that was fantastic. It's a restaurant called Baldovino, right near Santa Croce. For a primo piatti, i had spaghetti with bolognese again (i had it at every restaurant in order to gauge where each one fell on the scale...this one was tops) and my mom had a tuscan soup. For secondo piatti, my mom had chicken breast cooked with honey and cranberries and i had steak with pesto on top. We had vegetables and potatoes (which were phenomenal) on the side. Easily the best food i had in Italy. For dessert, we finished off with cheesecake. We weren't expecting it to be as good as New York style cheesecake because we'd been burned by cheesecake before in a restaurant in Italy, but this was also out of this world. Maybe not as good as New York, but definitely a perfect finish to the meal.
But overall, there were some disappointing things about this trip to Italy. Seeing David was one of the crowning moments of my life; a point when i got to see - first hand- something which has had so much significance in the world and is so highly regarded. But the people in the museum were rather saddening. Very few respected or even appreciated the fantastic work which went into making the sculpture. The same was true in the Uffizi gallery and the Vatican. These are places i have been wanting to visit since i was very little because they are such important centres of culture and yet the people around me couldn't care less. It was just another notch on their checklist. They didn't appreciate the amazingness around them and it just made me a bit sad.
The food also wasn't nearly as good as i had expected. Overall, i had some of the best food i've ever had, but also some of the worst. Maybe my expectations were too high, but it wasn't as amazing as i had previously thought.
And as much as i liked Italy, i don't think i'd want to go back there any time soon. It was just rather depressing over all being in the presence of sheer greatness and having the people around me not appreciate that fact at all. Maybe it was just being in cities, but it isn't something i'd repeat relatively soon.
Coming up next, the return to England.
kat
05 April 2008
09 March 2008
i'm shattered
Ok...so it's been a while. i'm not the greatest at this kind of thing if y'all didn't notice. it's been so crazy busy around here that i keep forgetting to go on here.
i handed in my first essay on Friday. It was rather scary actually. i'm not sure if it's up to par with the standards here and that creeps me out. i'm pretty sure it would have done well back home, but i'm not so sure about the way professors grade here. i have another one due this Friday and one the Thursday after that. Not too close together fortunately, so i've got time in between to work on them.
The Baird House Ball was this Thursday. Lots of fun! We had a ceilidh which was hysterical mostly because probably 10 people actually knew what they were doing. The rest of us sort of made it up as we went. The food was good as well. Chicken stuffed with haggis was the main entry - i recommend haggis; i thought it was very good actually.
Katya and i have gone for afternoon tea a couple times this last week. So good and so much fun. It also helps tide you over in the middle of the rather long afternoon. Apparently Americans eat dinner very early. Brazilian Dan was telling me that they don't eat dinner in his house til close to midnight. Geez and here i thought waiting til 7 or 8 was too long. The afternoon tea thing makes so much more sense now.
Our Highlands trip was canceled for this weekend unfortunately, but we're looking at going during exams instead. It seems like everyone (myself included) is ending around the 15th or 16th and we don't have to leave until the 24th or something, so we'll have a bit of time to just hang out without having to stress about anything. i'm really looking forward to a trip with the whole gang.
i went to see a Brazilian kinda dance music group on the 24th in Glasgow. SOOOOOOOOO GOOD! Seriously! Should you ever get the opportunity to see CSS live, i highly recommend it. They're so amazing and so much fun. We went early and went out to dinner at a place called Wagamama's beforehand. Very good Japanese food. Ellie told us that Wagamama means greedy in Japanese, which is funny because they give you HUGE portions when you go there. The food was fantastic. I'm kinda sad they don't have this place in the States.
Ellie and i were talking the other day about things we miss from the States and the biggest thing the both of us miss is the food. That's not to say that the food here isn't really good, but there's just something lacking. Ellie really misses the Asian fusion cooking of California and i would give just about anything for a cup of clam chowder right now. Being here hasn't been that huge of a culture shock, but i miss stupid things like Olive Garden and Panera. The cream cheese is weird here, so a bagel and cream cheese even doesn't do it. It just means that i'll have to introduce people to these things.
