A Summer Note

Just in case some of you are still reading this...

I wanted to write a little note about my end of the summer highlight! I spent the summer in Madison (as last summer) working at Bleak House Books. Another awesome summer, was definitely the best place to be while dealing with readjustment and missing Scotland more than I thought possible. It is now already September and time to go back to Northwestern for my last year, CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

I had the very lucky fortune of having my boyfriend (yes i was totally cliche and found myself a scottish boyfriend while abroad... : p ) Malcolm - who i stayed with at the end of my time in Edinburgh if you all remember - come to visit for the last 2 weeks. He came on the 23rd of August and I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to show off my home as well as show him off to my friends and fam! We managed to drag him just about everywhere - La Crosse featured brewery tours, river adventures, hiking the bluffs, many fine meals hosted by friends, and a day trip to my summer home of Madison! We also flew out to the west coast to visit Sarah in Seattle. We experienced some great Seattle sights - salmon steps, pikes market, parks, etc. - and then went camping on a beautiful beach on the Olympic peninsula for a couple days. It was an amazing trip, so good to see Sarah as well as show Malcolm such a beautiful area! Upon return to Wisconsin, we managed a trip to Devils Lake to have a go at both our first American rock climbing. It felt so good to get back on the rock, even if it was a bit different from what we were used to - extreme heat, wasps in the rock cracks, and midnight racoon raids! Guess i should get used to it though, since it's the only good climbing in the area! (i'm hoping to get involved with the NU outdoor club, which takes many trips to Devils Lake apparently)

So, Malcolm headed out on the 6th (pictures of our adventures will be up on webshots soon! http://community.webshots.com/user/rachemarie ) and now its time for the inevitable packing to go back to school (the blog has come full circle). I'll be headed to my first apartment YAY on tuesday morning. I'm living with 2 of my best girl friends from gamma phi in a cute little apartment right near campus (909 Foster St, Apt 2W, Evanston, IL 60201). Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll keep the spirit of the blog going with any news on my future plans...

~R

Part 3

Now I’ve been back in Edinburgh since the return from Skye on the 29th of June (moved out before cause I wasn’t sure if we were going to stay longer, better that way anyways, done with and all). I’m having lots of fun, as I mentioned before, and am taking my last weeks to relax and do some things I’ve been meaning to do and basically just hang out with my friends who are still around. I took a trip to St. Andrews, just north of Edinburgh on the east coast, just this last weekend. My friend Malcolm lives there so we were able to stay with his fam. Explored the beautiful town on Saturday and then went for a fun walk along the coast on Sunday.

Went climbing yesterday in Northumberland (northeastern England) on some very nice crags in a little forest area. I started leading (you climb first, placing the gear, set up a belay from the top, then your partner seconds –what I usually do- taking out the gear, this is the usual if a top rope is not set up –fixed belay at the top, both climber and belayer are at the bottom… ok that sounds complicated doesn’t it? Sorry ask me sometime if you’re interested in the details of rock climbing! Or take it up, it’s a great sport!!!!) But anways, leading is quite hard, mainly because you have to think about placing gear and spend the energy placing it mid-climb, and also because of the psychological aspect that you’re not entirely safe, your gear holds you if you fall, but if you haven’t placed gear for a bit you will fall a short way or if you haven’t placed gear yet at all… well you get the picture! Also your gear has to hold… all the reasons you start leading on very easy routes and work your way up, just like climbing in general, and as you gain more experience you get better at knowing where to place gear, gain more confidence, and strength of course ; ) It was a lot of fun, physically and mentally challenging – great day out! However…. As I mentioned it was in a wooded area, and Britain also has the insect bugger of the forest… ticks! We saw some while climbing, and then when we got home I found: one on my bum, one in my hair, and one fell off my trousers when I shook them out! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh I hate ticks! Malcolm found 2 on him but for some surprising reason our friend Ian had none… he also doesn’t get bitten by mosquitos… lucky. So now according to my mum we’re on the watch for the circle rash… eeek cross ur fingers! Also my hair is a bit of an impenetrable mass, so hopefully we searched it well enough…

Ok now we’re nearing to the end, and I’m on 6 pages on word, uh oh – sorry folks! Maybe I’ll break this up a bit when I post them for easier reading sections… I don’t know if I’ll post again before I leave, if not maybe when I get back i'll do a finale post to relate the end days…. I have a bit planned yet. Besides relaxing and reading and seeing bits of Edinburgh I’ve yet to explore, I’m planning on going back up to Inverness to actually see Loch Ness and such (missed the touristy bit last time!) and also I'm going to have a little farewell dinner get together, with the few people still around, sometime next week. Oh and I also have a meeting tomorrow with the program coordinator for a publishing postgraduate program at Napier University here in Edinburgh, hopefully that will go well, I’m very excited about it!

