Stirling Jail

It's been a few days, but I went to the Stirling Old Town Jail on Friday with my friend MJ. The funny thing is, it's really the "new" jail. It was built in 1847 by Victorian reformers who didn't like that the Tolbooth Jail was named the worst in Britain. Of course, they had twenty or so inmates to a cell and the only way they got to eat was by begging through the window, hoping passersby would give them something. A cell to themselves and regular meals, who wouldn't prefer the "new" jail!

I have to admit, it was kind of a waste of £4.50. Interesting, but not extensive enough to warrant it. The tour guide was so into his characters, all four to be precise, that it was a little unnerving. When you finally got to walk around, you learned that most of the building had been renovated and turned into offices. That businesses use and work in . . . isn't that weird? Just a different set-up than we're used to in the States. Anyway, the ground floor has examples of cells, and the top floor has the old exercise yard, which is just a balcony outside, and an exhibit on prison life in Scotland today along the corridor. It did provide some fantastic views of Stirling, though.
If you've done a lot of traveling, a lot of these tourist attractions renovate the building so that it looks like it "would have" done in the original times (complete with creepy wax figures). When I first poked my head through the door, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if this wasn't wax and was instead another worker who was going to jump out and scare me to death. If you'd met the tour guide, you would've thought so, too. Luckily, on closer inspection, he was wax. So no worries! Just creepy to look at.

I was more interested in the non-refurbished cells, of which they have two. The jail fell into disuse and they started the work to reopen it to tourists in 1994. This is what they found: I frankly think this is more like what the actual conditions would have been like, if you add the hammock and the chamber pot back into it. Disgusting and dirty, and it was supposed to be the nicer prison.

I'd been to Stirling once before I moved here, and I have to say, there's a lot to see right in my own area that I never knew existed! Now I just need to get some mail and go up to the castle to get in free (I have to have proof I'm a resident).

Doubts and Trips

When I first started doing my reading for class, I was unsure how much I was going to like my program. Of course, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I've moved away from everyone I know to get my degree, so I started to wonder if I'd made the right decision (and if I could really commit my life to studying all of this).

And then I had my first class. I love it. I love talking about it. I love teaching some of what I've learned to fellow classmates and discussing Scottish literature with them and the professors I have. It's a little more awkward to answer the question "Why Scottish literature?" when one of the church members or other people ask, but it's so much fun to discuss it with classmates.

I have a tendency to get obsessed with something, but it always dies out. In high school, it was Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spanish history and language, oboe, etc. I was afraid that my "obsession" with Scottish lit might have run its course as well. And yea, some of the stuff that I'm reading for class isn't my favorite, but I'm sure I can continue in the field for the rest of my life. It really is fascinating to me. Unlike my childhood obsessions, I think this one is permanent. I have a pretty good idea of what my master's dissertation will be on, and I know what I want to do for my doctoral thesis. Whether or not I finish school in Scotland is a question I don't know the answer to yet, but I'm sure I'll learn before too long.

Next month I've got some fun activities to look forward to. Towards the end of October, we have a seminar going at the Uni for Scottish Gothic, and since I'm a postgrad student, I get to go for free! Muahahaha. The English department is also organizing a night out in Edinburgh where we'll go see a production of Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner and do a pub dinner. This could be expensive, but the great thing is that the department is helping out, so I only have to pay a few pounds. I kind of love being a graduate student.

Getting the Scottish Experience

I ate this tonight:
That would be a deep-fat-fried Mars Bar. And it was amazingly delicious. Though I feel like I might die.

