Haggis Night

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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 was really cool looking and still standing pretty well, despite how weathered it was. Katie, Nikki, and Amber all took some pictures though so I'll try to swipe some of theirs. I had a blast with those girls (and our puppy chow we made, mmmm). The rest of the weekend I basically did nothing but attempt to work on homework, and I finally got cracking on a big paper tonight.

We also had our Caledonian banquet tonight. It was to celebrate Robert Burns Night, which is actually January 25th but we're obviously not going to be here for it. I helped Henry set the places and decorate the dining hall and I made the menus/programs as well. We all got dressed up nice and got to see the haggis get piped in (but it wasn't real bagpipes, they were these weird kinds that don't require you to blow in them) and carried in on a platter by Henry. "Ode to Haggis" by Burns was read and we all got our food. It was amazing, though the mashed tatties (mashed potatoes) were really spicy but the kirlie tomato (oats and onion held together by veggie broth), bashed neeps (mashed turnips, very like sweet potatoes), vegetarian haggis, and canachran (I think? An oats, raspberries, honey and cream dessert on shortbread) were all great. There was also black pudding (coagulated blood) which I obviously skipped. There were a couple other poems read and we all joined hands at the end to sing Auld Lang Syne which I didn't know Burns wrote.

I'm really glad the weekend is done but also feel rushed to finish all of this stuff in the last few weeks. Wish me luck!

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