I was lucky in that I came to Edinburgh linked to the Arcadia University program, an affiliated program to Northwestern’s study abroad program. This meant that from the get-go there were a bunch of people to experience a new city with rather than alone. I met my core group of girl friends within the first week because we all live(d) on the Cowgate in Edinburgh’s Old Town. So it was easy to meet up frequently and have impromptu movie nights and city outings. Through the Arcadia events we gradually built up more and more friendships, and I know that I will be keeping in touch with some of them for a long time to come. We were all very different but all complemented each other so well, and I have never had so much fun as I did with my friends here in Edinburgh. We did something together pretty much every day that we were here, so of course saying good byes was very hard this past week. 

So while there has been some crying over the fact that we go to different schools normally, I deep down realize how happy I am that I went abroad so that I had the chance to meet some of these amazing girls. If you all are reading this (and you guys know who you are!) thanks for making Edinburgh so amazing. Classy Lassies forever.

The studying has been intense; I’ve pretty much made the library my home during the day. My room is a mess (see picture of my desk): I’m a huge neat freak, kind of to the point where I don’t like working if things aren’t in order. And I haven’t slept late in the morning for a while! I miss it! But I’ve come out of the exams feeling pretty comfortable which should be a good sign, right? I’m nervous, and don’t really know what the external examiners expect.

I also just realized something: by next Wednesday I am done with my junior year! Where did it go? Everything has flown by and I can’t believe I will be a senior when I get back to Evanston… I remember being a freshman an a) being intimidated by the seniors, and b) thinking that they were these mature, smart beings, who had their stuff figured out. Personally I don’t quite see myself in those terms yet!

But until then I still have three more weeks that I intend to enjoy fully here in Edinburgh! Here’s to hoping that the weather warms up a tad!

Expect more posts!

Spring has sprung in Scotland! I’ve put together a slideshow of the pictures I took this weekend when I went on a trip through the Scottish Borders. The weather was gorgeous – it was first day I walked around comfortably in my T-shirt. Enjoy!

Morocco’s capital is Rabat, but Casablanca is the largest city, and also the financial center. Arabic is the main language but French is widely used since it used to be a French colony and the links between the two countries are still strong today.

So what did I get up to while I was there? A lot of my time was spent lounging around the house, savoring the feeling of having an entire house to move around in instead of just one smallish dorm room. Mom’s home-cooked food wasn’t bad either. I also had to study — it is that pesky time of year where exams ruin all leisure time with guilt-ridden thoughts of “I should be reviewing.” History was my first target.

I did make it out of the house, too. My mom and I went on a jewelry-hunting excursion at my favorite jewelry shop (possibly in the whole world so far). I have an on-going earring collection and Moroccan style earrings are my favorite. It’s just a small shop located in an area called Habous that has stores selling rugs, silver, and Moroccan style clothing in a bazaar. I spent a good deal of time in the jewelry store agonizing over how to make a decision regarding the earrings I was going to buy this time. I made it out of there with three new pairs and a ring to top things off!

Speaking of Casablanca, what trip to this city would be complete without a visit to Rick’s Café? It isn’t actually the restaurant and bar seen in the movie because it never actually existed. An American woman has done an amazing job with a property in Casablanca bringing the movie’s Rick’s Café to life. Its interior is decorated with beautiful and unusual Moroccan lamps, music from the wartime era plays in the background and of course a piano player plays the tune “As Time Goes By” featured in the movie. The icing on the cake is that the food is pretty yummy too. But the reason I go there is because it feels so classy and you get transported back to a rather glamorous time. If only I looked like Ingrid Bergman…

Surprisingly, one of the most memorable “experiences,” if you can call it that, happened at 4 AM maybe two times during my visit. Morocco is an Islamic country, and in Islam you are supposed to pray several times a day. The mosques around the city will remind people to do so by calling out prayers in the minarets. During my first night at home the minarets woke me up, and it was the most goose bump-inducing noise ever: all over the city the sound of prayers come to life and surround you. It’s pretty exotic sounding if all you’re used to hearing at night are people stumbling back from nights out, or traffic.

So there you have it: a good two weeks with my family in a really fascinating country. I hope to make it back soon even if my parents aren’t living there.

