Mmm... Obama Burgers

Is anyone else as excited about the election as I am? I am just about ready for all this campaign bull to over and done with. I just want to know who's going to be my next president and whether or not I need to get a visa to live in Canada or Edinburgh! Apparently the UK is very much into our election as well. This coming week has been dubbed "Stars and Stripes Week" by the Edinburgh student association. They're featuring food inspired by the candidates (the Obama and McCain burgers which have ingredients based on each candidate's background e.g. pineapple for Obama's Hawaiian roots and BBQ for McCain's southwestern home) and one of the student unions is staying open all night long on election night so we can see the results. Official results are supposed to come in around 5 am Edinburgh time. I'm so ready. I plan on drinking highly caffeinated beverages to keep me wired. I don't have class until the afternoon so I should be GOLD when it comes up to staying up all night. You, like my father, may ask why I insist on staying up all night. Why not just wake up at 5 to get the results? Frankly its because of the 2000 and 2004 elections. To quote a dear friend of mine in Claremont "I went to bed thinking one guy was going to be the next president and I woke up the next day and it was the other dude (Viv)!" So I'll be pulling an all-nighter but I feel like I've mastered the art of keeping myself awake and alive for almost 48 hours. I've decided that two things are going to definitely happen after I know the results, not matter who wins:

1. I will cry... out of a combination of exhaustion and a) elation or b) shock and horror.
2. I am partying very hard the next night to either a) celebrate or b) drown my sorrows.

This week God has stuck me down with a truly awful sinus infection. Now I know it doesn't sound so bad when you're reading that but think back on those times when you wake up in the middle of the night because you can't breathe or when you make those really awful noises with your nose whenever a room happens to go dead quiet. Yeah, it is no fun. I've pretty much been sick for the past 3 weeks on and off but this week has been the worst by far. I finally broke down and decided to see the doctor. I don't know how this works exactly but for some reason we American students qualify for national health care while studying here in the UK. So I called the student health center and made and appointment. I went in that afternoon and saw the doctor within 10 minutes of entering the building (how often can you say that about service in the US?). He assessed my illness and prescribed me some antibiotics and then sent me on my merry way. I got my medication for 5 pounds (which amounts to about $8) and am well on my way to healthy times! This is why the US needs national health care... things would be so much simpler and ten times less annoying. My ailing body will probably make a full recovery around Friday which means I will actually start going out again tomorrow (Thursday). Not the wisest choice, I know, but we're supposed to go to a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) which is a Scottish bash with everyone wearing traditional dress, drinking lots of booze and dancing around to amazing Scottish tunes. Did I mention that by traditional dress I mean tons of KILTS?! It is going to be superb.

This past week was mostly uneventful because I spent most of my time in bed trying to stop being sick. We did make it to The Tron on Saturday to see our favorite band but that was about the extent of it. Tonight my friends are enjoying a pub crawl via a party bus but I opted out so that I could (hopefully) feel up to going to the ceilidh tomorrow. And, of course, Friday is Halloween so I am going out. I have devised the perfect costume: American tourist. Not only will I be extremely comfy (because I will be sporting tennis shoes, sweats and a Hawaiian shirt) but I think it will be exceptionally amusing - if not for others then definitely for myself. I plan on walking up to people and asking obnoxious questions that completely uniformed tourist often ask. This may actually be somewhat offensive to some but its all part of the character; American tourist have serious potential to offend natives. I'm still on the lookout for a visor and fanny pack (which are called bum bags here because fanny is a euphemism for a certain part of the female genitalia in the UK - I almost found out about that the hard way). Basically, the coming days should be some of the most exciting for me in Edinburgh... I'm ready for it.