HOME & updates

I realized that I hadn't posted a blog in a few days, so I figured that, in attempts at putting off my reading for class tomorrow, I would update everyone and let you know what's been going on in my life.

1. Work. I have an internship at The Media Company, which publishes three monthly glossy magazines. I really enjoy being there and am getting a lot of experience, but for confidentiality reasons, I can't really tell you much more than that. Ask me about it in person sometime!

2. I went to Stirling Saturday! It was a very spur-of-the-moment trip, but I'm glad that I made it. Once I get my pictures uploaded and organized, I will give the trip a blog entry all its own.

3. This afternoon, I took a walk that led me to Calton Hill. If you do an image search for Edinburgh, you will definitely see pictures either of the area, from that vantage point, or both. Again, when I upload pictures, I'll be sure to post them! It was absolutely beautiful there, and if it weren't for the high winds, I would probably go back every single day.

4. As Karen put it, the "Honeymoon" period is over between us and Edinburgh. We're totally moved in now; I don't really feel like a "tourist" anymore. Here are just a few things that I miss from home (aside from all the amazing people!!) - so don't take them for granted!
-my moccasins
-the smell of our detergent (I know it's weird...but I have a thing for clean laundry smells, and it's just not the same here.)
-Blue Smoke salsa
-flannel sheets
-heck, a top sheet (They don't use them here!)
-warm weather and all that comes with it - walking barefoot, different clothing, spending more time outside, etc.

And here are some differences that I am finding quite to my liking:
-better chocolate
-Edinburgh is a pedestrian city...you really can get anywhere without a car! (Though, sometimes, it would definitely be convenient to have one...)
-SO MANY vegetarian options - including vegetarian Doritos!

Annnnnd there are some similarities between here and where I'm from that make me feel at home anytime!
-hills
-train tracks by my house
-a river in plain sight
-friendly people

Linguistics of Scots

I'm sitting in lecture right now, so I'll keep this short, but I just had to blog about this huge revelation that I had to share:

Back story: In Linguistics last semester (one of the most interesting classes I've had at Furman), Dr. Cox touched briefly on dialect/regional differences. I found that my West Virginian "accent" was ever-so-slightly different than many others' accents. Our professor accepted all phonetic spellings, as long as we could back them up, and was not nearly so interested in the "proper" pronunciation as he was in our ability to diagram what we were saying. Some of the differences included my identical pronunciation of the words "cot" and "caught" and my minute difference in the pronunciation of wh- question words like "which" and "why" and their counterparts without h's, "witch" and the letter y.

Now: Our lecture today is on Language in Scotland, and so far, we've covered everything from the origins of Scots and Gaelic to their usage today. Just now, we discussed the difference between Scottish English and the "Queen's English," and just a wee bit more of the world makes sense to me now: Scottish English influence includes pronouncing "caught" like "cot" rather than [cat] (phonetic) and pronouncing the slight h in wh- question words.

I have Scottish ancestors, and I live in West Virginia, where many Scots have settled in the mountains.

THIS CLASS IS SO COOL.

Burns Night

Tonight is Burns Night in Edinburgh; festive celebrations abound! What are we celebrating? Why, the life of Robert Burns, of course!

Robert Burns was a poet who lived in Edinburgh from 1759 to 1796. He wrote many famous poems, notably Auld Lang Syne. Speaking of which, that's partially why he's so famous: he wrote in and celebrated the native Scottish tongue, opposing the preferred King's English of the time and instead embracing his heritage.

Today, his life is celebrated with speeches and recitations of his poetry, dances, eating, and drinking. Our group decided to keep it pretty low-key tonight: we met up for haggis at Deacon Brodie's, a favorite restaurant of ours right on the Royal Mile, and then hung out at the downstairs pub for a bit afterward. (Other restaurants and pubs go all out, having someone read all of his odes before each new course. And of course, whisky is quite common.) Here is his satire about haggis:

Address to A Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face
Great Chieftan o' the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place
Painch, tripe, or thairm
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill
Your hurdies like a distant hill
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead

His knife see rustic-labour dight
An' cut you up wi' ready slight
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch
And then, O what a glorious sight
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn they stretch an' strive
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive
Bethankit hums

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash
As feckless as a wither'd rash
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash
His nieve a nit
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed
The trembling earth resounds his tread
Clap in his walie nieve a blade
He'll mak it whissle
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned
Like taps o' thrissle

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care
And dish them out their bill o' fare
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies
But, if you wish her gratefu' pray'r
Gie her a Haggis!

That roughly translates to,

"Greetings, you are a superior food and are worthy of a grace as long as my arm.
You fill the plate so well and look so sturdy. Your juices are as inviting as whisky.
See the knife cut you, allowing your insides to flow. A glorious sight and aroma.
Then spoon after spoon they stretch and strain.
It is every man for himself because there will be none left for the slow ones, until all their stomachs are full and fit to burst.

Is there anybody who eats foreign food who would look down disdainfully at this dinner.
Poor souls, if they do. They will be poor thin creatures, not fit for anything.
But if you eat Haggis, you will be strong, robust and fit for battle.
God, who looks after us and feeds us, Scotland does not want food with sauce that splashes in dishes. But if you want a grateful prayer then give her a Haggis," according to robertburns.plus.com

Linked to the title of this blog is a nice explanation (or lack thereof) of Burns Night from The Guardian a few days ago.

My (vegetarian, of course) haggis was DELICIOUS! I will definitely be ordering it again. (And for those of you who are curious, I have yet to meet someone who hasn't enjoyed the traditional, meaty version.) Haggis is traditionally, yes, sheep intestine filled with meat and chopped onions and spices. Sounds gross, but apparently, it's tasty. It's served with "tatties and neeps," or mashed potatoes and turnips/swedes. They are to be eaten all together, i.e. a bit of each on the fork for each bite.

Here I am gathering the three, picking them up, and then biting into them. I cleaned my plate!!

St. Andrews

Eight of us went to St. Andrews, a small town just north of Edinburgh, for a day trip Saturday. It was a really nice place to visit, but there was even less to do there than we thought, and we ended up catching an early-evening rather than late-even train home.

While we were there, though, we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent a long time near the harbour and cathedral ruins, and we walked the three main streets of the city. It was incredible to walk into the cathedral ruins, for example, and think that, hundreds of years ago, people worshipped and processed and prayed in the spot where we were standing. (You can read a lot about St. Andrews online - it's a very historic city.) We were going to go to the castle ruins, too, but that cost money, so we decided against it. What we DID spend money on was food: lunch, handmade chocolates, tea and pastries at a café...typical. haha We then went to lunch, and after lunch, we headed to the Old Course (the world's first golf course) and walked around there for a bit before catching a bit of a rugby match by chance - so cool!

I got a LOT of pictures, especially when I walked out onto the stone pier in the harbour. I'm toying with the idea of uploading ALL of my pictures (seriously...hundreds) to a site like Flickr, but I haven't set that up yet, so for now, I'll post a few of my favorites here.






Me with my Kappa sister and flatmate, Annie


It's all in the family!
18th hole

Stairway to Seven!

I watched half of the game at a sports bar tonight (until they kicked me out because it was 2 a.m.), and then Drew Skyped the rest of the game to me.Here we go: Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl!