Home again

I realized that I never really wrapped up my travels and adventures in Europe, and figured it was time!

My last few days in Glasgow were strange... I felt like I was living in a dream and everything just when by so fast in a rush of goodbyes and packing, where everything I did and saw was for the last time. And so suddenly I found myself sitting outside my flat, dear old 85B Gibson street atop a hill in both directions, holding onto my suitcases and backpack, waiting for the cab to come. It was late. I started to get really nervous and called the company at least a good three times; turns out the poor driver was lost! One last drive through Glasgow, another conversation with a Glaswegian cabbie (this one wanted to visit the Bronx) and I was at the airport just on time!

I was exhausted, having run from Belfast to Edinburgh and getting very little sleep in between and then packing like mad and running out to meet friends in Glasgow. So the plane ride was mostly me sleeping and watching films and chatting with the Scottish girls from Aberdeen next to me, savouring their accent a little bit longer! One of the biggest changes from Glasgow to the US? The weather! I left Glasgow that morning wearing jeans, boots and light long-sleeved shirt, sweater, scarf and coat. Newark, NJ was sweltering! I'm in Scotland gear and people are wearing shorts and tank tops! The time zone change was odd, flying for like 8 hours, but I got to Maryland 2.5 hours later? Weird.

I surprised my parents. Walked out and they were checking the board for my flight arrival, so after nabbing my ridiculously tall brother, we sneak-attacked them! It was so good to see my family, six months is a long time! Just being in my own house was amazing- I wandered around for a good hour, just taking it all it- changes. A new deck, clearing out ugly wall paper in the bathroom, bushes planted outside. But next to all the new things, my gaze thirstily soaked in everything familiar that I’d missed for so long- the piano, my violin, our living room couches, the red kitchen, my bedroom in a splash of green color, brilliant and vivacious after having lived in a sparse, barren, white flat for so long. I touched things everywhere: chairs, railings, walls, pillows, my mom, dad and brother. It was if I had this weird sensory need to make sure this was real, that I was actually back.

It wasn’t all that long at home though, I always seem to be on the move and this summer was no exception. Within 4 days of being home, I had unpacked and packed again and was off to Sandy Hill Camp to work as a counselor once again, on of my favorite places in the world. Summer flew by and soon I had a week at home to find all my random, yet necessary college things and head back to McDaniel!

And so I have come full circle, from one side of the Earth to the other, acquiring a ridiculously international group of friends, beautiful photographs, and some of the best memories of my life.

From here to the end of this semester, I will continue to blog as a student at McDaniel college, but these will be through the McDaniel website at this link: http://admissions.mcdaniel.edu/Blogs/tabid/3520/BlogID/311/Default.aspx

Thanks for sharing in some of my adventures- I hope you got a feel for just how incredible my semester abroad was! Ciao.

The Emerald Isle

Beautiful rolling hills, soft and rounded and each one a bright, vivid green- some a darker forest green and other a paler jade with every shade in between. Small bushes separate the fields and create a quaint borderline with leafy trees adding to the barrier. Far in the distance, the Mountains of Mourne. And arching across the sky? A vibrant rainbow spanning the entire horizon it seems, clearly ending just on the distant hills.


Welcome to Northern Ireland- it really is the Emerald Isle.

While I was just there for (a far too short) four days, Northern Ireland was gorgeous! One thing I immediately thought about this country was the landscape was softer, gentler than Scotland. Scotland, especially the highlands, is full of rough, jagged edges and corse trees, with breath taking scenery. Ireland has that breath-taking aspect as well, but everything seems tamer, more rounded on the edges. I took the bus and ferry over from Scotland which was actually a lovely way to travel and far cheaper than flying!
I arrived in Belfast, where I was going to stay with the lovely Thompson family- relatives of friends back home who were far too wonderful to me! They kindly did a tour around Belfast for me, and we got to see a lot of the famous sights there- a great tour of city hall, a driving C.S. Lewis Tour (he was born and lived in Belfast! Somehow I never imagined him with an Irish accent..), the dock and pump-house where the Titanic was built too! That was pretty incredible. The dry dock is HUGE!! This ship was enormous! Unfortunately, the Titanic visitor's center doesn't open until next spring, so we couldn't go in there and learn more about it.