Well, here’s to my last week! I really can’t believe it, it’s gone so fast. It has truly been one of the best years of my life. It will be a sad good bye, but I’m hoping it will not be the last I see of Scotland and all the friends I've made here.

I miss you all and will see you soon I’m sure. Do get in touch, I’ll have my old cell back (608-317-0294) and look forward to catching up with all of you.

xx Rachel

(also, no internet at the moment – I’ve posted this through a friend’s computer – trying to figure out wireless so I can post all the pictures, bear with me!)

Part 2

(get out the maps for this one guys, I have now been from the very south of England – Plymouth on the Gibb trip – to the very north of Scotland!)

Dinner Meet: Gairloch

The end of the year EUMC celebration always takes the form of a trip to a stunning location, Saturday full of outdoor activity, followed by quick showers at the campsite and on to a posh dinner and night of revelry and dancing! Then Sunday… well for those capable of movement various activities ensue. This year the meet went to the small fishing village of Gairloch on the northwest coast. Unfortunately, Saturday was a bit gloomy, but still managed to go for a nice walk out to a waterfall in the hills, then beach rugby for the rest of the afternoon! Everyone polished up nicely for a yummy dinner at a nearby hotel. Various ‘forfeits’ – dares basically – were assigned, I was lucky enough to be assigned to take part in the piggy back race in which I am proud to say my partner Ian and I were the champions (though unfortunately only overtaking once the 1st 2 pairs in the lead took a nasty spill… everyones alright though!) There were many hilarious assignments, though most involved inside jokes that probably were only funny to those in the club! We ended dancing the night away before exhaustedly passing out in our tents. Some brave souls ventured down to the beach for daring dips in the sea, but I opted out of that chilly endeavor! Sunday turned out to be gorgeously sunny, and I, amazingly hangover-free but after quite a bit of lounging about in the warmth (do check out the pics of this morning, my fav of which shows me as the true Scottish girl I have become: laying in the sun looking a bit rough after a late night with irn bru in one hand and an oatcake in the other!), was able to go climbing with a (small) group of other likewise blessed. It was a great day of climbing, apparently others enjoyed more lounging and a day on the sunny beach – quite a good hangover cure if you ask me. After a quick pack up we were back in the mini buses, most for the journey back to Edinburgh, but some, including myself, with a different destination ahead…

Inverness and Clashaidy

My good friend Lyndsey lives in Inverness, and has a summer house way up north – Clashaidy is the exact local, but nearest actual ‘villages’ are Tongue and Bettyhill on the map. We were dropped off at Inverness, spent a nice night with her lovely parents in Inverness before heading off north in the morning. The journey was quite interesting, train to Lairg, then from there it was a post bus trip for me, lyndsey, and sarah, and hitching for rozzy, craig, and tom! And when I say post bus, I mean the little van that delivers the mail… : ) yes yes, we heard all the local highland gossip, mostly consisting of some horse parade or show(?) that was coming to a nearby town and everyone was excited to go see! After about 3 hours we made it to the house, actually at the same exact time as the hitchhikers! They lucked out and happened upon a very nice man who took them up simply because he was exploring and hadn’t been up to the north coast in a while! He dropped them off, had a cup of tea, and was off – amazingly kindhearted! Only in the highlands they say : )
We spent the next 3 days exploring the sea cliffs, doing a bit of amazing climbing, and enjoying the awesome location and comfy house (quite posh after tents!). More of my guy friends arrived later in the week and it turned into quite a fun occasion! I had to return to Edinburgh on Wednesday night, sadly, to move out of my flat before the 1st of June. Luckily I was able to catch a ride with my friend Chris who also had to be back, along with some others who had to work. Moving out was quite a chore (and very sad saying goodbye to my flatmates…), but I was able to accomplish it all in a day and by Thursday night I was comfortably ready for my flat hopping. I’m currently residing in my friend Malcolm’s flat, and let me tell you it is VERY interesting moving from a flat of 12 girls to that of 3 boys… some parts are better, far more laid back and chill, but then that bites you in the bum when laid back turns into lazy – I struggled with not becoming a nagging house mom, but then came to and realized a) I shouldn’t be anal and b)it’s only for a couple weeks! I’m actually having a lot of fun with the boys now, and I just tell myself when I give up and have to clean (just cause I can’t stand it anymore) its just like earning my keep ; ) haha.
But now I’m getting ahead of myself again – after the quick return to Edinburgh for moving out we were off again on Friday for…

