Scotland Update Oct 08

Hello peeps and peepettes!

Long time no write!

Lots and lots of things are going on with Ray and I. Some are big and some are small, but we’re getting to that time of year where every minute matters! I know the last time most of you heard from us was when I announced the devastating news that I did not pass my First Year Review. This news, of course, sent me spiraling down into a deep pit of depression. I’ve never failed like this before, so I’m sure you can understand my reaction. I seem to suffer from a sort of reverse grieving process. First I accept the situation, and then I go backwards. So something terrible will happen, but a week later I’ll have worked backwards in the grieving process (Acceptance, Anger, Depression, Bargaining, Depression, Anger, Re-Acceptance). Just ask Ray, it’s a very challenging process. Haha! I haven’t been given the official report, yet, but apparently the way I verbally answered questions was part of whether I passed or not. Go figure. So I’m continuing my work with an MPhil, which should be done this time next year and I’m transferring over to The School of Divinity (which is just another department of Edinburgh University). I just have to keep pushing forward.

As for travel, we haven’t done much. I went to the Benmore Botanic Gardens on the West Coast of Scotland on a day trip. I should have the entry done soon. It was absolutely beautiful and pictures are up on my travel blog. I met two Asian girls on the trip, both of which were post-graduates, so that was nice. I had purchased a ticket to go to Culzean Castle, which is also on the West Coast of Scotland, but I ended up not being able to go. I wasn’t feeling super that day, but I found out later I was one of the luckier ones for not to go. It rained all day and most people were on the bus with an hour to spare waiting to go home. I also got a ticket for Abbotsford and Melrose here in Scotland (a small town in southern Scotland and the place where Sir Walter Scott lived), but due to a mix up with planning, the trip was canceled. I was very disappointed by that. And the next trip that is coming up is a trip to Lindisfarne, which I’ve been to and Ray was supposed to go with me, but he forgot to request off of work. This makes me sad, as it is not an easy place to get to on your own, but a wonderful place to see, I think. And that will be it for the International Student Centre trips for the semester. We did, though, manager to get two 2 pound tickets to see Edinburgh Castle on November 5. Ray has never been inside the castle and 2 pounds is a HUGE discount (normally 11 pounds). So we’re going to do that.

We have two trips in the works, though. First, we traveling State-side in the new year. We’re looking to solidify our booking, but it looks like we’ll be flying in around January 5 and staying until January 26 or 27 (we’re debating over making it 2.5 weeks instead of a full 3 depending on what Ray can swing for vacation, even though I think we’ve been told he has more than enough). This will give us a little time to relax, see family in Wisconsin and North Carolina and have bumper room for traveling. We’re intending to fly into Chicago, head up to Milwaukee, grab the PT Cruiser, head down to North Carolina for about a week and catch up with friends and family there. Then head back up to Wisconsin to spend the rest of our time visiting friends and family. Ray and I have already made a small list of things we want to do when we get back and having real Mexican food is definitely one of them! We’ll be celebrating Christmas with everyone then, so don’t feel obligated to send presents or anything. We’ll be bringing home our Christmas stuff too, as well as any special requests from the German Christmas Market. We’re going to take a stroll through with a camera when it opens at the end of November and send pictures so ya’ll can see if you want something. We’ll snag it and bring it home with us.

Our second trip is a really big trip. In April, Ray will be celebrating his 30th birthday. I figured, as a really great way to take advantage of our location and do something Ray has always wanted to do, we’re going to take a week (or week and a half) trip to Amsterdam/ Paris/ Provence. We’re going to fly into Amsterdam and stay there for a day or two to see the sites (like Anne Frank’s House and the Van Gogh museum… and the naughty Red Light District which is actually being eradicated.. so it’s the last time to see this huge part of Amsterdam’s cultural history). Then we’re going to use our EuroStar Rail Pass and take a train down to Paris. We’re going to take in the standard Parisian fare for a few days (Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Napoleon Arch of Triumph, one or two famous cemeteries, and Versailles…plus more), then spend the rest of our trip in southern France (Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Marseilles). We’re, again, going to take a train down so that we can maybe stop in a small town at the base of the Alps!!! If possible, we’re hoping to take a boat to Corsica from Nice. We’re still planning it, trying to do the best with our budget and time. Who knows, maybe we’ll just hit up Paris and Provence, but Provence is what Ray wants to see the most. We’re very excited to be heading to the mainland!