City Hall!

Titanic Memorial by City Hall

Titanic Dry Dock!

Titanic Pump house

C.S. Lewis' house

Narnia Mural!

We also visited Down Patrick one of the days I was there- where Saint Patrick's grave is and Down Patrick Cathedral right next door! Since Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, they have a huge visitor's center... which we did not go in as you have to pay... But we still got to see the extremely old grave and the cathedral itself which is undergoing some renovations at the moment.

St. Patrick's grave

I also decided to go by myself to the Giant's Causeway, a World Heritage site in Northern Ireland made of these incredible rock formations along the coast! It was totally worth while to do the tour (I used Paddy Wagon, with a hilarious bus driver who a lovely accent and funny stories)! I've never seen a place like this before, even in the rest of Scotland. The rocks are incredible, creating these round or hexagonal columns which go straight up, formed by the way lava cooled. So I greatly enjoyed myself climbing all over the rocks and walk as far along the coast as I had time for, up to the Giant's Organ! Why is it called the Giant's Causeway? Well, it's really is best when you have an Irishman telling you the tale, so I'll just give you the short version: There were two Giants who who wanted the same girl (Giantess if you please), now she was currently living with the Irish giant who had built a bridge over to Scotland to woo her home (he succeeded). The Scottish giant got angry and wanted her back, but eventually got tricked out of fighting him by the girl. He was so scared, he ran back to Scotland, destroying the bridge along the way! Thus, all that remains of the bridge of Giants is.... the Giant's Causeway!

Rope bridge- we did go across in rather high winds

after the rope bridge!

AMAZING water- all turquoise! Why isn't the US like that??

Giant's Causeway!

Giant's Causeway in the background

This is what the amazing columns look like

Northern Ireland was all so beautiful- we did have a crazy windstorm at one point, and the other fun fact was that Obama followed me to Ireland...
Other than that, it was fun to notice the differences in what families do in different parts of the world, such as Italy versus Ireland. In Ireland we were always, always drinking tea. With breakfast, between lunch, after dinner, you name it. So it basically serves as the same social drink that coffee does in Italy. Same function, totally different drink! Intriguing... 
Bascially, Ireland was beautiful, I loved our long drives through the country, close to the Mountains of Mourne and trip to the Giant's Causeway! Maybe next time, I can stay a bit longer!

Castle Wellan Forest Park- gorgeous lake (or lough as the Irish pronounce like "loch")

"Peace Maze" at Castle Wellan!

One last Ceilidh

What is a ceilidh you ask? Well, first of all it's pronounced "kay-lee" and it's loads of fun. A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish evening of dancing! The International Society put on one for us at the beginning of the year, but it was rather awkward as everybody was still getting to know each other and didn't want to ask others to dance. But, this past friday, I had the opportunity to go out to a ceilidh one last time, the perfect way to start finishing out my semester.


Apparently every friday night they have a ceilidh at this pub called Sloan's, a really cool pub with like 3 or 4 levels, very old-fashioned, all made of polished wood and glass panels. And so after climbing about 3 flights of stairs, we arrived at the floor where the dance was to take place: a lovely open hall with wooden panelling and floors, stained glass windows and chairs and tables lined up against the wall. At one end of the room was a small bar, with small glasses and jugs of water at the ready (and they most definitely were used), and at the opposite end was the ceilidh band, this time, three guys playing guitar, tin whistle, accordion and various other instruments as they pleased! 