Swansea is a coastal city, with a population of around 228,000. Its Welsh name is Abertawe, or “mouth of the Tawe”.  Although Wales has its own language, not a lot of people in Swansea speak Welsh these days. All the same, there were signs in both English and Welsh.

Among other things Swansea is famous for its beautiful beaches, the Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula, where Catherine Zeta Jones owns a home. We went to the Mumbles on Saturday and wandered around the beach while the tide was out. We explored the little tide pools, and had some yummy ice cream while looking out at some gorgeous views. The Mumbles used to be a Victorian seaside resort, and you have to be pretty rich in order to buy a home there now as well. My host-mom said that the Mumbles is the place people talk about when they imagine where they’re going to buy a home if they win the lottery. The place clearly has dream status. And with the views we saw, I can understand why.

We also went to the Swansea market where pretty much everything is sold: freshly baked goods, meat, fresh seafood, baby clothes, jewelry, make-up, Welsh flags, flowers and much more. Prices have gone up though in recent times, something my host-mom pointed out as we looked around. But I think it’s still a good place for people to run into each other and discuss the goings-on in the city…my host-mom bumped into a few people she didn’t usually see there.

The train-ride back to Edinburgh took a total of eight hours, so I’m pretty exhausted now to say the least. Edinburgh University has spring break now…so I am off to visit my parents in Morocco in a couple of days! More from there!

My mommy visited me roughly two weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. Here are just some of the things we did: visited Edinburgh Castle, toured the furnished old Georgian House in Edinburgh’s New Town, took a day trip to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, shopped (a lot), and saw the Russian State Ballet of Siberia perform Swan Lake. Not bad, huh? My personal favorite was seeing Swan Lake – it was gorgeous, and our seats were pretty good too. I’ve joined a Theatre society at Edinburgh that organizes great discount tickets to the shows happening in Edinburgh. Oh and how could I forget: I got to see Hamish the Coo again, and this time feed him!!! Very slobbery eater, but too cute!

Then, one of my high school friends came for a week. Lots of visitors happening in March! Again, the week consisted of showing Edinburgh’s splendors off, eating yummy food at the many awesome restaurants the city has to offer, and just catch up on old times.

I thought I might highlight some of Edinburgh’s sites a little more from now on. So to start off, last Saturday a group of my friends and I headed off to picnic it up at the Royal Botanic Gardens! We needed food, but we didn’t head to just any old supermarket—we went to the Saturday outdoor market that happens every week just below Edinburgh Castle. We bought quiche, pies, a homemade raspberry juice/soda, Brie cheese and bread, scones, and I also brought a flower. Then we proceeded to the gardens…the walk was about 45 minutes. Luckily this was a gorgeous day, one of those days when it really starts to feel like spring is arriving at long last. Sure enough we saw plenty of crocuses and snowdrops on our way. Flowers always make me happy so I was all set for the day.

The Royal Botanic Gardens date back to the 17^th century, and are comprised of four gardens and are apparently one of the world’s largest collections of flowers and other plants. We walked around for a while, trying to find the perfect spot for our picnic, and managed to take a lot of pictures in the process; many, of course, of us doing interesting things, but also great shots of the plants.

The picnic lived up to its expectations: the Brie was excellent as was our raspberry cordial drink. One friend even brought her laptop so we had music. A recipe for a fun Saturday!

In the evening some of us in the Theatre Society went and saw the ballet version of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Again, our seats were good and the performance was intense and great! This is one of the things I enjoy most about Edinburgh: there are so many theatre events and cultural performances to enjoy. The Festival Theatre, where the ballet took place, is literally a 5-10 minute walk from where I live. How great is it to have ballet right outside your doorstep? Life is good.

What does my typical weekday look like? Let’s take Tuesdays. I get up at nine, and head for my social anthropology tutorial at ten. A tutorial is basically the same thing as a discussion section. At eleven, I have British History. I then have two hours off where I usually get lunch and print out lecture slides in the library. At two, I head off to the psychology building for Memory and Perception. This finishes at four. The psychology lectures are only once a week. I then usually go to the library to do some reading before my evening activities, which could involve going to dinner with friends, society meetings, or just hanging out with people.