My mom sent me a package which contained peanut butter and American candy. You should have seen how fast the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups flew. It was ridick! Everyone over here loves them, but they're next to impossible to find. A lot of the people i'm around really like the peanut butter too. It's so much better than the stuff they sell over here, although i'm still attempting to convince people that a peanut butter and jelly (or as they say jam, cause jelly is what we call jello) sandwich is a good snack/part of lunch.
That's another thing. Ellie and i were talking last night about little slang things we've picked up being over here and things we've introduced to the people here. It's really rather funny. Ellie and i keep saying things like "i'm knackered" or "i can't be arsed." i guess it's really cause British slang is so much cooler in many ways. Bloody hell just has such a better ring to it than most American swears.
but yeah....i'm going on my archaeology field trip this saturday. i'm actually kinda excited! It sounds like a lot of fun and very interesting. i really like this class. i kinda wish i could go on one of the digs they have scheduled for this summer, but i'm more excited about doing my internship, so no worries.
i guess that's about all i've got. i'm gettin really excited for spring break and i hope everyone at conn enjoys theirs! peace and love y'all!
kat
i handed in my first essay on Friday. It was rather scary actually. i'm not sure if it's up to par with the standards here and that creeps me out. i'm pretty sure it would have done well back home, but i'm not so sure about the way professors grade here. i have another one due this Friday and one the Thursday after that. Not too close together fortunately, so i've got time in between to work on them.
The Baird House Ball was this Thursday. Lots of fun! We had a ceilidh which was hysterical mostly because probably 10 people actually knew what they were doing. The rest of us sort of made it up as we went. The food was good as well. Chicken stuffed with haggis was the main entry - i recommend haggis; i thought it was very good actually.
Katya and i have gone for afternoon tea a couple times this last week. So good and so much fun. It also helps tide you over in the middle of the rather long afternoon. Apparently Americans eat dinner very early. Brazilian Dan was telling me that they don't eat dinner in his house til close to midnight. Geez and here i thought waiting til 7 or 8 was too long. The afternoon tea thing makes so much more sense now.
Our Highlands trip was canceled for this weekend unfortunately, but we're looking at going during exams instead. It seems like everyone (myself included) is ending around the 15th or 16th and we don't have to leave until the 24th or something, so we'll have a bit of time to just hang out without having to stress about anything. i'm really looking forward to a trip with the whole gang.
i went to see a Brazilian kinda dance music group on the 24th in Glasgow. SOOOOOOOOO GOOD! Seriously! Should you ever get the opportunity to see CSS live, i highly recommend it. They're so amazing and so much fun. We went early and went out to dinner at a place called Wagamama's beforehand. Very good Japanese food. Ellie told us that Wagamama means greedy in Japanese, which is funny because they give you HUGE portions when you go there. The food was fantastic. I'm kinda sad they don't have this place in the States.
Ellie and i were talking the other day about things we miss from the States and the biggest thing the both of us miss is the food. That's not to say that the food here isn't really good, but there's just something lacking. Ellie really misses the Asian fusion cooking of California and i would give just about anything for a cup of clam chowder right now. Being here hasn't been that huge of a culture shock, but i miss stupid things like Olive Garden and Panera. The cream cheese is weird here, so a bagel and cream cheese even doesn't do it. It just means that i'll have to introduce people to these things.
My mom sent me a package which contained peanut butter and American candy. You should have seen how fast the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups flew. It was ridick! Everyone over here loves them, but they're next to impossible to find. A lot of the people i'm around really like the peanut butter too. It's so much better than the stuff they sell over here, although i'm still attempting to convince people that a peanut butter and jelly (or as they say jam, cause jelly is what we call jello) sandwich is a good snack/part of lunch.