Skye Meet

Ok, so I always though before, my favorite place in Scotland was Glencoe. Mind changed after the trip to Skye, most definitely! The blessing of great weather helped quite a bit, but honestly this was the most amazing place I’ve ever been to. It’s an island off the northwest coast of Scotland. It is also the home of the Cuillin Ridge, the best mountaineering ridge in Britain. We stayed in the Glenbrittle campsite just at the base of the ridge. Saturday I went on an awesome walk up a small ridge leading to one of the Cuillin munroes, Sgur Banadich (don’t hold me to that spelling) but it means roughly Smallpox Mountain in gaelic, great name huh? The walk was great, a bit of a chore going up scree to the start of the ridge, then scrambling over and up to the top of the munro. Absolutely fantastic views!!! On the way back down we stopped and went for a swim in a waterfall, a bit chilly but amazingly refreshing! Sunday we drove about an hour to a coastal village called Elgol where we walked a bit to some great sea cliff climbing. Best belay views ever, looking out over the sea to islands beyond, perfectly sunny day! We went for a swim after too, brrrrrr cold sea! The next morning (note morning I mean 3 am) 6 of my guy friends attempted the Cuillin Ridge. This was very scary for me, worry wort extraordinaire! The ridge is the best mountaineering sight in Britain for a reason. It is extremely exposed, worse than the worst bits in the Anoach Eagoch ridge in Glencoe that I did in the fall, and there are also a few bits that you have to climb and many parts you have to abseil. The weather over the ridge is also extremely tricky, as the mountains tend to catch bad weather off the sea. It’s actually quite evil looking. Towering mountain peaks with dark clouds constantly hovering over them even when the rest of the sky is blue! Soooooo my crazy friends had to attempt it. The weather looked alright, so they went for it…. To be continued….
I spent the day being lazy (haha what contrast) laying in the sun in my sleeping bag till 2 in the afternoon before getting an energy burst and going for a nice run along the coast. People did various things and then met back up at the campsite to head to the Sligachan Hotel Pub, near where the ridge ends and where the boys would be – apparently around 9 earliest. We had a very yummy dinner, and I enjoyed a point of Skye Ale and even tried some Islay whiskey, which took my mind off worrying before it was suddenly 11 and I was quite nervous… We decided they might have come down early and just headed back to the campsite…
Which they had. They made it ¾ of the way before the weather moved in and they were too knackered to continue, plus it would have been dangerous if the mist came in as they were getting to a tricky navigational bit. They had come down and managed to hitch a ride back to the campsite and had been there since 9 but had no way of reaching us lol. They were on the ridge for 18 hrs though, quite a feat! I was so proud, I don’t think I could even manage that! Scary!
The next day was our last, and happened to turn to bad weather just then so we packed up quickly in the rain and were back in Edinburgh by 6 pm. Great trip! I definitely want to return to Skye someday.
****

Saving the Best for Last

(Funny, last post i was apologizing after 3 weeks... now it has been 3 months! I have written a mega-blog for which reason i am labeling the sections in parts to make them more reader-friendly - aka you dont have to spend an hour reading this whole entry! - here goes nothing)

PART 1

As the dates will show, it has been ages since my last blog – apologies! Though I hope you can all understand the reasoning, between end of the year uni craziness and end of the year eumc craziness I haven’t had much time to spare! I have been making the very most of my last months in Scotland, especially my last weeks now. I do very much want to share my adventures though, so I’ve finally made some time to escape to a coffee shop and write this entry – sure to be a massive one – in attempt to summarize the exciting visits from friends and fam, as well as some of the most amazing adventures of my life!

End of February/Beginning of March:

Last weeks of class. Very exciting… not really, full of finishing essays and final projects woo hoo. Highlights were a visit from my friend Molly (friend I’ve stayed close with since we went on the People to People ambassador trip in 2003!) who came to see me from France. Yet another successful instance of Rachel’s hostess skills, Molly enjoyed Edinburgh, and particularly meeting some of my friends at a birthday fancy dress party as she was convinced my friend tom was harry potter… hehe.

Anyways…March came quickly and saw the end of the Six Nations rugby tournament, which I got caught up in thanks to my guy friends. I almost have the rules down now… confusing game! My friend Malcolm reassured my however that all you really need to know is how to drink pints and shout curses at the tv ; ) Many a good time spent in the student union sports bar. The end culminated in a 3 game succession on March 17th, what a good st paddys day celebration – though I had to join late, and slightly wet, after being drug into the Scottish borders to visit fort remains of ancient Scotland… thank you archaeology of Scotland (and the infamous Scottish weather of course). Never before have I literally been unable to take notes, maybe wind is good for something! The haven of drunken scots in kilts and rugby jerseys was thus quite welcoming, and I was able to witness the last game as France gained a (somewhat controversial) victory over England – the scots were happy about that at least!

Friday, the 23rd, saw the end of my courses here at Edinburgh University. A relief, as always, but somewhat bittersweet. I did actually enjoy my courses, especially my English honors. Also can’t believe it was the end of junior year… but of course I’m getting ahead of myself – still had exams to look forward to at that point!

