Traveling

Today is mid day of my third day in Scotland. I should probably start with my day of traveling then update everyone with what I have been doing since I landed. The trip from Detroit Metro to Philadelphia was smooth. I forgot that I had a water bottle in my purse when I went throught security, so I had a little bit of a hold up there. When I got to Philadelphia, there were some problems. The flight I was on was over booked and over weight, so they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats. I was upset because the plane was late and then we were delayed because no one wanted to give up their seats. In the waiting area I met a nice guy, a soldier in the Army, who was headed back to Germany from being on leave. He's an infantry guy, I'm sorry to say I didn't catch his name. He was stationed in Germany after his second tour overseas and soon he would be going back for his third. He was just as upset as I was that we were being delayed so much, and all because the airline was looking to make a few bucks then ask if we would bother being inconvienced. After a young couple agreed to give up their seats the plane was refueled and we were headed for Newark, a 40 minute ride, if that. Unfortunately the plane we were on was a dinky propellor plane. The ride was torture for someone who gets motion sick (like me). The army guy sat next to me and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Proof that miliatry guys can sleep through anything. When we landed in Newark I started my marathon walk around the entire airport. I had to switch terminals because I was switching from US Airways to Continental. After that I had to find the right ticket booth (not as simple as it seems) and go through security again. Once that was all done, I was tired and hungry at the gate.

The flight was about 6 1/2 hours and I didn't get any sleep. Once we landed we had to stand in a massive line for passport check, which was the extent of my customs experience. I was expecting a full interogation but the lady only asked a few questions and let me through. I found my corridinator's intern and waited with three other girls from the program. We had to wait for almost three hours for the other plane to land and pick up the rest of our group. We arrived at the school at about one or two in the afternoon and I immediately took a nap. We had a welcome reception at 5:30 where we mingled with some of the Block 1 students and other people from our program. There were a few talking points and then we were left on our own. I unpacked and fell asleep again.

Yesterday was our induction day, starting at nine am. We had a lecture on the program and a few notes on important things to remember. Then we headed for a walking tour of the campus. Afterwards we had lunch and were entertained by a piper (someone who plays the bagpipes). Ross was the piper and he looked to be about 17. He wore the full traditional getup which includes the hat, dress shirt, vest, tie, kilt, sporran, socks and shoes with the family knife tucked in the sock. After the piper we were given a presentation of the history of Stirling by my Jacobites teacher, Dr. MacAlister. Her class was the one I had this morning. When she was done we boarded a bus to do the tour of Stirling and surrounding areas.

First we drove by the bottom of the William Wallace Monument. The walk up to the monument itself is a bit hilly and then to the top is 246 steps. The next time its nice out my roomates and I are going to try to climb up. After that we drove to the field and heritage center of Bannockburn. The famous battle field where Robert the Bruce defeated the English Army. A little tidbit that upset me was that the actual battlefield is really across the street from the Heritage Center and is underneath the local high school. When we finished at Bannockburn we drove to the town of Dunblane and went inside the Dunblane Cathedral. Interesting fact about Dunblane is that it has its own micro climate there. Its only three miles away from Stirling but because it's behind a group of mountains, it could be a sunny day in Striling and be a blizzard in Dunblane. The cathedral was beautiful and old. There is a stone monumnent inside the cathedral because a few years ago a man walked into the cathedral, shot and killed 15 five year olds, then killed himself. The stone has an inscription that I wish I could remember, but it says something about dancing and laughing. It was beautiful.

After Dunblane, we drove to Stirling Castle. Because of time constraints we were unable to go inside the castle. But the view from outside was enough for me on my second day in Scotland. Before I leave though I will be visiting the castle again. When we returned to the university we had a sports centre induction and were given our member cards. My roomates and I went into Stirling afterwards to go to the local grocery store and buy food. The bus driver gave us directions when we got off but we ended up doing a full cirlce around the town and we arrived fifteen minutes later at the store. When we eventually got home we ordered Domino's and went to bed.

This morning one of my roomates and I headed for our first class. We were overloaded with information because it was only an hour long class and the teacher wanted to get us caught up before she went straight into information in tomorrow's classes. I live with three other girls and one boy. The boy we live with has a girlfriend in the house next to ours, so he is over there a lot. The three girls I live with all have one class with me and then one has both the same classes as me, which is nice. The place I am living is called a Chalet and is basically a cabin with five rooms, a common room which has a tv, table and chairs and a kitchen. There are two bathrooms, but only one has a toilet. The showers here are smaller than any closet I have ever seen. You bend over and hit your head. You reach up and knock your elbows. The sinks are also frustrating. Instead of one faucet with two temperatures, there is a faucet for each the hot and cold.

Tomorrow I have class from 9am-2pm straight with no breaks. That should be interesting. I'll keep updating everyday if I can.