Shakespeare, Guy Fawks and James Bond

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Aunt Nan and Nana on November 9^th and 10^th! I am so lucky to have these two wonderful ladies in my life! I love you both very much and send you all the best wishes on your birthdays from across the pond!



Rotary Scholars at International Night in Portobello

I cannot remember time ever flying by as quickly as it is now!  It has already been two weeks since Italy..whoa! I gave a talk at the Rotary Club of Musselburgh last Monday and on Wednesday enjoyed some more Rotary fellowship at the ‘International Night’ hosted by the Rotary Club of Portobello.  We had a great dinner followed by entertainment (by the scholars…surprise!)  


What papers do to students..

Thursday night, Jackie and I had a delicious dinner at Darios before heading to Lyceum Theatre to see a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream…it was a neat twist on a classic play and the costumes were great! I was living in the library last weekend and early this week, working on my first assessment which I submitted on Thursday…14 pages, 30+ references (what a relief to hand in!)  I celebrated with some QM friends after hand-in with a great dinner, Ben and Jerry’s, and the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, at Ocean Terminal. 

 

 

Craigmillar Castle

Monday was Guy Fawkes Night, commemorating the unsuccessful ‘Gunpowder Plot’ of 1605.  My flatmates and I walked into Holyrood Park and caught the tail end of a fireworks display in town.  Lots of people were having their own firework displays (much to the dismay of the police), and the field as well as Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Craig were alight with sparklers and lights..really beautiful! As another break from studying, I went for a run on Tuesday (intentionally getting lost) and found myself approaching the backside of a magnificent castle.  I scaled the wall (unintentionally avoiding the ticket office) and spent two hours exploring the remains of Craigmiller Castle, built in the 15^th century.  It was magical walking through all the rooms:  the grand hall, courtyard, basement- all incredibly well preserved.  I can’t imagine what it was like in its heyday.

Later that night, I went to the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party meeting on International Development with some colleagues from my Social Development Policy and Practice class.  We heard from campesino and indigenous representatives all the way from Colombia, who shared the struggles of their peoples arising from local mining. Seeing their pictures and hearing their stories provoked great discussion round table and raised a lot of questions about powerful stakeholders and injustices around the world. Tomorrow I am going to see the All Blacks take on Scotland at Murrayfield! Sold out stadium! ‘Scottish rugby match’ was definitely on my Edinburgh Bucket List..I can’t believe the match I’m going to is Scotland hosting the All Blacks!!

Scottish tidbit:  Auld Lang Syne is a poem written by Scotsman Robert Burns in the 18^th century.  It translates literally to ‘old long since’ or colloquially ‘long ago’.  At the conclusion of dinners, parties, ceilidhs, everyone holds crossed hands and sings the chorus together (I bet if you google/youtube, you will recognize the tune!)

I realized I hadn't put up a picture of Queen Margaret yet!