And then there was…

Sister Visit!!

My wonderful sissy Sarah arrived in sunny Edinburgh (ok it might have been cloudy when she arrived, but it had been sunny for 3 days in a row before that! Of course… ) on Monday, March 26th. My first family member to visit my Scottish home, had lots of fun takin her around my favorite spots. We only had a couple of days though, cause then we were off on our 2 week spring break adventure! We first flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, where we spent a week exploring our heritage – great great grandparents Johann and Anna Anderson came over through Ellis Island over 100 years ago! We had lots of fun seeing the beautiful city, highlights being Sarah’s birthday celebration at a sweet jazz bar, a visit to the commune Christiana – which happened to be protesting a government effort for normalization the day we visited! – and a day trip out to the village Soro where our g.g. grandparents lived for a short while and got engaged : )
Next we were off to Germany, stopping to explore Berlin before continuing on to spend Easter weekend in the small Bavarian village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Berlin was an amazing cultural and historical experience, so much to see in just 2 days! Garmisch was mostly a relaxing stay in a charming inn, enjoying scenic Bavaria – though Sarah did humor me with a trip to Neuschwanstein, castle of Ludwig II which I’ve been wanted to visit for a while now! It was gorgeous, but extremely tourist tainted. We had a nice sister Easter, finding chocolate bunnies at a local bakery and even managing to watch Ten Commandments (we’ve seen it so many times it didn’t really matter if it was in german!)
Our final continuation of travel took us all the way to the beaches of southern Croatia. Quite a long journey, but worth it when we reached sunny Split. We stayed in an amazing hostel and quickly bonded with our small community of hostel-mates over trips to the beach and explorations of Croatian night life.
The trip flew by, and we returned to Edinburgh slightly exhausted, but with amazing memories of our sister travels. Sarah unfortunately caught some sort of Australian bug and was a bit ill upon return, but it was just as well – we were both trapped inside: her recovering, me attempting to start my first take home essay exam! It was sad to have to put an end to the incredible visit, but the trip was amazing, I’m so glad that Sarah was able to make it over.
So, as Sarah left me to end her journey with an exploration of London before returning to the states, I began my grueling 5 week exam period…. Yes 5 weeks. (my English courses all had end of the year finals, so I had 3 english, 2 normal exams from this semester courses) I had an English essay exam each week for the first 3, 2 take home and 1 horrid sit down. Then I had a week off – in which I was able to take a short but sweet hiatus from studying for…

Parent visit!!

Mum and Dad made a triumphant 1st trip overseas since Germany to visit me in Scotland. Unfortunately it was right in the middle of exams, but I let them steal me away for the weekend of May 4th. We had lots of fun (despite near death experiences on roundabouts… driving is dangerous in a foreign country!) seeing a bit of Edinburgh before driving up to the beautiful Stirling, where we visited the castle and I introduced the parents to the wonders of afternoon tea and scones! We stayed the night in a nice B&B in the countryside and spent Sunday exploring the Trossachs (national park with lots of woodland, hills, and little lochs). We even made a stop at Doune Castle – made famous as the castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was a splendid little castle, and we had the place practically to ourselves for exploration and silly photos! The rest of the afternoon proved tricky with dodgy rain clouds following us about, but we managed a quick walk around Loch Katrine before our drive back to Edinburgh. One more yummy meal and fun chat with the parents saw me back to my flat to study for my 2nd to last exam that Thursday. That passed quickly and before I knew it it was Friday, time for...

Gibbs' visit and Wedding!!

Most of you most likely know my best friend Samantha Gibb, and maybe know that a couple summers ago I went with her family on their trip to visit relatives in Spain, England, and Scotland. Her dad Robin is from Strenraer, Scotland, and his sister and mother still live in Kilmarnock on the west coast of Scotland. My initial brief visit to Scotland with the Gibbs is probably what convinced me I wanted to come back to the beautiful country for my study abroad (thanks Gibbs!!!!). Coincidentally, Sam’s cousin Lynn, who I met on the visit, got engaged to her boyfriend Dougie and they set the wedding for this May! They were kind enough to invite me to the ceremony, and provided a great reason for the Gibbs to come over. So that’s how it came about that on Friday, May 11th, Sammy, Jenny, and Carole arrived outside my flat to take me away for another fun study-break weekend! We took a quick walk around Edinburgh to show them some of the sights of my life here, and then had a yummy pub lunch before heading off to Kilmarnock. It was wonderful to see them, so great to have all of my favorite people able to see where I lived and get a taste of the amazing city I’ve come to love. Mom and Dad were still in the midst of highland adventures (ask them all about their whisky tour, and sheep encounters!) but would meet us on Saturday night for the wedding reception. The wedding was absolutely stunning, at a very nice hotel in Ayr on the southwest coast. The reception was lots of fun, mom and dad even got a small taste of some ceilidh dances and traditional Scottish songs – oh and lots of kilts of course! It worked out well actually, since the next day I had to get back to Edinburgh and the parents were flying back early Monday morning. So we had a nice last night in Edinburgh on Sunday before I returned to the last week of study hell… But it was all over soon enough, last exam was on May 17th, a Thursday – just in time to be over for a good pub night celebration! The celebration did not stop there however, the end of exams was the start of my last eumc adventures for the year…and oh what adventures they were!
****

