Day 4- 10/28
Another day spent travelling! My alarm went off far too early, but I managed to convince myself to get up, get ready, and pack up. Vanessa walked me out (very nice of her) and then went back to sleep (very smart idea). I navigated the tube, boarded the Heathrow Express, and found my way to Rapid Check-In in Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. The place is quite massive… if your flight leaves from gate numbers staring in B or C, you have to take a bus… and that’s just one terminal!
I made it though security without any issues, aside from the fact that the guy had to run all over the terminal to find a trash can to dump my water bottle in (the 45 year old guy next to me informed me that only the pretty girls could get them to do that… I think he was bitter about a previous liquid experience) and I almost left my passport in the security bins. After a short visit to an airport gift store and a place called Bagel Street (where they had run out of cream cheese), it was time to board my flight to Edinburgh!
First of all, the country and the city is absolutely gorgeous… everything is lush and green! I took a shuttle from the airport to Waverly Bridge, then started walking. For a really long time. Erin had given me directions, very good directions, I might add, but I neglected to write anything down but “when you get to Blockbuster, its like 3 more blocks.” Therefore, after 20 minutes of walking and seeing the street name change four times, I was slightly worried that I had gone in the wrong direction, and would have to turn around and walk all the way back… luckily, about 6 minutes later the blue-and-yellow sign appeared, and I continued my journey up the hill, quite relieved. After illegally entering the dorm building (not my fault the services button doesn’t work!), I stood there for approximately 30 seconds when I heard Erin and Anjali approaching behind me. We had quite a joyous reunion, and then it was off to lunch, my second hamburger (chilli burger this time) in two days. Erin and I bid Anjali farewell (she was off to class) and then we climbed Arthur’s Seat, this mountain/hill thingy in the middle of the city that has spectacular views from the top. Dinner was tacos (Mexican food!!!!) courtesy of Anjali, then we did a little pre-partying and headed to the Cascada concert.
This concert was an event unlike any that I had ever been to before, to say the least. Cascada is techno, basically dance music, and I basically went to a rave. Everyone there (except for the four of us, who were obviously out of the loop) was wearing spandex, tutus, and had glow sticks. I took a ton of pictures and some video, and she closed with a Rascal Flatts song… overall, wonderful night! You should ask me for more details if you want to hear the full story… it’s hard to give a brief overview to something that ridiculous.
Day 5- 10/29
Today was the day that I returned to the life of a student. I went to class with Erin (Art History… the teacher was American, and it was the first lecture in a very long time that I actually understood everything the professor was saying!), worked on my French homework, and wrote a few postcards. We then headed to lunch with Nick, who is in the EAP program and is from Berkeley, where the two of them talked about a chem lab and I read 007 articles in the newspaper. Back to Erin’s dorm, where I stayed behind to be productive and she went to lab… after her return, we went grocery shopping at Tesco and cooked ourselves (and Anj) a lovely dinner. Erin headed to swim practice, and Anj and I headed to the Frisbee team’s social night. It was lots of fun (I got carded!) and I even learned a couple new drinking games!
Day 6- 10/30
I slept in while Erin went to class (my productivity quota had been filled for awhile), and Anj picked me up for some more touristy sightseeing. I hit up a souvenir store and we proceeded to go to Chocolate Soup, which is exactly what it sounds like. Aside from soups and sandwiches, they have a massive list of various types of hot chocolate, which is served to you in a huge soup bowl, overflowing with chocolatey goodness and whipped cream frothiness. We shared one of those and headed out to face the windy Scottish weather, hopping on a free tour of the city. After we made it to the castle, we split off from the group (Erin had another lab anyway) and did some more touristy shopping and sightseeing. Then to class again (sheesh, that’s all the Scots do!), and then shopping for non-touristy items… it was Halloween costume time! We hit up H&M for some cheap neon-colored articles (80’s themed costumes) and then proceeded home with all our goodies. A short stop at Tesco, then dinner and “fancy dress” time. Erin, Charlotte (one of Erin’s flatmates), and I headed to Frankenstein’s, a pub that was having a Freshers Party… free shot with your first drink! Mine was blue and tasted exactly like Capri Sun, so I doubt that there was much of anything in there. I was pretty much falling asleep on my feet, so we headed home shortly before midnight, and then proceeded to sing to Erin in the dorm hallway. Early to bed=energy conservation for Halloween night.
Day 7- 10/31
Got up, went to class (this time about the kidney system- basically it was a 50 minute lecture on pee), and went back to the dorms to be (sigh) productive. I actually completed my homework (one of the first few legitimate assignments I’ve done since the semester started), and we prepared for the night’s festivities. We donned fancy dress outfit #1- Bond girl outfits- and headed to the theatre to see the new flim on opening day! Quite a few people were dressed in Bond-ish outfits, and one guy was dressed in a full-on cow costume… interesting contrast, to say the least. I grabbed some self-serve popcorn and enjoyed the show (you should all go see it, by the way, but it might be helpful to watch Casino Royale first).
It had then started to rain, of course, but that just motivated us to walk faster, if anything. We arrived back at the dorms, consumed some pasta (carbo-loading=energy), and donned fancy dress outfit #2- 80’s. It’s too bad that my hair wasn’t long enough to put in a side ponytail, but the green tights with black fishnets, turquoise leg warmers, black skirt, and burnt orange cardigan (with ridiculous multi-colored necklace) did a pretty good job of getting the message across. Erin, Anj, and I headed to a friend’s flat to be merry (and eat some cake!), then our very very merry selves headed to Tiviot, the on-campus Halloween party. I had a conversation with the ID checker about how you’re not allowed to smile in your driver’s licence picture there, and then it was off to coat check and to the dance floor! (It was an on-campus bar, but the only thing that I ordered was a glass of water… it seemed like a good idea at that point.) We stayed there for awhile, ran into some friends (and Anj’s flatmates), and I even got a picture with “Michael Phelps.” We headed home (freezing, but the rain had stopped) and fell asleep somewhere around 2:30am. Not that late, but all of us had to be up at very early hours in the morning (me at 6:15, them at 6:45-7ish to get to the meeting point for a weekend race trip at 8am) and we were all sufficiently… enjoying our Halloween, to say the least. Too bad that the leg-warmers I wore were Anj’s (she went as buried treasure that night)… I could use them here in Bordeaux!
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