So what are some of the differences to Northwestern?

There is a bigger focus on independent learning here, I think. That is, there aren’t as many small assignments, midterms or essays here compared to what I am used to from NU. I don’t have any exams except for my finals: that means that my psychology grades are based 100% on my one exam. That is a little scary. This means that you better keep up with your reading throughout the semester, or revision time will be hell. Nobody checks up on you, so it can be easy to let it slide.

Another thing that was hard to adjust to at first was the fact that the course syllabi sometimes list an enormous amount of recommended reading. At Northwestern I am used to buying maybe a total of five books at Becks for the quarter. There is no way you can buy all the listed readings here, so the library becomes a major resource. And you kind of hone in on a few key readings that are of particular interest to you. The pro of this system is that I am an expert at the library system, and have become very comfortable with working during the daytime in the library. My work is done during the day between lectures, leaving my evenings mostly free, whereas at NU, it is the opposite.

Being in the middle of a city is also a difference. I think it can be overwhelming as a freshman, but I think it’s ideal now that I’m a bit older because it means that I can separate myself from my identity as a uni student and be a normal person sometimes as well. I feel that I can get a little stuck on campus sometimes at NU, so it’s refreshing to be able to just walk out my door here and be able to immerse myself in a city with ordinary people who aren’t obsessing over their next paper or exam all the time. I get to be in the “real world” more often. 

The grading scale is quite different. A mark of 65 is quite good here. I think I would cry if I got a 65 at Northwestern. The difference is that in the US, you start with a mark of 100, and then points get deducted as you go along. Here, you start with zero, and build up. Getting a mark above 70 here is quite hard apparently, and above 75-80, very rare as an undergraduate. We had a crash course in the differences in grading at orientation so that we didn’t all have breakdowns when getting essays back for the first time here.

Do I prefer one system to another? The answer is diplomatic: not really. I like the way Northwestern is so structured and organized. But I also like the way that you really get to be your own boss here: you structure your reading, etc. I see it this way: in studying abroad, I get the best of both worlds. I can wear my Northwestern hoodie and my Edinburgh hoodie with pride because both universities are great institutions.

Basically Arcadia University, the study abroad program that I am at Edinburgh through, arranged for us to sign up for a complete weekend package of outdoorsy fun for just £75. We were there from Friday evening to early Sunday evening. Accommodation was in the lodge owned by the University of Edinburgh and was very decent: hot showers, and comfy beds after long days of activities. And the scenery surrounding Firbush is absolutely breathtaking (see picture above). So what did we do?

We got there Friday evening, settled into our rooms, had dinner with a scrumptious berry crumble as desert, and then played some casual board games and hung out. Saturday, however, we were up for breakfast at 8:30: porridge, cereal, toast, eggs, bacon, sausages and more. Then, after the hearty meal, some of us headed out on a “low level walk” with a Firbush guide. We hiked for a good four hours, through fields, tricky ice and snow patches, passing wandering sheep all the while. It was an amazing workout: I got so sweaty and winded. The scenery was gorgeous the whole way and the pictures I got were priceless! Some sheep stalked us too, which was fun.

When we got back to our lodge we were all hot and exhausted. The showers were a must. But the evening was just starting: the staff had prepared a traditional Burns Supper for us. Held on January 25^th, the day of Robert Burns birthday, this supper is a time when Scottish people get together with friends and family for a dinner of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (turnips and potatoes), and speeches to honor the national poet, Robert Burns. He did much to preserve Scottish national identity during a time when England was assuming more and more cultural influence in Scotland. This is his lasting legacy. This part of the evening, the recreation of the Burns Supper, was so special. I will never forget it. It was my first try of Haggis: I liked it a lot! Peppery! A very well known bag-piper played for us: such a unique instrument. It gives me chills. The speeches were great too: the men in the group traditionally make a “Toast to the Lassies” where they poke fun at us girls, and then end on a conciliatory note. A girl in the party responds to this at the end. The boys in Arcadia made a poem that was very clever and cute, and then one of my friends responded, making us all laugh. The staff put in so much effort to making this occasion memorable, and all I can say is that it’ll stick with me forever.