ahhh 3 weekend update!

Soooo what has Rachel been up to the past 3 weeks some may be wondering… well read on I’ll try to sum it up!

LONDON (Feb 2 – 4)
Went to visit Susan and Leila (friends of Sam who visited me the past weekend) in London. They were wonderful hostesses to Gabby and I! We stayed in spare beds in their student flat in South Kensington. Their program is directly through Lawrence University so they live with other Lawrence students in a very nice flat owned by the university and their classes are based there. We got in Friday morning (note the last post, it was a very long night/morning after the Burns Supper!) and napped for a bit at the flat before hitting the city. The girls were on a trip with their program, so Gabby and I explored London – Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben/Parliament/Westminster, Green Park, Buckingham Palace, Picadilly Circus, etc.! We made a stop at a day-of ticket dealer place and bought tickets to see the Queen musical, We Will Rock You, that night. So then after a fun dinner in China Town we were off to enjoy the crazy musical stylings of Queen mixed with an outrageous (but hilarious) plot line… it was great fun, everyone got so into it and of course sang along during the encore performance of Bohemian Rhapsody = ) Definitely a great experience seeing it in London with all the Queen loving Brits! I loved it!

Saturday morning Gabby and I headed out for a day trip to Windsor Castle! We made a morning stop to Westminster (it was closed already when we went past on Friday, and I had never actually been inside before so had to stop back) – saw tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and many famous British authors, very exciting! Then it was off to the beautiful Windsor Castle, which was indescribably beautiful and stunning in its grandeur. We even think we spotted Prince William and Harry playing golf on the private course behind the castle ; ) On the train back to London we enjoyed the company of the many reveling English rugby fans who were celebrating their triumph over Scotland which had just taken place – their heroic Johnny Wilkinson had returned from injury and ended England’s losing streak, imagine large groups of drunken burly men singing “swing low sweet chariot” (no idea why this choice of song, think one of my friends explained it was the rugby cup’s theme song or something?) but it was quite a hilarious train ride to say the least…

That night we went out to dinner with Susan and Leila and then they took us out to a club in Picadilly Circus. It was quite a hectic night, and made me realize how much I love the smaller and friendlier feel of Edinburgh. London is fun, but a little too large for me! Susan and Leila also explained to us on Sunday how much anti-American sentiment they have to put up with… so strange to hear considering it’s never been an issue for us in Scotland! I really felt relieved by my Edinburgh decision after. Sunday was pretty laid back then. The girls had class (at an art museum, that is pretty sweet I must admit) so Gabby and I wandered around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park for the afternoon, returning to the flat for quick dinner with the girls before heading off to Heathrow for our return to Edinburgh. Fun weekend, but was happy to return to the ‘Burgh!

(Feb 9-11)
Weekend hanging out with Edinburgh, pretty low key – but highlight being a visit from my friend Mackenzie. She’s currently studying in Paris, but is a friend from Northwestern, in my sorority, and is also going to be my room mate next year! She and her very nice friend Jess stayed on my floor for the weekend (brought me crepes and nutella from france yummm) and we had fun goin to the pubs and out on the town. It was fun seeing a friend from school, I feel like I haven’t seen anyone from Northwestern in so long! (Besides of course my friends who have also been in Edinburgh) It made me realize that even though I will be extremely sad to leave Edinburgh, I have many friends back at Northwestern who I am anxious to see again and catch up with. Will definitely be able to handle it for one more year at least! (My friends here have been pressuring me to transfer, haha, don’t know what I’d do if it was remotely possible – but alas I believe if I have any hope of graduating on time I have to go back to NU)

Glen Dessary (Feb16-18)
So now we’re caught up, this last weekend I went away with EUMC friends (not an official meet, just a small group of us who wanted to get away for the weekend) to the Highlands. We went to an area just north of Fort William, Glen Dessary, near Loch Archaig. It was a fun change since we didn’t camp – instead we went to a bothy (which is like a small hut, really just a room or 2 usually with a fireplace, built for occasions where people don’t want to carry a tent or the weather is too bad to camp). Scotland really does have a great outdoor system, it’s legal wild camp anywhere that’s not someone’s garden (backyard) or farmland! And there’s a bothy association who runs the establishment and upkeep of bothies all over Scotland.

