My Morning

It's been on for all of thirty minutes. Let me just tell you my series of recent events:

Per usual, I woke up; went back to sleep because my sleeping mind convinced my awake, sane mind that I could stay in bed longer; then jumped out of bed with no time to spare. As I freaked out about making it to my scheduled internship interview in time whilst struggling to not wake up the rest of the flat, I discovered that the dress that I had planned to wear to said interview is missing - whether this is stuffed in a weird corner of my supposedly-empty suitcases, sitting on my bed at home, or just unpacked into a different drawer, I cannot confirm. Anyway, after I got ready very quickly, I rushed out the door - oh, wait: no, I didn't rush out the door, because I COULDN'T GET OUT THE DOOR. It has been told to me that my flatmates experienced some problems with this on the second day, but I slept through them. I spent a good 5-10 minutes locking and unlocking various of our no less than FOUR locks before resorting to waking someone up :( and asking. When I finally got out the door, I had barely enough time to make it to my interview at the appointed time, let alone any earlier, so I called my contact person, Sue (whom I've never met).

It turns out that Sue wasn't in, after all. All's well that end's well, I suppose, so my interview is rescheduled for Friday morning. I promptly turned 180 degrees and headed back to my flat, where everyone was still sleeping. I changed out of my work clothes and came down to read and update my blog - I don't know any other morning-worthy activities, since I don't spend my waking hours during this time.

The Real World

It's time for a slightly embarrassing confession: I used to watch "The Real World." Really, I only kept up with it for a season or two, and I know that you have all probably seen it, too...but now, it just makes me cringe to think about. Anyway, can you recall the first episode? Housemates arrive from all different directions and backgrounds to live in an incredibly large, crazy place furnished with ridiculous, awesome decorations. Well...this was a bit like my experience Thursday.

After landing, picking up our bags, and stopping at a church for a light breakfast (so nice!), our group began to divide up to be shuttled to our individual flats. Ours had been pointed out to us from the bus an hour or so earlier - it seemed, from the outside, to be very nice, with an old-world charm and Edinburgh Castle as its nearby neighbor. As it turned out...IT IS MUCH COOLER.

I'm not going to post pictures of the outside of our flat so as to not attract creepers, but I would like to say that I have seen our flat more than once on a POSTCARD. It is truly a dream home that has come already furnished. I'm living with three Kappa sisters - Lindsay, Annie, and Emily - and another girl in our program, Grace. There is more than enough room for the five of us amongst the sprawling three stories of living space here.

Here are a few pictures of the interior. Let me just tell you about our kitchen, for instance: not only is it humongous, not only does it come with a fun breakfast table and two high chairs, but we have a professional coffee maker - like, with a milk steamer and everything (above). Our refrigerator is in a cabinet (right). We have not one, but TWO freezers.

There are four bedrooms here, which means only two of us have to share. I am one of the three girls with her own room, though. I got the smallest room, but I still very much like it. I have an entire wall of cabinets and storage space, a comfortable twin bed, and a night table. I also moved a chair from under the stairs up to my window. Oh, yeah, I have a window...WITH AN INCREDIBLE VIEW OF THE CITY. We're up on a hill (like all of Edinburgh ISN'T hills and valleys!), so pretty much any time of day or night, the view is breathtaking at first and interesting once you hone in on the bustling activity.

Beyond that, there are two and a half bathrooms - one on each floor - so I walk upstairs to shower, sharing a HUGE bathroom with a shower AND tub with Emily, while everyone else on my floor shares that bathroom. Also, the living room is great: size, decorations, everything. I've kind of taken over the chaise in the corner by the window - I'm currently writing this entry from it; I have already racked up many hours staring outside, dozing, and reading over here. Did I mention that I love chaise lounges?

Did I mention that I love this flat?!?

Contact Me!

I have my address and local phone number now, in case anyone is thinking of mailing me things or has an international phone plan. E-mail me or comment and let me know if you're interested!

Some Scottish Haikus

1. We live next to the
Castle. It's 'round the corner.
Edinburgh rocks.

2. How to look Scottish:
Don't be cold. Wear boots. Don't speak.
We are American.

3. Built on seven hills:
Rome, Morgantown, Edinburgh
No need to join gym.

Packing

It's about that time.

In fact, it's incredibly close to that time.

In approximately 16 hours, I will be en route (albeit a very long and convoluted route) to my fourth Furman Study Away opportunity. It will be my fifth time leaving the country. (It will be my umpteenth time leaving West Virginia.) My approximate route is home --> CLT --> Newark --> Edinburgh. I should be arriving in the UK Thursday morning.

I've never been to Europe before! This is scary! This is exciting! I can't wait! I'm not ready!

Which brings me to my point: packing - quite often the bane of my existence. I feel that, often, I hardly get settled somewhere before it is time to leave again - taking, of course, minimal possessions, so as to ease environmental and my body's degradation. How I've gotten myself in my current situation is beyond me: I began packing Saturday and began brainstorming weeks ago; yet, here I am, less than a day before leaving, and most of my stuff is just sitting on my floor and my bed (NOT in my suitcase). Ohh, woe is me!


...just kidding. I'm going to go cram things in and weigh my bags! Talk to ya from across the pond!!