That's another thing. Ellie and i were talking last night about little slang things we've picked up being over here and things we've introduced to the people here. It's really rather funny. Ellie and i keep saying things like "i'm knackered" or "i can't be arsed." i guess it's really cause British slang is so much cooler in many ways. Bloody hell just has such a better ring to it than most American swears.
but yeah....i'm going on my archaeology field trip this saturday. i'm actually kinda excited! It sounds like a lot of fun and very interesting. i really like this class. i kinda wish i could go on one of the digs they have scheduled for this summer, but i'm more excited about doing my internship, so no worries.
i guess that's about all i've got. i'm gettin really excited for spring break and i hope everyone at conn enjoys theirs! peace and love y'all!
kat
23 February 2008
Scotty Doesn't Know
The 15th was British Sarah's birthday so we went to this amazing Indian food restaurant and had a blast. The wait staff brought us out a carrot cake just for the table, not just a slice of cake like in most restaurants. And they didn't charge us for it! The meal was overall much cheaper than any of us thought it would be. Very nice!
So i gave a presentation in my Africa class that went very well. Mostly, i just tore apart the authors i was supposed to read and their arguments. Theories and Discontents are actually really paying off for me right now because of how much they made me analyse arguments. Never thought i'd say that about Discontents, but hey...i'll own up. My paper for that class isn't coming along so well, but i think i've finally figured out what exactly my question is so i can focus my research more. i'm really very excited for it now that i've figured out what i'm going to talk about.
Had to give a presentation in history as well which also went much better than i thought it would. It's not so hard as i originally thought it would be and i'm surprised every time by how well it goes off.
i had dinner at Vittoria's the other night with my program. It was rather nice and kinda posh. The food was very good, but too expensive for me for a normal meal. It was nice to have a treat though.
A bunch of us went to a pub for dinner last night because Ellie and i were at a movie for her class and people waited for us to eat. Unfortunately (yeah right), the movie went longer than we thought and we all missed dinner at JMC. i finally had bangers and mash! i've been waiting to have that since i got here, and i finally had it last night. It was gloriously cheap and also amazingly good. So worth the wait!
Went to a club for some girl's birthday a couple of nights ago. i didn't actually know the girl, but it didn't really matter. Alice and i tried shots of chili vodka, but they weren't spicy enough so we asked the bartender to make us some with tabasco in them. We finished them and the bartender said he would give us free ones if we would do it again. It was absolutely hysterical. They weren't that bad really should you get the chance to try it. Spicy, but i've had stronger before.
We've been having library parties every couple of nights this last week. It's been rather fun. We get a lot of work done, but we're also goofing off a bit. It makes it so much easier to work really, when you know that everyone else you're with is working and there will be a quick break in a few minutes when someone throws a pencil at you or brings out a bag of chocolate. i think we're having another one today and the reward if we work hard for a long time will have to be a bratwurst from the continental market that's happening on prince's street this week.
Speaking of the continental market, should you be in Edinburgh when they're having the market, i highly recommend that you go. There were a bunch of stalls with the most spectacular food. i'm pretty sure they had purses and stuff like that as well, but i wasn't really paying attention to that part. There were crepes, dutch pancakes, turkish kebabs, german sausages, french cheeses, sicilian cookies....sooooo much good food. Ellie and i traveled down there and explored it earlier this week.
Not much else important stuff. Just chillin really. Gettin excited for spring break. Love and peace y'all.
kat
So i gave a presentation in my Africa class that went very well. Mostly, i just tore apart the authors i was supposed to read and their arguments. Theories and Discontents are actually really paying off for me right now because of how much they made me analyse arguments. Never thought i'd say that about Discontents, but hey...i'll own up. My paper for that class isn't coming along so well, but i think i've finally figured out what exactly my question is so i can focus my research more. i'm really very excited for it now that i've figured out what i'm going to talk about.
Had to give a presentation in history as well which also went much better than i thought it would. It's not so hard as i originally thought it would be and i'm surprised every time by how well it goes off.
i had dinner at Vittoria's the other night with my program. It was rather nice and kinda posh. The food was very good, but too expensive for me for a normal meal. It was nice to have a treat though.
A bunch of us went to a pub for dinner last night because Ellie and i were at a movie for her class and people waited for us to eat. Unfortunately (yeah right), the movie went longer than we thought and we all missed dinner at JMC. i finally had bangers and mash! i've been waiting to have that since i got here, and i finally had it last night. It was gloriously cheap and also amazingly good. So worth the wait!