This is how ceilidh's work- you don't have to know any of the dances ahead of time, they teach all the steps  there. Everything is done in pairs, though you might do a dance with 4 sets of couples or so, and it doesn't matter if there is an even guy to girl ratio- dance with your friends! So ask a friend up and in you go, they teach the steps slowly at first, a very simple dance typically, practice once or twice and then they add in the music and off you go! At first they might have to call out the moves to remind you, but because things are so repetitive, it's easy to get the hang of! And then you go galavanting or polkaing across the room, skipping, hopping and twirling. It's great fun! Exhausting too, you really get a work out from dancing a ceilidh. More and more people kept coming until there were around 100 people there, and a really interesting mix. All ages, from about 15 to  70s or 80s came out to dance, some Glaswegian, some from all over (Malasia to Spain). And yes, get out your kilts if you have them! Scots never miss an opportunity to wear a kilt since they are so expensive to get in the first place.

Image I pulled of the internet to show you what a ceilidh might look like

Moral of the story? If you ever get a chance to go to a ceilidh in Scotland, DO IT! It's so much fun and quite easy as well!


On another note- don't go to the Barras in Glasgow. It's meant to be this cool market with like everything... but has largely been diminished to the point where it's a huge yard-sale of junk and fast food. So while that isn't the best place to go on the East Side of town (I live in the West End), there was a great Brazilian restaurant there called Boteco do Brasil where we got some tapas on our way home! And apparently there is salsa dancing there every Wednesday night!


In other news, everyone has started having goodbye parties here, which is a bit depressing. And I only have two weeks left! And then I'm back on a plane to Maryland. I have mixed feelings about this, just like everybody else. On one hand I can't wait to get home! On the other... I'm really going to miss Glasgow, Scotland and the friends I've made here. Just two more French exams left! Then a trip to Belfast and then home!!

Philosophical Coos

Gradually I've been working my way through a list of "Things to do before I leave Glasgow." Including random items like: eat at an Indian restaurant (they are everywhere!), explore the Uni, see the Armadillo building (apparently it looks like an armadillo?) and visit the Burrel Collection. Out of the ones I just mentioned, I managed to cross of visiting the Burrel Collection this Wednesday!


We thought it was just an art gallery. After taking the train (I started out the day at the wrong station... opps, you have to leave from Central, not Queens Street!), we suddenly ended up walking through the country... There was no way this was just 20 minutes outside of Glasgow. Inside Pollock Country Park, no hint of the city remained, instead we followed a path alongside the bubbling, meandering river. Greens of every possible shade were all around- bright neon grass, dark forest undersides of leaves and then brighter emeralds lit by the bright sunlight. Plants everywhere, birds singing along and the smell of flowers all around. Why hadn't we come here before? we kept asking ourselves... not sure, but I highly recommend visiting in the spring! It was like stepping into another world, one I was quite familiar with, it reminded me of parks back home.

Outside the Burrell Collection

But this was Scotland- and with Pollock Country Park came the Burrell Collection! All donated by one man (Burrell) to the city of Glasgow, the collection is essentially his life's work, starting when he bought a painting at age 18. Over the years, through the sinking of the Titanic, world wars and more, he amassed an enormous collection of objects, ranging from artefacts from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, to Chinese porcelain, Anglo-Saxon and Germanic armour and weaponry, huge tapestries, furniture, and an impressive amount of artwork. Among this artwork were pieces by Manet, Degas' "The Rehearsal" and sculptures by Rodin. I didn't expect going into the gallery to see Rodin's famous "Thinker" in person. It's a lot smaller than you think, or rather than I thought!


The architecture of the building housing all these works was stunning in itself, the back entirely made of glass looking into the green depths of the forest, with wooden columns and struts making it seem nearly a part of the woods, artefacts displayed in sharp glass cases, reflected the outdoor greenery. On the opposite end of the building lies the hall of stained glass, where numerous stained glass windows are mounted in front of the clear windows, allowing sunlight to stream through and illuminate their colors. Another fascinating part of the building was the incorporation of old doorways, arches and windows. Some French, others with a different origin, it was intriguing to start to walk into the next room, and realize that while doing so you passed through an 18th century stone archway.

example of an old gate in the wall

The Thinker!