Well, needless to say I headed out for the weekend with an intent to have an escape from Edinburgh (even smaller cities are hectic, and sometimes you just need to get away) so I was determined to have a good time no matter what… however, fate tried its hardest to beat my enthusiasm down… in retrospect it was still an amazing weekend and I did get my mini-escape, but there were a quite few mishaps, one involving me wandering around the highlands at 4am in the rain... I would type it all out, but its an extremely long story – let’s save it for a fun anecdote to tell when I see you all in person next ; ) leave some anticipation, mystery, all that good stuff! It was a fun weekend though, beautiful weather and the area was amazing! See pics on webshots soon!

Now it is already 2nd semester essay time! I can’t believe how fast this semester is going, it’s crazy!!! Wish me luck actually buckling down and getting some work done… I have more friends visiting next week… oh dear!

~R

(ok blogger changed to beta or something and now i cant figure out how to add pics... any other bloggers know? sorry, for now just look at webshots for london and i'll get on uploading the bothy trip pics)

More than just a climbing club...

The last 2 weeks have some fun highlights to share with you all... as i described in my last blog there was the semester's EUMC theme party... GBH as i explained... and let me tell you it was quite an entertaining evening! My Great Britain-happy costume was a hit (tho i had to explain the whole concept of -happy, example trigger-happy, to a few - and my German friend Anna just didnt get it hahah. There were some very creative costumes... and some which were just downright wrong (note the pictures of my friend Duncan who dressed as Borat... or for those of you with weak stomachs you might want to avoid those in general!) But overall there was an abundance of male hookers, and my favorite had to be my friend andrew who painted himself entirely blue, gelled his hair, and was a "giant blue hedgehog" hahah or anna who was a banana tee hee. Do look at the pictures, you're in for some good laughs.

Must note in between that that weekend i had some visitors from London. Some friends of Sammy's (my best friend from home) from Lawrence visited from London where they are studying for the next couple months. They had 6 girls with them, so stayed in a hostel, but we managed to meet up for meals and i tried to point them in the right direction for touristy deals. Gabby and I joined them Saturday night for the "City of the Dead" ghost tour. I hadn't been on any of the infamous ghost tours yet (Edinburgh is famous for the amount of ghastly murders and countless plague victims that have made their graves throughout the city) and had heard this was the best/most scary. Unfortunately, tho the stories and history told on the tour were very intriguing, it was far from terrifying. We did get to go into Greyfriar's Kirkyard, where some insanely large number of bodies are said to be buried, underneath and around those that actually have gravestones, and was also the sight of a concentration camp of scottish rebels... this was/is the haunting ground of the famous Mackenzie Polterguist - google it if you want to find out about all the supposed attacks and failed exercisms that have taken place on his account! We also were told all about the Kirkyard's status as legendary inspiration, apparently having inspired Braham Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde (based on the real life character Deacon Brodie, doctor by day, theif and murderer by night), and of course J.K. Rowling, whos portrayal of Hogwarts is based on the primary school Harriet's which can be seen jsut beyond the graveyard from the window of Elephant House Coffee shop (one of my fav coffee shops of course! birthplace of harry potter is their claim). All of the authors lived in Edinburgh at some point in their lives, and it really isn't hard to see how the gothic and sometimes gloomy feel of Edinburgh could promote such grisly yet imaginative tales! Moral of the story though: cool tour, but (alas) i emerged in the end alive, unattacked, and (pretty much) unafraid. It was a fun night though, and i'm glad i was able to check off another edinburgh attraction from my list of touristy must-dos.

On to the next EUMC highlight - BURNS SUPPER!!! Honestly one of the things i am most excited to have been in Scotland for! For those of you unfamiliar, Burns Night is the time when the Scottish celebrate the genius of their most famous poet, Robert Burns - who wrote, among many other things, the famous New Year's toast "Auld Langes Syne". The celebration consists of a traditional recitation of the poem "Ode to a Haggis," a meal of haggis (i don't care to describe what haggis actually is...) neeps'n' tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes), a toast to the lassies, and then a ceilidh (scottish dancing). Burns Night actually takes place on Thursday the 25th, but as most things are booked and more expensive for the actual night, we had our EUMC supper the following Thursday, the 1st of Feb. It was at a hotel banquet room, I got all dressed up with my girlfriends and then we went, had the traditional ode to a haggis, wonderful 3 course dinner - my veggie haggis, neeps'n' tatties were delicious - followed by a toast exchange (traditional toast to the lassies, EUMC version turns out to be quite slanderous - all in good jest - but then the girls get to have their return bashing, quite hilarious!!) and then topped it all off with a romping good ceilidh! I danced the night away (much to the sorrow of my feet the next day!) and then proceeded to get 2 hours of sleep before embarking on a fun-filled trip to London... shall continue those stories in the next post!

for fun videos from burns supper click the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1DCsSf_74
(mike playin the pipes during the haggis procession)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_a2KS1gPHY
(malcolm reciting the ode to a haggis!)

