Kristi Yamaguchi Ain't Got Nothin' On Me

A week has already gone by which means I have less than two weeks here in Edinburgh! How did this happen?! Really, I do need to get home so I can see my family because I miss them like CRAZY! But I feel like I'm finally finding my little niche here and now its time for me to go. Okay, well moving on to an update of the past week.

Wednesday was our weekly potluck but we mixed things up a little bit. Several of us went ice skating on Princes Street where all the Christmas festivities are set up! I hadn't skated in quite some time but I managed to stay off my butt the whole night! I was extremely proud and briefly considered dropping out of college and re-pursuing my dreams of becoming a professional figure skater. Then I realized how unrealistic this was - by age 20/21 most figure skaters are "old" and on their way out so I really don't have chance. We made our way back to Kara's flat and ate some spaghetti and garlic bread. Thursday was the day of my last official class. That's pretty much all I did.

Friday during the day consisted of me sleeping a lot and Friday night I went to a rugby match! It was Edinburgh v. London Wasps. Sadly, Edinburgh lost but they were leading for about 10 minutes. Rugby is kind of awesome. The rules are similar to football (American football) except you don't have so much stopping and, as my sister pointed out, its ridiculously more MANLY than American football. What I mean is when the clock says there are five minutes left it means there are five minutes left... not 35 minutes left. Here are some basic rugby rules I picked up on: you can only pass the ball behind you, when pile ups/tackles happen the guys simply get the ball out of the pile to another teammate (no stopping), fumbles and missed passes do not end plays, kicking the ball back and forth from one end of the pitch to another is normal, there are no "downs," rugby boys must be really built and preferably tall. Also these guys don't wear padding or warm gear. In fact they ran around in shorts and t-shirts and I'm pretty sure it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Although I couldn't really see their faces, these rugby boys were pretty fine. We're talking extremely toned, muscular bodies. Now I'm sure once I saw one up close and realized half his teeth were missing and his face had been broken so many times that he looked like a Picasso that I wouldn't feel all that attracted to him. But from a distance they look good. Later that night Kara's friend Drew, who goes to St. Andrews as a regular student, met up with us because he was in Edinburgh. We went out for a bit and then I called it a night.

Saturday during the day we went to the Christmas Market on Princes Street (where the ice skating was). I marveled at the adorable trinkets and gifts and purchased some much needed chocolate. Saturday night we had a little birthday party for my friend Kara who was turning 22 on the 7th. I will just say that it was ridiculously fun. It was supposed to be a tacky Christmas sweater party (because Kara didn't want a party that celebrated her "descent into oblivion" - her words not mine) and for a while there was some pretty tacky attire. I think fun was had by all. Sunday was Kara's actual birthday. Since none of us had fully recovered from the night before by lunchtime (if you were me then you weren't even awake by lunchtime) we had dinner a Chinese restaurant called Jimmy Chung's.

Monday was spent studying because I have a final due tomorrow (Wednesday). We met up with a few of our friends in the student union later that evening and had a few drinks. Then we (the girls) decided we were in dire need of some girl bonding time. So we bought a lot of junk food, put on some sappy music and chatted for a few hours. It was good. Today I finished up my final and that's about it. Tomorrow, as usual, is our little potluck which I think is just going to be us girls (Kara, Maggie, Stacey, Sarah and myself). We're going to go ride the ferris wheel at the Princes Street Christmas Fair and then eat some grub from the Christmas market. So technically its not a potluck but we're going to call it that anyway. And now its time for some pictures!

Christmas on Princes Street!

Our little group went skating! Top row left to right: Sophie, Neil, Maggie, Shay, Alex. Bottom row left to right: me, Jill, Jess, Kara. Stacey and Sarah were, sadly, not present.

This is why I should be a professional figure skater. I could revolutionize the whole institution.

Rugby! That's the Edinburgh team (those people running off in the striped shirts are little kids, probably rugby player for a local team, that walked out onto the pitch with the Edinburgh players).

The guys in the yellow are the London Wasps. The guys in green are the referees. And that guy in orange smack dab in the middle is security.

Tacky Christmas sweater party! I realize I'm not wearing a sweater but I found this Mrs. Gingerbread looking dress and had to get it... I also realize its not incredibly flattering. Not surprisingly, I removed the ugly frock shortly after this picture was taken. From left to right: Maggie, Kara, me, Jill.

Fun times in Kara's flat.

