We'll always have Paris {and Edinburgh, and Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, etc}

So I'm cheating a bit here, because I am actually writing this, my final study abroad blog post, from the comfort of my living room in Atlanta.  However due to time constraints and one really fun night in Paris I was unable to update one last time before I left.  So here it is, my last post from my entire four month long study abroad experience.

The past week has been amazing, but a very different experience than usual.  After my parents picked me up on Friday we headed immediately to the lake district.  We had to traverse some incredible country roads to get there but after only a few minor near death/dismemberment incidents we all managed to make it to the beautiful Lake District in good health. Props to my dad for not only mastering driving on the other side of the road, but also mastering soothing my mom and my tense nerves for the journey.

Beautiful Lake District

Some of the many sheep we saw on our journeys across England

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to York where we saw the beautiful York cathedral and walked the long Roman Wall guarding the city.  After York we headed to Stratford home of William Shakespeare.  This was one of my personal favorite stops.  I have always loved the Bard so it was amazing to see his hometown.  We went to Will’s grave and visited the Royal Shakespeare Company both of which were incredible. 

Shakespeare's grave!

After Stratford we headed down to the Cotswold city of Stow.  Stow is an adorable little town that looked like something out of the 1600s.  Unfortunately, it also functioned like something out of the 1600s and there was no wireless Internet access, which was a tough feat for my father and I on our 3-day stay there.

Roman Baths

After sleeping in a little later on Sunday morning we headed to Stonehenge.  Although we got a bit lost, we managed to make it to the countryside where the national monument is located.  I never really knew what all the fuss was about Stonehenge, but after seeing it myself I have to say I was blown away.  The entire thing is so massive, and its right in the middle of nowhere so its just incredible to marvel at those rocks and imagine how and why they were put there.  I really enjoyed my visit and definitely have a bigger appreciation for Stonehenge’s importance. After Stonehenge we made a quick stop at the Salsibury cathedral then headed to Bath.  Bath was a little more modern and large than I anticipated but we headed straight to the cathedral and Roman Baths, which were amazing.  Both are super well preserved and the tour of the baths was incredibly educational and great.  

Adorable Bibury

We spent all day Monday driving around the Cotswold’s various towns.  Most of them were adorable and my mom certainly enjoyed many a freak-out admiring the various buildings and towns.  My personal favorite was this adorable little weaver town called Bibury.  It had a ton of quaint little cottages surrounded by a beautiful creeks and grassy fields.  It was like a scene from Pride and Prejudice.  Later that night we also managed to find the door in Stow that inspired Tolkien to create the door to the Mines of Moria.  That was definitely a huge highlight for me.

Tuesday morning we made a quick stop at Windsor Castle before beginning our journey to London to catch our train to Paris.  This was a journey made slightly more difficult by the fact that our GPS routed us through downtown London and thus my father, who had been driving in the UK for the grand total of a week, had to traverse the congested streets of London with ever-decreasing time to make our train.  If I ever had any doubts about my dad’s driving abilities (which I didn’t) they would have all been laid to rest by watching him somehow maneuver a three-point turn in the middle of Piccadilly circus.  Seriously ridiculous.

After barely making our train we wound up in Paris on Tuesday evening.  I was never too sure what I would think of Paris but  its safe to say that after a full ten minutes in the city I was in love.  Someone once told me that London is a boy’s city and Paris is a girl’s city and I have to say I totally agree.  Paris is just so pretty and there’s so many wonderful things to see.  Its reputation as the most romantic city in the world is definitely justified.

Wednesday morning my mother and I woke up early and headed to the Louvre so I could see the famous pieces on display there.  I’m hardly an art-buff, but I am definitely a history-buff and so I do know a bit about Da Vinci, Raphael, The Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, etc.  And getting to see these amazing masterpieces was just incredible.  Every piece I’ve seen in pictures absolutely lived up to its reputation including the Mona Lisa, that although smaller than I thought , was stunning.

 

Paris from the Eiffel Tower

After the Louvre and another amazing French meal (I think I’m going to have a serious love-affair with French food from now on, every meal I ate was pretty much one of the best of my life) we headed up to Notre Dame.  I loved seeing the cathedral and we got to climb all the way to the top and see amazing views of Paris which was great too.  Thursday was our last day in Paris and we did it right, waking up early and climbing the Eiffel Tower (although mom did chicken out on this one due to her large fear of heights so dad and I traversed the monument together), and then heading to a rooftop restaurant to eat an amazing lunch in the shadow of the most beautiful city in the world.  After lunch we walked around the city a bit, of course stopping to get ice cream at one of the many delicious cafe's. Later that night, I was able to meet up with Melanie and Alex and a few of my other USC friends for dinner and a fun night out. 

Dad and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower

Although its expensive going out in Paris is like no other city.  As my friend Alex put it, "the river is the best bar in Paris"  a fact I completely support after a wonderful evening drinking wine on the banks of the Seine.  It was a wonderful last night to study abroad and I loved seeing everyone.

 So now, after a long eight hour flight, I am home in Atlanta.  I'll be here for nine days, and then I head back to LA for the summer.  I cant believe this whole experience is over, and that I am now a Senior in college.  Its a very bittersweet feeling because I am so sad that I don't know when I'll return to Europe or see all the amazing people I met again, but I feel so lucky that I had this experience.  There is definitely nothing like going abroad and I would recommend it to all. I have had a great time keeping this blog, and thanks to all who kept up with it over the months.  

Love you all and talk to you soon!