The evening wasn’t over yet! Next the staff had prepared a Ceilidh for us. This is pronounced “kay-lee” and is a traditional Scottish dance. We danced for three hours! It was so much fun even though I managed to fall flat on the ground, and pull my partner down with me, so that everyone was staring and laughing at us. Yes, typical Sara moment. It gets better: one of the staff members requested us ladies to help him demonstrate the steps to each new dance. This is, of course, mortifying when you cannot dance for your life, like me. He was an expert to top it off. So I hid behind people when these moments came up. One of the dances happened to be Swedish. And of course everyone knew that I hail from this particular country up North… so I was suddenly up there in front of everyone, learning the dance steps. Can you guess the color of my face during this entire ordeal? I bet you can: purple. Lovely. But in all seriousness, I loved the Ceilidh anyway… everyone was just having fun, and nobody cared what mistakes you were making.

Of course, bed was then necessary at 1am… the next morning we were up early again. We did a historical tour of the area in the morning, which was really interesting. We saw a Scottish miniature Stonehenge in a field of cows, and an old castle in ruins. In the afternoon, after lunch, we went kayaking! We had to squeeze into wetsuits, prep the boats, and manage to get into the icy water without falling in. Oh and learn how to get about. Yes, I know, kayaking in the middle of February seems somewhat weird. But the Loch we kayaked on was very calm and serene. More importantly, it was so cool to actually be kayaking on a real loch! That experience won’t come up again, so I risked the cold.

We headed back to Edinburgh later that evening. I can’t give anything but a huge thumbs up to a weekend full of laughs and fun moments with good friends, great scenery and memorable cultural insights. I love Scotland.

We were so pleased with our trip the weekend before with Timberbush Tours, that we decided to book with them again. Basically you pay around £30 for a day trip: they drive you around the Highlands in a bus, and the bus driver gives a running commentary on what you’re seeing outside as well as dropping you off at the sites included in the tour package. There are several coffee/food stops and one lunch stop. It’s a long day but well worth it to get around Scotland!

Dunstaffnage Castle is under the care of Historic Scotland these days: it was built before 1275, so it’s quite old! It lays in partial ruins today with the basic stronghold structure still largely in tact. We also explored the old chapel that is located nearby—this was in ruins too, and if you ask me, spooky. The forest surrounding it was full of gnarly old trees. Wouldn’t be walking there alone.

Oban is a small bay town—in fact, Oban means “small bay” in Scottish Gaelic. It’s very busy during the summertime due to its picturesque layout. The fish caught in Oban provides for yummy Fish n’ Chips shops. Guess what we had for lunch? The Fish n’ chips in Oban were delicious: the haddock was freshly caught. We left feeling pleasantly full.

Our next stop was a picture stop. Sitting on a semi-island on Loch Awe is Kilchurn Castle. It was built as a Campbell stronghold. We only got to see it from a distance but in my opinion seeing it from afar is just as good: sitting on the still lake it looked as if it was floating in the water. Eerily pretty against the grey skies.

What next? Can you guess? Another castle! This time it was Inverarary Castle. This one is still inhabited today by the Duke of Argyll and his family. I don’t know how big the family is but the castle is huge! I wouldn’t know what to do with myself with all that space. Dancing around the halls to Franz Ferdinand would probably get old pretty fast.

We also stopped at the “Rest and be Thankful” hill point. Here we got some nice shots of the valley below us, and did some spontaneous hill climbing. It was fun! I fell three times, my friends got some shots of that too. You don’t get to see those (un)fortunately. 

I (obviously) fell asleep on the ride back to Edinburgh. I think the busses are infused with some sleeping remedy because I always zonk out completely.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you all: I was reunited with Hamish on the trip too! It had been a long week for the both of us, but all was well when I saw his furry face again. Our bus driver used the same rest stop as the last trip knowing of course that everyone would want to see Hamish the hairy coo.

This coming weekend I will be at Firbush, an outdoor center for sport and exercise. I think a big group of people from my Arcadia program is going so it ought to be fun. I’m looking forward to some kayaking! It might be cold though…we’ll see! Until then, have a great week!