Castle, Wombats, Snowy Volcano, and Turning 21 for an Entire Week

Wow. What a week it has been. Certainly feels like a turning point regarding my time here in the UK.

But I'll start at the beginning.

Monday I went up to Edinburgh Castle with a few friends to walk around and see the sights. The hill the castle sits upon has been home to settlers since before 1000 AD, and probably earlier. Before any thought of castles had come about, hunters and gatherers lived atop the large hill beside the Firth of Forth, overlooking the lush hills and valleys that would one day become the bustling capital of Scotland. The castle is far from being ruined, and acts as an active military base with its own garrison (though their presence goes unnoticed). The crown jewels are on display in the topmost tower of the castle, as well as the Stone of Destiny, upon which every king and queen of Scotland has sat at their coronation (I believe). The 'jewels,' actually called 'honors,' are composed of a lengthy sword adorned with a golden hilt in the shape of a thistle, an elegant crown that James the I/V had done over for his coronation, and the scepter with a large gem set into it. Quite interesting to think that I was amongst the stately riches once clutched by some of Europe's most influential monarchs. Fun fact: The honors were once hidden deep in the castle during a siege, remaining buried beneath a toilet for over a year, before they were removed in peacetime.

After seeing the castle I returned to my flat to have some drinks with Calum before going out later that night to see The Wombats perform at a venue in Edinburgh. They are an English alt-pop band, relatively well known in the UK, that had a few hits in the States about two or three years ago. The venue was pretty crowded but Calum, myself, and our two friends, Catrina and Naomi, were able to push our way up to the front for most of the show. They played pretty well and it was a good time out overall.

The security in front of the stage had passed out cups of water during the show in an attempt to resist dehydration in the crowd, but most of the time people just took a sip and chucked the cup over theirs shoulders. This resulted in myself, Calum, and Naomi getting certifiably drenched (although we were in danger of getting dehydrated, on the bright side). Calum and I walked back sans-shirt, and I quickly changed before going upstairs to our friends' flat.

The reason for our visit upstairs was the twenty-first birthday of our friend Kyle Duncan (right). Kyle goes to Bowdoin and is visiting for a semester, like myself, though not with my specific program. He has Scottish roots, and so it is only fitting that his twenty-first be celebrated in his native country. After some drinks upstairs we headed out to a bar, and then a club. This night is important in relation to the rest of the week, structurally, marking the first night of being out drinking, at a club.

Tuesday was spent in classes and in my flat that night. Despite suggestions from friends about going out to crawl through some pubs, I decided to sit down at my computer to write an essay. I sat down at 7:30pm and rose from my chair two and a half hours later, the essay complete (still need to revise, however). This writing is crucial, however, because it marks the final academic assignment I have to turn in for a grade until I receive my final exam question via email on April 25th. This means that I am completely finished with Art History, besides lectures and one more tutorial, and only have to write one 2,500 words essay for my ScotLit class and take one two-hour exam on May 11th for my third-years honors English seminar. So from here until April 25th I have no more assignments to turn in or tests to take.

That's about as much purely intellectual work as I've accomplished in the past seven days. Wednesday was a trip for my Art History class to the National Gallery again, followed by a lecture in Scottish literature, and then a night out with two friends to a club.

Thursday was a tutorial about Virginia Woolf, followed by a night out at the pubs with my friends to celebrate the stroke of midnight, upon which we drank to my turning twenty-one.

Of Thursday I shall relate two stories: one of minute probabilities and one of sheep.

Firstly, my friend Karrin was walking down a street in Edniburgh when a couple stopped her and asked of she might take a photo of the two of them. She said she would, and watched the couple position themselves for the picture accordingly. Karring gets ready to snap of a few shots when she cocks her head to the side and takes a closer look at the two travelers whose camera she is holding. To her amazement, they are two graduates from Wake Forest, where she is a student herself, and the lady of the couple had worked with her during Karrin's freshman year. What are the chances?

Secondly, this couple met up with us during my birthday drinks. The guy, Chris, studies dentistry post-grad at Penn, and his girlfriend and he were in the UK visiting someone at school in London. After 12 we ended up at an Irish pub decorated with football jerseys and a massive map of Ireland, and I was debating the appropriateness of ordering an irish car bomb there. Regardless, as I was entering the bathroom later on, Chris was just leaving it, and with a look of glee on his face informed me that the questionable vending machine inside (like those found dispensing contraceptives and gum in many bathrooms) was selling 'Fun Inflatable Sheep,' and that it sounded like a great birthday present. So we pooled our funds to buy it, but apparently it was out of stock.