Rear of the building facing the woods, Egyptian artefacts 

Degas "The Rehearsal"

One of my favorite parts of the collection was a temporary exhibit on China through photography: "China through the Lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872). First of all, any and all pictures Thomson took are pretty impressive, because back then he had to lug around heavy glass plates for negatives and a ton of equipment. But I also loved how the exhibit was set up, displaying all the prints and then telling their story beneath, who the subject was and why this scene or image was important. Every single photo had a story- and I definitely tried to read them all! From portraits of the fat and wealthy, to beautiful boat women, a small school boy and a still-beautiful, but wise and worn old woman. They all have stories behind them. Or provide a brief insight into China in the 1860s and 70s. Perhaps it's just because I've now taken a photography course that I find it so interesting. But I'm sure anyone can appreciate the intriguing pictures.


That pretty much sums up the Burrell. But since we were in the Park, we discovered the Pollock House the park takes its name from- an old-fashioned country manor home, famous for its kitchen. So after a tasty lunch there, we decided not to pay to see the rest of the house, but instead went outside to stroll through their gardens. Pretty massive gardens too! Full of different types of flowers in bloom and leafy green plants. It was beautiful.

Main entrance to the Pollock House

walking around back

Back of the Pollock House- pretty impressive, eh?

The Gardens!

All too soon we had to leave to catch the train, but before leaving, we made some new friends...

BABIES!! aren't they cute?

Adult highland coo

Highland Coos!! Shaggy coats and all- quintessential Scotland! And not only where there highland cattle, but little baby calves! Just laying there innocently. Really adorable. 
So we took in the fresh country air, rolling fields, trees, coos, flowers and splashing creek while walking back... and then it was time to go home to Glasgow proper.

"Revising" and Chai Tea

Exams. They are far more intimidating here than back home, for two reasons primarily. 
1. They are all worth at least 50% of your grade if not more. (Don't mess up)
2. They must be intense, because everybody goes to the library and 'studies' there are all day. And I do mean all day- for like 10 hours.
Intimidating eh?


However, this does make it clearer why we simply have no class for the last month and a half- people just review and study. Honestly, I think I prefer when my entire grade doesn't depend on one or two exams, but it's also nice that I didn't have loads of mini assignments during the semester. Another good thing about this system (if your exams are spread out that is), is that you can concentrate on one exam at a time, really pouring all your attention into one subject versus dividing your time amongst several! For example, last week was just about Archaeology, and this next week and a half will just be focused on French for me!
Another odd bit about this system- exams on Saturdays? Whose idea was that? It was rather strange- last Saturday I had my first written exam (archaeology), and yet it wasn't during the school week. Odd. It was also strangely reminiscent of either Harry Potter O.W.L.S. or the SATs...
A very formal set up, desks all spaced neatly in rows taking up the entire, enormous room which seemed doubly large with its soaring ceilings, fitting over a hundred students. After placing all our bags and coats along the wall, we meandered to a desk to find multiple pieces of paper- question sheet, exam booklet and paper for our signature and student number saying, yes I was here!! Pen only, hour and a half- GO!