"Edinburgh, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"

Arthur's Seat

So today is my last day in Edinburgh.  As I write this my parents are mere hours away from picking me up and sweeping me away on vacation for a week.  I can’t believe that my time in this amazing city is at an end and that I am saying goodbye to everyone and everything I love.  But before I get to the goodbyes, one last update on my last week in Edinburgh.

Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent relaxing and getting ready for the rents arrival on Sunday night.  I spent a couple lovely days in the meadows, some time on Princes street treating myself to a few early birthday presents and unfortunately a fair amount of time in the library finishing up my paper and journal entries.

Parliament

My parents arrived Sunday night from London and it was great/ surreal seeing them in Edinburgh.  Both were outfitted for much colder weather than it was and one of the first things my mother said to me was “You must be freezing, where’s you're jacket???” So typical.  After getting the parents settled in, we all headed to meet Rory, Rob, Rachel and Sarah for a dinner that my parents were nice enough to take us to.  We obviously went to Holyrood 9a because I can’t have a birthday without hamburgers.  The evening was great and I think my parents and friends really enjoyed meeting each other, even if it caused a bit of embarrassment on my part.

Sunday night Rachel, Kaitlyn, Brent, Rory and I rang in my 21^st right if I do say so myself.  It was just such a treat not to have to be studying on my birthday so I’m sure it would have been fun no matter what, but after a couple hours and a table at Brewdogs I was one happy camper. 

Beautiful Edinburgh from the top of Calton Hill

Monday morning I woke up early to show my parents around Edinburgh.  We went to the castle, the palace, Parliament, the cemetery where Adam Smith is buried and the royal mile.  I loved showing off my city and I think we all really enjoyed ourselves.  The weather was a little stop and start but this was actually really fun because it was great seeing my mom react to the 10 minute rainstorms common in Scotland.  All I can say is that’s good Scottish weather for you ;)

Monday night my parents took me to a great fancy dinner for my birthday and it was delicious.  I haven’t actually spent a birthday with them in a while so it was really fun to just be with my parents eating in style.  Tuesday morning I had my last class of the year.  We just went over the election results, but it was still really weird being back in the classroom with everyone. It was also somewhat depressing hearing about just how bad the Lib Dems did in the election, but it was still really fun to compare campaign stories and talk about the future, plus we got sandwiches!

After class I met back up with my parents and we headed to new town to go to the Walter Scott monument and Princes Street Gardens.  After that we all grabbed coffee with Alex so that I could say goodbye and my parents could meet him.  I would say it was a very successful meeting all around.  Alex definitely charmed both my parents and my dad rewarded him by giving him a rather long lecture on how he could improve his campaign strategy.  I will miss Alex and everyone on the campaign so much, but who knows, 2016 isn't that far away ;)

After meeting Alex we headed up to the top of Calton Hill to get great views of the city, a trip that is responsible for the pictures sprinkled throughout this post.  We got yummy pub food for dinner that night and then I introduced the rents to the wonderfulness of a fried mars bar.  Can’t say they enjoyed it that much, but still a fun experience.

Wednesday my parents headed to the highlands for a few days so I had time to focus on packing and writing my paper, which is pretty much what I did all day Wednesday and Thursday.  Wednesday night I said goodbye to Sarah and Rebecca which was super sad, I hate saying goodbye to people when I don’t know when I’ll see them again, but I’m hoping that we can all have a reunion at some point so I’m trying not to be too sad. Thursday I ran some errands with Rachel then met up with her Keith, Kaitlyn, Anna and Clark for some more goodbyes and a fun night out.  Appropriately we went to Biddy’s (my favorite pub), although there was no Karaoke which was definitely a little upsetting.  After Biddy’s we went to Zara’s and I got cheesy chips just like I did my first night out which was great, if not a little nostalgic.

Today I’m just finishing getting everything together and then I head out.  I hate that everything is ending here, but I'm sure I’ll be back, I could never resist Edinburgh for too long.  This has been an amazing experience and I truly understand now why everyone says that you have to go abroad.  There is nothing like the rush of meeting new people,  seeing new places and just finding your way in somewhere completely unique.  I will never forget my time here and I know that it has impacted me deeply.

Anyways mushiness gone,  Ill be back in Atlanta in a week, and LA in two and I cant wait!!!!! Talk to you guys soon from Paris!

"What We've Got Here is a Failure to Communicate."

So as of today I am officially done with my parliamentary internship.  Election Day, or as the Scottish call it Polling Day, was Thursday and now I'm just relaxing and finishing up some stuff until I leave on the 13th.

 Sunday night was the beginning of election week so I headed to the office for one final campaign meeting.  Everyone was very positive and we pretty much just discussed final strategies and plans for the week.  On Monday I woke up early and went on deliveries until around 2 p.m. and then headed home for a few job interviews and some homework.  Monday night Lindsey was kind enough to invite me to dinner with her parents so I got to enjoy some yummy Scottish food and wine with the Zea's.

Tuesday was another busy day at work followed by a celebration in the evening for Lindsey's last night.  After hanging out at Noah's for a bit we all went dancing at the Hive one of our favorite clubs.  The evening was very fun but a little sad because I knew it was the last time we'd all be together and the last time I'd be seeing Lindsey for a while.  Its just so strange that people have already started to leave, I'm honestly struggling to figure out where this semester went.