Went to a club for some girl's birthday a couple of nights ago. i didn't actually know the girl, but it didn't really matter. Alice and i tried shots of chili vodka, but they weren't spicy enough so we asked the bartender to make us some with tabasco in them. We finished them and the bartender said he would give us free ones if we would do it again. It was absolutely hysterical. They weren't that bad really should you get the chance to try it. Spicy, but i've had stronger before.
We've been having library parties every couple of nights this last week. It's been rather fun. We get a lot of work done, but we're also goofing off a bit. It makes it so much easier to work really, when you know that everyone else you're with is working and there will be a quick break in a few minutes when someone throws a pencil at you or brings out a bag of chocolate. i think we're having another one today and the reward if we work hard for a long time will have to be a bratwurst from the continental market that's happening on prince's street this week.
Speaking of the continental market, should you be in Edinburgh when they're having the market, i highly recommend that you go. There were a bunch of stalls with the most spectacular food. i'm pretty sure they had purses and stuff like that as well, but i wasn't really paying attention to that part. There were crepes, dutch pancakes, turkish kebabs, german sausages, french cheeses, sicilian cookies....sooooo much good food. Ellie and i traveled down there and explored it earlier this week.
Not much else important stuff. Just chillin really. Gettin excited for spring break. Love and peace y'all.
kat
08 February 2008
Rosslyn Chapel = breathtaking
Alright, lots has happened in the last two weeks. i went to a club one night with a bunch of people on my floor. So much fun! We were planning on going to a pirate ceilidh, but we got a bit sidetracked. There were creepy Italian guys hitting on us, but once they knew that i pretty much understood everything they were saying they backed off a bit and had a nice conversation with me in Italian. It was pretty funny really.
i started doing research for my religion paper. More than a month in advance! Who am i?! But actually it's a good thing i started early because my topic is going to be a bit challenging and need more research than i originally planned. The research is so interesting though that i'm looking forward to it really. It's weird though cause i've been to the library here significantly more than i've been to the library in my entire college career at Conn. They do, however, have jstor here, so i'm set!
Last weekend a couple of us went to the Rosslyn Chapel. For those of you who don't know, it is this gorgeous old chapel that happened to be featured in the ending of the DaVinci Code. We were a little bit disappointed because you can't take pictures inside. It was absolutely gorgeous. Apparently it's still a working chapel and i'm thinking about going to Mass there cause i think that would be absolutely amazing. The only issue is that Mass starts at 1030 and in order to catch the bus and be there on time, i would have to get up at like 8 on a Sunday. Not diggin that idea so much.
It was also Katya's birthday that weekend so we all went out to dinner at this absolutely amazing Thai place. Everything i had had coconut in it. It made me so happy! i love coconut!
i saw Playtone again last night. Apparently they come to the same pub every Thursday night, so a few of us are thinkin about meeting up there every week. They're so much fun and they remember us from before! So cool! And yes Kiefer, two of them are single...not that we asked...
Tomorrow there are two rugby matches in the 6 nations rugby cup that i think i'm going to. i'm not sure where right now, cause some pubs only play certain teams' matches, but i shall find a place! i don't think i'll be in Edinburgh for the Scotland v. England match and i'm kinda pissed about that since the match is in Edinburgh this year and it's going to be insane here. i'm not sure though, so maybe i'll be set. i watched part of the Africa Cup at the pub last night in which Egypt soundly trounced Cote d'Ivoire. i didn't see all of it so it may have been a close match where Egypt got lucky, but from what i saw it was a trouncing. It's so cool to just go to a pub, have a pint and watch a game. So much better than just watching it at home. The atmosphere is so amazing.