Out to eat at Jimmy Chung's for Kara's birthday. We got these Christmas poppers and they had little mustaches, a creepy yellow fingernail thing and, of course, paper crowns! From left to right: Sarah, me, Maggie.

The birthday girl and Charlie Chaplin! Actually, its just Stacey.

I call this Essence of Maggie.

Where's My (Good) Stuffing?

It's finally the month of December which means my days here are numbered. I'm incredibly torn about how I feel. On the one hand, I miss my family and friends very, very much and I'm pretty sure if I don't see them soon I might go insane. But I also have completely fallen in love with Edinburgh and the people I have met here. These past few months might be some of the best of my entire life - I'm not kidding. But because the prospect of leaving gives me such a strange mix of emotions then I will move on to an update of my past week.

Wednesday night was our attempt at a Thanksgiving celebration. The celebration was good but the food was interesting. Maggie's mashed potatoes were delicious, the turkey bricks we bought were okay, and the stuffing (much to my dismay) was disgusting. Overall it was quite nice but I've decided I never want to have to cook for myself on a big holiday ever again. No one can master the holiday dinner quite like my mom. I mean it. She is spectacular. We had a bunch of Brits over to celebrate with us and we forced them to go around the room and say what they were thankful for because that's how most of us do the Thanksgiving blessing. I was feeling a little bit homesick after dinner but that night when I got back to my room I skyped with my family for a few hours. It made me extremely happy and made me feel much better. Thursday we went to the dinner Butler provided for us. It wasn't Thanksgiving-y at all but I wasn't about to complain because it was free.

I spent a good portion of my week and weekend in the library because I had a very long essay due on Monday (yesterday, Dec. 1). I set a goal of words to write everyday because this weekend was jammed packed with events I wanted to attend in the evening/night.

Friday was the History Society Ball which i bought a new dress for. We - Kara, Maggie and myself - looked quite good, if I do say so myself. We were provided with a 3 course meal, champagne and a few bottles of wine and the event was held at an interactive museum called "Dynamic Earth." After our delicious dinner there was a ceilidh and then "discotheque" (that's what they called it, not me). It was a blast and it was really fun to dress up and look pretty. Saturday I spent most of my day in the library. That night we went to The Tron to see, you guessed it, "White Heath." I think our frequency at their shows is probably reaching borderline creepy but, hey, we're only here for 3 more weeks! I mean, unless they get famous and tour the world these last couple of gigs in December will probably be the last time we'll see them... ever! So I figure if there's any ideal time to be creepy, it's now. After The Tron we met up with Stacey, who had some of her friends from school visiting, at Vodka Revolution. We danced around for a bit and then we went back to Stacey's and talked for a while. When we finally left Stacey's, I ended up at Kara's and didn't leave until 4:30 am. Sunday was St. Andrews Day so there was a big ceilidh that night in the student union. There were a lot of people there and, more importantly, there were a lot of people there in kilts! It was splendid and the splendidness of it all was only enhanced by the fact that I had also finally finished my essay that day.

Yesterday and today were not particularly exciting. The most substantial occurrence was me doing four loads of laundry. I know what you're thinking. Yes it is gross and I was basically out of things to wear. Tomorrow we're having our weekly potluck (Italian themed due to a surplus of noodles from a previous dinner) but we're going ice skating on Princes Street beforehand! Ice rinks always remind me of the days when I mused about becoming a professional figure skater. I don't know why I ever thought I could pursue that career path. I'm not particularly graceful and, honestly, its difficult for me to stay upright when I'm on solid, non-iced ground and in normal shoes. Still, I'm very excited to make a fool of myself and watch all my friends do the same. Classes end this week and all I have left is a few take home exams. The end is quickly approaching... how did this happen?! I leave you with some photo documentation of the past week.

Our Thanksgiving feast in Kara's teeny-tiny oven. The top shelf is the stuffing (really gross - don't worry, I'm not offending anyone because it was store bought), the middle shelf holds our turkey bricks and on the bottom shelf are Maggie's awesome mashed potatoes.

Maggie and I relaxed while the food was cooking (really just Maggie - I wasn't particularly stressed because cranberry salad doesn't have to cook).

Everyone chatting after Thanksgiving dinner (on Wednesday). This is right before everyone felt the effects of the tryptophan.

Kara and me at the History Society Ball. Don't worry, I didn't wear the hat the whole time.

Kara, Maggie and me at the Ball in front of the "iceberg." Yes, it was real ice. The ball was at that interactive museum!

