Missouri...

Kilomathon finish in Murrayfield Stadium!

The days are flying by! Last Wednesday I had dinner with my host counselor, Jackie.  She took me to Loch Lynd, a wonderful seafood restaurant in Leith, where we spent hours catching up while enjoying a great view of the port.  On Thursday, Caitlin, Nick, Stevie and Sammie cooked up some phenomenal TexMex for me and my roommates- Giulia’s first tacos EVER!!!  Friday, I had a fun night out in the city with a great crew of students from my program, before hitting the books allllll day Saturday.  Sunday morning, Caitlin and I ran in the Kilomathon Edinburgh, a 13.1 kilometer race starting at Ocean Terminal and ending in Murrayfield Rugby Stadium! It was raining on our way to the start line, then the sun came out just as the race began!  But around kilometer 10, we found ourselves fighting the elements again- strong wind and rain.  Good news:  it made us run faster, and we crossed the finish line in 1:07.  We went to the (famous) Snax Café which was the closest thing to a diner yet.  I had my first traditional Scottish breakfast, the ‘Biggest Breakfast’, which included a buttered nappie, fried eggs, black pudding, haggis, fried tomatoes, sausage links, baked beans, flat sausage, hasbrown, a tattie scone and bacon.  I think it is the last experience I care to have with black pudding, but I appreciate the valuable addition of baked beans to breakfast!

Sloppy Joes, namesake of their inventor-a cook from Iowa

Giulia’s friend Elena is visiting from Tuscany, so I cooked us an American favorite on Sunday night:  sloppy joes (appropriately sloppy). After dinner I BOUGHT TICKETS TO ITALY!!! Ever since I met Giulia and Susanna (and now Elena), I have been hearing stories about Italy and it was decided early on that a trip was essential.  I have a reading week/break from classes starting October 18^th so Italia here I come- first time on continental Europe! Giulia is returning home for her graduation on the 19th (which I’ll get to attend hopefully!) and then she and Elena are going to show me around their hometown, Empoli! We are going to Pisa and Siena, as well as some of their favorite little towns surrounding.  I. Can’t. Wait.

It has been a very full week of classes.  One of the neatest things about IIHD is that they frequently bring in guest lecturers to lead a module that falls under their area of expertise.  For example, the topic of our Global Health and Social Policy lecture yesterday was governance and we had a guest lecturer from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has just returned from doing field research on government and health funding in Zambia. She had really fascinating experiences and research findings to share, and led a great group discussion. 

Compliments of Alysha Yoder

After another very full day of classes, my brain(fried) was challenged (by my roommates) to name all 50 US states (“of course I can”).  We all know how this one ended…2 hours, and an irrational hatred for the state of Missouri.

I found a GREAT pub, The Peartree, just a 10 minute walk from my house that shows American Football every Sunday! The downside:  they close at 1 AM, which taking into account the 5 hour time change means that I just get to see 1:00 and 4:25 games.  Luckily, the Keystone showdown is scheduled for 1 PM this Sunday.  HERE WE GO STEELERS!!

Scotland Bit:  Having just written about my ‘football’ team, I should point out that in Scotland (and the rest of Europe) football=soccer.  There is a long standing rivalry in Scotland between the Celtics and the Rangers, the two Glascow association football clubs. The rivalry is historically rooted in religion (Celtics supported by Catholics and Rangers by Protestants) or anscestry (Rangers supporters traditionally native Scots and Celtics fans the Irish-Scots).  The Rangers were liquidated in 2012, halting this historical competition yet it is still acknowledged as one of the greatest rivalries in football.