A friend from the program, Saahil, hosted a party at his flat last Friday. It is also on the Royal Mile, but closer to the castle than me. He has a wonderful view of Princes Street and New Town from the kitchen (though he also has 5 flights of stairs and no lift). Before the party, a group of us took in a rugby match. It was a professional game between Edinburgh Rugby and Treviso. Sam, a Scot, did a great job of explaining the game to me. I started to understand with about 20 minutes to go. Edinburgh ended up losing, but it came very close at the end. Time was up, but since Edinburgh had the ball, they can play until they go out of bounds or lose possession Unlike American football, play does not stop when a player is down. They came very close to making a winning try (like a touchdown) on the last play.
This weekend has also been really fun. On Friday night, Elisa (who is from Utah), Cassie and I went out for burgers at the Cambridge Bar. Elisa's flatmate, Ben (a part time MBA and Edinburgh resident) told us about it, and said they were the best in town. We asked for directions to make sure we were on the right path, and the guy in the street confirmed this opinion. They were. Just absolutely excellent. I had a Fajita bean burger, while Cassie got a Bacon and Guacamole on beef and Elisa went with BBQ Bacon on beef. We were all happy campers.
The bar was really packed since Scotland was playing Wales in the World Cup tournament. Scotland ended up losing, so many patrons were in foul moods. The waitress was incredibly nice. She was originally from Spain, but has been living in Edinburgh for six years. She showed us pictures of her baby twin girls and was just very friendly. After dinner, we went back to Elisa's flat.
Her flat is just amazing. It is at the top of a beautiful stone building in New Town, and has a great view. The floors are wooden, and they even have a proper kitchen! It is exactly the type of space I hope to be in after returning from the exchange. It felt so much more like a home than my flat will ever be. Plus, New Town is far less touristy, which is nice. We went to a little pub nearby to meet up with Ben and his friends after having some of Elisa's delicious homemade brownies (with caramel sauce!) before heading back home.
Yesterday, Cassie and I went to the symbolist European landscapes exhibit called From Van Gogh to Kandinsky at the Scottish National Gallery. It was pretty good, and only cost 7 pounds for students. Later, I went to see Taken 2 with a few friends. We sat in the VIP section, which was about a pound more than regular seats. It was totally worth it. The seats were reserved, and huge and leathery. It was not a great film, but the seats were excellent! After the movie, I went to a pub near my flat with Jason and Dhruv. We had a really nice time, and I ended up back home at about 0200.
I also bought my plane ticket to Seoul this week. I will leave on 13 December, and won't be coming back until 12 January. I really can't wait! Travis and I are hopefully going to Japan for a week while I am there, and I am also thinking of another side trip to do on my own since Travis will be working. Dhruv was telling me about Goa, and it seems like a wonderful place. It would be nice to be somewhere warm, even for just a few days. I am planning on spending the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry, and getting ready for revision. I also have a trip to the highlands next weekend with the MBA group. Overall, it has been a great few weeks, and some fun is certainly coming up!
Cassie and I went to Pancho Villa's, a Mexican restaurant near us, for lunch. It was really good, and totally made up for all previous bad Mexican experiences! We will definitely go again!
A neat, two-sided sign for the Van Gogh to Kandinsky exhibit. It was good, but I would have liked more Van Gogh! They only had two paintings by each of the two "headliners". Although, it was the first time I had seen a Kandinsky in real life, and they were amazing. There was a lot from artists I didn't immediately recognize, and I specifically liked the Nordic landscapes.
This note was in the bathroom at Saahil's flat. It is a university accommodation, and must get a lot of people who don't have such luxuries in their home country staying there!
Jason and I bonding over our shared dental experiences.
They served wine in a sippy cup at the match!
One of the MANY scrums in the Edinburgh side of the pitch during the first half. Edinburgh took so many penalties, in fact, that the opposition was awarded a penalty try!
1 comment:
I had two posts to read! I sure enjoy your updates. It is neat to see what you are doing. Good luck on your final and your papers.
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