Scotland and Stuff

Sorry, no semi-creative title for this blog. I am drained. Right now I am in the process of trying to complete a paper for my Flemish art class, which, oddly enough, is about Andy Warhol. Our teacher told us that we could write the paper on either a Flemish artist, or artist from our home country, which just happens to be America. The first person I thought of when she said that, was Andy Warhol, because he's from Pittsburgh, and as any sane person knows, Pittsburgh is the best city in America. Anyways, I am trying to finish the rough draft for that paper today, so that I can focus on my paper for culture class this weekend, which is going to be a pain. It seems as though I have fallen out of the habit of doing real schoolwork on a consistent basis ever since I have been abroad, which is sad, but true. It's just so hard to motivate myself when I get back from traveling, because my mind is not focused, and I am so tired from coming and going constantly. These days, it's as if I'm running from nothing, but I've never been happier. Time has flown by, and even though 10 months is a bit long to be abroad, I am so glad that I have these last few months to enjoy being over here in Europe. Some of us have become a bit homesick, but honestly, I think it's just because this is all winding down, and that finals are approaching. Also, it's difficult to stay focused here when all of our friends are going home soon. Oh well! I'm not complaining. I'm still in Europe, and that's no cause for complaint.

So on to Scotland. Cookie and I went to St. Andrew's, Edinburgh, and the Highlands this past weekend, which was quite a memorable experience. I think we're both pretty drained from all the traveling, but we were so blown away by the beauty of Scotland, which kept our energy high. We stayed with a friend at St. Andrew's, and she's situated literally 2 seconds from the 18th hole of the Old Course. Talk about prime living location. We strolled along the beach and saw the Old Course, which is where the rules for golf were originated. The wind was howling, and we were very cold, but the scenery was impressive. Chariots of fire was filmed on the beach,a nd our friend said that she runs there everyday, which sounds awesome to me. On the way home from our walk, we passed by an American store, where I bought a Dr. Pepper. I miss it so much, so I was jumping for joy when I saw it. Sweet purchase. After this, I stopped by a golf store, where I met an interesting character. The store owner was from the west of Scotland, and clearly had a chip on his shoulder as a result. He rambled on about how he has been to all 50 states, and that out of those, Chicago, North Carolina, Oregon, and Arizona are his favorite places- all for various reasons. He proceeded to say that people from California are just like a bowl of granola: they're either flakes, nuts, or fruits. I thought that was a hilarious politically incorrect joke, especially coming from a Scottish man. Anyways, he kept on rambling nonsense and ripping on innocent people, so I eventually had to invent some excuse to leave.

After our visit to St. Andrew's we headed to Edinburgh, which was a really cold city, but interesting, nevertheless. I thought that the coolest part about it was that castles were situated above the other buildings, so as to make them the primary focus. Also, it had a flavor of England, as it belongs to the Uk, which was another reason that I loved it. However, there is a spirit of rebellion amongst the people of Scotland, which was generated from their fight for independence, similiar to Ireland. On one of our days in Edinburgh, we went on a day tour of the Highlands, which was absolutely breathtaking. Our tourguide was quite the nut. He never hesitated to make politcally incorrect jokes, while flailing around a plastic sword, and almost hitting random wildlife on the road. I really feared for my life at certain points of the trip. He was funny, but really bitter too. He kept telling us how he wanted to hit pheasants and whatnot. He took us to the William Wallace monument, told us about that whole story, the castle from Monty Pithon, a Whiskey Distillery, and around to other small towns and beautiful bits of the countryside. I have always heard that Scotland is very beautiful, but it surpassed my expectations. The rolling green and brown hills, complemented with green spruce trees and vast lakes, made Scotland so memorable for me. My favorite part of our Highlands tour was when we stopped at one of the many lochs for a few minutes. It seemed like a perfect place to just escape the busy world- a place where nobody could discover you. I would love to go back to Scotland someday and take a longer tour that includes the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, and Inverness. There's just so much to cover there, but I feel like we did a lot in such a short amount of time.

Cheers! ( Back to work for me!)

ps.- this is a shoutout to uncle ron...thanks for all the comments!
also, I had a great time with my uncles and dad on their visit to Belgium :-)