Me, Rachel, Lindsey, and Noah on Lindsey's last night

Wednesday was the final day of campaigning before Polling Day and one of my busiest yet.  Deliveries in the morning, canvassing in the afternoon and then a final campaign meeting in the evening.  This meeting was a bit different because it was a chance for us all to get our assignments for the next morning and to have one last gathering before we all split up on our various tasks.  Alex and Kevin both gave speeches and since I'm not going to be here for the thank-you party they were both kind enough to say a little thank you to me during the meeting.  I also received a pair of socks as a gift?  Apparently its a Scottish tradition and I have to say I was very excited. It was a great evening just talking with all the amazing people I've met on the campaign and reflecting on just how much we've achieved.

As busy as Wednesday was it doesn't even compare to the madness of Thursday.  After getting four hours of sleep I woke up at 4am and was out of my flat by five to begin the work day.  We started with "good morning" leaflets which we delivered to swing areas in an attempt to remind them to vote for Alex before they even left their houses.  I delivered the "good mornings" and some target letters until about 12 p.m. when I took a thirty minute break for lunch.  Then right after lunch we were out and about again this time canvassing, knocking on doors of likely voters reminding them to get out there and vote for Alex. By 5 p.m. I had knocked on almost 300 doors, was exhausted, running on nothing but caffeine and adrenaline and still greatly enjoying myself.  On my last canvass run around 630 p.m. it started to pour down rain so I headed back to the office where I was given a cell phone and some numbers to canvass over the phone.  After a day of walking around this was definitely fine by me.

Around 9 p.m. we finally stopped phone banking since there was only an hour left until polls closed.  The campaign was kind enough to provide us with pizza which I enjoyed immensely considering my severe energy depletion levels.  By that time I had been working for 17 hours straight, but the day was far from over.  After a short meeting about results, policies and the events for the evening we all headed out to Islington for the count. 

My badge for the count

Now for those of you who don't know the UK does not use electronic voting machines in their elections.  I've heard a couple different reasons why this is.  Explanations range from machines are not reliable to we're idiots, but regardless every ballot is counted by hand by a real live person.  Now part of the tradition of this count is that it is done through the night after Polling Day so that the results are available as soon as possible.   During this all night count Parties can observe the votes to record demographics and voting information.  This is the activity that I was participating in.  When I arrived at the count I entered a massive room with hundreds and hundreds of tables and four people at each one counting the ballots.  Us party members had to stand on the other side of guard rails and look over the shoulders of the people counting in order to record how many votes we had gotten.

By midnight, after a few hours of waiting, the count had begun and immediately I realized that the result was not looking that good for Alex.  The Lib Dems were consistently coming in third for every ballot box opened and it didn't take long for us to realize that Alex wouldn't be winning.  By 2 a.m. the count had finished and we all met for the bad news and to console Alex.

Overall, I wasn't that surprised that Alex lost, simply because the Lib Dems are so unpopular in Scotland right now because of their coalition with the Conservatives.  However, after all my hard work and everything I'd seen the campaign put into this election it was pretty hard to watch someone I really liked and respected lose everything he wanted.  Regardless, Alex took the news fairly well and was very nice in his acknowledgements and congratulations to the winner, Marco Biagi of the SNP. Although, I am unhappy with the outcome the experience of participating in such a unique and exciting campaign was unlike any I've ever had and I know I will look back on it all with positive memories.

Even though we knew Alex hadn't won by 2 a.m., we had to wait around longer for the official declaration and Alex's speech.  I intended to wait up for this event, but when 5 a.m. rolled around and we still didn't know how much longer it was going to be I officially couldn't hang on anymore and ended up taking the bus back to my flat.

Needless to say I spent most of Friday in my bed catching up on the 26 hours of sleep I had missed.  Friday night however was unfortunately Noah's last night so once again I headed out to say goodbye to one of my good friends.  The night was fun, but it was a little bit sadder for me than Lindsey's last night because unlike her I don't know when I'll  see Noah again.  It was super hard saying goodbye and it was made all the harder knowing that I 'm going to have many more of these goodbyes to do in the next few days.

Some of the girls on Noah's last night

My parents get in tomorrow and I'm super excited to see them but I'm also very sad because it means that my time in Edinburgh is coming to an end.  Words cannot describe how amazing this experience has been and I can't believe I only have a week left to enjoy it.  My 21st birthday is Monday and a lot of my friends are still here, so I'm trying to be happy and just live up my last few days!

"What do you like better Christmas or Wedding Season? The answer would be wedding season."

Its the moment you've all been waiting for...or at least the moment I've been waiting for....my post about the Royal Wedding!

 I boarded the night bus at 10 p.m. to be in London by 6 a.m. the next morning.  The ride was a little rough but unlike airplanes I've never had much trouble sleeping in cars so I was able to get a solid amount of sleep. This turned out to be very fortunate since I needed all my energy to deal with the royal wedding madness the next day.

Part of the crowd surrounding us

We got into London a little late (closer to 7:00 am) and Jake and I headed immediately over to Buckingham Palace to try and find a place to stand.  We were a worried that we wouldn't be able to get a good spot since people had been camping out all week, and our fears turned out to be justified.  There wasn't any good room in front of the palace which is where we most wanted to be, so we headed into St. James Park to try and find a better spot.  Fortunately the park wasn't quite as crowded yet so we managed to find a good spot about three rows back right on the parade route.  Considering we got to our spot around 7:30 a.m. and the wedding activities didn't start until 10ish we had a long wait ahead of us.  Of course this was made a little bit easier by all the awesome people surrounding us.  One couple was obsessed with Jake's southern accent and made him say Alabama over and over again (they didn't believe I was from Georgia tool).  Another older husband and wife were kind enough to educate me on the recent history of royals in the UK and share their experiences of when they came to see Princess Diana's wedding.  Truly fantastic.

