Family Update Letter 4

Hey everyone, again!

I just had to drop another "quick" note because it was such an eventful weekend and even today was incredibly eventful. I just have a few minutes to relax before I dive back into my studies.

Saturday I met up with some students I've befriended and we went to the Rosslyn Chapel, which is actually right outside of Edinburgh. We hopped the 15 bus and off we went. The Chapel was amazing! We didn't have too much time to spend there, though, because there was a wedding at 12:30! They wouldn't let us stay. We did see the groom though. He was very sporty looking and we all wish we had taken a picture, but thought it might be rude. Then we trekked into the Rosslin Glen and around the North Elk River until we finally made our way to Rosslin Castle. Sadly, we didn't make it to the Wallace Cave (where William Wallace hid from the English) or the Hawthorne Castle (now a writer's retreat). It's so close, though, I'll be back again to check out it. It was beautiful though and I felt like a kid again. I even came home with muddy shoes and dirty pants from all the climbing and playing around. It was so much fun. Here are our pictures:

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a74/reelmonkey/Scotland/October%202007/Rosslyn%20Chapel/

And two videos I made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evObDrAkLZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weQ4Do0ZXTs

We were all really exhausted when we finally got on the bus to head home. I know I was taking some Tylenol when I get home. But it was so much fun and the rest of the girls had a lot of fun too. We're hoping to get together again next Saturday for the trip to St. Andrew's and the Falkland Palace. I got my ticket for that trip today.

And speaking of today, it was a really interesting one. I'm wondering what else is going to happen. First of all, I had to go to screenings this morning for some of the lectures I'm taking. I got on the bus and my bus pass was out. Instead of them being 30 days, they're only 4 weeks. So I had to pay the fare and then go renew my bus pass. I mailed a postcard to my nephew and then went to my lectures. A bookseller was selling books outside of the Film Lab and I went to browse. I found some really old copies of some books by one of my favorite authors and I got 3 books for only 1.80pounds. I will cherish them always. Maybe I'll upload pictures of them. So I was very excited about that.

Then I went into my screening where we had to watch all these experimental and avant-garde films. I actually got to see the film that Salvador Dali made! It was so creepy and weird. After the screenings I went over to the International Student Café and got my ticket to St. Andrews and found out that the Pitlochry and the Distillery trip were canceled and they're trying to figure out what else to do. I was very disappointed to hear that. But whatever they do I'll probably be there for it.

I then went to the student union to see what cheap lunch they were offering today. Only Cream of Mushroom soup and me and mushrooms don't mix, so I went to the local bakery (Gregg's) and got a pizza baguette. Then I went into the post office and mailed off my package to my mom. The Royal Mail is currently on strike, so delivery and sending of any kind of mail is being really restrictive. I'm not real happy about that, but there is nothing I can do about it. So if you're sending me stuff, be patient. It'll find it's way here eventually, hopefully. Apparently the strike is holding out through tomorrow from what I read on the sign. Maybe I'd be more supportive if the mail delivery I've received so far hasn't been less than impressive.

While there I got these special edition Harry Potter Book stamps. It was one stamp of every UK book cover for all 7 Harry Potter books. It was just a special splurge I made for myself to keep in a special place. I was really excited about that.

Then I walked over to Divinity (the theology school at Edinburgh University) to get some more books for the paper I'm writing as part of my dissertation research. I found a few more books and then I headed down to Waverly Bridge to renew my bus pass for 8 weeks!

Since I was so near Princes Street and the book store, I wanted to stop in there before I caught my bus home. As I walked down Princes Street I was approached by a woman. I was a little nervous, but there were tons of people around, I had only a little bit of change in my pocket and no hurry, so I stopped. She was a young Krishna Nun! What are the chances! She also got an associates degree in the Visual arts before she sold all her possessions and joined the religious group, dedicating her life to Krishna (AKA God). It was really interesting talking to her. We talked about a few directors we both really loved and I told her about my dissertation. It was really neat. Then of course, she politely asked for a donation in exchange for a small meditations book. I only had 30pence and felt I might need a bit of a blessing from whatever Divine power is out there, so I gave it up and got her literature. It was pretty neat, though, and I was glad I stopped to talk. There's one for the memory books!

Then I finally got to the bookstore and made a tiny splurge purchase on Stephen King's Cell for a great, spooky, Halloween read and I looked around at all the different book covers for the Stephen King books. It was so interesting! I'll have to take Ray. Then I rode the bus home, where I did a good deed by picking up an elderly, deaf man's electronic something-or-other which fell behind him and no one else seemed inclined to pick it up.

Now it's back to the grind. Gotta get my jeans washed, because they're all muddy and grassy from the adventure on Saturday and get some of these readings done. A good day to stay inside. It's cloudy and a little chilly out today. Ray is also supposed to be making his final arrangements today, so keep your fingers crossed. Miss you all and hope everyone is still doing well.

Love you lots,
Sarah KB.