A few months on

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Sitting here, in bed, at 10pm, reading my blog entries from my trip last year; it occurs to me that I haven't stopped learning yet and the things I did learn seem to be rapidly disappearing since I've been back.

I came back in July 2008. Mainly, I came back because I felt ready to start again after everything I had learned. So, being half Scottish, my aim was to check out the other half of my heritage and move to Edinburgh. My Mum is originally from Hamilton and spent a lot of time in Glasgow but I decided that Edinburgh stood out enough for me to want to give it a go.

I came up to Edinburgh for a couple of days in August 2008 for a couple of job interviews. Neither of which did I manage to get. But I wasn't put off and about a month or so later, I threw a few things in a bag again and checked into a hostel in Edinburgh. I signed up with an employment agency and met some nice people in the hostel. Mostly people seemed to be Spanish, who knows why they would choose Edinburgh as a destination as it is far removed from the weather they would be used to. I got some tips on places to hang out and one place for the dregs/bohemian/student types is the Forest Cafe on Bristo Place. It's a not for profit organisation run by volunteers where you can get cheesy beans on toast for a mere £2 and have access to free wi-fi. You can sit in there all day and you will witness the drifting motions of artists and musicians. Dumped, old, yet comfy, sofas are scattered about along with old chairs and tables with makeshift candlelight in the evening. By night it's really like one big living room; people get up and play guitar or piano, bands come in and play, art exhibitions are held and generally everyone just chills out. Sure, it's rough and ragged but that's what makes the place so comfortable - you don't need to have a Starbucks mug and pop culture Jazz reference CD gently swishing your mediocre coffee, you just need what seems to be lacking - community. Don't get me wrong, the Forest is certainly not the be all and and end all of community feeling for it has its fair share of pretentious travelers who will tell you stories about their dealings with hill tribes in South America, and how they realised that we are all connected, which of course they knew, but they really knew it, you know? But, the Forest is as good a place as any to meet random hillbillies like yourself on embarking in the Edinburgh hostel scene.

Shortly after this, some friends of my Mum put me up for a couple of weeks. I was meant to move into a couple of houses but arrangements fell through at the last minute. The most annoying one meant I couldn't stay in the hostel as it was fully booked. So, off I went to my Mum's friends house for a couple of weeks while I continued to look for somewhere to live and to find a job. The job came before the place to live but I did eventually end up lodging in a family home out in South Queensferry. This was a weird experience as I had never been a lodger before. Paying rent to have a room in somebody else's home is an odd experience. You really don't feel like you are at home. I felt this more because the landlady was a divorcee with two grown up kids, who also wanted to fit in with her kids lifestyles - going to see the same bands, placemats with pictures of the characters from A Nightmare Before Christmas, band posters on the way up to the bathroom (although I didn't have a problem with the Muse poster!). Quite often the landlady would treat me like a friend, and then bring out the iron rod of landlady politik; wet laundry to hang in your room or outside even though it's winter and your clothes will never dry, and the three external walls in your room mean you will permanently freeze day or night. There were more things but I think you get the picture. On top of all this I was really far from the center of Edinburgh. A train would take 20 minutes from Dalmeny to town although a trip to work meant I arrived in 30 minutes door to door. The main problem was my social life was seriously lacking; trekking into town for the odd Spurs match was a bit of a pain; especially as it was such an effort and we lose a lot!

I received a call one evening from a guy who was looking to find a flatshare. We met up, decided we could give hunting together a go, and the hunt was on for a flat.

I got a temping job in October and was moving into my first proper flat in December. There's more to follow, much more, but I thought I would give you a taster to move you back in to the swing of my travel blog!

Hope you enjoy it!

Amy

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