By the time 10:30 rolled around we were all getting pretty excited about the festivities.  We had a great location on the mall right by St. James's Palace so we got excellent views of all the royals leaving for the wedding.  I saw Harry and William in their red Rolls Royce, the queen in her yellow hat and of course the first glimpses of Kate's dress.  I pretty much died and went to heaven in those first few minutes.  Then once everyone arrived at Westminster Abbey the ceremony began which they were nice enough to broadcast on massive loudspeakers to all of us on the parade route.  It was a great moment hearing all the British people say the prayers along with those in the abbey and cheer when Will and Kate said I do.  After the ceremony ended the parade began and it was so spectacular.  The whole procession was huge and fully equipped with honor guards, horse cavalries, flags and of course the royals in their carriages.  Once again I had a great view of all the action and I swear Harry looked right at me as he drove by......The only downside to my spot was that because everyone was waving in front of me it was hard for me to get good pictures, I managed to get a few, but nothing like you could find online.

Best picture I could get of the royal couple but you can still kind of make them out!

After the parade ended Jake and I attempted to hurry over to Buckingham palace to watch them wave on the balcony, but ended up getting caught in a massive crowd of people.  I have never felt more like cattle, but fortunately we managed to weave our way through and get to the palace just in time for them to come out.  Our view wasn't as great as it was on the parade route but I still got to see everything which was marvelous.  Overall the entire experience of being in London for the wedding was simply amazing.  It was stressful, insane and crowded but the entire mass of people was just so happy and there was so much to see and nothing can beat the vibe of actually experiencing a historic event like that in person.  I am so glad I went and I know I will never forget it.

Walking the parade route at night

After the wedding ended Jake and I managed to meet up with our friends Daniel and Mary (truly a feat considering just how many people were in St. James's Park) and headed to lunch and then to our hotel.  The hotel was about a mile away from Westminster Abbey which was very nice since it meant we didn't have to deal with public transportation.  After a much needed nap at our hotel we all spent the night walking around the area and getting a delicious hamburger meal in Piccadilly Circus.  The highlight was definitely walking the parade route after dark when the streets were still closed and pretending I was part of the royal family.  Cheesy I know, but still incredible to imagine driving down that route with millions of people cheering for you all around.

Group outside of Westminster Abbey

After a fantastic nights sleep on Friday we all woke up early Saturday morning and headed over to Westminster Abbey.  I didn't get to see the abbey last time I was in London so it was the one thing I wanted to do when I was there.  The line was super long but we decided it was worth it and since we had cards with us the wait wasn't that bad.  The abbey was everything I wanted it to be and more.  It was beautiful and  historic, and I almost died when I saw Queen Elizabeth I's tomb.  I've only dreamed about visiting her tomb since I was nine years old.  Also, the abbey was still set up the way it was for Will and Kate's wedding so we got to actually walk down the aisle and see Kate's bouquet and where they said their vows and everything.  It was fantastic.

After the abbey we only had a few more hours until our bus left that night so we just went to lunch, did some souvenir shopping and then after Mary and Daniel left Jake and I saw a movie to kill some time.  We saw the Eagle which was entertaining but a little unbelievable.  More of a wait till DVD type of movie. 

So after a long night of bus riding and a rough sleep I arrived back in Edinburgh this morning at 8 a.m..  Today I'm just focusing on getting organized for the week since I'm going to be super busy until POLLING DAY on Thursday.  I cant believe its already almost here.  I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on the campaign but just remember four days from now we'll know if Alex has won!

Talk to you all soon!

"Welcome [deputy] Prime Minister. How are you feeling?" "Powerful."

A lot has happened the past few days and I wanted to give ya'll a quick update before I head out of town for the Royal Wedding!!!!

Saturday I headed out to work fairly early for a busy day of deliveries.  If there is one thing I've learned about Scottish Politics its that there is always a never-ending supply of leaflets to go out.  I truly feel like I've climbed every staircase in Edinburgh, but every time I enter the campaign office there's a new pile of envelopes waiting to go out.  The good news is that I'm going to have great calves after this experience considering the daily workout I get.  Saturday night Lindsey and I went out for hamburgers which was the perfect end to a long day at work. I don't think there's anything that cheers me up as much as a hamburger does.  Something to remember guys ;)

I had Sunday and Monday off so I spent most of the day working on my paper.  I was actually able to get a lot done on both Sunday and Monday and I'm starting to feel pretty good about my work.  The paper is currently 20 pages and 5000 words long so besides a bit of editing and some citing left to do the whole thing should be pretty much done before my mom and dad get here on May 8th.  Sunday night after a busy day of work in the library I headed over to Noah's for a fun night out.  We ended up at Brewdog which is fast becoming my favorite pub in Edinburgh.  I met a really cool bartender from Athens (Georgia) there Sunday which was super exciting for both of us, although I do think I made her neglect her job a bit since I was so eager to talk to her. 

Tuesday morning I spent the day manning the campaign office.  The office manning was more exciting than usual because my old boss Robert Brown stopped in to do some work for Alex and catch up.  I hadn't seen Robert for a while so it was so great just catching up and hearing how things are going with him in Glasgow.  After work I went back to my room for a short nap then headed back to the office for an evening of deliveries.  The deliveries went better tonight because I was walking in my new favorite part of Edinburgh.  The village is called Dean and its an adorable suburban area with a lot of complexes hidden in the woods and a little stream with a bridge running through the whole thing.  Very cute.

beautiful day in the meadows

Wednesday was one of the nicest days in Edinburgh yet (we're talking above fifty degrees here people!) so Rachel and I headed to this big grassy park right by campus called the meadows for an afternoon sun-fest.  I brought my laptop and managed to get a little work done before I succumbed to the sun and just laid out for a few hours trying my best to cure the epic pastiness that has occurred since my arrival in Edinburgh. Unfortunately I had to go to work Wednesday evening so I didn't get to spend as long as I wanted in the meadows, but still a very fun day.

