bmac

If you're wondering why it's been so long without an update, it's because the internet has been down since last Thursday. Perfect timing with huge projects for classes, right? So many of us had to go to the library to use the internet that we ended up crashing the internet there too...oops! The weekend was actually one of the most fun weekends I've ever had here at Dalkeith. Brandi and Katie were here all week and that was really fun, and I only had class Mon-Wed. After they left, we spent Saturday playing board games, eating Chinese food, and watching Elf and playing the games on the DVD (lame, yet so fun). Sunday we roasted chestnuts on the fire, did puzzles, played SPOONS (I accidentally injured Brian...oops again), and one of the program directors Moe made ... read more

This weekend was pretty laid back, but pretty fun at the same time. If I haven't posted about Thanksgiving yet, it was delicious and so much fun, and our Ceilidh (kailee; a Scottish dance) was SO cool. We learned some Scottish dances and there were two accordionists playing the music for us. It made me wish I lived in the times where balls happened all the time haha. I went to visit Ben and Chris (fellow Christian metalheads; Chris I met at Cornerstone) in Sheffield, England. We pretty much just relaxed at Ben's flat, because we were all tired, broke, and it was rainy. It was still fun, and I got to ride in the sweet elevators (with no doors!) and meet some cool English folk :) Brandi and Katie got in yesterday safe and sound, ... read more

Friday we went to Glasgow with our professor from Brit Civ, and it was awesome. We got to go to the Celtics stadium and get a tour, so I'll put up pictures of that eventually. We also went to a shop called Primark and it was HUGE with tons of cute clothes for incredibly cheap...like, cheaper than food. I wish we had more time to shop there, so I just may take a day trip to Glasgow some time with the girls and hit it up again! I suppose I should enlighten you all with what must be the most EMBARRASSING thing to have happened to me in Scotland so far. We were running late and right outside the train station, but it happened to be a bit rainy out and the sidewalks were very wet ... read more

This has been a long yet somewhat entertaining weekend. Friday we had to get up early so we could go see Bowhill which is one of the duke's other estates. It was pretty boring, actually, because our guide was so boring and didn't seem to know what he was talking about. It was really cool to see some of the original wallpapers and furniture from the 18th century (and maybe earlier?) and there were a few original pieces from Dalkeith as well. They also had a model of what Dalkeith Palace was going to look like if they remodeled it as planned, but I'm glad they never did because it would have been HUGE (not that it already isn't!). After that, we went to Melrose Abbey and I am really bummed my camera was dead. It ... read more

This has been a crazy week so far...there has been so much drama! Monday night a lot of people decided to drink, and one girl we think got mild alcohol poisoning and another person (we aren't sure who but we all have an idea) threw up all over one of the bathrooms...wall, door, mirrors, floor...and our resident assistant had to clean it up because the person just left it. That made our resident director pretty mad and she said if anything else happens, this place will be dry. No problem for me, but that would make a lot of people mad! Then there is just drama going on in people's lives between people here or with people back home...another thing that happened is someone stole some candy bars that were for dessert last night and that ... read more

I'm back from Italy! Despite being tired and wet most of the time, I loved it. We did way too much to talk about everything, so I'll sum up each city as best as I can. Milan-We arrived at night and spent a good two hours or so in the train station asking nearly every worker how to get to where we needed to go...we had specific directions by metro and bus but didn't know where to find the ones we needed. Every answer was "I don't speak English. Talk to the next one." We finally randomly bumped into a young guy who spoke English and he was headed the same way as us so he helped us out. Our hostel took a while to find too because it was in some obscure, shady street with ... read more

The Halloween party was really good. I heard the haunted house was really scary (I didn't go through) and they had opened up the old wine cellar and dungeons for it...I saw it as they were setting up and it was really creepy! My costume as Henry the chef went over great, but unfortunately he couldn't come. I showed him pictures though and he loved it. Overall I think it was a pretty good success. Alnwick was fantastic. We stopped at a couple other castles too (which were ruins) and then back to Alnwick where we had time to explore...it was so cool to see the spots where Harry Potter was filmed! I totally geeked out while there. The gardens were also beautiful; I didn't have time to see all of them but what I did ... read more

This week has been really busy. We finally got the Halloween party planning going, so I headed the food committee (of course) and helped think of activities for the kids, and then went grocery shopping for some of our food and will be baking with a few others on Thursday. Tonight I am helping carve the pumpkins to decorate. I'm also trying to plan a movie night after the party where we'll watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to get us pumped for Alnwick the next morning. It's been pretty nonstop! Last night was also the opera...it was just at a small local theater about an hour away, but we got to go by coach so that was really nice. It was more fun getting ready and being all dressed up with everyone than the ... read more

I'm feeling a lot better today. I've had a pretty bad cough today, but it sounds more phlegm-y/broken up rather than tight like before...my runny nose is pretty much gone and I didn't have a headache! I'm glad I got over it so quick rather than it being long and drawn out like usual. I picked a good weekend to be sick; I just bummed around Edinburgh and read at the house. Over half the people are gone so it's been very relaxing. This upcoming week is going to be super busy but really fun. Tuesday I am going to the Scottish opera to see Cinderella, Thursday night is our Halloween party (I'm going as Henry, our house chef), and Saturday we leave for Alnwick (pronounced Ann-ick) which is the Harry Potter castle! And yes, we ... read more

I was in Paris this weekend with Jen, Tanya, Kyle, and Brian L. and it was amazing! I got about a half an hour of sleep before leaving, so I had been up for about 36 hours by the time we went to bed Thursday night. That didn't keep us from being busy! Here's a brief rundown of what we did... Thursday: *Serenaded by accordion players on our first train *Dropped luggage off at Aloha Hostel, then went to the Eiffel Tower (20 minute walk or so from our hostel!) *Notre-Dame *Luxembourg (we just sat in the gardens for a short while) *bed at 7:30 pm!! Friday: *Louvre for several hours *Catacombs *L'Arc de Triumph (climbed it too) *Champs Elysees...admiring, no actual shopping :( *Eiffel Tower at night (to the top) Saturday: *Got lost on 3-4 ... read more