I went out with the missionaries to help them teach a girl about my age from Malta tonight. She lives in one of the postgraduate housing schemes that I opted out of, so it was interesting to see where I could've lived. Glad I'm living where I am, frankly. But anyway, later at night the buses back into Stirling town center only come once an hour. And we missed the bus by like 20 minutes. So it was either just walk back or try to tract for 40 minutes within Lyon Crescent, at 8pm. I'm glad they wanted to walk back, too. We got talking about the different areas they've served and the things they've tried. When both elders found out I hadn't had a deep fried Mars Bar, they decided I just had to. So we went to the chippy just down the hill from my flat, but to no avail. They told us that there was a chippy further on down the street that sold them though, so off we went. It was right near their flat, so it was on their way back anyway (I basically told them I was getting one no matter what . . . lol. It sounded good!) I bought us each one, and let me tell you, a couple of bites would be plenty.

A Mars Bar is a lot like a Milky Way. Although it's a little richer, with a little more caramel in it. The frying kind of adds a sweet/salty mix to it (though ours did smell a little like fish). It's hot, because it just came out of the fat, and the bar melts as you eat it. Oh my gosh, it tastes incredibly good. Seriously, it sounds kind of disgusting, but best thing. Now, I don't think I could eat them on even a semi-regular basis, but for a very special treat, sure! The next one I have might be when the parents and B&J come out next summer to visit. Elder Larsen said it was probably the last one of his mission, and he's still got a ways to go! They are extremely rich.

Last time I was in Scotland, I had a fried hamburger. And now a fried Mars Bar. I heard that they fry pizzas. I think I'm going to have to do a lot of jogging before I can even think about tackling that one . . . .

Here's a guy eating a Mars Bar - not loving it as much, though.

Top 10

The following are my Top 10 Reasons Why U of Stirling is Better Than BYU:

1. Campus is in Stirling, Scotland, and not Provo, UT.
2. Caffeine is sold on campus.
3. My classes are in one building, minimizing contact with annoying Freshman (Freshers, here).
4. I get to listen to Scottish accents all day long. :)
5. This is my campus:
6. Going to school here means I live 5 minutes walk from a castle. That I can get into for free because I'm a Stirlingshire resident.
   
7. No cleaning checks - and potentially the best landlady you could ever have.
8. I can (and do) eat Mueller's Corners Yogurt every day.
9. Topshop is only a 10 min walk away, and gives students 10% off all-the-time!
10. I get access to every University library in Scotland. And the National Library of Scotland.

I was hoping that by living a little farther from campus, I would be avoiding the problems of loud college kid neighbors . . . unfortunately, a group of four of them moved in upstairs. Jenny (my landlady) and I both find them extremely annoying. They like to listen to music loudly about the time we would prefer to be sleeping. Oh well. Maybe they'll get tons of homework and shut up within the next couple of days.

"Out Where They Walk, Out Where They Run . . . "

But not where they play all day in the sun, since that's pretty rare here. I went on a walk around Stirling this evening. It was after dinner, I try not to read school work on a Sunday, and there was nothing on the TV. So instead of being lazy and just sitting around, I decided to go for a walk.

I live about a five minute walk downhill from this:
That would be Stirling Castle.Here's more of a backend view of the castle. That light-colored building is the Great Hall if I remember correctly.

The weather is beautiful and it was just too gorgeous to not continue my walk, though this really had been the intended destination. When I was walking along the road, I noticed this:

How do you not find that tantalizing? I mean come on, here's a stair embedded into rock that's just a little bit precarious. Of course I climbed it!

That was what I found, though. And since I wasn't wearing trekking-in-the-mud shoes, I'll have to go back once I've acquired some. :) And getting back down the stair was a lot worse than getting up it.

There's a walk that goes through the cemetery, just at the base of the castle, so I decided to follow that around. It provided some spectacular views, and I'm sad we didn't know about the hike when I came here before.
Something tells me I'll be taking this walk more often and I'll be taking any and all visitors as well. I didn't finish the walk and I didn't get to the beheading stone, so I've got more exploring to do in the future. I was getting tired and the graveled path was getting covered in mud, so it'll be for another day. And a new pair of hiking boots . . . hehe.


P.S. Did you know that it's very hard to type with a dog sitting in your lap? ;)

Avoid the Train!