Now today was the most exciting day yet.  I woke up really early this morning (like actually early, 7am!) to go to New Town to meet Alex and UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg!!! For those of you who don't know the UK deputy prime minister is basically the equivalent of the vice president.  In addition, since the UK currently has a coalition government Clegg is also the de facto leader of the Liberal Democrats one of the two parties in power in the UK.  Clegg came to town to campaign for Alex and a few other Scottish candidates and Alex insisted that he meet all of us hard working interns.  I only got to speak with Clegg for like two seconds but he was really nice and I think I may have ended up on the news so that's kind of exciting...

Tonight we also had our reception for our program since the official end date is April 29th.  Some of my friends are leaving this weekend which is really sad but I'll be here for another two weeks so I'm trying not to think of that inevitability.  The reception was super fun.Our professors all gave speeches and we got a chance to catch up as a group so all in all a great evening :)

The Group at the reception!

Tonight I'm headed to London for the royal wedding so I'll be sure to update ya'll when I get back!!!!

'No, JEW?' Not 'Did you?'...JEW eat? JEW? You get it? JEW eat?"

The outside of Alex's campaign office!!!!

This week got off to an exciting start on Tuesday because it was Postal Vote Day!!!  Basically a postal vote is like an absentee ballot in the states, however in Scotland anyone who wants to vote by mail can regardless of whether or not they're out of town.  So Tuesday was the day that everyone who signed up to vote by mail got their ballots. They can send these ballots in anytime from when they're received until polling (election) day.  So needless to say this was a big campaign day for us.  Alex wanted to make sure that everyone who got a postal vote also got a target letter from the campaign the same day.  Because of this I spent the entire day climbing massive amounts of stairs in tenements across Edinburgh delivering letters to mailboxes.  It was exhausting work but it was also incredibly exhilarating because it really made me realize just how close the election is. 
After my exhausting day of climbing every staircase in Edinburgh I headed home to get ready for our Passover Seder!! My program has a fair few Jews in it and we all decided that it would be fun to celebrate our Jewish heritage by putting on a seder for our friends.  I use the term seder very lightly though since it wasnt actually Passover appropriate.  We couldnt find matzoh anywhere (Scotland has approximately 10 Jews in the entire country so this wasnt that surprising), no one could find  a seder plate and I brought my grandmothers Kugel recipe as my dish which was certainly not Passover appropriate since it has noodles in it.  But still despite the reformness of the evening it was an amazing Seder.  Everyone brought something, be it bottles of wine or homemade gefilte fish (props to Daniel for that one) and we all got really into it, even saying the prayers and singing some of the songs!! I think all the non-Jews in the group really enjoyed themselves and after the seder we all went out together to finish celebrating the lovely Jewish holidays.

The amazing spread and the group saying the prayers!

One of the amazing buildings I've stumbled upon

Wednesday I took the day off to rest up from my busy Tuesday and just worked on my paper and chilled.  Then on Thursday I was off to another busy day on the campaign trail.  I manned the office in the morning which was busier than normal, so it was exciting to see a lot of the deliveries getting done.  Thursday night I went on deliveries myself in a really nice part of Edinburgh. It's always great seeing parts of Edinburgh like this that I would never have a reason to see otherwise.
Friday I woke up early, worked on my paper, went into work for a bit and then headed out to meet up with Lindsey and Rachel to get ready for our friend Hallie's "America" themed party.  I loved the theme but mostly because it was an excuse for me to wear my flannel and converses.  The night ended up being really fun and I definitely enjoyed meeting some new people and hanging out with my friends.  Some of my friends start leaving really soon (Lindsey leaves in ten days!!) so I'm certainly starting to feel the end getting nearer and thus trying to soak up every minute I have with them.

Celebrating America!

Today I had a long day at work so I treated myself to a dinner of hamburgers at a local restaurant.  I have the next two days off so I'm really excited to just sleep in and hopefully be really productive on my research paper.  I promised myself I was going to spend the entire day tomorrow at the library but we'll see how that goes...

Miss you all!

"Are you cops? No mam' we're musicians."

This is the end of another busy week, and its hard to believe its already April 18th.  I leave Europe on May 20th and Edinburgh on May 13th, so this means that I have less than a month left in Edinburgh and only a month and two days left in Europe! It's just so surreal how fast this entire semester has gone by and I cant believe in four short weeks I'll be back home in America...

This week was pretty much all about work, with some fun nights thrown in.  Tuesday, after Ryan left, I spent the day catching up on some work and getting myself organized for the week.  Then Tuesday night I headed out to Calton Hill for a photoshoot with Alex.  Calton Hill is a large hill right in the middle of Edinburgh with the national monument, observatory and some other cool places on top.  Surprisingly, I hadnt been to Calton Hill yet, and the weather was beautiful so I was really excited to be up there.  We were just taking a few pictures of Alex and the other candidates to send out in some campaign literature so I basically got to stand in the background and stare at some beautiful views of Edinburgh for an afternoon.  Not too bad for a day of work.  That night was Clark's 21st birthday so Lindsey and I made some guacamole (some very well-received guacamole I might add) as a present and then we all headed out to celebrate his birthday! 

