Week One

Greetings from Scotland!

It’s been a week in Edinburgh, and I know some of you may have some questions about the transition. Questions like, “how could you forget your phone in Saint Paul?” and “are you alive, man?” To the first, I amaze even myself sometimes. The second, yes thanks for checking!

I can’t promise I’ll be good with this in the future, but I wanted to put together a little something about my first week. For starters, my living situation is pretty great. We’re positioned on a canal, and people are always walking around. Yesterday night there were people running from Glasgow to the end of our canal in Edinburgh, a 55-mile marathon. I cheered awkwardly at them from across the canal on our balcony.

My housemates are kick-ass. They’re five other ladies (from the left in the picture below), named Bakhtawar, Alice, Emily, Catherine, and Zainab. We’ve spent many an eve eating, drinking wine, and avoiding our 200 page readings like the plague.

 

Academics have been challenging this first week. We have lots of assignments due before we leave Scotland in four weeks. Mostly, this is because one of our classes (Politics of the European Union) only runs for our time in Edinburgh. There will be much paper writing, reading, and research planning before we leave.

BUT YOLO…

I’ve gotten around the city a fair amount and plan to see a lot more. This past week we visited Calton Hill and the Edinburgh Castles. I also have visited many restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, and even a few pubs. I’ve tried to ‘splore and find what I like. On average we’ve been walking 4-6 miles per day, which has been a great chance to look at Edinburgh a bit closer.

Hey what about those other countries?

Yeah, it’s a lot to keep track of. After Scotland we have a weekend in Belgium, followed by a week in a Western European country of our choosing (Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, or the Netherlands). I’m unsure where I want to go yet, but I want to study nationalism and immigration in one of these countries while I’m there. Groups of four will be going to each country and conducting interviews with the people in the country. Hopefully communication won’t be too tricky.

At the end of our week in that country, we’ll head to Budapest for the next three weeks. Then we’ll have another week in an Eastern European country of our choosing (hopefully Croatia or the Czech Republic!). We meet back in Hungary to present our research findings, after which I’ll be meeting Ms.Hallie Ojala Barrett in Italy for a week of fun with her famz.

PHEW. Well now you know where I’ll be.

One Last Event…

This past week I went with a group of students to a Yes Scotland Q + A. The event was about the upcoming Scottish referendum on gaining independence from the United Kingdom. The speakers had many interesting things to say in favor of Scottish independence, and I’ve put together some quotes for you here:

“It would be wonderful to be a citizen and not a subject.”

“The conversation is kinda like what feminists were getting in the seventies. In the 70s people were asking feminists, ‘well, why don’t you like men?’ Now, with the referendum, it’s ‘well, why don’t you like Englishmen?’ It’s absurd.”

“This is where I will die. That’s why I’m voting yes.”

“This isn’t a question about money. It’s a question about identity. Could you live with yourself the next morning if you voted no?”

A few more pictures from the café where Harry Potter was first penned…

I miss all of you so much! Stay warm in Minnesota.

Love,

Mollie