We did that with the Super Bowl as well. We found this small pub that was open and fairly uncrowded and watched the game and had some drinks. The funniest part was trying to explain the game to my friends from the UK. When they learned that American football players have padding on their butts, they decided that the sport is nothing compared to real football or rugby.
i can't remember too much more...that seems about it for me right now...
kat
i started doing research for my religion paper. More than a month in advance! Who am i?! But actually it's a good thing i started early because my topic is going to be a bit challenging and need more research than i originally planned. The research is so interesting though that i'm looking forward to it really. It's weird though cause i've been to the library here significantly more than i've been to the library in my entire college career at Conn. They do, however, have jstor here, so i'm set!
Last weekend a couple of us went to the Rosslyn Chapel. For those of you who don't know, it is this gorgeous old chapel that happened to be featured in the ending of the DaVinci Code. We were a little bit disappointed because you can't take pictures inside. It was absolutely gorgeous. Apparently it's still a working chapel and i'm thinking about going to Mass there cause i think that would be absolutely amazing. The only issue is that Mass starts at 1030 and in order to catch the bus and be there on time, i would have to get up at like 8 on a Sunday. Not diggin that idea so much.
It was also Katya's birthday that weekend so we all went out to dinner at this absolutely amazing Thai place. Everything i had had coconut in it. It made me so happy! i love coconut!
i saw Playtone again last night. Apparently they come to the same pub every Thursday night, so a few of us are thinkin about meeting up there every week. They're so much fun and they remember us from before! So cool! And yes Kiefer, two of them are single...not that we asked...
Tomorrow there are two rugby matches in the 6 nations rugby cup that i think i'm going to. i'm not sure where right now, cause some pubs only play certain teams' matches, but i shall find a place! i don't think i'll be in Edinburgh for the Scotland v. England match and i'm kinda pissed about that since the match is in Edinburgh this year and it's going to be insane here. i'm not sure though, so maybe i'll be set. i watched part of the Africa Cup at the pub last night in which Egypt soundly trounced Cote d'Ivoire. i didn't see all of it so it may have been a close match where Egypt got lucky, but from what i saw it was a trouncing. It's so cool to just go to a pub, have a pint and watch a game. So much better than just watching it at home. The atmosphere is so amazing.
We did that with the Super Bowl as well. We found this small pub that was open and fairly uncrowded and watched the game and had some drinks. The funniest part was trying to explain the game to my friends from the UK. When they learned that American football players have padding on their butts, they decided that the sport is nothing compared to real football or rugby.
i can't remember too much more...that seems about it for me right now...
kat
28 January 2008
Go to the Mosque Kitchen if you ever visit Edinburgh
So i got back from my family stay last night. It was awkward, but i got to see some pretty amazing things while i was there. A whole group of us climbed to the top of the Wallace Monument, which was amazing and had such a nice view. i also explored the Stirling Castle, which had spectacular views. i took almost 500 pictures this weekend. i didn't get to have haggis on Burns' Night, which was rather disappointing, but i'm sure i'll get to try it at some point. Strangely enough, i'm actually excited to try it.
Also this weekend, we went to this cute little museum. When i say little, i mean probably the size of one exhibit in a normal museum. i saw the world's oldest football which dates back to the 1540's. Very cool really. It was apparently on exhibit in Munich, i believe, during the last World Cup.
Got some henna this past week as well. i found it in this cute little shop and decided that it would be a good idea to get some and try it out. i didn't do a tattoo on myself, but Brazilian Dan attempted one...screwed up the first batch cause he didn't listen to me, but we got the second one right and it turned out really cool! Rather exciting really.
We're planning on climbing Arthur's Seat some time soon, but after all the climbing this weekend, i think i'll be delaying it a little personally. My legs are killing me! Also, it might be a good idea to put it off til when it's warmer. i'm not so much a fan of cold.
i had my first archaeology tutorial this week. Very interesting. It's kinda too bad i didn't know how interesting it was before; i might have gone into anthropology if i had. Then again, anthropology is essentially what i'm doing now with sociology and archaeology thrown in. Still, very interesting stuff. i have to remember to email the school about counting archaeology as a history class. i mean, come on, if archaeology, with its extensive wealth of knowledge about prehistory, doesn't count as a history class then i give up. That would just be dumb. Have to check though.
i also went to the mosque for lunch this week. So good! For 3 pounds, i had more food than i could possibly eat and it was all very well made. Some of the food is a little bit more expensive, but still, for lamb curry it's 4,50. That i can do!
i started talking with this girl in my family stay group about Spring break. We were thinking about meeting up in Paris and then going on a train ride through to Italy. That would be really cool, but i was also thinking about just hanging out in England, Scotland and Ireland, especially since i now know people who live in various parts of those. Also, Brazilian Dan is keeping his room here, so hopefully i can stash some stuff in there for the break. Apparently i have to start thinking about this stuff soon if i want to do it cheaply...which i do.
