August 31

This was one of the more relaxing days we have had so far. After we ate a delicious breakfast of either Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes, Apple or Orange juice and toast (sometimes we also get fruit), we had a meeting to determine our "community standards" or basically just house rules. It was the most ridiculous meeting I have ever been to. People could not agree on things that should really just be common sense, like: whether or not you should talk on the phone where it disturbs others, why we shouldn't be able to be as loud as we want all hours of the night on the weekends and my personal favorite, the argument about who should be able to use the internet when (hint: our internet is wireless).

It made me embarassed to be human. So after that trainwreck, we were supposed to do a walk up to Arthur's Seat, which is a mountainous rock that sticks out over the city, but the weather was bad so it was cancelled. I was actively trying to get John, our assistant resident director, to cancel it because I really wanted to do it, but we had also walked around Edinburgh the entire day before. That will be resceduled.

Instead of actively walking up a large hill/rock, Leah, D and I went for fish and chips then took a nap. It was so delicious! This was my first time having them, and it was really great. They have this stuff called brown sauce, which basically tastes like a delicious mix of ketchup, malt vinegar and worschesire sauce, and it is excellent on chips, chicken and pretty much anything fried. Our nap was well needed, and was really one of the only times we have had so far to just catch up with everything.

After the nap, we went to see the fireworks in Edinburgh. It was really cool. We watched them from Letih Park, and they were being shot up over the castle. Pretty cool. They actually did it in time with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, so as the music was playing, they would shoot up a firework to match the tones. It was brilliant. I'll try to post some pictures of that, but my camera died and no one else's really turned out that great anyway.

On the way home, we stopped at Kabob Mahal. This is officially my favorite restaurant in Dalkeith. It is Indian and Tandoori takeaway, and it is so delicious. I usually get a chicken kabob and if I'm feeling really hungry some veggie samosas or some veggie pankora. It is reasonably priced too, just about 3GBP for a small kabob (which is a huge amount of food). They grill up the chicken, which has a spice rub on it, then serve it in a pita covered in cabbage salad with onion, tomato and cucumbers. I also get jalapenos. Then they smother the whole thing with chili and garlic sauces. Yum!

The pictures are of the fireworks-you can see the trees, and right above those, where the pink streaks are, is the castle. Me standing by a mail bin on the way there, some of us girls before the show (me, D, Leah, Sara and Juliana) and another one of Me, D and Leah.