The Deep End

I arrived in Edinburgh last Sunday night after an uneventful (and very long) travel day and spent the next couple of days moving in and getting oriented. I moved into my (first) flat Monday morning, only to discover that my three flatmates had decreased to one very lovely girl named Rosie who was in the process of trying to move out as well. Obviously, I was a bit disappointed, but God provided. The next day I met a study abroad student in class who offered me the extra room in their flat. I was able to move this past weekend, and am now much more happily situated with 4 international flatmates, two from France (!) and two from New York. This flat also has the added benefit of a beautiful view of Holyrood Park, a loch, and craigs. (see below) As I write this, I keep being distracted by little pops of light in the distance, which I have just realized are the flashes of cameras trying to capture the transient, fleeting, and incredibly beautiful, sight of a sunny (though still freezing cold) Edinburgh.

Wednesday was a real turning point for me when one of Lindy’s friends contacted me and invited me to dinner at his flat with his friends. We cooked (or rather the guys cooked and the girls chatted) then sat down to a proper meal of chicken marsala and discussed everything from law to cultural differences between the five British or ex-British countries represented ‘round the table, enjoyed the “home theatre” rigged up by the flat of engineers and generally had a lovely evening. I’ve now met up with them several times in connection with Christian Union, the British version of Campus Crusade for Christ (except more intimate), and have enjoyed the time both with them and their friends.

Thursday was the USC orientation dinner. We all met up at a local pub and USC bought us a taste of “local culture” before we headed to a very nice Indian restaurant for dinner and a vibrant exchange of travel horror stories, exciting discoveries, and sage advice (from the year-long students). From there we headed to another pub and passed quite a funny bit of time chatting with a very happy/friendly drunk—The accent was amazing!

Friday was spent mostly in walking between the housing office and my various flats, but I was able to go out to dinner with a girl from the USC orientation dinner to a fun, very authentic pub where I had my first fish and chips of the trip (I really think newspaper adds to the flavor somehow) and ordered my first beer… I must say, that was rather anti-climatic… I’ll have to find someplace to card me when I get back to the states. ;)

On Saturday I explored Edinburgh Castle, housing the Scottish royal jewels (called something else, but I can’t remember now), the National War Museum, and officers’ dog cemetery among other things (see pictures below). Most interesting, probably, was the prison exhibit. One walks trough the old, recreated prisons with conversations and shadow plays to give you an idea of what it would actually have been like to live as a prisoner there during WWII, and at the end, a gallery displays original doors and such with carved graffiti left by the prisoners and the artworks they made to pass the time. They made everything from full scale models of ships to counterfeit bank note stamps out of bone!

I started my church hunt on Sunday morning at Greyfriars Kirk… a Presbyterian church (looks more like a small cathedral) that has become famous because of the tale of “Greyfriar’s Bobby” a little dog belonging to a friar who came every day to lie on the grave of his master until he too passed and was buried in the same cemetery. Quite fittingly, the Scots have immortalized this little tale of loyalty in a bronzed statue and a lively pub right across the street. J

Lets see, that is all for now… more to come shortly!