I can't even quite remember what happened on what days. My classes are alright...they involve a little bit too much reading, if I could be honest for a moment. By next Monday I ought to read Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice' and another 50 pages of Bunyan's 'Grace Abounding.' My Shakespeare class only has international students in it--and at that, it's mostly Americans. Oh well. I wish I was in the section with the actual students from U. of Edinburgh, but I'm still content with the fact that my teacher is British, and charmingly hilarious in a particularly British way.
Last Thursday night I went out with a bunch of people to a pub for dinner. I finally ordered a baked potato, complete with baked beans and cheese mmmm. We then went to somebody's flat for a while--but the people who lived there (a mix of Brits and Yanks) were rather rude...so we ditched them and popped into the pub that happens to be in my dorm! I totally didn't realize that there was a pub literally 50 ft away from my flat! Excellent.
The British (including the English and Irish but particularly the Scots) seem to be a rather closed-off group of people. I sat down next to a few guys, but even though I threw a comment or two in their direction, they didn't seem in any way inclined to make small talk or even acknowledge my existence. People tend to come into pubs with their friends; they sit with their friends; they leave with their friends; they aren't interested in talking to Yanks at all. After a while we left and went to another pub--this one had a backroom with a GIANT bed in it. We sat for a while, and I further analyzed the groups of Brits surrounding us. For some reason, they seem less friendly than typical Americans--but maybe Americans are just as much closed off, and I've never noticed it before?
Yesterday (being Friday) we took a bus out of the city to Roslin in order to see Rosslyn Chapel. It's about 500 years old, and has links to the Knights Templar (it's even rumored that the Holy Grail is hidden there!). We even wandered down to the old remains of the castle...I learned how to walk down hills covered in ice!
Today I went to the Edinburgh Zoo...honestly, it was a little on the stupid side to go to the zoo during the winter! It was raining this morning, and the wind was so strong that I felt like I was being blown backwards! I couldnt even use an umbrella because it kept blowing backwards. (note: the other day I discoverd a particularly nasty combination of weather: incredible wind mixed with snow/sleet. the wind knocks the snow DIRECTLY into your face! i was actually laughing when it happened because it was so bizarre). At least this zoo wasn't as depressing as the zoo in London (seriously, that zoo is depressing! all of the enclosures are small and the animals look depressed!).
I think I spent an hour in the chimpanzee enclosure (it was indoors and delightfully warm), and after a while contemplated becoming a zoologist before realizing that I'd have to go into the wild and study the animals in their natural habitat..and quite possibly live in a tent for several years. My friend told me a particularly nasty story...a friend of her friend had a snake, either a boa or python she couldn't remember. One day the snake got out of the cage, so the girl put it back into its cage. The next day she woke up and the snake was lying horizontally in the bed right next to her!!! The girl took the snake to the vet because she figured something must be wrong with the snake. The vet told her immediately to get rid of the snake. Apparently, when a snake considers eating something large, it lays next to the thing/animal horizontally to see if it can fit said thing/animal into its body. GROSS. I decided then and there that if by chance I have a kid someday who wants a snake, to absolutely refuse their request and buy them five dogs and five cats instead. *Shiver*
Oh, last night i saw a funny thing in the bathroom. A condom dispenser. A McCondom Dispenser. Yes. Whisky-flavored condoms. Am I going to get some? Abso-fucking-lutely.
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