~R

Back in the 'Burgh!

Hey everyone!

Just a little Edinburgh update… I’m back from a wonderful break and actually already done with my 2nd week of classes! Crazy how fast time flies! The city is just as amazing upon return, and now I have 4 new flatmates and one of my best friends from Northwestern, Gabby, here with me! I’ve already been having tons of fun with the newcomers, we’ve had a birthday celebration toga part in our flat and Gabby and I have been busy hittin the city – went to the castle again and made a trip to the Museum of Scotland (very impressive!) Have yet to take Gabs up Arthur’s Seat, for alas, winter has hit the 'Burgh! It was actually snowing quite a bit today, lately it’s been doing the rain/snow mix… lovely… but today there were huge brilliant flakes! It cleared up by evening though and was clear blue sky when I walked to my 4pm class! Though I sometimes spite it, the weather here is quite amusing – better to have miserable that changes quickly to beautiful than straight miserable for a week!

Anywho, the last couple weeks have been fun, but really just getting back into the swing of things. Still dealing with the never-ending struggle of attempting to do some work while living each moment to the fullest and really enjoying my time in Scotland. My schedule is pretty great this semester – despite having 3 days with 9 am lectures, I have no class on Fridays! AND I’m only taking one honors level English course (Celtic Revivals – Joyce, Yeats, Thomas, etc), the other two are 1st year intro courses (Archaeology of Scotland, Classical Lit – Drama) so should be a bit of a lesser load than last semester!

Outside of class I’ve been having lots of fun introducing Gabby to all my climbing friends! Took her a long to our weekly pub night and had lots of fun. Tonight there’s the second EUMC fancy dress party (remember last semester’s “My Hero” themed when I dressed as Jack Sparrow), should be another crazy night – this time the theme’s “G.B.H”… explanation: the club flat is called GBH standing for Gordon Brown House (I think) after a old member who donated a bunch of money to the university and now the flat is passed down each year to other EUMC members, the parties take place at GBH, thus the theme, anything relating or standing for the letters G B or H. One or all, all is obviously more challenging! I think I’ve managed to get them all for my costume – I’m going as “Great Britain-Happy” (get it? Like trigger-happy, so, obsessed with Great Britain haha) I think it fits since I’m the “tourist” of the club, being the only American! I found a great dress at a charity shop, I’ll be sure to post pics after!

That’s all for now, we were going to try to go to London this weekend but were too last minute with tickets so now it’s too expensive! Think instead I’ll get some work done (cross your fingers) and try to plan out when/where I for sure want to travel this semester. I don’t think I’ll go on many EUMC trips during these cold months (no ice climbing for Rachel!), but want to for sure visit London, Dublin, and possibly Amsterdam sometime soon!

Please stay in touch and send messages to tell me what you’re up to, or just say hi! I love getting messages = )

Also, I’ve put up recent pics (even Italy finally) on Webshots so check 'em out! http://community.webshots.com/user/rachemarie

~R

Part 2 - Christmas time in the city!

Quick update on my last weeks in Edinburgh before coming home for break: I only had 1 exam this semester (don’t be too jealous, I have 5 at the end, 2 of which I wont have had the classes for months… will be interesting to see how my memory fares) and my 1 exam wasn’t till the very last day of the exam period – dec 15th. So after we got back from Italy I still had a nice break before I even had to start studying. It was nice just spending time with my friends, some of whom won’t be returning next semester = ( and exploring the city. Edinburgh is great at this time of the year especially – they set up this whole Christmas carnival in Princes Street Gardens in the center of the city, right near where I live, and even have a German Market set up for the whole month. The lights went up right around Thanksgiving, so the whole city is lit up with Christmas cheer – I know it’s cheesy but I can’t help always having “silver bells” in my head! Had way too much fun Christmas shopping, much to the benefit of all my friends and family haha, and even the crowds on Princes Street (the main shopping street with all the big chain stores and such) didn’t bother me – especially with bagpiping santas for distraction!