Apparently 'fun' inflatable sheep are in high demand these days. What is our next thought? "Well, there must be a similar machine in the ladies' room!" No - we didn't just barge in. We had Karrin and the other ladies take our money and try to buy the sheep from the women's bathroom, but then it ate our money! Enraged at the level of difficulty we were faced with for the attempted acquisition of a blow-up sheep (and deeply intrigued at what such a thing could look like), we had Karrin tell us if the coast was clear inside. It was, being a Thursday at about 2am, so dentist-Chris and I popped inside to check out the machine. It had turned off, apparently, destroying our sheepy-dreams, but after a minute of trying to assess the situation a tall man in a black t-shirt explodes into the room and grabs me by the arm, dragging me out into the hallway.

"You're outta here sicko!" he tells me, gripping my shoulder and shoving me towards the stairs. Now, you readers must understand my predicament: To this bouncer, it clearly appeared that some drunk young American was creeping around the women's bathroom at a pub. What was I supposed to say - "No, please sir, me and the Dentist were just trying to buy an inflatable farm animal from a vending machine in a women's bathroom!!" Yeah, well, that's what I ended up yelling, and, as you can imagine, it didn't convince him of my innocence, or sanity. So I was forced upstairs, where I was left unattended for a moment by the bouncer. I used this moment to talk to the bartender - with whom I'd spoken earlier - and tried to explain myself. For all I said, the barman looked relatively perplexed, and he was about to respond when the big man returned to thrust me into the street. I pleaded for a moment to grab my coat, but the bouncer replied that he was going to steal my coat and burn it. 'A little strange,' I thought. I was nearly out the door, mind racing, in total disbelief that I was about to be tossed from a pub for trying to purchase a blow-up sheep, when the bouncer totally lost it and burst into laughter.

"I'm just f***ing with you man," he said, "I don't even work here!"

WHAT. True story. So I went back over to my friends, baffled at the events of the last ten minutes, had another drink or two, and walked home afterwards. What a birthday.

Friday my friends Karrin, Taylor, and Karrin's flatmates threw me a little party in their flat. Cake consumed alongside gin and tonics, card games played, Ke$ha blasted. That night went out to another club (are you picking up on the theme of my week?). It was a good time and it felt nice to know I've made friends close enough to me to want to throw a party for my birthday. Thanks guys! The party was going to be mardi gras themed, but I asked if it could be whale themed. Why? They're just great animals, that's why.

Saturday I realized that I absolutely had to do something that could in some way be described as physical exercise involving contact with fresh air. I rang up my friend Pete and together he, myself, and our friend Sarah began a trek up Arthur's Seat. Sarah peeled off before we really began to go up the higher parts of the post-volcanic hillsides, but Pete and I continued on. I'd been up the peak before, but what made this day interesting was the fact that about and inch or two of snow had fallen over the city and the hillsides the night before, changing the scenery completely. From atop the large hill we could see, at points, the entire city, blanketed in a veil of white, and the next moment have it all hidden from our view by a mass of cloud and fog. For periods of time it seemed like there was no one else on the planet, for all we could see. Indeed, it felt like we had gone back in time.

Saturday night marked the final of carousing for this week, taking me from a little gathering in my flat with some friends upstairs to a bar, and then out to......a club! Saw some kickboxers there and had a great time dancing the night away, but have to say I was jubilant when my head finally lay against my pillow in Darroch Court. I slept until 3pm today, went online, researched foods rich in vitamins and nutrients, and promptly procured the lot of them from the grocery store. The rest of my day has been spent in consumption of these protein-rich, vitamin-rich, cleansing, rejuvenating fruits, vegetables, smoothies, and meats. Tonight it's early to bed for me, and I can't bring myself to the thought of even looking at a beer until, at least, Wednesday.

This is primarily because on Wednesday I'm gong to Cologne, Germany! And you can;t go there and not enjoy the lager. That's be as crazy as going to an Omaha steakhouse and inquiring about their vegetarian options. My flight leaves at night and I'll be gone until Monday the 21st. I may meet up with some friends of a friend there, but for the most part I'll be on my own.

Hope all is well in the States.