Some beautiful shots of Edinburgh from Calton Hill

Wednesday and Thursday was all about work.  I went on deliveries, canvassed, worked in the office, and actually started doing some outside interviews and research on my paper which was a huge achievement.  Thursday night Lindsey's sister was in town so I went to dinner with them at a local pub which was very fun.  I tried traditional "scotch eggs" for the first time which were very interesting.  They were basically hardboiled eggs wrapped in bread and sausage.  I cant say I enjoyed them that much but still an interesting experience.  After dinner we all just headed over to Noah's to relax and listen to music which was very fun and definitely helped me recover from my long week of work.

Friday I had the day off work so I was able to meet up with Natasha for lunch in Edinburgh!! Tash has been in Paris all year so it's been a really long time since I've seen her.  It was great to just catch up, hear about her adventures and fill her in on mine.  She seems to be really loving Paris (who can blame her?) and gave me all sorts of advice on how to make sure the French dont get too mad at me when I go to Paris in May. However, considering that most of that advice consisted of speaking French I have a feeling that the Parisians arent exactly going to warm up to me when im there....

Saturday I had to work during the day, but it ended up being quite fun.  I was able to talk to Kevin (the campaign manager) more about some of the research for my paper, and I got a chance to see Alex in full force out on the campaign. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy Alex, Kevin and all the other full-time campaigners have.  They never seem to get tired and are always in a good mood.  It really makes for a great place to work and makes even the most boring days fun.  After work on Saturday I met up with Noah, Ross and Tasha to watch Blues Brothers.  Blues Brothers is apparently Noah's favorite movie and when he found out I hadnt seen it I think his sole mission in life was to make sure I did.  The movie was actually a lot better than I expected with great music, cameo's and one-liners (one of which made it to the title of this blog).  Definitely John Belushi at his prime, although I think I still prefer Animal House.

Literally the only one on my train to work, creepy much?

Sunday was once again another long day in the office labeling and organizing election material.  It was a little depressing being stuck inside on such a nice day in Edinburgh, but I did get to take a short break to take Alex's adorable son Finn out for a walk.  After spending thirty minutes with me Finn now wants to be a superhero and move to America, oops?

This week has been super busy, and I know that next week will be even more so with only 16 days left until election day.  However, I'm really starting to realize just how useful and meaningful this entire internship has been and considering how fast time is flying by, I'm sure pretty soon I'll be counting those ballots and hopefully hearing Alex announced the winner of Edinburgh Central!!!

"The freedom and simple beauty is too good to pass up"

So this week was very busy, but in a fantastically fun way.

The USC Findlanders and me fighting on in Edinburgh

Tuesday and Wednesday Sami, Jordan and their friends from Finland were in town so after work I met up with them and took them out to experience the lovely Edinburgh nightlife. All our usual pubs were empty since it was the middle of the week but we still managed to have a good night and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.  I also got a chance to go to the library bar in Teviot on Wednesday night which is something I havent done yet and was very fun.  Traddies should definitely take note of the way the University of Edinburgh does on-campus bars because this one was pretty spectacular.

Thursday was a pretty stressful day.  I made my first big mistake at work when I misread some of my instructions and ended up mislabeling a day's worth of envelopes.  I of course freaked out when I realized how badly I'd screwed up and began apologizing profusely to everyone I was with, but my boss was very nice and made me feel a lot better about my mistake.  Just another instance of Scottish friendliness that has really colored my time here.  Its so much easier to be happy with your study abroad experience when you are surrounded by such nice people.

So after that little drama I was ready to put the week behind me. Fortunately, by Thursday night all the USCers had arrived in Edinburgh for the Highlands weekend trip.  We had another delicious USC sponsored dinner (this time at a yummy chinese buffet) and I got to catch up with Ryan and Shawn who I hadnt seen in a while, as well as meet some other USC students who I didnt know yet.  After dinner those of us from Edinburgh decided it would be fun to take everyone else out for the night so after a Tesco run, some confused directions and a little elevator trouble we all ended up at the Hive which I think all the other USC students really enjoyed.  Especially the ones from London who were shocked to be at a really fun club without having to pay an exorbitant cover-charge.  Overall it was a really fun night and I loved showing off Edinburgh.

Friday morning we had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. to be on the bus by 8 a.m. which was a little intense and may have influenced the relative silence on the bus for the first part of our journey.  The way the USC highland trip works is that we are all booked on a tour bus for the weekend that takes us through the major parts of the Scottish Highlands, with stops at some of the cooler sites.  One of our first stops on Friday was at a whiskey distillery called Tomatin which was amazing despite the insanely intense smell of whiskey throughout the tour. I thought Shawn was going to die of joy.

Shawn and I with 35 year old bottles of whiskey at the distillery

No sight of Nessie!

