It's been fun since the last time I posted!
Tuesday we had a group dinner night and the four of us made enchiladas! Yum! And it was a cheap meal =]
Wednesday involved a trip to the brewery in Bridge of Allan (the small town next to Stirling). I went with some of my friends from Skye and we followed it up with a mountaineering club dinner and a movie.
Thursday involved some urban dance and during our lesson we learned some basic and intermediate break dancing moves! My arms were ridiculously sore the next day! There was a birthday party for some of my friends and I had a chance to skype with my lovely parents again =]
Friday was a pretty awesome day! I picked up two of the four papers that I turned in before mid semester break and I stayed within the grade range that I wanted so I was really thrilled! My history professor sat me down and talked me through the good and the bad of my paper so I know what to do for the next one! On Friday night, there was a bonfire and a fireworks show for Guy Fawkes day. The bonfire had an effigy of Fawkes and he burned with the fire. After they lit him up, the fireworks began. The event came with live music from some local band as well as some guy from X-Factor and the little food trucks they have at fairs.
The Fireworks!
Jessica, myself and Melanie with the bonfire!
Jessica and I went out to see the movie Due Date Saturday night which was pretty funny! The cinema here is cool - some of the most awesome seats ever with little trays between the seats for your food! Saturday was also American food night in the flat so I made the girls bacon cheeseburgers (with American bacon, not the Scottish kind) and root beer floats. It was nice to have a taste of home! Next week is German week!
Sunday was another hike with the mountaineering club! We set out to hike the Cobbler! At 9:30am when we stepped out of the cars, it was freezing but thankfully the sun decided to pop out from behind the clouds and keep us warm until we got to the steep incline. This hike involved a lot of water and waterfall-ish streams going down the mountain and a whole lot of ice and snow! When we made it to the first flat part, we decided to go up to the top of one of the smaller mountains and were able to catch a glimpse of the view before the fog rolled in. After some lunch, we set out for the actual summit called the Iron Needle. This particular section required you to crawl through a small gap in the rocks (just like the eye of a needle) and step out onto a ledge that was maybe 3 feet wide. You had to glue yourself to the rock and shimmy along the side. After hoisting yourself up on the footholds (which was a huge reach because it was as high as my leg), you were staring at a death defying view over the mountains looking at a straight drop down on all four sides. And you are still not at the top... After you get up past the footholds, you need to shimmy yourself on your stomach over the icy little ledge that was probably 1-1.5 feet wide and then you were able to crawl to the large part of the rock and if brave enough, stand up. Needless to say the three people on the rock watching me go back down had a great time because my short little legs needed guidance from the person below since they were too short to reach a foothold on my own... Aye! We took a different route down the mountain that was much easier since there was no need to go on the steep, water and ice covered portion again. We stopped at a chippie (what most people call a fish and chips place) and I was home in time for dinner!
That little teeny, tiny rock that is the second 'peak' in from the left is where the summit of the mountain is!
All the snow around us!
The Iron Needle close up which is like a death trap...
I signed up for my final four courses at Clark University with success so I am all set to go back to school in January!
And the best news of all - Jessica and I will be going to Paris!!!!!!!! We will be leaving from Edinburgh airport at 8:30 am Friday morning and coming back at 12ish in the afternoon on Sunday. We booked through Ryanair because it is the cheapest one to fly through Europe. Jess can speak the language so it will be easy to get around. We will be staying at the Hotel Studios Phenicio Porte de Versailles! The hostels were actually more expensive so we have a lovely hotel room for two nights! I am so excited!!
I think those are all of the updates for now! Oh - Since the US finally observed daylight savings, I am back to being 5 hours apart from most of you! And a fun fact; the sun set at 4:18pm today. Yay.
Love you all!!
No comments:
Post a Comment