Not too much left to say, no big developments on this front...so i'll just leave it at that. Hope everything is going well back in the states!
kat
Also this weekend, we went to this cute little museum. When i say little, i mean probably the size of one exhibit in a normal museum. i saw the world's oldest football which dates back to the 1540's. Very cool really. It was apparently on exhibit in Munich, i believe, during the last World Cup.
Got some henna this past week as well. i found it in this cute little shop and decided that it would be a good idea to get some and try it out. i didn't do a tattoo on myself, but Brazilian Dan attempted one...screwed up the first batch cause he didn't listen to me, but we got the second one right and it turned out really cool! Rather exciting really.
We're planning on climbing Arthur's Seat some time soon, but after all the climbing this weekend, i think i'll be delaying it a little personally. My legs are killing me! Also, it might be a good idea to put it off til when it's warmer. i'm not so much a fan of cold.
i had my first archaeology tutorial this week. Very interesting. It's kinda too bad i didn't know how interesting it was before; i might have gone into anthropology if i had. Then again, anthropology is essentially what i'm doing now with sociology and archaeology thrown in. Still, very interesting stuff. i have to remember to email the school about counting archaeology as a history class. i mean, come on, if archaeology, with its extensive wealth of knowledge about prehistory, doesn't count as a history class then i give up. That would just be dumb. Have to check though.
i also went to the mosque for lunch this week. So good! For 3 pounds, i had more food than i could possibly eat and it was all very well made. Some of the food is a little bit more expensive, but still, for lamb curry it's 4,50. That i can do!
i started talking with this girl in my family stay group about Spring break. We were thinking about meeting up in Paris and then going on a train ride through to Italy. That would be really cool, but i was also thinking about just hanging out in England, Scotland and Ireland, especially since i now know people who live in various parts of those. Also, Brazilian Dan is keeping his room here, so hopefully i can stash some stuff in there for the break. Apparently i have to start thinking about this stuff soon if i want to do it cheaply...which i do.
Not too much left to say, no big developments on this front...so i'll just leave it at that. Hope everything is going well back in the states!
kat
20 January 2008
Limoncello = God
So i found out that this band i saw perform the first week i was here is performing at an over 21 club tonight so i can't go...unless they don't ask for id....i don't know, but it's too bad. They were fun and i would have liked to see them again. Instead, i'll probably just do nothing for the night...a little reading, some homework. I might see if anyone is going to go to the pub quiz over at the Crag's tonight and join them.
i bought a ticket for this "ball" thing that my dorm is having. It should be interesting and there's going to be a ceilidh as well. i haven't been to one of those yet, so this should be interesting.
Next week i'm going to be going on my family stay. i'll be staying with a man and woman who live in Stirling. They have a daughter who is a only a couple years older than me and a dog. i'm actually really excited to be staying with them! i was planning on going to this cute little church i found this coming weekend, but i can just do that later.
i've been talking with a bunch of people who live on my floor and we want to plan a trip to the highlands some time soon. It sounds like fun and i'm excited to be going with a big group of people, especially since i don't think any of us have been there before. It'll be a big crazy adventure!
