December 1, 2016
The most common reactions I get when I tell Scottish people I am here studying abroad from America are usually along the lines of, “You must be a Trump refugee, welcome.” All their jokes aside, the Scottish are truly fun, loving people and I am loving this opportunity to live and learn with them. My experience studying here at the University of Edinburgh thus far has been incredible and I strongly encourage other JSG students to find a way to take a semester abroad! Favorite things about Scotland so far? The scones, Ryan Air (the cheapest flights you could ever imagine), men in kilt, the rocks (sorry, Texas, the Llano Uplift doesn’t even compare), way better healthcare system than the U.S. and professors with thick, Scottish accents (somehow makes lectures way more interesting). Two Scottish favorites I could live without? Whiskey (should be called esophagus burning jet fuel) and haggis (to be fair, I haven’t mustered up the courage to actually try it yet- just do a quick Google search and you will understand why.) It also gets dark oddly early here. I am talking like 4 PM, and everyone tells me that soon it will be dark by 3 PM. I miss that year-round Texas sunshine!
I recently traveled to the Isle of Skye and Glencoe (Yes, parts of the James Bond Skyfall movie were filmed here) and they were by far the prettiest places I have ever been in my life. Side note for the Kanye fans out there, he recently filmed a music video on the Isle of Skye that should be released soon. If I had to describe the island in three words they would be majestic, peaceful and untouched. One of my favorite stops on the Isle of Skye was the Kilt Formation. The area used to be intensely volcanic and magma came up through the sandstone and formed sills that look like the plaid on a kilt while the vertical basalt columns look like pleats, hence the name “Kilt Rock.”
Another recent weekend trip I went on was to Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands. While in Inverness, we went on a cruise around Loch Ness. Unfortunately, we did not find the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie. Maybe next time.
Last stops on the travel list before I head back to the States for Christmas? Amsterdam, Barcelona and Reykjavik! Despite the fact that there will only be three hours of sunlight a day when I visit Iceland, words cannot express how excited I am to see the Northern Lights (insert hyper jumping up and down here)!