Also, just want to add, that it is surprisingly uncold for December. All my friends are starting to complain about the chill, but really I’ve been getting away wearing my fall jacket and a light scarf most of the time and I’m fine! I just keep reminding myself of Chicago winter and I really can’t complain! Even the grass is still brilliantly green! And as I tell people, even though it’s been getting a bit gloomier, it makes it all the better when you get a bright blue sunny day – can’t help but smile when out walking about = ) But yes, in between enjoying the city and getting all my xmas shopping done, I did manage to study hard and my exam went pretty well. I spent that last weekend in Edinburgh celebrating the end of the semester with friends. It was sad saying good bye to those people who won’t be returning, mainly my good friends I met through my program, Mary and Courtney, and Julie, best friend from NU who went to Italy with me. I’ll miss them a lot, but am so glad to have met them and am looking forward to next semester when my other good friend from school Gabby is coming! I’m also thankful for all the British friends I’ve made through EUMC. I think that’s one of the smartest things I did over here, joining mountaineering. I’ve met so many amazing people and now I’m so glad to know I have so many friends to come back to! I’m so excited to be home for Christmas to see my friends and fam, but I’m also eagerly anticipating next semester at Edinburgh. Staying for the year was definitely the right decision! There are so many things I’m still planning on doing, so you can look forward to more exciting blogs in the New Year I promise!!!

My love to all on the holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~R

Part 1 of December Summary (sorry for the brief blog hiatus)

Ooook so I was feeling guilty about not having blogged in awhile and decided to take advantage of being on break (safely back home in La Crosse for Christmas!) to catch up… spent the last 2 hrs doing an “italy trip” blog… only to have blogger have some kind of technical difficulty when I hit the post button and delete my entire entry…. Needless to say Rachel is a little frustrated right now! BUT second try is under way, this time being typed in word to be copy and pasted later – should have thought of this earlier! OH WELL! Sorry this second go is going to be a bit shorter, hope you’ll understand!

ITALY: November 27 - December 5

Italy trip was AMAZING, note that I say “trip” though instead of “vacation” – it was definitely more adventure than relaxation, but what can one expect when traveling in Europe? We saw so many beautiful sights, enjoyed tons of good food and wine, and met many friendly people (most of them other travelers… not necessarily the Italians, who tended to just look at us like we were crazy when we tried to speak in broken Italian haha). Here’s a brief summary of where we went and what we did:

Milan – basically just flew in and out of Milan, it’s a big metropolitan city, busy and dirty… weren’t too eager to stay longer than the necessary overnight in a hotel.

Cinque Terre – can’t even express how beautiful this area was. We stayed in Rio Maggiore, the 1st of 5 villages along the coast included in the region known as Cinque Terre. We met some very nice young people traveling like ourselves who showed us a good place to stay and filled us in about the path that runs between all of the villages. We spent the day hiking along this path, through vineyards along the coasts, and exploring the different villages. It was great, but a little eery since everything felt pretty deserted (I think we saw more cats than people!) probably since its not high tourist season. It was a perfect beginning to our trip though since we got to enjoy a serene peaceful area and not worry about crowds and seeing the “sights.” Just hiked around, hung out with the friends we met (very nice Canadians and Australians, so great to meet other people traveling and hear about their travels and different perspectives), and enjoyed the fact that we were in ITALY = )

Florence – moved on to Florence, stopping in Pisa on the way to see the Leaning Tower! Stayed in Florence for 3 days, seein the city – exploring the markets, parques, museums, and shops – took a trip to Sienna one and even went on a tuscan wine tour in Chianti! The tour was great, they took us to the chapel of St Brigit in the countryside and a castle where the family still lives and runs the vineyards. We got to see the cellars with their award winning wine and olive oil, and have a wine tasting! We felt very classy ; )

Bologna – Our last days were spent visiting a friend from school, Aimee, who’s studying abroad in Bologna for the year. It was great to stay in an actual flat and have someone familiar with Italian culture – and language! – as our guide. Aimee was great, we learned so much, of course at the END of our trip! She took us out for “appertivi” – the Italian custom of going out to a café at night, ordering a nice cocktail, and then you get free appetizers, usually pasta, cheese, and bread type things. The Italians go for appertivi around 7, sit there for hours, then eat dinner at 10 and go out clubbing as late as 5 am! Crazy lifestyle, fun for the night but I don’t know if I could handle some of the other cultural aspects, such as the intense PDA (couples hardcore making out right next to you at a pub or club, or even in class according to aimee!) or the American-loving Italian men (we had guys buy us a bottle of champagne at the club we went to, one calling me “bellisima” and telling me he wanted to “go walking” with me… sketchy, luckily the girls filled us in on their usually escape method, say your going to dance and then “dance” to the door, haha) Despite those interesting cultural glimpses, Bologna was awesome, seeing Aimee was great and it was a perfect end to our trip!

So that was it, quick 8 days away, but jam-packed with adventures! It was good to get a break from school, especially before going back to studying and exams : / In the end though we were excited to get back to the burgh!
(again, the rest of my pics are on webshots, check ‘em out!)

~R