This week was the birthday of one of the girls who went on the Butler program with me. To celebrate, we went to this amazing little Italian restaurant. The main course was decent, not fabulous, but the dessert was to die for. i got limoncello and all i can say is that, it was an life changing experience. SO GOOD!!! i also got the opportunity to talk to a couple of the waiters and the owner in Italian. While i'll admit i was spotty at best, they were really nice and it was nice to try and speak to someone who actually knew what i was trying to say. They also gave me a couple of recommendations for places to see when i go to Italy. It was really very nice of them.
i also checked out this very cool ticket/music place in Edinburgh. Essentially, what they do is sell tickets to concerts in the area and the music which the band plays as well. Found out that MSI is going to be here in April...i might have to check that out! Reel Big Fish is also going to be here soon, and it would be really cool to see them again. i'm not sure if i want to pay for that, but it's something to keep in mind.
Ok...not much else to say except that Brazilian Dan lost his keys and it's been amusing watching him freak out about it and attempt to find them in his room. It's not going so well. Oh! That reminds me! Anyone who has ever seen my room before should see this one now! It's so freakin clean! No lie! i almost can't stand it. There's nothing in it, so i haven't been able to make anything even close to resembling a mess.
Oh, and people were asking me about classes and stuff like that. So, because i had all that vacation reading and work to do, i decided not to take that class on Community Action and Public Protest. Instead, i'm taking a class about Scottish Archaeology. It's really very fascinating and i'm glad that i'm taking it. i'm very excited for the field trip we have to take. i'm taking a class called "Later Medieval England and it's Neighbours" which is really cool. The professor is very interesting, albeit awkward as anything, and the people i'm working with are very cool. My last class is Indigenous Religions: Sub-Saharan Africa. After the first class, i didn't have high hopes at all for this one, but it's getting better. i think i've shown the professor that i'm not a complete idiot as he seemed to think originally.
i'm going to get a microphone for Skype tomorrow, i think, so add me and we'll talk! i'm pretty sure that my name thing is kat.meyers, but i'll make 100 percent sure on that.
kat
i bought a ticket for this "ball" thing that my dorm is having. It should be interesting and there's going to be a ceilidh as well. i haven't been to one of those yet, so this should be interesting.
Next week i'm going to be going on my family stay. i'll be staying with a man and woman who live in Stirling. They have a daughter who is a only a couple years older than me and a dog. i'm actually really excited to be staying with them! i was planning on going to this cute little church i found this coming weekend, but i can just do that later.
i've been talking with a bunch of people who live on my floor and we want to plan a trip to the highlands some time soon. It sounds like fun and i'm excited to be going with a big group of people, especially since i don't think any of us have been there before. It'll be a big crazy adventure!
This week was the birthday of one of the girls who went on the Butler program with me. To celebrate, we went to this amazing little Italian restaurant. The main course was decent, not fabulous, but the dessert was to die for. i got limoncello and all i can say is that, it was an life changing experience. SO GOOD!!! i also got the opportunity to talk to a couple of the waiters and the owner in Italian. While i'll admit i was spotty at best, they were really nice and it was nice to try and speak to someone who actually knew what i was trying to say. They also gave me a couple of recommendations for places to see when i go to Italy. It was really very nice of them.
i also checked out this very cool ticket/music place in Edinburgh. Essentially, what they do is sell tickets to concerts in the area and the music which the band plays as well. Found out that MSI is going to be here in April...i might have to check that out! Reel Big Fish is also going to be here soon, and it would be really cool to see them again. i'm not sure if i want to pay for that, but it's something to keep in mind.
Ok...not much else to say except that Brazilian Dan lost his keys and it's been amusing watching him freak out about it and attempt to find them in his room. It's not going so well. Oh! That reminds me! Anyone who has ever seen my room before should see this one now! It's so freakin clean! No lie! i almost can't stand it. There's nothing in it, so i haven't been able to make anything even close to resembling a mess.