Also, correction, it's not just studying, it's 'revising' as I learned in passing the other day. "What are you up to today mate?" "Oh, just revising this week for my exam." To me, revising just sounds like I read over my notes once, but who knows? Here, apparently that means hard-core studying for your exam!
As I mentioned last time, I've always loved the idea of studying in a fun place, whether that be outside in a park or in a small café, and this week, it was a small cozy tea shop called Tchai Ovna. It's really close to my flat, only a 2 minute walk or so, and has come to me heavily recommend by friends, so I figured it was time to give it a try! Very relaxed feel, it was the first day in over a week that it was raining, and for once I didn't mind. It was nice to be able to settle down inside with a nice pot of tea. They had a small garden and seating area outside, but the rain steered us away and into a room full of mismatched furniture: tables, chairs, couches, cushions and lamps of all varieties, none particularly matching with the others, but all very cozy. After being handed a menu (actually, a binder) full of more than 100 kinds of tea, we found a seat and were told to order at the kitchen when we were ready. After pouring over the contents for some time, my friend Shannon and I decided to go for a chai, since this place was famous for them. Yogi yogi chai tea to be exact- we got a whole pot full!
And it was the most delicious chai tea I've ever had in my life. Milky, sweet and piping hot, the spicy aroma greets you first, and also leaves a lingering tang afterwards. We slowly sipped our way through some three or four cups each before the pot was empty, and I could have gone for more! So, if you come to Glasgow and are looking for some good tea, hit up Tchai Ovna. I particularly recommend their chai. For obvious reasons.
It's also a great place just to hang out and study, which is what I did for the next few hours, spread out on a table with my archaeology notes, book and flash cards!

Another fun thing unique to the University of Glasgow is a Salsa group on campus! Having a thing for dancing, I really couldn't resist. It's actually a really ingenious idea started up by two guys here. Teach salsa lessons on Wednesday and Sunday nights for all levels (beginners, improvers and intermediate) and charge only £2. That's a good enough deal, but what makes it even better is that the money goes to WaterAid, helping provide clean water in other countries around the world, something I'm also passionate about. So combine helping the world and dancing you get Salsa4water! I first learned about it through the international society, and have been going on and off throughout this semester, and it's so much fun! Last night they had lessons and a salsa club afterwards- were some really impressive dancers came out to put me greatly to shame. But I still had loads of fun! A good thing about being a girl and salsa dancing is that the guy leads, so if he's good it can be pretty easy to follow even if you aren't sure of the move. Granted, you still need a basic instruction and this doesn't always work for more complicated moves, but it's still easier to be the girl than the guy! Salsa is also addicting, once you start learning you can stop and want to learn more moves!


One of the things to do when I get home- look into salsa dancing clubs! Who knows, maybe we can start one up at McDaniel?

Savouring Glasgow

Last week, and especially Sunday, May 1st, it suddenly hit me that I only have four weeks left here. Four weeks?? That's nothing, and it will go by faster than I can imagine. Knowing this, I suddenly realized how much I love this city, and that I don't want to go yet- there's still too much to do and see here! Now, everywhere I walk I am absorbing every little detail of this city, it's buildings, flowers and people. I've started to savour Glasgow, in every possible way.

Picnic for Easter in the Botanical Gardens!

I started by going to some places I've never been yet in the city- Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis, which over looks the whole city! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, warm(ish) and sunny with bright blue skies, so walking is really enjoyable, allowing you to take in the city sites at a leisurely pace. That day, walking into the city, I noticed everything. All the different shops and restaurants I had and (mostly) hadn't been to: Indian Restaurants, Wok to Walk, Greggs on every corner, Primark, H&M, Costa Coffee and the ever American KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut and Starbucks. Glasgow is famous for it's shopping, and accordingly the pedestrian streets of Sauchiehall and Buchanan were pleasantly bustling with people of all ages and nationalities, tourists to locals. Close the the Royal Concert Hall, as always, was  a musician. This time, a middle-aged man, dressed to the nines in a suit, tie and hat singing old, classy songs in a Frank Sinatra sort of way. The guy was good, and had drawn a small crowd, myself included, sitting on the steps of the Concert hall or on the street curb taking a break and snack, enjoying the warm sunlight and jazzy music.


A short while later, I walked down the entire length of Cathedral Street, past Strathclyde University where students are doing the same thing as every other Uni- laying outside on the the grass, chatting with friends in the sunshine. Studybreak! Cathedral Street, coincidentally, leads straight to... the Cathedral. In fact, there are several historic buildings right there, and I decided to visit the Provand's Lordship first, the last surviving medieval house in Glasgow. An ancient building, refurbished according to its era, with information and paintings about Medieval Glasgow and its people. Besides realizing how short people were back then by the doorways, my favorite part was just behind the house, in the physic garden. This preference might have had something to do with the weather, but the garden was lovely. At the center rests a constantly over-flowing fountain, surrounded by hedges in an intricate Celtic knot pattern, branching out from the center. Around the edge of the garden are all herbs and plants with medicinal or other useful properties which can be easily reached.

walking up Cathedral Street!

Physic Garden from the Provand's Lordship

Provand's Lordship from the Garden

Celtic Knot pattern in the Garden!

A short distance across the street and through a square led me straight to Glasgow Cathedral, surrounded by greenery, and like most Cathedral, in a constant state of being repaired. Beautiful and majestic inside, full of light, chairs clustered around the massive columns. And the whole building smelled of flowers- lilies to be exact! All churches should smell like lilies. Below the main floor was the lower church area, with  the Tomb of St. Mungus, the patron saint of Glasgow, and smaller chapels. Eager to back into the sunshine, I went back outside to walk up the path to the Necropolis! 

Glasgow Cathedral!

Random Columns near the Cathedral 

This is the area right next to the Cathedral- it's absolutely beautiful, especially with the  trees blooming!

Inside the Cathedral

Cathedral!

Now, it probably sounds creepy- Necropolis means "City of the Dead." But it's beautiful. The grass is brilliantly green on the hill, with trees, flowers and bushes all around, lending their fresh scents to the air. Granted, it being a 'city of the dead' there are tombs everywhere. Old, ancient constructions from hundreds of years ago, some little more than a small rectangular headstone, but most rather more elaborate. Paths wind up the hill, eventually taking you to the top, with the most majestic monuments yet, like those for John Knox and Douglas Monteath. It's kind of amusing to see people up there sprawled on the grass, having a picnic lunch to just sunbathing (after all, these are tombs), but why not? It's a beautiful, tranquil spot, overlooking all of Glasgow, and I can't say that I'm freaked out by the tombs. So if you're looking for a nice picnic spot besides your typical park, I would recommend the Necropolis!

Necropolis from below

In addition to that area of town, I've been a typical Uni student- enjoying studying outside in the park, outside the library, even inside the Main University Quad! But this is what Glasgow is about- Glasgow or, "Dear Green Place", really is green, full of life and flowers! The parks are beautiful now, blooming with flowers and bustling with people.

Just outside the Professor's Square

This is where I study

I was here too,  reading notes in the Quad! 

I've also gotten to do two things on my list: spend hours working in a café and go to the live acoustic night at a small pub called Nice N'Sleazy. That sounds sketchy, but it's not at all- just a bar upstairs that also sells food, and and downstairs is the stage with small tables and chairs in the audience, each lit by a single, flickering candle. Every Monday night, Nice N'Sleazy hosts an acoustic night for free, and all kinds of people play in this open-mic night, and they were (nearly) all brilliant! There were a whole range of musicians, from an old man's classic a cappella jazz (again, Frank Sinatra came back?), to young upstarts testing out their new songs, a solo person accompanying themselves on guitar, a cappella Irish ballads, blues and even two to three person groups with more instruments like a banjo, harmonica or another guitar. They also played some brilliant transition music- including the Superman theme. Several times during the evening, the host would walk around the crowd, offering a bowl of delicious carmel popcorn too- I swear that's the best carmel popcorn I've ever had in my life. A fantastic, relaxed evening, and I'll be sure to go the next several Mondays! 

Inside the pub- stage ahead, complete with red lights, fog machine and musician

Candles for everyone!

But for now, I have an Archaeology exam this Saturday (Saturday??? no idea whose plan that was), and some studying calls. But perhaps it will be studying in the Botanic Gardens rather than the library...