I learned that I need to pay better attention to local Scottish news. I watch the news most mornings, but I guess I missed the part where World Cup qualifying match was happening in Hampden Park in Glasgow today. I realized this about the time I watched a bunch of young guys in kilts and football jerseys run into Stirling train station.

Ok, so it took talking to the woman next to me to figure out what was going on, but I had figured out it was some kind of football match to do with the world cup. We both agreed that we should have gone to Edinburgh instead . . . . The train was overcrowded most of the way into Glasgow. It seems that everyone was getting on between Stirling and Larbert (nearby city). Most of them were men, donning kilts, as I said, some of them with Scottish flags tied like capes. There were no seats left, and some boys even took to sitting in the luggage racks and standing in between the trains to find space. Granted, they were also clutching Coronas, so probably already being drunk, they would have found their situation extremely hilarious.

I did have a nice talk with the two ladies sitting by me though, and we had a laugh at all of the enthusiasts around us. I was going to Glasgow to buy books (Waterstone's on Sauchiehall street has an excellent collection of the more obscure Scottish works), so it's not like it was imperative I went today. Frankly, had I known how busy it was going to be, I probably would've put it off until Sunday. Even still, it was fun. Although I did get lost trying to find Sauchiehall street. It's been two years and I took a wrong turn and ended up all the way down at Glasgow Central Station, which is about ten minutes from Queen Street where I came in and not where I wanted to be. Haha. It was nice though. And by this point, my shoes and jean bottoms were already soaked through, so it didn't really matter if I was going to be walking around aimlessly for awhile anyway.

Tomorrow is the first time I'm going to church (obviously, as it's the first Sunday), and I'm excited to meet more people. Everyone in Scotland is so nice, so it's not that I feel lonely yet, but friends my own age would be great right about now.

I also already have "homework" for my classes. I have a very thick book (a couple of travel pieces) and a bunch of essays to read before my first night of classes on the 17th. Pff, I like undergrad better where you show up for the first day of class and do nothing but go through the syllabus. I mean really, it's only a Master's program - they expect me to be responsible by now? hehe

My Campus is Prettier Than Your Campus

Yesterday I made a trip down to Glasgow, to go to Ikea. Yes, Mom, they have an Ikea here, and it's mostly like the one in Salt Lake. It was funny to hear a bunch of people (with Scottish accents of course), talk about how they could spend all day in there. Sound familiar? lol. My landlady provided pretty much everything I needed, but I needed a clothes hamper and some cups and mugs. I looked for them in Tesco, but couldn't find anything like that, and I wanted to check out the Ikea anyway. I did pretty well, spent about £10 and I got a hamper, 6 glasses (for 89p!), two mugs, a bowl, and a couple of storage boxes for my jewelry. On the way back, I grabbed some lunch from Gregg's (BLT and Fanta, mmm). And no, I didn't take any pictures. Sorry Mom, but I'm not going to take a ton of pictures every time I go out. That'd be embarrassing. lol.

I noticed something on the train yesterday when I was coming back from Ikea. Green is my favorite color, and I know I buy a lot of green things, but I didn't realize how much I had until I looked at how silly I must've looked with green headphones, a green water bottle, and green umbrella. Of course, you add in that I have a green backpack (although technically speaking, that was given to me for study abroad), green jacket, green binder, green notebook, and the bowl and mugs I bought yesterday are green too! I think we can safely say I'm obsessed. I'm not even going to think about how many green shirts/dresses I have. Scary.

Today I went to Tesco to get some more groceries, then headed up to the Uni for the first time. My building, Pathfoot, is right near the main entrance, and since that's where most of my classes are, it's really easy to find. It's too far to walk on an everyday basis, so I'll have to figure out how to get the student bus fare. I walked around, and then decided to stop in and grab one of the readers I need for classes. The secretary actually knew who I was because I'm the only American in the program. I guess I should feel very special or something . . . . I ended up running into my program director, too, and it was nice to have a quick chat and hello with him. I'm kind of wanting classes to start already. I don't think our first one is until the 17th, and that's a long ways away.

