Classes

Well...I discovered that Mondays will be my worst days this semester.

I wasn't able to get to bed until past 2am last night; I sat for a while in my chair, idly staring at the wall and willing sleep to come. I realized that having a coke at 6pm hadn't been the best idea. But after reading a short story by John Bunyan (if you don't know him, trust me, you aren't missing much), I didn't feel like doing much else productive. I watched "Post Grad," which might be one of my new favorite movies. I couldn't sleep because the wind was so loud--I could feel the wind literally pushing against my cheeks, coming through the glass panes like invisible tendrils or fingers.

Ok, but once I fell asleep...well, I woke up this morning and it was sunny outside! It was so beautiful! I kept the blinds open for a while, before closing them against the cold wind. I went to my scottish lit class, then wandered over to The Elephant House to gaze awhile upon the castle and read a bit of Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Then I had to meet up with several kids for my "ALG" or Autonomous Learning Group. Uni of Edinburgh has these groups for the English Honors classes..basically we meet in groups and answer questions, and then have to present said answers to the class.

I became rather irate during my ALG..one of the girls thought it appropriate to show up late, not do all of the reading, and then become irritable that even though myself and the two other people in our group had done the readings, we didn't know all of the 'answers.' I should stop complaining...I hate being so negative but these two girls just rubbed me the wrong way and it took all I had to not slug them right in their smug little faces.

I liked the boy, Allan, though. He is from Perth, which is about an hour north of Edinburgh. He was very nice, sweet, and easy to talk to. And, he's one of the few people from my classes who I feel gives me the benefit of the doubt--even though I'm a Yank. We walked over to our next class together and talked about literary...little things. I like meeting other people who like to write. And as we talked I couldn't help but admire how beautiful the buildings of the campus are--I want to say they were built either in the Victorian or Georgian Period, but then again, I am no arcitecture expert. And it was still gloriously sunny though! But that meant that the snow was melting :(

During class I realized that I was only one of two Americans--everyone else was either from Scotland or England. Oh, there was one Canadian (they always seem to get swept under the rug).

After class (in which I talked aloud and slowly the butterflies left my stomach for other hiding places...my mind wandered and I loved listening to everyone's accents, or broghs, as apparently they're referred to in Gaelic) I had to head over to the library and have another ALG group for my Shakespeare course.

As I walked home at 7pm it suddenly hit me how exhausted I was. Seven hours of class is simply too much. But I found out that my friend Jessie bought me a ticket to go to St. Andrews this Saturday with the International Centre! It's the "home" of golf, and the oldest University in Scotland. Should be fun! And on Sunday I'm planning to go to the National Gallery with some peeps. I can't get over how much there is to do in Scotland! Or even Edinburgh, alone. I'm still formulating in the back of my mind an EPIC trip into the Highlands!

In health terms, I've been feeling a bit tired lately. I'm not going out tonight, and I didn't go out last night. I guess my body hasn't fully recovered from mono yet. It's such a bummer. I'm glad though that none of my friends caught it from me. Lucky bastards.

I had subway for dinner..I caved and gave in to my American-lust for fast food. It was glorious. It's almost 11pm over here. I can't decide how to put myself to sleep...read Shakespeare, or watch Braveheart?