Oh, and people were asking me about classes and stuff like that. So, because i had all that vacation reading and work to do, i decided not to take that class on Community Action and Public Protest. Instead, i'm taking a class about Scottish Archaeology. It's really very fascinating and i'm glad that i'm taking it. i'm very excited for the field trip we have to take. i'm taking a class called "Later Medieval England and it's Neighbours" which is really cool. The professor is very interesting, albeit awkward as anything, and the people i'm working with are very cool. My last class is Indigenous Religions: Sub-Saharan Africa. After the first class, i didn't have high hopes at all for this one, but it's getting better. i think i've shown the professor that i'm not a complete idiot as he seemed to think originally.
i'm going to get a microphone for Skype tomorrow, i think, so add me and we'll talk! i'm pretty sure that my name thing is kat.meyers, but i'll make 100 percent sure on that.
kat
13 January 2008
St Trinian's = best movie ever
i went to the cinema last night to see the British film St. Trinian's. Completely hysterical! It apparently only got one star, but it was so funny to watch...loved every second of it. i was going to order the soundtrack, but that's 56 dollars and i'm not interested in paying that much on amazon when i can probably find it here for so much less. probably going to the cinema again this week to see kiterunner.
So i've officially had all of my classes except a tutorial in archaeology. My one religion class is in the New College, which is right on the Mound near the castle and the building is absolutely beautiful. It looks like an old church and i'll be taking pictures soon to post up so y'all can see just how nice it is. i'm enjoying archaeology a lot actually. Very interesting stuff and i kinda wish i'd known sooner how cool it would be. i'm very excited for the field trip i have to take for that class.
i've made friends with the people on my floor. They are all so very cool and sweet. All of them are first years, but they're much more mature than a number of first years in the states. Only one of them is actually from Scotland itself, but one of the girls is from Northern Ireland and we've been talking a lot about the conflict there and what Belfast is like now. i'm thinking of going over there during spring break. We've been going to pubs and such and it's really very interesting to experience the completely different drinking culture over here. It's so much more relaxed and people are completely comfortable with just having a few drinks. i've been to a pub or something pretty much every night this week, but i've had maybe 3 drinks. i might be going to another one tonight because they're having a pub quiz...so much fun! We went to watch one of the boys perform at a jazz bar on campus. It was his first performance under his own name and it was amazing. He's a drummer and he's very talented. The jazz bar was just so nice.
One thing i did notice, everyone in this bloody country smokes. It's so weird! i mean, it doesn't surprise me back home when i meet people who smoke, but walking down the street here, it seems like every other person is smoking...so weird.
i don't really know what else to add...just basically i freakin love it over here. It's expensive as all get out, but i've been finding some really great places to shop for random things. There are so many Goodwill/Salvo places over here! It's great!
i'm gonna go work on studying though...i have a little bit of a presentation to give on Tuesday about saint cults in early England and the effect of the Norman Conquest on those cults.
kat
So i've officially had all of my classes except a tutorial in archaeology. My one religion class is in the New College, which is right on the Mound near the castle and the building is absolutely beautiful. It looks like an old church and i'll be taking pictures soon to post up so y'all can see just how nice it is. i'm enjoying archaeology a lot actually. Very interesting stuff and i kinda wish i'd known sooner how cool it would be. i'm very excited for the field trip i have to take for that class.
i've made friends with the people on my floor. They are all so very cool and sweet. All of them are first years, but they're much more mature than a number of first years in the states. Only one of them is actually from Scotland itself, but one of the girls is from Northern Ireland and we've been talking a lot about the conflict there and what Belfast is like now. i'm thinking of going over there during spring break. We've been going to pubs and such and it's really very interesting to experience the completely different drinking culture over here. It's so much more relaxed and people are completely comfortable with just having a few drinks. i've been to a pub or something pretty much every night this week, but i've had maybe 3 drinks. i might be going to another one tonight because they're having a pub quiz...so much fun! We went to watch one of the boys perform at a jazz bar on campus. It was his first performance under his own name and it was amazing. He's a drummer and he's very talented. The jazz bar was just so nice.
One thing i did notice, everyone in this bloody country smokes. It's so weird! i mean, it doesn't surprise me back home when i meet people who smoke, but walking down the street here, it seems like every other person is smoking...so weird.
i don't really know what else to add...just basically i freakin love it over here. It's expensive as all get out, but i've been finding some really great places to shop for random things. There are so many Goodwill/Salvo places over here! It's great!
i'm gonna go work on studying though...i have a little bit of a presentation to give on Tuesday about saint cults in early England and the effect of the Norman Conquest on those cults.
kat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)