I need to find a job, although my landlady might have done that for me. There's a nice restaurant just up the street from us (by the castle . . . hehe), that's looking for part-time waitresses. With my sexy American accent, I'd get lots of tips, right? She said a friend of hers works there or something, and they're going to check for me. I've had some rough times getting everything in place, but generally speaking, a lot of the plans for me have sort of just fallen into place. It's been really nice.

Since I have a lot of free time that I'm not used to, I've been watching an anime show that my friend Josh A. got me hooked on, though I've finished that. And I've been doing some reading and web surfing with my two favorite companions:
Poppie and Brea are very cute (Poppie's only a year, and she posed for the picture as soon as she saw the camera, no joke!). I have to say, I am relearning that I do prefer cats, but they're pretty cute little dogs.

I seem to have gotten my mother's cold (and my landlady is catching it, too, though I've tried really hard not to give it to her). It's not as bad as hers was, but I'd rather it go away now. Especially with all the signs on the trains and buses about not spreading your germs, and there I am coughing and blowing my nose. Makes me feel guilty or something. lol.

I'm headed back down to Glasgow tomorrow to get my school books, since they're all novels anyway. I'll probably post then. It's been a good, relaxing first week. Except I need to remember to ask for more salt and vinegar on my fish and chips next time. I don't think the girl that gave them to me today really believed me when I asked for lots just cause I'm American. poo.




Oh yea. This is my backyard. Be jealous.

At Home in the UK

I can't say that I had an uneventful trip. Oh wait, yes I can. Especially compared to the last time I flew into Glasgow (or was supposed to fly into Glasgow). I left Wichita, had about an hour flight to Memphis, and immediately had to run down to my gate to leave for Amsterdam, while calling Verizon to cancel my service because I was moving out of the service area.

On the flight to Amsterdam, I sat next to a very nice lady from Naples. She had been in San Diego, and we had fun talking a lot of the flight. I'm not actually sure how long the flight was. Long enough that I got some sleep, watched Star Trek and 17 Again, talked to Valentina for awhile, read some, etc. Amsterdam was a four-ish hour layover of boredom. There was no point in leaving the airport, and the way they have their airport set up, there's hardly anywhere to sit. You have to pass through metal detectors and put your things through an x-ray machine to get into your gate, where they have plenty of seating for the awaiting flight. But you can only get into the gate about ten or fifteen minutes before you board. Outside the gate for the Glasgow flight, they seriously only had about ten or so seats. So lame. But the flight to Glasgow only took about an hour. I loved finally being done with the trip. Or at least the flying part of it.

Due to some interesting circumstances, I had very little money to get up to Stirling. My ATM card doesn't seem to work over here, which means I can't access the money I have in my bank account. I do have some cash, so I'm not destitute, but I ended up paying for my train ticket in US dollars. My land lady said the flat was only about a five minute walk from the train station in Stirling, so I decided to go ahead and walk. Bad choice. I was carrying prob about 100 pounds or more of luggage, and I got a little lost, plus a lot of it was up a steep hill. We'll just say I'll be going my taxi next time.

I like my landlady. She's very nice and has two puppies that are adorable, if not a little bit misbehaved. But they're very sweet. I have a microwave, fridge, and water dispenser in my room, so it's like a mini-flat. It's really nice and it'll be great for studying and being up those long nights.

I did get some money, thanks to my wonderful parents, so I went down to Tesco for some groceries this morning. And of course, because I'm in Scotland, I stocked up on Irn Bru:

And had some Mueller's Corner Yogurt for a snack:
This was my second one for the day . . . . I had a strawberry one earlier. Mom, this is stuff I'll have to introduce you to when you get over here.

I've spent most of my day today on my computer, walking around Stirling, napping (I'm still exhausted from the trip here). Tomorrow I plan on applying for some jobs, maybe head up to the Uni and walk around a bit.

And that post was mostly for my mother. She was bugging me about telling her what went on, so there you go. :)