21st Birthday!

Hello Again Everyone!

I hope that the past two weeks for you have been awesome!

I've been keeping pretty busy over here! Since I last wrote, I attended a Ceilidh, spent a lot of time speaking Spanish, planning a weekend trip and celebrating my 21st birthday!

Wednesday Sept. 29th was the Ceilidh - a traditional Gaelic folk dance. I attended with a lot of my international friends and some other people from the states. Most of the people were pretty dressed up and the Scottish men were in kilts. The band showed up (also in kilts!) and consisted of a guitar, fiddle and accordion. Throughout the evening, we learned to do 12-15 traditional dances (I lost count after a while) and they involved a lot of jumping, skipping, tossing, spinning and clapping. It was quite a workout and the place was packed so things got a bit crazy! All of the dances were a lot of fun and everyone wanted to participate so there were always plenty of people to group up with! I didn't bring my camera but there will be more events like this!

The weekend was a nice and relaxing one hanging around with the flatmates. Jessica's sister, Chloe, came down to spend a long weekend. Most of my time was spent getting work done and catching up on sleep. We watched a movie together (Wild Hogs which was actually pretty funny) and I got to skype with mom and dad at 3am =]

Sunday night, we all went out to the pub on campus and got my last 'illegal' drink and then came back home. My flatmates (and Chloe) surprised me with cards, gifts, and a cake complete with glowing candles! They gave me two pairs of earrings, a scarf, a teddy bear, and a book about Scotland for beginners! (And for those who are wondering, my cake was vanilla with raspberry cream filling!)

Monday was filled with talking to as many people from home as I could which made me very happy and also included getting more sleep! It's been busy over here!

Tuesday, the package from my parents finally arrived and even came with a birthday in a box!! Tuesday night, all of my friends and flatmates went out and did a pub crawl to celebrate my birthday (sponsored by the International Society). We went to four pubs downtown and then ended up at one of the night clubs. It was a really great night and I was able to spend it with everyone I knew here! (Again, for those that are curious, I survived the long night!)

This weekend, my flatmates and I are going to Edinburgh to celebrate my birthday again. We'll leave Friday afternoon and come back later that night. My trip to the highlands got postponed again due to pricing so I believe we are headed into Glasgow at some point this weekend (this would be with my many Spanish and French friends!)

Two of my flat mates, Lisa and Melanie (these are the lovely ladies from Germany)

Jessica, Melanie and me

Cake Time!

The Birthday Crew! (well, half of them)


On a side note, I got some very sad news this past weekend. The three year old girl that I babysat all summer has just been diagnosed with leukemia. Her name is Brenna and she is such a wonderful little girl with two older sisters (ages 7 and 9). My mother used to work with their mom and has watched me grow up. If you could keep Brenna and her family in your thoughts and prayers, that would mean a lot. Thank you!

I can't wait to post pictures from the trips this weekend! Hopefully it isn't getting too cold back at home (it's been pretty warm here) and you are all enjoying the fall weather and scenery!

Love, Shalyn (who is now an old lady!)