Buried in the books..

It's like my laptop has a twisted sense of humour...as if he WAITS until three papers are due, presentation day is here, and a constant flow of emailing between classmates and professors is necessary...THEN he calls it quits.  Oh and the part that blows up- not available in UK shops! Thank you Amazon for coming through with a 2-day delivery!


Love from the US :)

But how could anything, even a blown laptop at a stressful time, get me down when that same night I returned home to find a Valentines package waiting at the door, filled with lots of goodies from the US:  peanut butter, chocolate, homemade goodies and my favorite snacks :) I have the greatest Mom and Dad and DEFINITELY felt loved <3
Not much to report in the past two weeks, with the majority of time being spent reading, writing, and researching.  But I've made it through my craziest block of classes, with just the final assessments to get through. My new, lighter, FINAL block begins this week!

To celebrate another block finished, a group of QM students headed for the Pentland hills on Sunday. With a rare day of constant sunshine, we climbed Turnhouse and Carnethy peaks from Flotterstone! It continues to amaze me how near to city centre we were, yet how peaceful and remote our surroundings seemed.

Willem and I @ Pentland Hills  

For a mid-week break/mental health day, my friend Yana and I went to the Surgeons Hall Museum in Edinburgh, where theres lots of history about surgery in Scotland and neat anatomy exhibits! We walked up the Royal Mile afterward and dipped into the 'Camera Obscura'. COOLEST attraction in Edinburgh, definitely recommended! Full of optical illusions, mind games and great photo opps!



Camera Obscura

Last Thursday, I spoke at the Rotary Club of South Queensferry. The club meets at the foot of the Firth of Forth bridge, which I got a STUNNING view after the meeting! I may have been convinced to abseil off the Forth bridge in June, which is S Queensferry's big fundraiser (Mom: do not google abseiling). Public speaking becomes less terrifying with each presentation, and I have been so lucky to have such wonderful audiences each time (although I got some playful abuse for the Irish spelling of 'whiskey' (whisky) on one of my slides...big mistake!)

Firth of Forth bridge..

Last night, a friend offered me a last-minute ticket to see SIX NATIONS:  SCOTLAND vs IRELAND today at Murrayfield stadium!! Scots victory 12-8! GREAT game and an awesome atmosphere to be in!

Fun fact:  The Six Nations Championship is an annual rugby tournament involving six sides:  Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Italy and France.  Each team plays the other 5 once, alternating home pitch each year.  The tournament's history dates back to 1883 when it was called the Home Nations Championship, a competition between only the United Kingdom teams.  Within the current tournament, a 'Grand Slam' is awarded when any team defeats the other 5, a 'Triple Crown' is when any of the original Home Nations defeats the other 3, and the team who ends the tournament at the bottom of the pack is awarded the 'Wooden Spoon'!