What's Happening?

In my second week of school I am still experiencing things for the first time – the joy of finally receiving my debit card in the mail and the wonder at the weather that seems to change every time I look out the window (the saying here goes “if you don’t like the weather in Scotland, wait 5 minutes”).

WSU’s Cougs Abroad Blog prompts me to select a picture which best exemplifies my experience and emotions thus far. 

 The picture here is of an oxbow in the River Forth as seen from a lookout on the Wallace Monument, with a field of green neatly separated from the block of houses on the other side. I’ve discovered the green, lush, “bonnie” Scotland of tourism is not as clearly divided from everyday life. With all the beautiful scenery and history I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by, I realized I must also take the realities of living: draining my bank account the first week I arrived to pay for books, groceries and items like dish towels and pots, lugging heavy groceries for the week through the rain onto public transportation, fending off bees and squirrels from my screen-less window, cooking everyday for myself, paying the equivalent of $6 to do laundry in a facility down the street, and other miscellaneous activities I had never considered when I pictured myself in Scotland. This is not meant to be a complaint, but rather a reflection on my own naïveté; my living conditions are excellent and I enjoy many of the same amenities as I do at home, and it is this clash between real life as a student and the Scotland of travel guides that surprised me so much when I first began to live here. But like how the houses opposite the river bank are beautiful too, I am learning to appreciate both my somewhat dated residence hall and the lush forest trails behind it!

On a tourist train of thought, however, I finally took a few hours with friends to explore the inside of Stirling Castle, an interesting mix of architecture from different Stewart kings – the gothic Royal Palace and the white-gold Great Hall are built right next to each other inside the defenses! 

The Great Hall built by James IV

The Royal Palace by James V

Interior of the Great Hall - no floating candles or Dumbledore, but still very neat!

The smell in the Great Hall was amazing, as the wood work on the ceiling is made of oak from Scotland and held together entirely by wooden pegs and not nails as it would have been constructed initially. The Palace was also beautiful and had many interesting ceilings!

The "Stirling Heads" are historical figures and were arranged in this room to show off the king's lineage and inspirations

A friend and I in the Great Hall

And to end again with food, here is a picture of crisps in a Scottish grocery store. Notice anything familiar?

Walkers is actually owned by Frito-Lay, although Mr. Walker began his hand-sliced potato crisp business much earlier in the 1880s. I bought a bag but haven’t tried them yet – it will be interesting to see if they taste any different.