"The Flying Scotsman" at the St. Andrews Day ceilidh!

Brief update: I just left my room for the first time in several hours to grab a bite to eat and, lo and behold, slush is falling from the sky. Not rain, not snow. Slush. Seriously, it looks like the sky dumped a giant dirt-flavored slushie on Edinburgh.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!!!

Well first I would like to say... WE DID IT!!! WE ELECTED BARACK OBAMA AS OUR 44TH PRESIDENT!!! I cannot express the joy and love I feel for the US of A right now. I've been feeling extremely patriotic and proud. Sometimes I'm tempted to go up to random people and say, "Hey, I'm American and we just had one of the most historic elections in the history of this world. I voted for the guy who won." Thankfully I've suppressed that urge and still seem like a rational, normal person.

Perhaps I should tell you about the events that took place in my life on that historic night that was November 4, 2008. I was pretty anxious all day and that's saying something because I woke up around 9 a.m. which is about 3 a.m. Central time - that means I waited a few hours for most polls to even open. But even after polls open, you really can't find anything out until they close. I swear all the anticipation almost gave me a heart attack. I was so fidgety and jittery all day. I couldn't concentrate on anything - all I could think about was the election. Finally the first polls on the east coast closed at 11 p.m. Edinburgh time. We had gone to one of the election parties being thrown in a pub close to the University's student union. We watched and cheered for Obama until around midnight and the went to stand in line for the other election party (because the pub closed at 1 a.m. and the other party was going until 3 a.m.). We stood in line for nearly two hours but kept updated via Stacey's laptop (which miraculously got internet and we were able to stream live broadcast from MSNBC until her battery died) and phone calls from my dad and mom. While in line I was interviewed by someone making a documentary about the election. For anyone in Cleveland or near there, the film is being shown at the Cleveland Film Festival so keep an eye out. We were denied entry because the doors closed at 2 a.m. (we were literally 5 people away from getting into the building). So we ran back to my friend's flat to watch it on her laptop (courtesy of MSNBC). We chatted, watched, waited and maybe dozed off a bit until the fire alarm went off in the apartment complex around 4:30 a.m. We endured the cold air of early morning Edinburgh until about 5 a.m. and just as we rushed into Stacey's room to get the results they declared Barack Obama as the President-elect of the United States of America. We cheered, cried and finally breathed easily as we watched John McCain graciously concede and Barack Obama address an enormous crowd in Chicago. I am so proud that I was a part of this moment in history. It was a hugely momentous day and I cannot believe we were there to witness it all. How incredible is it that almost 45 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, we have an African-American president? Is it not amazing that about 50 years ago we were a segregated country? Yes, racism still exists and we still have quite a ways to go before race is no longer an "issue" (I hate using that word to describe it but its the best one I can think of). But "We Shall Overcome." Yes We Can and, to some extent, Yes We Did.

Wednesday was a rough day because I didn't get to sleep until almost 6 a.m. that morning. I grudgingly went through the motions. I got my hair cut in the afternoon and I'm not sure I like it that much. I think it makes me look like I'm on the way to a PTA meeting. At least its all one color now. We had our potluck and I decided to bring stuffing. It was okay but not delicious. Later that night (which was Guy Fawkes Day/Night) we walked up to "The Crags" of Arthur's Seat and watched hoards of people shooting off fireworks. We even saw some people carrying torches - real torches, not flashlights (because Brits call flashlights "torches"). I pretended like the fireworks were in celebration of Obama's victory. I went to bed early. Today was my American History 2 lecturer's last lecture in that class that he's been teaching for 37 years. The lecture hall was packed and we gave him a standing ovation at the end of class. He was talking about the election results at the beginning of class and mentioned that when he was at school in the US during the 60s he was involved "in a small way" in the Civil Rights Movement. He said he never thought he would live to see the day an African-American become president. Alan Day is his name and he's incredible - definitely the best lecturer I've ever had the pleasure of having.

Tomorrow I am leaving for York, England and will be there for the weekend. Its another trip orgainzed by Butler so there will be a hoards of Americans invading England. I hope the city is prepared. Alright... this is completely random and unrelated to anything else I've written but I'm going to tell you anyway. Today I got a compliment on my eyebrows. Yes, my eyebrows. The woman told me they were a very nice shape and asked if I plucked them. I never realized people noticed your eyebrows unless you had a unibrow or looked like Groucho Marx. It made me feel good even though it was a very weird thing for this woman to notice.

