Classes & Crepes

Well, I am back to blogging after my first week of classes and a wonderful weekend in Paris :)

I'll skim over the boring stuff first: school. I found my classes without a problem, and fortunately none of my teachers have a heavy Scottish accent so I get to leave my Rosetta Stone American-Scottish translation at home :). Unfortunately, it really is impossible to get through my 15 minute walk in 10 minutes, even at my fastest speed-walking pace. I am now that girl running through the streets of Edinburgh dogging tourists and praying for the crosswalk light to turn green. Luckily, the clock in my classroom is 5 minutes slow and it seems that there are at least 10 kids sneaking in at the last second completely out of breath.

It has been a little difficult adjusting to the academic environment here. In America, most professors will tell you which textbook to buy and what chapters to read before each class. Here, you get a list of different books that can be found in the library and suggested articles to read for each class. You are not expected to read them all, but you are expected to 'read around the topic' and find additional works of your choosing. This system works because classes here don't have midterms/quizzes every three weeks - most have an essay and a final which is essay based. It seems strange- but I have been talking to full time students and now have a better idea of how to handle the work.

That's enough about school- now on to Paris! I was so excited to start my travels because the opportunity to get out and explore different places was a huge part in why I decided to study abroad. I went on this trip with one of my best friends from Georgetown, Priyanka, who is in Edinburgh with me. We stayed with the family of one of our other Gtown friends, which was really nice because they were able to help us navigate our way around Paris and give us suggestions on what to do. I should mention now that the weather was absolutely beautiful in Paris this weekend- a glorious ~75 degrees and sunny which felt like paradise ot us Scots.

Friday night we visited the Tracadero to see the Eiffel Tower lit up, which was beautiful. We ordered crepes which had - wait for it- REAL french chocolate drizzled all over them (I had previously thought there was nothing better in the world than nutella, and I was proven wrong). Saturday we bought tickets to do a sightseeing bus tour where we were able to hop on and off at all the different tourist destinations. We saw the Grand Palace, Lourve, Eiffel Tower again, Arc de Triomphe and lastly the Notre Dame Cathedral - which we went up. At night we went to the Latin Quarter, where we had an excellent French dinner. And lastly, Sunday before we left we went to the Palace of Versailles- which I am so happy we got to do because it was incredible, especially the elaborate gardens which were beautiful.

All in all, it was a great weekend. However, I did learn some things to keep in mind for the future:
1. I don't understand French, at all. Next time I'll look up the word for exit so I can get myself out of the metro in under 10 minutes. (It's sortie, if you care to know)
2. When some guy at the Eiffel Tower comes up and offers to make you a bracelet - he's not just being nice. I knew this beforehand, yet still let myself get stuck with a simple string bracelet worth "10 Euros- a steal!". Don't freak out on me yet mom, I only paid 2. And it's black, green and yellow- so we will call it a souvenir of my time in ̶J̶a̶m̶a̶i̶c̶a̶ France...
3. I don't like blue cheese. At all.
4. I really like croissants, and french baguettes, and french onion soup, and crepes, and excuse me while I go book another flight to France ;).
5. No matter where in the world I am, I can still get a sunburn. Except maybe scotland- still waiting on that one.

When we landed in Scotland it was -shocker- raining and cold. However, I was happy to be returning to Edinburgh- it's nice to know that the city is starting to feel like home :)

Next up- a trip to the highlands this weekend to see the Loch Ness monster and some castles!! Also its supposed to be 68 degrees and SUNNY in Edinburgh wednesday-friday!! This actually is a cause for a celebration because it hasn't been that hot here all summer- and its supposed to drop to 57 in Caldwell on Saturday so HAH. When you are turning on the heater think of me here in my bikini laying on the beach getting a nice tan in the Scotland sun... well I guess I wouldn't go that far but at least I'll be able to walk outside with only one layer and leave the umbrella at home. I'll take what I can get- which may include a Scottish sunburn ;)