Aside from that, we’ve been working hard at existing! Ray is doing really well at his job and, most days, he loves it. He loves who he works with and takes pride in the work he is doing. A funny thing about living here, though, is that everyone tries to figure out where you’re from if you don’t look local. More often than not, these half-drunk people come in and tell Ray that he’s an Arab and he obviously has Moor in him. It just reminds me of the huge cultural gap in understanding there is between the UK and the US. In the US, no one would ever call Ray an Arab, because he obviously has latino in his blood. Here, they don’t understand “latino”. So as far as the common man here is concerned, I am married to an Arab. Well, according to most people I’m Canadian anyways, so… But it seems to be an obsession here… always trying to pinpoint people an label them as this heritage of that. It’s strange.

Ray’s manager (Ray being assistant manager) invited us over for Christmas Dinner and a New Year’s celebration. Apparently you can see the fireworks from his apartment window. We will be hosting Thanksgiving in our flat and we’ve invited Ray’s manager (Andrew) and his wife, as well as my friend Keith from up at Uni. Thank goodness family sent us pumpkin pie filling or it wouldn’t be a good ol’ American Thanksgiving.

On Halloween Eve Ray and I are going on another Vault Vigil in the South Bridge Vaults under Edinburgh! Mom and I went there in August 2007 together and had some crazy stuff happen (I even saw a ghost) and when Ray and I went last November we didn’t have much happen, but I had a pretty eerie experience that I’m still trying to figure out if I imagined or not (I think I saw the child ghost that inhabits the vaults…..). I am just happy Ray is actually interested in ghost hunting. We’re hoping to try to get on an investigation somewhere else in Scotland (like Glasgow or Aberdeen). This weekend I am also hoping to meet up with my friend Maria who is coming into Edinburgh for the Halloween party at Teviot (the student centre). She’s the girl I went on most of my trips with last year and is from Bavaria. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch a pint together.

As for me personally, I have been really busy. I have become incredibly hardcore about my dissertation. I had a few problems over the last two weeks and I had to move offices, but everything is coming together. I get up at 5AM and leave to head up to my office and I stay there until late in the afternoon, when I hop the bus to the gym. Then I come home and do upkeep around the flat, cook dinner, and do some internet stuff. There is also the occasional event, like the movie group I host every Tuesday evening. We’ve had good luck this year and have not had to cancel a single screening!

I have really been enjoying cooking, though. Now that we get the organic fruit and veg boxes delivered every Tuesday, I get to play around with different, healthy recipes. I have also really been enjoying planning our trips and reading travel guides. I am hoping to meet with a Career Advisor over the next week or so to discuss future job opportunities that could incorporate the things that make me happiest (writing, researching, traveling, photography and maybe cooking).

Kitten still visits us. She still leaves in the morning when all the birds are easiest to stalk and she comes back in the evening. She has started coming to the front door, which is strange, but we’ll see where that goes. A collar we put on her disappeared, so we’re not sure if someone took it off, or it she managed to get it off. If its someone else’s cat they shouldn’t be letting other people take care of her. She spends most of her days and nights at our flat, we feed her and give her love, so I’m pretty sure she prefers us as her owners. Oh well. We’re just happy to have her with us.

Other than that, the only thing I can really report is that it is COOOOOOLD out and winter is definitely here. And don’t forget to get out there and Vote on November 4!!! Give America the help she deserves so that when Ray and I come home, it will be a better place to live.

Love and best wishes,

Sarah KB.