What Exactly Qualifies As A "Fall Food?"

I have exciting news: I'm going to Holland, Belgium and Germany all in one weekend! Not this weekend (actually this weekend we're going to York, England) but the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 19-23) a few of my friends and I will be in mainland Europe! So exciting! Most of us only have lectures on Wednesday and Thursday, myself included, so we're just going to copy the notes from some fellow classmates once we get back. I just booked my tickets to and from and I am thrilled to actually have confirmed plans. We would like to do a bit more traveling after classes end and before we come home (we'd have about 2 weeks). I only have essays so I actually don't have to sit for any exams. My plan is to finish my essays before December 5th and spend the rest of my time backpacking (more or less) through Europe. YAY!

Well, now that I've got that out of my system I can update you on the goings-on since last Wednesday. I finally recovered from that dreadful sinus infection thanks to the amazing national health care here. This meant I could function like a normal human being and not a walking zombie by Thursday. We (meaning me and my closest friends here in Edinburgh) have started having potlucks every Wednesday so that's what I did that night. This week we're doing fall themed foods and I have no idea what to bring - chili, cornbread and pumpkin bread have already been taken. If any of you have any good ideas let me know. I'm not sure if you're aware but this Wednesday is Guy Fawkes Day and I guess its a tradition to climb up Arthur's Seat - these high hills in the middle of Edinburgh that have been made into a park (click the link for wonderful wikipedia information on it) - and shoot off fireworks and basically go a little crazy. I'm really looking forward to it even though it will be freezing.

Last Thursday we went to a friend's birthday ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, in case you forgot) and it was very, very fun. I learned a few Scottish dances and made of fool of myself but so did everyone else so it was a-okay. Friday was Halloween and I dressed as an obnoxious American tourist. I feel that night was an extreme success because I received several smiles and a few giggles once people realized what I was. Halloween was not very crazy because we left the party relatively early and instead went back to my friend's flat and chatted until 3 am. Saturday I stayed in bed pretty much all day because my heater did not come on once. Sunday I went to the library to warm my body to a normal temperature (because my heater still hadn't come on) and to do some work. That night I went with my friends to see the Film Society's screening of "The Orphanage." If you like scary movies then see this. If you're like me and don't enjoy them then you really shouldn't see it. I had a really hard time getting to sleep that night. Today was just like most of my other Mondays. Tonight we went to a pub quiz that we thought was American-themed (because of the elections) but we were sadly mistaken. We came in second to last which is worst than last place because at least last place gets a prize.

A really great picture of Maggie (in the green skirt) getting spun at the ceilidh. The birthday boy is on the left in the crown. There are no pictures of me dancing because we all ended up dancing and there was no one to take pictures! I also took a video of this dance which I'll try to post soon.

My beautiful friends on Halloween. Maggie was a fairy, Kara was "under the weather" and Stacey was the Pink Panther even though everyone just thought she was a pink cat.

Me in full tourist mode. You can't see it but my fanny pack says "I (heart) USA." I also had high white socks I was wearing to complete the look.

Tomorrow, as you all know very well, is the long awaited election. I. AM. SO. NERVOUS! Yes, nervous/excited/anxious. I'm going to wear my new "Scotland for Obama" t-shirt and I'm buying red, white and blue ribbons for to put in our hair for the election party tomorrow night. You all MUST go vote! If you don't vote then you can't complain and, more importantly, if you don't vote you'll never know if you could have tipped the scales in your candidate's favor (who I'm hoping is Obama for all of you). So VOTE! I will also remind you tomorrow... just in case you forget.

40 Pubs - But Where Can We Go To Dance?

A new week is about to begin and, as usual, I cannot explain how quickly the last few days went by. Thursday was the History Society pub crawl and I definitely had a grand old time. I did find an outfit for the "Summer of '69" which consisted of a long brown, kind of floral print-ish dress with a vest and butterfly belt, very round sunglasses and a lei to go around my head. Most of my other friends went as the spandex-fabulous 80s, though I think the 60s and the 20s came in at a close 2nd. I guess the 80s were probably the easiest because a lot of the styles from the eighties are coming back (that's slightly frightening). We made some new friends as we crawled from pub to pub - I think we went to 6 or 7 in all - and also bonded with some people while we queued (aka stood in a big, long line) for the main event in the student union. The following pictures are not my own because I didn't take any for some reason.