We also stopped at Loch Ness which was pretty exciting, but not going to lie a little bit of an anti-climactic visit.  You can literally see everything you need to see in Loch Ness in about 15 minutes.  Its pretty much just a lake with a statue of Nessie out front where you take your picture and then go to the bathroom.  Not too exciting, but still a fun place to say I've been.  After Loch Ness we headed to Fort Augustus for the evening where we saw a highland show consisting of weapons demonstrations, a lesson in how to wear a kilt and a long lecture on why the highlanders are the best Scots alive.  It was interesting but felt a little overly theatrical. I'm not so sure it was a necessary part of our trip but still fun.  Our hostel in Fort Augustus was probably the nicest one I've been too.  Shawn, Erin and I all had our own room and I got to have a queen bed all to myself which was wonderful. They also provided us with dinner and a karaoke machine, which was very nice considering how much us Americans love karaoke ;)

Saturday morning we woke up early once again, but fortunately I got a a good night's sleep so I wasnt in quite the comatose state  I was in Friday.  Saturday we headed out to the Isle of Skye, which was a spectacular drive and was our first great experience of just how beautiful the highlands really are.  One of our first stops in the morning was at a castle on a lake in the highlands.  Although I'm a little castled out right now I still really enjoyed the tour as this castle was a lot less formal than many I've been too, and the tour guides did a very good job explaining the place in engaging and interesting ways.  After the castle we headed across the bridge and spent the day hiking through Skye.  If I ever doubted the beauty of Scotland (which I obviously didn't) Skye definitely put all those fears to rest in about five minutes.  The whole island is amazing with rolling hills, beautiful coastlines and amazing views.

Some beautiful shots of the Scottish Highlands from Skye

That night we all headed to the pub for our last USC sponsored dinner.  Dinner was good and there was also a live singer at the bar that night so we all spent the evening just dancing, hanging out and catching eachother up on our mutual abroad stories.  Overall a very pleasant evening :)

Me fulfilling my semester-long dream of feeding a highland cow

Sunday we spent most of the day retracing our steps back down into the lowlands but not without making a few pit stops to take more spectacular photographs.  Our last stop on the tour was probably the most exciting for me, we stopped to feed Hamish the highland cow.  For those of you who dont know Highland Cows, or what the Scottish affectionately call "hairy coos," are adorable, massive, hairy, horned animals that love to eat carrots out of your hands.  I felt like a little kid again feeding mine and thoroughly enjoyed the activity    Overall the whole highland weekend was amazing.  Since Scotland isnt that big we got to traverse a lot of the country over the course of three days, see some amazing sights, and just be outside in some of the nicest weather I've had in Scotland yet. 

We got back to Edinburgh around 3 and I spent the rest of the day showing Ryan, Shawn, Erin and Emin around Edinburgh.  We stopped at some of the main sites, and since it was Sunday we were also able to see some of the street performers, including this amazing guy who could swallow swords whole.  That was slightly disgusting but still really cool.  After dinner, we all met up again with some of my friends from Edinburgh since it was Rob's 21st birthday.  The evenings festivities were quite fun if I do say so myself, especially considering the fact that Sarah and Ana made cake and cupcakes that we all got to enjoy :)

I've got a very busy week to look forward to with less than a month left until elections and my paper's due date looming over my head.  I'm sure it will be a great couple weeks though nd I'm looking forward to seeing whatt else Scotland has in store for me.  Until then I hope you're all well!

Also happy birthday to the the best father in the world who turned sixty today!!! Hope you dont feel too old dad ;)

One last parting shot of the beautiful Scottish Highlands!

"Get busy living, or get busy dying"

This week has been sooo busy but in a very fun, can't believe its already over kind of way.

Tuesday I was lucky enough to have the morning off so I could recover from my lack of sleep in Amsterdam and then that night I headed off to canvass with Alex.  The canvassing was a little different this time because we were doing flats in the city which meant that we had to be  buzzed in before we could knock on the doors we needed to.  This was a little challenging since people dont always want to let you in when you say you have a few political questions for them, fortunately however I seem to be pretty good at convincing people to talk to me (maybe its the novelty of my American accent?) and was able to get into most of the complexes iI needed to.  Even though I only canvassed for two hours I was pretty beat by the end (some people seriously grill you) so once I got back I immediately headed over to my friend Noah's for some much needed chill time.

Massive box of deliveries

The rest of the week pretty much followed the same pattern.  Work hard during the day and then have fun at night.  I realized that its a lot easier to get through a long day of labeling, or deliveries or phone calls if you have something to look forward to at night so its been really great to be able to just hang out in the evenings.

It's the University of Edinburgh's spring break so most of my friends not on the parliamentary program are off traveling around Europe.  Its been a little lonely being the only one in my flat and I'm missing a lot of my friends, but its also been great because most of us interns have our flats all to ourselves and thus a lot more space to be loud and obnoxious late into the evenings. 

Enjoying one of our nights off!

This weekend was my first one without traveling or having people visiting in a month so it was really nice to just chill and get some work done.  I slept in late on Saturday, worked on my paper, went to dinner with Lindsey and Becca at my new favorite hamburger place in Edinburgh (seriously these things were incredible, definitely at American standards) and then headed over to Monica's for her birthday party. Sunday I had to work all day which was a little frustrating, but since the campaign does most of its intense work on the weekends or at night it wasn't too surprising.  There were a bunch of Dutch liberal democrats visiting Alex's campaign to see how it worked so we had to show them the ropes and take them on deliveries and stuff.  Fortunately they were all very nice and one had even studied abroad at UCLA the semester before so we had plenty to talk about! I managed to make it through the day without too much trouble and slept for a solid 10 hours Sunday night.  Definitely a wonderful experience.

The campaign work has really started revving up since there's only a month left until election day, but apparently this is unusual for Scottish politics.  Most of the people I've talked to have all commented on how early Alex has started getting out there and how much more work he's done then anyone before him.  Its definitely an interesting perspective considering how early American elections start.  For example, Obama just announced his bid for reelection today, a whole year and a half before the actual election! The Scots definitely couldn't handle that.  Regardless, its been tough working this hard, but I still really like my internship and feel like I'm learning a lot.  I just appreciate my days off that much more!

"I'm from Holland! Isnt that wierd???"

