Two Weeks in Edinburgh

To my darling readers,
It has been a great couple of weeks in Edinburgh.  I really do love this city! There seems to be an unlimited supply of amazing cafes hidden away in the nooks and crannies of these old streets.  One of my favorite things to do is to find a small, authentic place with delicious, steamy lattes where I can sit for hours as I pour over the latest novel I have been assigned in class.   I spend so many hours in all these different cafes, yet I doubt I have even tried half the places within walking distance of my campus.

My classes are still going well.  The english literature classes all have these groups called ALGs (autonomous learning groups) where you subdivide into groups of around 4-5 to meet up and discuss the books before class.  It is a great way to fight against the recent dehumanizing trend of universities these days.  It really helps to create a sense of community within the students of the english department, separate from the professors.  As a result, it is so much easier to meet people in your classes.  Although I think in many ways the McGill English department is superior (especially when it comes to improving their student's writing abilities) I will miss the coziness of my Edinburgh classes.  Last semester, one of our professors even provided the students with tea and biscuits! My kind of place.

I unfortunately missed out on the Robbie Burn's festivities on the actual day dedicated to the bard (note: when you are in Scotland Shakespeare's title is usurped in favor of Mr. Burns), but luckily one group had a big dinner a week later so I got to experience the traditional Burns day supper.  It was really fun, we all got 3 course meal (including haggis, neeps and tatties of course), whiskey and half a bottle of wine.  And due to my charming, gregarious personality (or more likely people never suspect someone with an innocent-looking face, fools) I managed to secure for our table an extra couple of bottles. So it turned into a very good night.  We got to hear the Burn's ode to the haggis (practically incomprehensible, and I am an English major! I blame the scottish accent) and the really amusing ode to lassies followed by the ladies rebuttal, the ode to the laddies.  Its supposed to be a gently teasing response that really complements the other sex, but the girl who said the ode to the laddies misunderstood and just ripped into the general male sex.  It was much more hilarious that way.

This week is going to be a tough one to get through as I have two presentations and an essay to write, but its all going to be worth it once my brother Sam, and my cousins Scott and Lisa show up for the weekend! It is going to be absolutely fabulous!
Love,
The Sheepish Traveller