My cute friend Stacey and me in costume (which is called "fancy dress" here) pre-pub crawling.

Kara, Stacey and me at the Potterrow (part of the student union) with a guy who actually painted himself green so he could seem more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-like. I think several of the societies and clubs were having pub crawls that night with various themes and everyone assembled at Potterrow for the final bit. That meant EVERYONE was dressed up and looking very fabulous.

On Friday a group of us went to St. Andrews to visit a friend of Kara's who attends there as a regular full-time student (not a just a semester/year abroad). The city is named St. Andrews because St. Rule allegedly brought with him the relics of Saint Andrew himself to the small fishing community when he was washed up onto the shore after his ship wrecked. The relics were placed in St. Andrews Cathedral after its construction but the whereabouts of those relics are not known now. We had a great time that night but St. Andrews just doesn't have the same night scene as Edinburgh. There are a lot of pubs (40 in that one small town) but no clubs... not "real" clubs at least. We mingled and met lots of people but I'm very glad I chose to come to Edinburgh. On Saturday Kara's friend gave us a tour of the city (which you can easily do in a few hours). We saw the ruins of St. Andrew's Cathedral, St. Rule's Tower, the beautiful beaches and North Sea, the first golf course EVER (called the Old Course) and much more. Kara's friend also showed us where Prince William and Emma Watson (Hermione from the Harry Potter films who currently goes to school at St. Andrews) lived during the school year. The University of St. Andrews has a lot of old traditions and history, meaning I loved it! Don't get me wrong, Edinburgh has a massive amount of history too, but the old time traditions are something that I haven't really come across yet, at least not at the University. I guess St. Andrews is the third oldest university in the Britain and the oldest university in Scotland so it is only natural that - being the first - they would have a ton of old, established traditions. After several hours of shameless tourist behavior, we left on the train for Edinburgh.

Ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. It is enormous and it was a gorgeous day so everything looked spectacular!

St. Rule's Tower (on the left) and the ruins of the Cathedral. The ruins are now used as a graveyard. Most of the tombstones are from the 1800s onwards. They were sad but beautiful.

View of the ruins of St. Andrews Castle from the pier.

The Old Course - the first golf course ever! The wait to play this course can be up to two years! The golf club is very exclusive and only for the extremely wealthy (I believe you have to bring a bank statement confirming your funds in order to even be considered). Golf began when farmers got bored during their commutes from town to their farms. They would hit acorns across the wide fields and predict how many hits it would take them to get that acorn to a certain point in the field (par). From there the sport evolved and gained popularity. I believe there are 5 (maybe 6) golf courses in St. Andrews.

This beach is where that famous "Chariots of Fire" opening scene was filmed (the Old Course is also featured in that opening sequence). This beach is the absolutely enormous, especially at low tide. It is also the view from the Old Course.

This is the exact spot where Patrick Hamilton was burned at the stake as a heretic for his Protestant beliefs. It was raining when they burned him so it took him 7 hours to die. They say that if a student steps on these letters they will fail all their exams and never graduate. This myth is taken very seriously and the letters are intentionally avoided by all students.

I don't know if you can see it but there is a face in the middle stone (the 5th stone up if you're counting from the bottom of the picture). I think if you click the picture you can see a larger image. It is allegedly the face of Patrick Hamilton because the face first appeared after the smoke from Hamilton's burning cleared. It is looming and quite scary.

Last night a group of us went to The Tron to see our new favorite band, "White Heath." After their show we approached them and found out which of them found and commented on my little blog. We introduced ourselves, chatted for a bit and bought their CD (they only charged a pound... I think they should up that to at least 2!). We assured them that we would be back and decided (without the consent of any band members) that we would become their new best friends.

I know I've been here for a little more than a month but I feel like things are just getting started. We've finally met people who actually go to school at the university (and, therefore, are not American) and those people are not freshers! Yay for people who are our age! Time is passing so quickly and I still feel like I have so much I want to do. I'm sure things can only get better (cross your fingers)!

That Cute British Boy In The Corner Distracted Me

Well it has been an entire week and I haven't blogged anything! I know, I'm shocked too. I guess I'll recap using a "day-by-day" approach. So here it goes.

Wednesday: Nothing much really happened during the day besides me going to lecture. That night three girls and myself decided to have a "haggis experience" (this is the term we have dubbed to that epic night). The haggis was surprisingly good and came with traditional tatties and neaps (that is mashed potatoes and turnips). It kind of tasted like meatloaf. We had been informed that if we finished a whole plate of haggis, tatties and neaps we would have Scottish accents. To our dismay, this was not the case. After this epic meal, we decided we could all do with a drink and bought large quantities of cider and wine (which we polished off fairly quickly). Slightly inebriated, we then made our way to Vodka Revolution - a trendy club near my friend's flat. We stayed for a bit but were informed that a better shindig was going on at Lava Ignite (known as "Cav" by the locals). So we caught a cab there and enjoyed the fabulous music, dancing and awkward British people. Finally, we left the club only to discover that we had no idea where we were (because we had taken a cab to get there). Instead of getting a cab, which would have been practical and smart, we walked about a mile trying to figure out what was going on (I should note that shortly after leaving the club I removed my painful new boots and walked in my socks which are now disgustingly dirty). It soon became apparent that we were REALLY far from our respective homes and hailing a cab was a must.

Thursday & Friday: I went to my one lecture Thursday during the day. I also went out these two nights but not a whole lot happened (at least nothing of the proportions from Wednesday night) aside from the fact that I didn't get back to my dorm until almost 4 am. Thank God I didn't have class the next day(s).

Saturday: I slept most of the day and recovered from the previous nights of having very little sleep. Three girls and myself (all the same girls from Wednesday except one) went out to dinner at the famous The World's End (a pub and bar). It is famous because the furthest part of the wall around the city (built sometime in the 1500s I think) reached this bar and, according to the back of the menu, "as far as the people of Edinburgh were concerned, this was the world's end." Hence, the name. Click here for the best pictures and review of this fabulous place. We then made our way to The Tron which is more like a bar than a pub and has 3 levels! There was a spectacular local band playing called "White Heath" but all the band members looked like they were between the ages of 14 and 17. However, they were all drinking so I guess they are all actually 18 or older... hmm. They mostly played "alternative rock" or something along that line. On our way down to the lower bar I completely embarrassed myself. So, I make it through the door and I'm automatically distracted by a cute British boy standing near the bar. Unfortunately, because my attention was entirely directed towards the cute boy, I neglected to see the two steps in front of me (I think you know where this is going). I proceeded to almost face-plant in the middle of the bar and yet another cute boy sees this and asks, "God! Are you alright?!" I tried to look really nonchalant and cool by getting up quickly, leaning against one of the unoccupied tables and sweeping my hair out of my mouth and face. I'm pretty sure I failed miserably. It was another late night because I went back to my friend's flat and we talked until almost 5am.

Sunday: Sleep and homework. I also took a break and went to a screening of the vice presidential debate. How many times can Sarah Palin say "maverick" in one minute? I can't believe she winked (3 times!) and gave a "shout-out" to those third graders. What is this world coming to?

Monday & Tuesday: These are my most jammed packed days academically. On both days I have two classes and one tutorial (which is like a discussion group for the lectures). My tutorials went well and its safe to say that American History is my favorite class. I like all of the people in that discussion group and they all seem quite smart. The same is not that true for my Criminology course but I have feeling a lot of it may have to do with our discussion leader (who, by the way, wore a lime green dress and leopard print leggings today! So fabulous!). Today (Tuesday) we had our Butler Reunion Dinner which was for all the American study abroad kids from the Butler program. We got free, decent Italian food so I loved it. I also got my absentee ballot! I just voted in my first presidential election! So exciting!

Overall, a lot has happened. Well, now that I say that not a lot has happened. I mean, nothing really substantial, life-altering or incredible has happened but its definitely been fun! This weekend I am going to Inverness and the Highlands where Loch Ness is! Did you know that if you get a picture of Nessie (the Loch Ness monster) the scientists studying the loch will give you 250,000 pounds (that's almost half a million dollars)? If I do get that picture I'll give one copy to the scientists for that half a million and then I'll sell another picture to the highest media bidder for 10 times that amount. I leave you with some pictures from the past week.

Haggis, tatties and neaps. They didn't do the haggis in the "traditional" way which would have meant it was served in the stomach of a sheep. I'm not kidding.

My crazy friends, Kara and Noelle.

Maggie and myself.

This couple was really going at it on the dance floor. I saw this as a perfect photo-op.

I ALMOST FORGOT! Grandma - I am so excited that you read my blog! Your comment made my day. I think you and my friend from school (who will remain unnamed) are my most loyal followers! I love and miss you all.