So after this weekend I think its safe to say that Amsterdam is my new favorite city in Europe.  I was a little unsure what to expect from the city considering its slightly raunchy reputation, but Amsterdam defied all my expectations and definitely blew me away.

Amazing french fry place right beneath the hostel

We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday night and after struggling for a good hour to find the right train to take us to our hostel we made it to Dam Square which is a wonderful area right in the middle of the city. I was a little nervous about the hostel quality after reading some of the reviews but the place was actually quite nice and the eight of us ended up with a pretty sizeable room to ourselves, which reminded me of summer camp in a wonderful way.  Our hostel was also above what seemed to be the most popular french fry stand in Amsterdam which was of course a wonderful addition to our trip.

Thursday night we all got ready and then went out to find a pub for the evening.  The one we ended up finding was right in the middle of the red light district which was an experience I was not entirely prepared for.  Walking along a street filled with prostitutes and sex shops definitely made me feel more like the naive girl from Georgia than I usually do, but I managed and it was still an experience worth doing.

Friday morning we woke up early to the sounds of a local clock tower chiming incessantly for a good five minutes.  This was a little overwhelming, but it did make us all get out of bed so I guess that's a plus.  We spent most of the day walking around the city, an experience I greatly enjoyed considering how beautiful Amsterdam is.  The canals are everywhere and they are flanked on both the sides by small roads and adorable houses.  I also remembered during out walk how wonderful it is to travel with guys. The boys basically took the lead on all navigation and directions and I just got to sit back and enjoy the sites.  Under the lead of our fearless sherpa Noah, we walked a good six miles on Friday and managed to make it to a cute vintage neighborhood called 9 streets, Vondelpark, the IAMsterdam sign, and some beautiful canals.  A particular highlight of the day was buying bread and cheese from a local shop and eating it while sitting on the side of a canal.  Between this and the fact that it was one of the nicest days ever in Amsterdam (I of course was still cold and wore my giant jacket) the whole day was pretty amazing.

Amsterdam <3

Fantastic Farmer's Market in Amsterdam

We once again went out to some local pubs on Friday night causing us all to wake up a little later on Saturday.  Once we made it out of bed we all headed over to a farmers market in the heart of Amsterdam.  This place was amazing.  It had tons of booths with different types of foods and treats but it also had a bunch of other ones selling records, clothes, and other souveniers.  We spent over three hours at the market eating tons of delicious snacks and shopping. Afterwards we all walked over to the Rijksmuseum which was incredible.  The museum is huge with tons of paintings from famous Dutch artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer.  After the museum we were all feeling energized enough to make our way over to the Heineken Brewery for a tour.  I was a little nervous about the tour since I didnt love the one I did at the Carlsberg plant in Copenhagen, but this tour was amazing.  The whole thing kind of felt like Disneyland for adults, fully equipped with lessons in how to brew beer, a ride, a bar, games and a movie.  It's definitely a must see in Amsterdam.  After the experience we were all pretty tired so we picked up dinner and headed back to the hostel for a fun night in.

Me enjoying my cheese and mushroom pancake

Sunday we set out on a mission to find traditional dutch pancakes and eventually ended up at a local pub.  The pancakes were massive, crepe-like, and smothered in melted cheese so needless to say I greatly enjoyed myself.  I think the waitress was a little overwhelmed by all the noisy Americans in her pub demanding pancakes but all in all it was an amazing experience.  After the pancakes we chilled in one of the many parks for a while just relaxing, and then headed over to the botanical gardens.  The gardens were fun and had some cool things (including a california redwood and a butterfly house!) but I think we were there just a little too early in the year to get the full effect, because most things werent really in bloom yet and everything still looked a little dormat.  It was still fun to walk around though and I think we all enjoyed our afternoon.  After the gardens we all headed over to the Amstel canal, which is the biggest canal in Amsterdam and probably my favorite part of the city.  We got there just as the sun was setting and eventually settled ourselves at one of the many outdoor cafe's to enjoy a drink.  I have to say, sitting on the edge of a canal with a beer and some friends is one of the most amazing experiences ever and I would sincerely recommend it to all.  It was especially wonderful when a local  in a boat began playing "The Way You Look Tonight" on his trumpet while sailing down the river.  Once the sun set we all just headed to dinner and then out for another fun night.

Outside of the Anne Frank House

Monday was our last day in Amsterdam which was a little sad, but since we didnt have to fly out until 930 we managed to get a fair amount done.  In the morning Rachel, Sarah, Rob and I headed over to the Anne Frank house.  The museum and the house was probably the most amazing place I went while in Amsterdam.  The experience was a little intense, but it was so incredible to see the place where Anne Frank actually slept and to see all the original pages of her diary and stuff.  I read the Diary of Anne Frank in 9th grade and the book really touched me, so it was great to get to experience her world.  After the museum we met up with everyone else and headed to lunch at another amazing little cafe right on the canal.  Afterwards we all walked over to museum square again to finish our last day in Amsterdam with the Van Gogh museum.  I really liked the museum, but I think I enjoyed the Rijksmuseum a bit more just because it had more variety.  After the museum it was time to head to the airport so after one last quick stop at the french fry place beneath our hostel we all headed out to the airport to fly back to Edinburgh.

Needless to say, the entire weekend in Amsterdam was incredible.  I had a great time getting to know everyone I was with and just experiencing one of the most amazing city's in the world together.  I hope to make it back to Amsterdam sometime soon, but if not I have nothing but great memories from my time there.

This week is going to be busy with lots of work and research, but I'll try and update soon!