Hey everyone! Sorry about not being able to post last week– I went on a weekend trip and, again, the wifi out in the Highlands was practically non- existent.
Truth be told you didn’t miss much. These past few weeks have been the end of our finals week here; I’ve had my final two exams for both my politics classes and am currently wrapping up a final essay for my Scottish Society and Culture class.
Last weekend I went on a trip with Arcadia up to the Firbush activity center in the central highlands. It’s basically like University of Edinburgh’s version of Cowan in that it has a cabin of sorts for groups to stay in, and that’s about where the similarities stop. The Firbush center is located on Loch Tay, a (relatively) small but very scenic loch. They offered several activities such as hiking, kayaking, mountain biking. We were only there for the weekend so there wasn’t a chance to do every activity as I would have liked. On Saturday we hiked up to the top of a nearby hill to get a good view over the loch and the surrounding town and valleys. The climb wasn’t too bad and only took about 40 minutes and was totally worth it for the great views over the surrounding valleys and mist covered hills. Oddly enough, the top of that hill was where I got the best cell service….
We went back to the center for lunch and after that we got to pick another activity to do. I chose to kayak and, now I have kayaked before, but really boat sense from rowing a single does translate quite well into kayaking (“Yeah, Kim, no kidding”). The instructors of the group seemed a little too excited that I knew what to do with the fin ( I mean, who doesn’t like to go in a straight line…) [BTW who knew kayaks even had fins? I’ve never used one with them] and how to properly turn a boat. In all, though, it was a great way to see the area and it always feels good to get on the water! Unfortunately I have no pictures because, you know, phones out in a boat is a pretty bad idea. Just look at the picture from the summit of the hill and imagine you’re somewhere out in the loch looking up at it, I guess.
That night we got to have a really awesome cultural experience: an authentic Burns dinner consisting of Scottish delicacies Haggis, neaps, and tatties (neaps are turnips and tatties are potatoes). The haggis was pretty good, once you wrap your head around what it actually is.
After that we had a Ceilidh dance where the instructors who work at the center dressed up in their kilts and taught us all Scottish folk dances. They showed us how a traditional highlander would put on his traditional plaid which would have looked like this…
… and not this….
The dances were great fun, even if we all got the steps a little jumbled and not a few toes were stepped on. But hey, part of the fun of Ceilidhs is laughing and having a good time and spinning people around, not getting every step perfect. My favorite dance was the Orcadian Strip the Willow dance. It involves a group standing in two lines, with the first couple facing each other then spinning each other around sixteen times at the top of the line, then being spun around each other down the two lines by the others standing in line next to them. The video, if you click the link, shows it pretty well (and its only 30 seconds long!), although the people in the video do it a bit slowly. The dance gets really fun when you spin as fast as possible and try to throw your partner around as hard as you can. It’s also one of the simplest to learn, which definitely helped.
The next day was cold, windy and rainy, and I’ll admit I wasn’t really up to kayaking again or mountain biking in those conditions, so I opted to go on a local tour with a group of other kids and our 80 year old tour guide. He showed us a lot of unique landmarks, such as a stone circle (think stone henge, but smaller) in the middle of a cow field which has stones that line up with north and south polarities; the traditional graveyard of the MacNab chieftains; an old castle of the Campbells which had, among your classic castle features, an execution pit in the backyard; a dam with a salmon ladder (We also spotted a golden eagle soaring in the air!); and an estate that was owned by Queen Victoria.
The bulk of my week was spent working on my essay, and on Thursday I went out to my MSPs constituency to help the case workers there. It was a great insight into what the daily aspects of being a local representative is like. All the people who work in the office were very nice and luckily the constituency is a quick 30 minute train ride away from Edinburgh.
Last night I went to see a heavy metal concert at a bar right up the road from my dorm. I’ve only ever seen bands play arenas before so seeing a group play up close was pretty cool. I also got to meet the members of the bands that played because they didn’t just disappear backstage but mingled with the crowd talking to people. It’s been a great way to help soothe my sadness at not being able to see Iron Maiden while they’ve been on tour (the spring rowing season prevented going anywhere, and of course they start their European tour after I’ve gone home…)
I’m pretty excited to start work (for real! These past two weeks have officially been Parliamentary recess) next week and to see my parents who are coming to visit. My dad is going to take me to see a neat band that was big in the 70s called Wishbone Ash. They’re not really heavy at all, so if you like classic rock I would definitely recommend giving them a listen on Spotify.
Now, as you’re probably curious (or… maybe you aren’t….), I will explain the title of my post. These past couple weeks my fellow interns and I have been watching in slight horror as Brexit was announced to begin by March and the pound slumped in response. It was pretty drastic at first, but now is hovering at a 1.2 conversion rate (which, for us at least, is significantly better than the 1.5 it was at the last two times I was in the UK). Then, just a couple days ago, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon announced that they were beginning a new draft for Scottish Independence, which means it could be sooner on the horizon than expected. Of course, they still have to revise and debate it and all that, so a vote could still be a ways away. And, just yesterday, it was breaking news that EU migrants would not be given protection for their right to live in the UK.
Yikes.
And, of course, I’m sure you’ve all been hearing about the American political situation so I’m not even going to touch that one with a ten foot pole. It has been fascinating, and slightly horrific, in the way that presidential debates are downright entertainment over here. I’ve gone to watch the past two with my fellow interns and I always keep expecting just to see some Americans hanging about, not a packed room with no seating groaning and laughing along with the debates as if they were sitcoms.
Anyway, I wish the best of luck to everyone racing in Head of the Charles! I will be watching along with the livestream and will be sending my best wishes and speedy racing across the pond!
Cheers,
Kim
